Every Little Birdie

Monday, May 18, 2020

Makeover

My outside patio

needed a makeover

(Since we can't travel this summer
we might as well create our own
backyard destination spot)

Before Picture

Well to be honest, this is after I'd decluttered it!
I decided I didn't want to do the shabby thing
on this patio anymore so I moved
some of my shabby things
to the front porch and threw away the rest

(if you know me you would want to be taking
my temperature right now)

Of course this caused somewhat
of a makeover on the front porch

I moved the old glider to the front porch
and covered it with comfy old quilts
and pillows

I also moved my metal table and
added some shabby touches to it

I decided to list the table and umbrella
for sell on FaceBook Marketplace

Once that was sold
I began to work on a new vision
for this outside patio

Found this Broyhill Pergola

This would be perfect! We ordered it and
once delivered and constructed on our patio
we were ready to decide on
patio furniture

We decided on this conversation set
(2 chairs, 2 ottomans, and a small table)

Now we were ready to create our
backyard destination!!

We love our new chairs
Now we can kick back, put our feet up and chill

and the bar comes in very handy too

I think we will enjoy spending

evenings on our new

Makeover Patio

Every Little Birdie says

It's Patio Time!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

TIME OUT

Some of you may be familiar with this sweet face

It's Leila B, my two year old Great Niece

And if you know Leila B

then you also know her awesome mom,

Katy, my niece

Katy blesses GAM & Uncle D

(Great Aunt Marsha & Uncle Dan)

with a FaceTime call almost everyday

It's our special time to interact with Leila B

Some days we play out in the back yard

Some days we go into her playroom

Leila B insists on carrying the phone around with her

so where ever she goes we go!!

We always find it entertaining and hilarious

Who wouldn't follow this little girl
wherever she wanted to go

However lately the FaceTime
experience hasn't been going too well for GAM

Every time she talks to me she says

"GAM YOU ARE GOING TO TIME OUT!!"

....and then she carries me across the back yard and
leaves me at the back fence

😔😕😖😟😠

"WHAT?? WHAT HAS GAM DONE"

I begin to cry out

"I'm sorry please don't leave me in Time Out"

So she runs over picks up the phone,

looks me square in the face and says

"GAM, I love you, but you have to stay in Time Out!"

and off she goes again

In my defense, I have always tried to be a good GAM - I Promise!!

and have I mentioned

Uncle D never gets put in Time Out

POOR GAM

However, yesterday things were looking up

We were in her playroom and I asked her if

she could make me a cup of tea

(I gave her a singing tea pot for her 1st birthday)

She quickly carried the phone to the kitchen and the

next thing I know......

She puts me in the microwave and says

"GAM, YOU ARE IN TIME OUT!"

I just can't win for losing!!

but Time Out or not

I just can't get enough of
Leila B

Every Little Birdie says

It's her world, I just live in it!!

Saturday, April 18, 2020

The dwindling "To Do" List

I think I've been "Sheltered In Place"

for about a month now

It seems like much longer, as the days just

roll one into another

It's kind of like my 96 year old Mom says,

when you ask her what she's been up to

"Oh you know, just same ole, same ole"

Well, once I realized we were in this for
the long haul I tried to think of ways
to make each day count for something!!

If you are like me you have a "To Do" list a mile long

I'll get around to it one of these days.......

Well forced to stay home, I think a lot of us

pulled out that list and thought this will be

an excellent time to work on dwindling it down a bit

My first project was cleaning out closets,

cupboards, and drawers

Wow, it felt great to donate lots of things to charity!

If felt even better filling up those trash bags with

junk you know you didn't need

I was on a roll

Next Spring Clean the house

This felt good too but not quite as exciting

So when the house was some what clean (I mean

let's face it, who's going to see it) I decided

to move outside to flower beds

This was a big project! Lots of weed pulling,

trimming, and spreading mulch

Took me a few days but I was quite pleased

with all my work

Unfortunately I sprained my hand while weeding

Hmmmmm, I think I better take it easy for a while

To pass the hours I read books, worked on my

bible study, took naps, watched TV

My latest read

My TV list consisted of-
The Chosen (life of Jesus) download the app to watch
The English Game (PBS)
Vienna Blood (PBS)
World on Fire (PBS)
and re-runs of Downtown Abbey to name a few

Then a dear friend of mine who is a yoga teacher
started doing online classes
and invited me to attend on Zoom

Great, now I'm investing in my mind and body!

