Remembering Dad!

Loyd Ferrell Sr., around 1965. Handsome young fella, isn't he? I carried this pic in my wallet for a number of years when I was also a LOT younger! It's STILL one of my favorite images of my Pops.

 Once again, here at the 'ol Bloggy-thingy-thang, it's time to step away from my usual GEEK-out related subject matter, and get more serious and thoughtful. This time around, it's to give out honor, respect, and appreciation... for Reverend Loyd Ferrell Sr. Otherwise known as my Dad! 

It's been just over a month now, since the passing of my beloved Pops. Yet, in some ways, as my sister Kathy and I've often talked about these past few weeks-- it STILL feels like he JUST left us. 

He had been suffering from a number of illnesses, ailments, and discomforts-- and had also been in and out of hospitals and other medical facilities for QUITE some time. So-- while his quickly declining condition near the end of his life, wasn't too surprising for those of us close to him-- it was STILL rough, witnessing this once tough, EVER-resilient, EVER-determined guy-- become more and more fragile and even helpless!

But--- that's NOT what I want to focus on here in this post! I want to just share some thoughts about this guy who helped bring my sisters and I into this world. He truly was a one of a kind father, and provided MOST of the positive influences, that shaped me into the man I am today! I also wanted to share some of my favorite images of him, including some SPECIAL items he gave to me over the years, and a couple of REALLY special memories of him too.

The first couple of pics I want to share, REALLY bring into focus how YOUNG and 'fresh-faced' my parents were, whenever they jumped in and started raising a family (as well as when Pops started preaching!)!--

Obviously, it's around 1965-- Since the Loydster's the chubby little guy my Dad's holding, and I'm apparently about a year old. Dad was all of 21 when this pic was snapped! Boy, were we a couple of 'fair-haired' YOUNG boys or WHAT?

The next image, like I was saying above-- REALLY is more evidence of what 'young pups' my folks were! AND-- there's an extremely NIFTY bit of 'family trivia', concerning an important item in the pic too!--

Pops when he first started preaching. That's my Mom's handwriting, at the top and bottom. She really was a 'proud preacher's wife'! The heavy crease along the right side, is from where Mom kept this pic in a small frame for a good chunk of time.

Now-- for that COOL little bit of 'Ferrell-fam' trivia I was rattling away about above! MANY years ago, I wanna say I wasn't even in my early 20s yet-- Mom and Dad gave me one of Dad's 'old preaching bibles'. 

I've kept it all through the years, and yet it NEVER dawned on me-- that it's the SAME bible my Dad's holding onto SO tightly in the pic above! (And --I've also looked at that image MANY times, over the years!) It wasn't until after Pops passed last month, and I looked more closely at the image-- that I realized it! It truly is now one of my MOST priceless / treasured possessions!--

That's RIGHT! A family treasure, that had been 'hiding in plain sight' right here WITH me all these years! Besides some hand-written notes along side some scriptures, Dad had scratched here & there-- another thing that makes this bible SO priceless, is the addition of 'family tree' items that my Mom had also filled-out, many, many moons ago! This old, battered bible is INDEED a 'family heirloom'!

The pic-collage below is a 're-run' of the one I put up in the post honoring / memorializing Mom, back in 2018. I still feel like it pretty much sums up how CLOSE, warm and loving my parents were, over the years. It also shows what a power-house 'ministry-team' they were-- for MANY years! (The bottom two pics were taken nearly a couple of decades apart-- and they were STILL 'preachin', teachin', singin', and just generally 'doing the Lord's work'!)--

The first of the two 'ministry-pics' there at the bottom, (taken around 1981 or so!) remind me of the times when I would be pestering pops to help me buy a car. 'Don't get the cart in front of the horse, son', he'd tell me, 'you need to FIRST get a job, save your money, and THEN buy your first car yourself!-- You'll treasure it, and take better care of it, if you PAY for it yourself!' At the time, I thought he was just being a cranky 'old-timer' on me! But, in hindsight-- I've learned he was EXACTLY right!

