Saturday, November 15, 2025

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2002. Mattie was six months old in this photo and was developing muscular strength in his back and neck. Yet I still propped him up with pillows, because at times, he would lean and flop right over. When I look at this photo it reminds me that as a baby Mattie did not look like me! It is remarkable the transformation because by the time he was a preschooler, Mattie was the spitting image of me. 

Quote of the day: Can you miss something before it's gone? …I think so. The anticipation of the loss hurts nearly as much as the loss itself. You find yourself trying to hold onto every detail, because you'll never have them again. ~ Emily Lloyd-Jones

While my dad's physical therapist was here today, I spent the time outside. In fact, I spent hours outside today. I was focused on trimming the crape myrtles. I have seven of them on my property and don't you know it, each one is infected with bark scale. You can tell because the bark is black in color, rather than the pretty sandy cocoa color! In addition, I can see little white spots all over the place, which are the insects. I have now learned that these trees need to be treated twice a year to remove this bark scale. 

Why did I cut the spindly branches off the crape myrtle? Because it keeps the tree from growing bigger and taking over the space. So I prune it every fall. 

I also have crape myrtles on each side of my front yard. This particular one was moved to this location soon after we moved in! Before it was right in the middle of the front yard and its position made no sense. Besides this tree being infected, it also grows wispy spindles and it needed to be shaped. I had to get out a taller ladder and went at it. 

On an aside, do you see that electrical transformer box behind my tree? For my loyal blog readers, you know that I advocated with the electric company to have this box placed in this location in February of 2025. With work going on in my neighborhood, a new transformer had to be installed. Originally it was going to be installed in my front yard. I am so thankful that I went outside to see what was going on and when I did I went ballistic! I wasn't going to let this issue go because this box is larger than me and would have been a total eye sore. 

I have three crape myrtles lining my driveway. I did not lop them off, but instead pruned and shaped them because  I am fine if they grow big and tall in this location. 

Later today I then decided to wash my mom's car and my own. Both were a mess and needed to be vacuumed out. My car goes in for service on Monday, as it is having electrical issues, and therefore I will need to drive my mom's car. Her car was covered in leaves and debris and I literally couldn't see out the windows. All I know is maintaining this house and everything in and around it is a full-time job. There is NOT one day when I am not doing some sort of chore. But given that the weather was decent today, I made the most out of being outside and for me staying busy is the key to survival.