I had already used Zoom for my Monday Bible Class
and was surprised that I was able to learn
this new app successfully

Thank God for Zoom!

I've now used it for game night with my kids
Family time at Easter
and chatting with girl friends

You know, this sheltering-in-place
is not so bad

Don't get me wrong
I'm looking forward to the day I can
Go get my hair cut!!
Go to church
Have lunch with friends
and visit my mom in her care home

But for now I'm hanging in there
Making the best of it

Trying to be productive
Trusting Jesus for the days ahead
and taking it one day at a time!

How are you filling your days?
I'd love to hear from you

Every Little Birdie says

Keep the faith
and stay safe

Saturday, March 28, 2020

A Love Letter to Italy

ITALY

You've either dreamed of traveling to Italy

or you've been fortunate enough to experience

this beautiful country in person

Italy has been calling my name most of my life

I love all things Italian!

Last year the most amazing thing happened

I was invited to join a "girls trip" to ..........yes, ITALY!!

FAST FOWARD TO THE PRESENT

Italy is at the peak of a world wide epidemic

People are dying everyday

No one is visiting Italy or even wants to and the future is uncertain

My heart goes out to these beautiful, outgoing, carefree people

Therefore, as I sit here, Shelterd-in-Place
I thought I would take time to honor Italy and it's people
in words and pictures.......

TO ITALY WITH LOVE

I have such wonderful memories of my time with you.
Let's look back on our time together......

People ask me "Where was your favorite place in Italy"

It is not possible to answer this question

They were ALL my favorite

But I will say ROME was love at first sight

And the heart of Rome is the Vatican

But what's a love letter without a little romance

Which takes us to "The City of Love"
FLORENCE

We fell in love with the culture and charm of Florence

One of my personal favorite's was attending a cooking class
at a gorgeous villa on the Tuscan hillside overlooking Florence

This wonderful experience started
with a trip to the Italian Market

Then onto the villa for our cooking class
where your wine glass was always full

and then there was the AMALFI COAST.....
Be still my heart!

AND

A private boat trip to the Isle of Capri

Lucca, our boat captain was so charming
he sang Italian songs to us
shared his family's homemade lemoncello
and stopped for us to swim in the
beautiful Mediterrane sea

Got to love Italian men!!

AND

Italian food
(leave your diet at home)

The Italians take such pride in their food
It's not just a meal - it's an event

Oh Italy, You are bellissimo!!

We cherish the time we spent with you

You are in our prayers
May God shine His Mercy and Grace on you

"Six Girls From Texas"
send all their love your way

Every Little Birdie says

I loved every minute of our time together
You made me feel so special
Until we meet again.....

Ciao Bella

Saturday, December 21, 2019

2019 IN REVIEW

Greetings from the Williams

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

to all our friends and family

We hope it's been a great year for you!!

Here's a look at what we've been up to this year........

In January we celebrated Avery's 18th birthday

She graduated this year and is now taking college courses and working at Cannon Elementary (Jenn's school) in the after school program. She loves working with the kids.

Love these two beauties - (Daughter Jennifer, Granddaughter Avery & Grandpuppy, Mary)

We also enjoyed a few visits from our favorite solider!! Trace is doing well in the Army. He has reached the rank of Specialist and is working on becoming Sargent Pettit in 2020! He is currently deployed in South Korea. He recently signed up for five more years in the Army. He will return back to Ft. Hood (Texas) in March. We are all excited to have him back home for a while before in leaves in August for his next post - GERMANY!!

Specialist Trace Pettit and his proud PaPa

Papa, Nana, and Trace hanging out at our favorite watering hole

And of course we made time for some fun family get together's at Justin's country place -

Shady Pines (in East Texas)

Jennifer, Justin and Derrick ready for a ride around Shady Pines

We have enjoyed many family gatherings at Shady Pines. A few of our favorite memories are cooking together, playing games, and sitting by the outside fire at the Main house, and lots of cozy times at the cottage. The middle of this year the decision was made to sell the property at Shady Pines. We continue to enjoy family time at Justin's new house in Dallas. It's not so much the place, but it's more about spending time as a family. We will continue to do that and make new memories!!
(but we will always treasure our time at Shady Pines with Pork Chop the pig and collecting fresh eggs for breakfast from the chickens)