Busy bees...

Mama and Jerry came up this morning, and we were all busy little bees getting the area in our back yard behind the retaining wall looking good! They had brought a truck full of pine needle bales (since our black landscaping cloth and bark mulch didn't stop the weeds), so we put out newspaper and lots of pine needles all the way down the wall...
We used all 20 bales they brought, and Charles and Jerry then went to the local nursery and bought 11 more! Since we were all working hard, it didn't take any time to finish the job - and it just looked so good back there when we finished!

After finishing the back, Jerry used his truck and a rope to pull up the over grown evergreen by the garage and filled in the hole...

I was SO excited to see this tree go. It was really pretty but just entirely too big to be planted there. I have been saying that I wanted to dig it up since we moved in...

Charles cleared off all the dirt and debris...

Then we added to the tree pile by pruning a lot of our shrubs.

Later this afternoon, Mama called and said that she and Jerry were almost back to Hernando and had brought some plants to plant in the back. This is another project that I have really been wanting to tackle. I wanted pretty blooming plants and trees back there, so Jerry had rooted some of my favorite plants, and he and Mama brought them to us...

and helped us decide where to plant them... Jerry planted them...

and Charles watered each of the plants in...

They did a great job!

I was so excited about just how pretty it turned out...

I can't wait for all the plants to grow and bloom - they are going to be gorgeous!

We now have a flowering almond from Mama's Grandma Jones's plant...

I've always loved how the flowering almond looks in Mama's yard!

We also have a yellow rose of Texas which came from Jerry's mama's plant...

and five yellow bells - which I am really excited about...

Our back looks so good now!

Mama and Jerry also brought a shoot from Ma's hydrangea...

I've been wanting to plant one since we moved in because I think that every Southern yard needs one, and I can't wait to be able to fill vases with beautiful, huge hydrangea blooms! That this one came from Ma's plant is even more special!

Thanks Mama and Jerry for all your hard work and for making our yard look beautiful!!

Happies...

I'm a very lucky girl.

I was sick and didn't get to go to Jackson with Charles to see our friends and their sweet children. Instead I had gone to the doctor and had testing done to ensure that I did not have the flu. (I didn't, thank goodness!) But my arm hurt where they took blood.

Charles and I had seen the cutest little thing called a boo bunny for little kids to put on their hurts, and Charles left one as a happy for me before he left for Jackson! It really is the cutest thing...and it made my arm feel better!

Later, the next week, Mama came up for lunch and brought these daffodils from her yard... They were so pretty and smelled so good...

and really helped cheer me up!

When I got home from work that afternoon, I had more happies from Mama to surprise me!

Mama had bought one of these rabbits for her front door from The Square Cupboard during one of her earlier visits and had offered to buy one for me too, but I passed on the offer. Well, we were talking about decorating our houses for Spring and Easter during lunch, and I told her that I thought that I was going to buy one and copy her. I was so excited to see it when I got home!! And it looks great on our front door!

In addition to the cute bunny, I also found another happy...

which I just love!
The cutest Etta B pottery rabbit! It is so cute!

It was so nice getting cheery happies, and they really did make me feel much better!!