Pictures of the Bird Feeder my Dad made and miscellaneous pictures!

Hi everyone! I've been away from my blog for a few days because my parents came down for a visit. I wasn't really expecting them. My Mom called on Thursday and said they wanted to come and visit us on Friday and stay until Sunday. It was a miserable weekend until today. Yesterday it poured all day! My Dad made me a beautiful bird feeder and he brought it with him. He also brought a new pipe and squirrel baffle to put it on. The squirrels just ruin all his handy work so he has thought up some things to outsmart them. The round pipe should help because they really can't hold onto it to crawl up to the feeder and the squirrel baffle should deter them just in case they do figure a way to crawl up the pipe. The minute he put it up yesterday (in amongst the raindrops) the cardinals started coming to it! Today it was nice enough to snap a few photos (see below). Yesterday my Mom showed me how to paint Queen Anne's Lace flowers. I need to practice some more before I show y'all that. She really liked what I painted but I'm not too sure I do! We had a really nice visit with them for a change. Sometimes my Mom can be very overpowering or bossy and this time she wasn't, which was a nice change. My father can be rather contankerous also but this time he wasn't. I guess it has only taken them 70 odd years to mellow out-LOL!!





This is the bird feeder my Dad made for me. He brought it down this weekend and put it up on a pole with a baffle so the squirrels won't get it! There is a cardinal already eating from it in the picture!



This is the picture of the bird feeder Dad made me upclose.



These are the Helebores (Lenten Rose) growing in the backyard. They look so pretty right now. They have been blooming for the last month.



My favorite hosta that I potted up last year for when we move has started to unfurl itself! YAY Spring has arrived!!



My blue Hydrangea is getting leaves already and looking really healthy!!



This is a plant I had in a container on my porch. It is called Creeping Jenny and it "creeped" out of the pot last year, wintered over and now is taking over the one flower bed! I will have to put pull some out and put it in the urns out front!

There is a giveaway of Catherine Holman's Folk Art!

I love Catherine Holman's Folk Art and there is a giveaway over on http://laurelplumonline.com/for-fun/found-products/print-giveaway/. Check it out!

No Heat or Hot Water last night!!

It was pretty chilly at the McDermitt home last night! I got home and the house felt cold, John had been home about 1/2 hr. before me but didn't notice it. I looked at the 2 fireplace pilot lights and they were on. I turned up the heat and nothing. John went up into the attic to check the 2 hot water heaters for our heat and hot water and the pilot was out! This has happened before and we have tried to relight it but it is very tricky. We tried again last night but then ended up calling the gas company. The lady on the phone said we can't have someone out to your house until tomorrow! We explained no heat and no hot water but that didn't work. So we bundled up really good, drank alot of hot tea and this morning we played pioneer with our bathing and hair washing. Well I was the only one who washed her hair, John said he would wait until the gas was back on. I heated the water with our electric tea kettle and a big pot on the stove. Out of all the things to go out I'm glad it was the heat and hot water, electric and water being out is a pain. I hope when I get home everything is back to normal and the gas company finds out why it went out in the first place. Everyone have a great day!

Update: We have heat and hot water now-YAY!!

Today I just ran and ran at work!

Oh boy am I tired!! Today at work we had a bid that was going in at 3:00. Estimating asked if I would help them out today, which I did. We have 2 fax machines, which are at opposites ends of the building. I had to take the faxes to the 8 guys estimating the divisions for the main bid. The only thing I really had to remember and be careful about was who was bidding which part of the bid (what division). The company bought us lunch for helping on the bid and it was presented at 3:00 by our head of marketing. We should know very shortly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this project to be awarded to us. It was fun to do!

Sights we saw while the Open House was going om today

Today while the Open House our realtor was having was going on John, Teddy and I packed up the car and went down to South Carolina to a neighborhood called Baxter Village. It was wonderful! They have a main road with restaurants, shops, etc. and then there are all these beautiful houses (some of which I listed below). We had lunch while we were there, we went to an Open House and just enjoyed the beautiful, warm and sunny day! Unfortunately only 1 couple came through the Open House. They are renting and have the rental until this Fall. Why would you be looking to buy a house now then!! Oh well that's the way it goes sometimes. When we came home we read out on the back patio and enjoyed ourselves. I also had to rest those aching muscles from cleaning yesterday-LOL! John and I were also visited by our bird friends. We had cardinals, bluebirds, thrush, sparrows, a towhee and last but not least our 2 resident owls. They were in the trees chattering away to each other. That was the highlight of my day! They are really fun to watch!