Next, another favorite image of my Pops and I together. This time, when I graduated high school.----

The evening of June 10th, 1983. Dad and I smiling and looking a little cheesy! During my senior year, Pops would occasionally just take me for either long drives around the area, or we'd go up to a spot up on a bluff above the town, called 'lookout point'-- just so we could talk, sometimes have a soda-pop together, and hang-out.
One of those times, I was struggling a little-- trying to figure-out just WHAT to DO with my life, what kind of job / career I would have, where I wanted to settle-down and live, etc! (Typical high-schooler worries, of course! But-- to me, they were a BIG deal!)
I shared all of this with Pops, as we sat in the car there at 'Lookout point'. 'Son', he told me, 'you need to just concentrate on making a decent living, WHEREVER you are. Because, wherever you can make a living-- THAT is the place you can call HOME.' Now THAT is honest, down-to-earth, GOOD advice!

For the next of my fave pics, we move forward in time QUITE a bit! To 2020 in fact! This was during the time Pops came and stayed with us for a few weeks, a couple of years after Mom passed.----

Three generations of 'Ferrell guys'!-- Loyd, Loyd Jr, and Mr. Wade! It was a nice, sunny day out-- and we were having an 'early Thanksgiving' with the Pops while he stayed with us. Taking advantage of the nice day, the wifey snapped off a few pics of us fellas just hanging out in the yard.
The reason this is one of my favorite later pics of Pops, is that BIG, slightly GOOFY grin on his face! You can tell he's having a genuinely GOOD time! Mom's passing REALLY knocked a CHUNK out of him, and it was SO good to see him smiling, laughing, and enjoying himself, even just a little!

After Pop's passing, and before Deb, the kids and I all went down to Texas, (we had to go down there to wrap-up some of his 'final affairs' stuff, with my sister and her family) my daughter Shelby put together a BEAUTIFUL eulogy for him! My sis, Kathy-- is sharing it on her Face Book page, but I also wanted to share it here with you, my TEENY-TINY group of faithful readers.---

I can't think of ANY way to make my daughter's eulogy for her Grandpa more BEAUTIFUL than it is! Thank you, SO much-- daughter-o-mine!

  And now-- a couple of those 'special items' I mentioned above, that my Dad passed along to me over the years! Of course, much like Pops-- they relate to the 'practical' and the 'down to earth'!---           

Dad gave the 'Old Timer' pocket knife to me, quite a few years back. It was actually one he'd carried and used, for AGES! 'NEVER leave home without a good, trusty pocket knife on you son', he always taught me, 'you never know when it might come in handy!' Sound, practical advice from a practical-thinking guy!
The old pipe-wrench, again-- given to me by Pops a number of years ago-- actually originally belonged to Grandpa Ferrell! So, this thing is probably close to 90 years old! AND-- I still use it! Another way not ONLY Dad... but HIS Dad, passed something along that was practical and USEFUL to me! That's why they're BOTH such VALUABLE, yet sentimental-- items to me!

                               

Before I wrap-up this post, I'll share just one more of my favorite images of my Dad. At the moment, in fact... it's probably my MOST favorite of ALL! I'll try to explain below!---

A very young Loyd Ferrell, circa 1959-- when he was a mere 17 years old! That's his first car, a 1950 Studebaker-- he's leaning on.

The above pic of my then-teenaged dad, is--much like the 'early-teens' pic of my Mom, (when she was around 14 years old) a LONG-time favorite of mine. To refresh your memory-- here's the one of Mom! (Which I shared here on the blog in 2018)---

a VERY young Mary Louise, around age 14!

Now, as I was saying-- these two photos are probably the MOST priceless that I have, of BOTH of my parents. Because-- they're 'frozen moments' in time. ALL photos are really that, I know-- but these are SPECIAL 'frozen moments'! They capture that special, early time in my parent's lives! A time when a young guy and gal in the San Juaquin Valley of central California, had their WHOLE lives stretched-out in front of them. 

In another couple of years, young Loyd would meet up with that dark-eyed, dark-haired young lady-- and the two of them would marry, raise a boy and two girls, and share 55 years together! 

But in the above 'frozen moment'... my Dad is still just that 17-year-old kid-- who's crooked smile, easy-laugh (can't you almost hear a little snicker coming from him in that picture?), would stay with him and be the same... for MOST of his 82 years on this earth. Mom's smile (AND unique laugh!) would also have that same 'staying power' as well!

Now, BOTH of my parents have left us-- and there is a DEEP sorrow in both of my sisters' hearts, and mine as well--as we struggle with that new reality. We can take a GREAT deal of comfort in knowing TWO things though. The first, of course-- is that they're now reunited and together for eternity, and they are NO DOUBT happy (with each other AND with their Lord and Savior!). The second, well that also has to do with the young folks in those photos, taken ALL those years ago. 

