Gloria's House

While we were in Mississippi, we spent time with Adam's mom at her beautiful home. I tell you, her place gets more lovely by the year. Inside and out, Gloria's house is a pleasant place to be. (Except for the mosquitoes, but she can't help that!!)

Here's the front porch. Sitting on the swing, catching breezes and good conversation -- it's a delight.

Gloria has pretty things all over her yard. I only snapped a few quick pictures of a handful of items, because I was smacking at mosquitoes and being nibbled alive :) Don't you love this bucket of greenery?

Gloria makes concrete leaves. These things are huge. She used to sell them at a local outdoor market, and people snatched them up. So elegant! I love the colors.

Check out the colors in this one. Don't you love it? She makes some flat (like this one), and you can put it on legs, or an old table, and make a small table for inside.

Little piggies by the back door:

Luscious roses:

She recently redid her back porch, and it's looking great. I love the red plates.

Here's Scout, her c-a-t. He's downright regal. Does he know how handsome he is? I'm allergice, so of course he rubbed up against my legs, leapt into my lap, and took a nap on my clothes :) See her walls in the house? This structure has all heart pine floors, and all walls are solid heart pine also. Couldn't build that today!! I like it because you can nail a picture to the wall anywhere -- no hunting for studs!

Gloria has a new dog, Shelby. She's such a love!! She's all sweetness, shyness, and snuggles. She didn't want to have her picture taken, so Gloria had to lure her out with a nibble of bacon.

Adam noticed that Gloria had a plum tree with lots of dead wood in it. She said she was getting only a few plums from it each year. Our apple trees used to be spindly, with small, sour apples, until Adam started pruning/trimming them. Now we have mighty apples! So, he pruned the dead wood from her tree. Doesn't it look better? (Well, I forgot to take a pic of it before, but you get the idea.)

Lots of wood for the burn pile:

Peter works and shows off his muscles:

Gloria's burn pile.

I like the idea of the cement blocks around it.

A big portion of Gloria's front yard is dominated by massive, old pecan trees. They are like quiet giants, noble and nearly eternal, it seems. They're more impressive each year. Many limbs have hairy, green ivy covering them, which makes them look more mysterious and ... alive. Hard to describe.

They stretch their arms, arching over the lush grass, toward the house.

I just love them. And having a lawn that looks that good is not easy work! She does an amazing job.

I'm not an outdoor-work kind of gal, generally, except for flower beds by the house, or a vegetable garden. But this must be where Adam gets his tendencies from!