Some of you had asked for more Cherry Tree picturs. Well this one looked really beautiful last week, but I never got the camera out to take a pic. This week it is still beautiful but a little bleached out. This is down the street from my house. I love walking past it, the petals flow down like snow or it reminds me of rose petals being thrown at a wedding! It is an absolutely gorgeous tree!



This is a restaurant called The Fish Market in Baxter Village on the main road. It had a beautiful fountain to the right of the restaurant but there were too many kids with their parents frolicking around it for me to get a picture. It was really beautiful though with the sun shining on it! We ate at a restaurant called Six Pence right across the street from this restaurant. John had fish and chips and I had a Chicken Salad sandwich. We ate outside and it was so nice not to have to wear a coat!



This is one street in Baxter Village, but it will give you an idea of what the homes look like. John and I probably wouldn't be moving to Baxter Village but it was fun to look at the homes there. If we weren't Notaries in NC we would probably move there in a heartbeat. But we have to notarize so many things in NC and we wouldn't be able to do that and live in SC.



This is a house for sale in Baxter Village, Fort Mill, SC. They were all so gorgeous!



It's hard to see the beautiful peach blossoms on theses trees, but the whole orchard is in bloom. This orchard is just over the South Carolina border and it was just beautiful. John took this picture from his car window and if I took it I wouldn't have taken so much of the road! Oh well!


These daffodils are in our front flower bed, I think they are so pretty!



These are some daffodils in our yard I noticed when we came back home today.

Where are the Merry Maids when you need them!

Where are the Merry Maids when you need them! I spent from 8:30 this morning until about 1:30 cleaning my entire house for the Open House tomorrow! I am exhausted. Cleaning 4 bathrooms (one with a huge jacuzzi tub), 4 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, great room, sun room, office and bonus room is not my idea of fun. I also gave the dog a bath first thing this morning. He was a really good boy, he just layed down in the tub and enjoyed the massage! He's so silly! I have headed downstairs to have a glass of tea and read my book. I also think a nap might be in the picture also. Sounds good to me! Everyone have a great day and weekend!

There are so many flowering cherry trees here in Charlotte!

There are so many beautiful flowering cherry trees here in Charlotte! They all look so wonderful. My drive to work takes me along some older streets in Charlotte and everyone is lined with these beautiful trees. There are other trees blooming too but the cherry trees are my favorite! They just make you smile, just like all the daffodils that are blooming now. Everyone have a great day!

Last night's dinner was grand!

Jenny, Kevin, Megan and Ken all arrived on time and we had a wonderful Irish dinner! We laughed, talked, told stories, ate and just enjoyed each others company. After dinner, everyone cleaned up and then the "boys" disappeared upstairs to work on straightening out John's ipod. Ken had given John a new ipod and they were having a hard time loading things on it. The girls and I went into our walk-in closet and sorted clothes, shoes, handbag, etc. The closet looks great! It looked empty at first and then I thought no this is the way a closet should look! It was great picking out my clothes for work today and my shoes. I'm trying to get the house straightened up for the Open House on Sunday. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Erin Go Bragh Everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!! May you all have the luck of the Irish today!! Tonight the girls and their men will be coming to our house for dinner. We will have the traditional Irish dinner-corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and Irish Soda Bread. Jenny and Kevin are bringing Green cupcakes! They love cupcakes!! It should be a really nice evening! They are also bringing the granddog, Cash with them! Teddy will be in seventh heaven. Everyone have a wonderful day!!

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY!!

The little duck in this picture is exactly how I feel!! We have been having rain since Friday morning and in some parts of Charlotte since Thursday night!! Tomorrow it is suppose to move on out of here and I'm ready!! I think it should move on out to Sarah in Oklahoma or Vickie in Colorado! They need it alot more than we do right now. Last summer I would have welcomed this rain because we were in a severe drought, but I am totally over it now!! Sunny days and warmer temps are on the way!! Everyone have a great day!