Those two young people grew, married, and became the folks who left us, the 'Ferrell kids'-- a legacy of warmth, love, and LOTS and LOTS of genuine laughter. A legacy of creativity (Mom), practicality (Dad), and good 'ol down-to-earth 'common sense' (BOTH Mom and Dad!)! There's no finer or 'better' legacy than THAT! I truly hope I can leave a similar 'inheritance' for my own children (and eventually grandchildren!), some day!

I love and miss you BOTH, Mom and Dad! But someday we'll ALL be together again-- and the warmth, the love, and the laughter will truly last FOREVER! This isn't a permanent 'goodbye', it's just a 'so long, for now'! 

(This post is also dedicated to BOTH of my beautiful sisters, Kathy & Lisa-- BIG 'Loydster-hugs' and warm thoughts continue to go out to you guys! Love you two-- then, now, and ALWAYS!)

Loyd Ferrell Sr. October 9th,1943 - December 3rd, 2025--- One SPECIAL dad!

 

My dad a few years back, in times of somewhat better health! The last few years were QUITE a struggle for him-- both emotionally AND physically!

Although I'm still considering the 'ol bloggy-thingy-thang temporarily closed, I felt I needed to share with all of you who regularly stop by to visit-- the news of the passing of my beloved Pops, Loyd Ferrell Sr. He was truly one of a kind. I'm SO very thankful that such a unique guy was the one the good Lord chose, to help bring my two sisters and I into this world. 

After the whirl-wind of the holidays are all done, I plan on posting a FULL-LENGTH tribute to him. I'm sure it probably WON'T come anywhere CLOSE to the kind of tribute and credit he deserves! Meanwhile, all of us in the family will, while missing him DEARLY-- take some comfort in knowing he's in his heavenly home, resting in the arms of the God he trusted and believed in. Also, that he's FINALLY reunited with our mom, his beloved Mary.

Love and miss you, pops! It's not goodbye, it's just so-long for now, 'til we meet again someday!

Closing it down-- for a (hopefully) little while anyway!

 

Yet ANOTHER time, unfortunately-- where I once again find it necessary to turn-off the lights, temporarily at least--here at the 'ol bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang!

Not to worry, my teeny-tiny group of faithful-blog-followers! I'm still in decent health, and plan on making a return to putting up plenty of crunchy-geeky-goodness-related posts in the (hopefully NEAR) future! Just have to put things here 'on hold' for a bit!

So-- 'til  the next time that we meet here in my little DINKY corner of the 'world-wide-web'.... stay SAFE, SANE and HAPPY everybody!

Loyd's BONUS video - clip!!--- # 53!! --- The 3 'Knuckleheads' are STILL keeping me SANE!

 

Even when life's rough-spots, curve-balls, and just the day-to-day GRIND... get's me lower-than-LOW-- those oh-so-STILL-funny childhood HEROES of mine can ALWAYS me laugh, and help me keep my SANITY! Thank goodness for 'ol Larry, Curly, and Moe!

Once again, life has been tossing the Loydster around --- like a MASSIVE cement-mixer on HIGH-speed! BUT-- like I always do, especially in times like now-- I try to think of -- or in this particular case, watch--stuff that brings a smile / giggle / out-right BELLY-LAUGH to me, when I can use it the MOST!

Nothing seems to bring those MUCH-needed 'happy-moments' to me, like the Three Stooges! Not that there isn't other comedy teams, funny stuff, or even cartoons that don't help me out too! (The Marx Brothers, Mad Magazine, Looney Tunes and Tex Avery's classic MGM 'toons have also brought me MUCH laughter and that critical-dose of JOY, many times throughout my life!) It's just that the 'Stooges have a way of doing it for me quicker and easier than the others!

And-- with that in mind-- I decided to share with you, my faithful-small-in-number-but-loyal readers-- yet ANOTHER 'repeat performance', of one of my ALL-TIME favorite 'Stooge-routines'! Enjoy! ( I always do!)--

Hopefully next month, IF the 'ol MEAT-GRINDER of life will let-up off of me enough-- I'll be able to put up a normal, FULL-length post! 'Til then--- stay SAFE, SANE, and HAPPY gang!

MORE tinkering, additions, AND improvements in the 'Man-Cave'!

 

Yes, despite being NO kind of 'brainiac' of ANY sort--- the 'ol Loydster DOES get a 'bright idea' every now and then! As I've said before, here on the bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang-- The 'tiny cube of GEEKYNESS' that is the 'Man-Cave,' is something of an 'organic' beast!-- Meaning things can sometimes be added to... OR taken out of it here and there, as time marches on! Keep on doing the 'readin' and scrollin', to see just what I mean! SOME of it really DOES have to do... with an actual set of LIGHTS! And-- a VERY 'bright' idea!!-- though it wasn't MY original 'bright' idea! 

 

Yes indeedy-do-da!!-- Some goodies have been added to my teeny-weeny little 'Loydster Museum of unashamed NERDYNESS'-- in recent weeks! Of course, by it being such a 'confined' type of space, the additional items have either been on the small side, or just improvements to items and furnishings already in there! A perfect example to kick things off, on this here post-- is a surprise 'late B-day' gift I recently received from my life-long buddy, Mr. Jeff Arnold!----

A while back, my 'brutha-from-anutha-mutha', Jeff --made a trip to the area around the Hollywood hills-- out in So-Cal-- and managed to visit the ACTUAL filming location for the opening credits on the old 'Batman' classic TV show! Known as 'Bronson Cave', it's also been used for other movies and TV productions over the years. BUT--- he and I are all geeked-out about it, for the obvious ties it has with  the 'Bat-Cowled-Crusader' from our childhood!

He told me he'd also managed to pick up a rock or two from the spot, as goofy / nerdy souvenirs. After that, I hadn't thought much about his trip there---until THIS little NEAT-O item arrived in my mail a few weeks back!
Jeff made the little plaque that it's mounted to, and used his 'cricut' printer to do the lettering on it. Without a DOUBT, it deserved a place of HONOR within the 'Loydster-Cave'! What better spot could there be, than sitting right NEXT to the case that houses the Lego-'66 Bat-ride??!?

Speaking of the Lego-version of the '66 Batmobile--- the NEXT little item was actually inspired by a comment from my daughter, Shelby! On a recent visit, she was taking a quick tour of the 'Sanctum', and observed how surprising it was, that I hadn't yet put a 'driver' behind the steering wheel of the car! 'The Batmobile NEEDS a Batman to be driving it!', she said! 'Well, a 6 inch action figure should easily fit right in there!' I somewhat 'over-confidently' spouted-off! 

Within just a short time, I was scoring a 'loose' 6 inch figure of the 'Adam West-version' of 'ol Batsy, off of E-bay--- and then finding out just how MUCH --uh, shall I say-- 'customizing' I would have to do, to get the little guy to actually 'sit behind' the steering wheel!---

When I said 'customizing' up above, concerning the 'Adam West' / Bat-guy figure--- I actually pretty much meant 'RADICAL-SURGERY'! To get the figure to fit into the interior of the 'Lego-Bat-ride', it required chopping-off a section of not ONLY his back-side, but a good-sized chunk of the back of his upper legs --AND- removing the lower part of his legs just past the knee joints! Thank goodness for the 'ol faithful rotary tool!--Or I'd probably STILL be chopping-away at the poor little guy! (I know, I know----I'm sure there are hard-core collectors out there, SCREAMING and jumping up and down, this very minute-- at my BRUTAL mistreatment of this poor 'collectible'!) BUT-- the results were worth all that effort (AND all that 'surgery' on poor little 'Adam'!)-- at least I think so!

The next project I ended up tackling, was something I'd been kicking around, since not long after I finished-up the long-drawn-out process --that was setting the 'Man-Cave' up! A 'set-up' that was nearly 6 months worth of careful planning, and just sometimes TEDIOUS work! (ALL worth it though, no doubt in my mind!)

Another family member's remark, is what inspired the 'ol gears-in-Loydser's head to SLOWLY start turning! This time from my 'bonus-daughter', Chloe! On one of her earliest visits to check out my little secret-hide-out, she mentioned how VERY cool the room would look, if all the shelves and showcases were somehow lighted!