Update on the Camera

Well yesterday I posted here about our camera missing. We did call our realtor and she said she would call the realtor that showed it. We got a call back from her within a few minutes. The other realtor said the wife of the couple that came through was acting very strange and she kept an eye on her. The realtor knew some people have resorted to stealing small items like Ipods, cameras, jewelry, Rx's, etc. She acted very strangely in our business office upstairs. At one point the realtor was trying to steer the couple down the hall to the bedrooms but the wife hesitated near my desk. She saw the wife over by my bookshelf for a really long time and the realtor went over there. We all think she had picked up my camera and then got caught by the realtor, so she had dropped it in a bag of books I had! I ran upstairs and looked around and sure enough I found my camera in the bag of books!! I cannot believe that people have stooped so low as to pretend to be interested in buying someone's home and then take their possessions! I am really glad I have it back. A lesson for John and I and the rest of the house selling population. I will be putting everything away and I will think twice before leaving my home while it's being shown. I also worry about Open Houses even more. What if 2 or more "prospective" buyers come to the Open House, the Realtor cannot possibly watch everyone all the time in different parts of the house. It is something to think about for sure. I don't want anymore open houses anyway, the never seem to attract buyers just nosey neighbors and people wanting decorating ideas. I'm off to church in a bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

I am really upset!

Today I went to take a picture with my digital camera and I couldn't find it. The last place John and I saw it was my office desk upstairs. There was a showing yesterday and we think someone who was in the house took it! We have turned the house upside down and no camera. I had it wedge in between some CD's and my monitor so someone would really have had to be snooping. I also had another disk in there for extra pictures. That really frosts me!! I really don't like having my house on display and other people walking through it all the time, especially when we have been told we can't be here. I have heard that a husband and wife will look at a house and then they split up. One goes with the realtor and the other says they just want to check something out upstairs or in another room. People have reported items missing and their prescription meds. What is this world coming too! I am very disappointed right now, sorry for the vent but it just really frosts me!

Dinner last night was fun!

My friend (who is a former co-worker) and I had a really nice dinner. The salad that I craved all day was absolutely wonderful. There were tons of dried cherries, alot of chicken and almonds too! We chatted about everything and caught up! Her daughter works for Merck and she atleast was saved from the chopping block this round. I hope she can hang in there, she lives alone and has a substantial mortgage. It is always nice to catch up with friends that you haven't seen in a while. She is a good friend too!

Everyone have a grand day!

Tonight I'm having dinner with my friend.

John got called in to help at Best Buy tonight. My friend e-mailed me this morning and asked if I wanted to have dinner with her. I haven't seen her in quite some time, so it will be nice to catch up! We are going to Encore a restaurant in Blakeney Crossings. The company I work for built the restaurant so I have special ties to it and they make a killer Encore Salad. They put dried cherries, shaved grilled chicken breast, almonds and the dressing is to die for and I cannot re-create it either. I can't even describe it but it is awesome!! It has been overcast here all day and starting tomorrow we are suppose to have a killer rainstorm with cold-yuck! I was getting spoiled with the 80 degree weather this whole week! I think the temps are suppose to be in the 50's during the day but 30's and 40's at night.

I hope everyone is having a great day! SMILE, it makes you feel good!!

I have 2 owls in the backyard!

This is a picture of a Great Barred Owl. I didn't take this picture, but I wanted to show you what is in my backyard. Ever since we moved in (almost 5 yrs. ago)we have had one of these beautiful owls in the woods behind our house. Now I'm from northwestern NJ and we have Barn Owls and Hoot Owls but no Great Barred Owls. I am used to owls hooting not making the noises these owls down here make! It's almost like a coo of a dove but deeper and louder. The first time I heard it in the middle of the night I thought it was someone outside my bedroom window making this noise. It was the owl sitting in our little maple tree. Our resident owl comes out during the day too, which I'm not used to. Whenever anyone goes out on the patio or screened porch, he appears and watches us and actual talks to us in his owl language. Everyone remarks about him and they can't believe he actually loves people.

Well now we have a pair of owls in the backyard and they both come and "talk" to us while we are outside. They just seem to love us! I am so happy they just make my day when they come to "chat" with us. They are so interesting to watch and they are gorgeous when the glide through the trees. When John and I eat on the back porch (like last night) at one point we could hardly hear each other because the 2 owls were "talking" so much. All of our neighbors think it is the most wildest thing they have ever seen or sometimes in this case heard.

I always name things and I will have to come up with some suitable names for our resident feathered friends! I wonder if little owls will be showing up anytime soon! Wouldn't that be wonderful!! Everyone have a great day!

What a warm one today was!!

What a wonderful, warm and sunny day it was here in Charlotte! When I got in my car to come home it was 86 degrees outside! What a change from last Monday's rain, snow and ice and 20 degree temps. Tonight is a full moon too-it is gorgeous. Hope everyone who had warm weather and sun got out today! Everyone have a great evening.

What a glorious day!!

We had brunch with our friends from our neighborhood today. We went to Boneheads and the food was so good! I had grilled shrimp and a salad and John had grilled Tilapia and he managed to snatch some shrimp off my plate too! We have been on the screened porch ever since. John is napping in his porch chair right now! He has to work at Best Buy tonight for inventory, which runs from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.!! I think he'll be sleeping in a little tomorrow morning! The birds are out in force in our yard and woods today! They are singing their hearts out-it is wonderful like natures symphony!! We have residents now in our chickadee birdhouse! It is the first time in 3 years they have decided to take up residence and I'm really happy! I love those little birds.


This is my lovely palm tree out on the porch sunning itself!! It has 3 new fronds that opened and it loves the sun. If it gets chilly again, I can just bring it back in to the sunroom. It looks so nice on the porch.



This is a shot of my magnolia tree in the backyard. Look at that blue sky! We planted this tree 2 yrs. ago and it has grown twice it's size in that time!



My little Stella d'oro daylily is perking back up and turning nice in green in the front garden! I love these little daylilies they are so sunny yellow.


I had to post this on here. Last night Teddy was sleeping on the ottoman and I guess he got overly comfortable because he was half falling off the ottoman and he woke himself up!! I was glad I had the camera on the coffee table. He stayed like that for about 15 minutes and then came over by me-he's silly!

Today the weather is awesome!!

It was so nice to eat breakfast on the screened porch this morning! The temp right now is 74 degrees and wonderfully sunny! Our realtor came over and we had iced tea on the back porch while we talked to her and it was heavenly!! She didn't have any more news about our house selling but she is trying. We are going to have 1 more Open House, I think on the 22nd and a Realtor's Luncheon will be schedule for April. We are hoping the scheduling won't be necessary and we'll have a buyer by then! All the little birds are flitting around the trees today singing their happy little songs-it is like listening to a natural symphony to me!! The bluebirds have been coming in the yard and they are so pretty along with the cardinals. More of my plants are waking up from Winter too! I checked the hosta I have in the huge garden pot and the little green "horns" are starting to sprout up! I potted that hosta up last year anticipating a move so I can take it with me. It is a gorgeous one and I didn't want to leave it. Some of these plants in the garden are like children to me! I know crazy but I'm wild about hostas and almost every plant out there! I have 2 plants that will be coming with me too that my Grandmother had given to me when I was a little girl and I'll be 50 in July! Well I'm headed outside again to read and rest up. Feeling much better today but don't want to have a relapse from this terrible sinus infection. Everyone get outside and enjoy the warmth!!

I'm feeling better, here are some pics I took today!

Today I came home from work sick. I slept most of the day and then got some fresh air in the backyard. I took some pictures because the sun was hitting everything just right. I thought I would share!


Remember in the beginning of the week the pond on the golf course overflowed into the woods behind my house, well here is the woods today. The water absorbed and the pond went back to the normal levels. I like it this way better!


This little chickadee bird house is in the maple tree in my garden. I've seen little chickadees flitting around this little home and now they are taken moss, dog hair and little twigs in there! YAY!


The sun hit the magnolia leaves on my tree in the backyard and I thought they looked so pretty.


This is a Lenten Rose which is growing in my woodland border.