In the months since that conversation-- I kept returning in my thoughts, to how it WOULD definitely be a COOL thing-- to get lighting into all those shelves / cases! The question that kept stumping me was-- just HOW would I manage to do it???  I briefly considered the LED 'tape-style', and even the 'neon' tube-style LEDs-- but memories of the MAJOR hassle and amount of WORK it took to set that type of lighting up in the 'Cave before (ESPECIALLY the 'tube-lights'!!! ARRRRGH!), closed off  THAT possibility! 

A routine trip to a local 'Dollar Tree' store, turned out to hold 'the secret' to how it could actually be DONE!---

One of the 'stumpers' in my long-drawn-out thinking process about 'shelf-lighting', was just HOW to get lighting into each shelf-- without running seemingly MILES of electrical cords all over the already TINY amount of space in my little 'Cave! (One of the drawbacks to the LEDs I briefly considered!) Spotting a set of wireless / BATTERY-operated 'puck-lights' at a local 'Dollar Tree', I FINALLY started seeing a way to get the task done!

I sat down and figured up the amount of BOTH-- how many 'pucks' I would need for the shelf-spaces, as well as-- how many batteries it would take to power them all! It came to 60 'pucks' and nearly 200 batteries! Another couple of months went by, before I could even START on this task! I would have to wait 'til I got my next 'bonus-check' from my job, before I could afford ALL of those 'pucks' and batteries, for one thing!

Finally, after the necessary funds were available, I ordered-up ALL of those lights and batteries from good 'ol Amazon (if you're gonna do a CRAZY-sized project like THIS, ordering it all 'in bulk' online is pretty much the BEST way to go! Buying the lights alone, from either Wally-world or Lowes / Home Depot would've been INSANELY expensive!)-- then... after the wait (which seemed like an eternity!-- but, it was around a week or so!) for the 'snail-mail' to FINALLY deliver everything to my door--  I took a long, deep breath-- and went to WORK! 

                                       

The task took a few days to complete. BOTH-- because I wanted to do this RIGHT, as well as running into a few problems here and there. Mostly with getting the 'two-way' adhesive backing that came with the lights to actually STICK in a few spots! That's when a bit of super-glue, and even a few small screws helped things along!

At last though, the job was done! Boy-HOWDY-- it sure turned-out just about as NIFTY-NEAT-O-SPIFFY as I hoped it would! Below is the photographic PROOF! Unlike other times here, I'm just going to save my little goofy-geek-tastic comments for AFTER all the pics!--- (I'm assuming those faithful-few of you, who are checking this post out-- are of COURSE familiar with the lay-out of my little hidey-hole!)---

'Now Loydster,' you might be asking, 'aren't you the least bit worried about quickly burning-up ALL of the batteries for ALL of those 'puck-lights'?' The short & simple answer to that is--- 'nope'! This 'shelf-lighting' set-up, is just for occasional use. Mostly when, say-- company comes over. That's when I'll be utilizing them. So, when I want guests to be able to see ALL the 'goodies & gee-gaws' in the shelves and cases-- they'll be able to, with the simple popping of the button on a NIFTY little remote!

Like I was saying up above, the other recent additions to the stuff on display within the 'Sanctum, are pretty small! A perfect example: a couple of signs I put together, for setting up on the top of one the 'barrister' cases. They're BOTH only around 2 1/2 inches tall! Painted in nice, BRIGHT comic book-type 'primary colors' though,  you see them RIGHT away as you enter my little 'GEEK-out space'! In fact, they're straight ahead of you--as you enter the room!---

If you peek inside and to the immediate right within my little 'media-nook' (the room's former closet, remember?), you'll see yet ANOTHER little (6x6 inches!) sign I made and placed in there!  It's VERY simply made! Just a square piece of black foam-core posterboard, some ('bright blue') acrylic paint, and a few vinyl 'stick-on' letters! As well as a 'Bat-symbol' from an old toy package!---

In my post back in January, about the (MOSTLY) finished-up 'Man-Cave'-- I remember mentioning the space to the upper right of my teensy-weensy little desk. How it was going to have to be a 'rotating exhibit' type of space, for a number of posters and other framed images-- that my little 'cube-of-nerdiness' just does NOT have adequate room for! At least, not for ALL of them at once. 

I figure it's high time I threw the spotlight on those items! Although, if you've been following along here with me on the 'ol bloggy-thang-thingy-ma-rang for a while--you MIGHT 'sort-of' remember some of this stuff! I'm pretty sure I've shared pics of most of it, in old posts about my previous 'Man-Cave'--several years back! 