This lovely daffodil is blooming in my yard. I love this double one!


Teddy was playing in the yard this afternoon but I caught him while he was resting.


I noticed when I walked into the sun room today this lovely fragrance. It brought back when I was a little girl and would visit my grandmother after she just put orange blossom perfume on right before I visited her! This is my lemon tree (the fragrance is just like the orange blossom perfume).


Here are the blossoms that are on the lemon tree. There are about 5 clusters of blossoms. I hope the lemons start forming soon.





These are the lovely gifts I received from Heidi http://foxglovesfabricandfolly.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much Heidi!!!

I am sick today-blah!

I got up and went to work today. On the way I started not feeling good. I could feel a sinus headache creeping up the back of my neck and taking over my entire head! I got to work at 7:45 and really started feeling sick. I left work at 8:35 just couldn't do it. I came home and slept until about noon and I've eaten a little something and I'm headed back to sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better and I'll be able to enjoy this warm weather!

It's getting warmer and the sun is shining!

Good morning everyone! The sun is shining so brightly today and it is 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. Saturday it is suppose to be 78 degrees-woohoo!! I am so ready for Spring! Just seeing the sun today makes everything just look better and it makes everyone feel better. So today try and soak up some rays and feel happy!

Snow in Charlotte three times in one year!!

The weather in this country has been very strange and Charlotte, NC has not been left out! We had rain all day Friday and Saturday and then last night it started snowing and we got 4"! The picture above is a picture of a tree that has just gotten so bogged down from this very wet snow. It is beautiful to look at but dangerous for electrical wires, trees/limbs falling on cars, homes, etc. I went into work an hour later than normal today due to the icy roads. It definitely paid off because the sun had started to melt the ice and I had no problems.

I really wish Spring would do just that "spring" into action!! Do you hear that Mother Nature!!

Here is more of the "Lion" beginning of March!

I opened the door to the back screened porch and this is what I saw this morning! We own a little bit of the woods, the Country Club owns the rest of the woods to the 3rd hole on their golf course. The golf course has a pond on it and that overflowed its banks and cascaded into the woods. We have never had the water come into our yard but it came close one time when they were working on the golf course. They had dammed up the pond and it rained for 2 days, the water overflowed the dam they had made, came into the woods and up to our sod in the backyard! We have flood insurance just in case something happens. Thank goodness we have never had to use it!



The flooding from the pond on the golf course has also cascaded into our neighbors yard. They actually have more flooding than we do.



This is the view of our backyard from the landing on the second story. You can see the flooding in the yard.



The rain has blown so hard and it pelted all these lovely little raindrops all over my clean windows! The realtor suggested I clean all the windows, even though they weren't dirty. She said people love sparkling windows. I had told her the rains hadn't come through yet and she said to do it anyway! Well I wish I had waited. I have 42 windows in my house and it takes me forever to clean all of them! Oh well!

Lion or Lamb?

When I was a little girl my grandmother used to say, "Sherri, we will have to see who beats who for the 1st day of March, the Lion or the Lamb". At first I had no idea what Grandma was saying because I was only 4 years old (atleast I think I was). Then as I got older I understood and we would write on the calendar together whether March started as a Lion or a Lamb. When Megan and Jenny were born I started the same thing with them, which pleased my grandmother to no end! Such a simple thing, but she said it was more than that it was tradition. My Grandma is no longer with us, but this morning when I got up to take Teddy out I said outloud to her, "Grandma it is definitely a Lion ushering March in this year". Teddy started when I opened the door because we were both almost flattened by the forceful wind that rushed into the house! He hurriedly did his busy and bolted into the house like the wind was chasing him! Right now, as I type he is pacing around the house, not even eating his food because the trees are swaying outside and the wind is howling! We also had thunder and lighting earlier this morning that woke me up, so actually the Lion showed itself much earlier. I wonder when my girls wake up this morning in their own homes if they will think of the Lion or Lamb, I'm sure they will. Hopefully the tradition will continue when they have children as it did in our household and in my Grandma's household! In your part of the country did March come in as a Lion or a Lamb? Have a wonderful day!! Oh and Grandma, yes I marked the calendar!