At any rate--here then, are a few images of those WAY-cool posters & framed goodies! Including the first few I've already had on display here in my little 'Crime-fighting Headquarters'!---

The first few posters / 'neat-stuff', that have been on display in the 'rotation-spot'! The little group in the third pic, is the most recent set of goodies to go up. In fact, I just put them up in the last week or so!

The next group of pics, feature the posters waiting in storage. My plan still, is to 'rotate' them into that same 'display-spot', in the 'Man-Cave'-- roughly every 6 months or so. Hey, stuff THIS neat-o, simply can NOT be left in a storage-shed, wrapped in cardboard! (I temporarily popped them out of their 'storage-state', to snap the pics below!--Am I a HOPELESS nerd-a-zoid, or WHAT!??)---

The last couple of 'things that are in storage-- but WILL be on display at SOME point!'--- A couple of (roughly) 8x10 images of Elvis and The Duke. These are 'art prints' of 'pencil portraits' I picked up at--- believe it or NOT-- an 'Everything-for-a-Dollar' store, (in the days BEFORE there was a chain of 'Dollar Tree' stores!) MANY years ago! Right at the moment, I don't even have frames for either of them! BUT-- the aforementioned 'Dollar Tree' will take care of THAT problem easy enough!---

The artist who signed these (just his last name) was a fellow named 'Adkins'. That's about ALL that I know about him! I do know that he HAD to be SUPER-talented though, because the likenesses on BOTH of these pieces is DEAD-ON! I will INDEED have these in the 'rotation-spot'--someday!

Truly the current version of the 'Man-Cave', and the on-going tinkering that goes on within it-- as I've said before-- has become something of a hobby in itself! It sure has been FUN seeing the results of the little ideas / 'brain-storms' that come into that over-sized 'block-shaped' Ferrell-head of mine! 

It DOES sometimes feel...as if the thrashing away to make some of these schemes and 'master-plans' happen, turns into what sometimes feels a LOT like, well-- WORK! As I was saying earlier in this post though.... ALL the work and thrashing is usually WORTH it! The BIG 'ol goofy-geeky-GRIN I get on my face, (sometimes, I even chuckle a little to myself!) most EVERY time I enter my little NERD-O-RIFFIC hidey-hole--- is PROOF of THAT!

 

See you NEXT time gang! Stay safe, sane, and HAPPY!

The AMAZING Mrs. Debbie and her outdoor-ART! (An update on the 'OTHER artist in the family'!)

 

Just so no one out there thinks the 'ol Loydster is the ONLY one who has 'brain-storms' and has all the creative thoughts and schemes-- in the 'Loyd & Debbie-combo'!--- Just a little graphic I put together, to show how my FAVORITE-girl-in-the-whole-wide-WORLD-- lets HER mind go 'into over-drive'! She truly has the GIFT of 'outdoor creativity'! Keep scrollin' & readin' to see just HOW creative this little lady can be!

It's been a few years now, (close to at least SIX, in fact!) since I've had a chance to put up a post, that focuses on the number ONE lady in my life and her passion for all things green, colorful, and growing! Her talent for putting in and arranging those wonderful splashes of color around the outside of our home-- that make it REALLY feel like, well--- HOME! I figure it's HIGH time I return to that subject, and throw some praise and appreciation her way, once again!

Mostly due to our odd-ball living situation, (whether we were going to just continue to rent, or FINALLY be able to actually PURCHASE a home, for one thing!) the past 4-plus years or so-- she hasn't really been able to focus on doing what she's ALWAYS loved doing-- that is, put in flower beds & plant arrangements around the outside of the house, as well as a small veggie garden. (out back, of course!)

Now that the whole 'where-we're-gonna-be-living' / home-purchase thingy-thang's all been settled --for a little while now---she finally decided that THIS was gonna be the spring and summer that she would once more take the SERIOUS plunge into doing some 'botanical-sprucing-up' of the outside, around the 'Cozy-Cottage' and 'Micro-Ranch'!

One of the things that's ALWAYS amazed me about Debbie-- once she starts a gardening or yard-fix-up-project, there's NO stopping her! She's like a little five-foot-four-inch, HIGH-horse-powered DYNAMO! What she's accomplished in just PART of this ONE season, would've taken some folks YEARS to get done!

I think that's just about enough of my blabbering-on for an introduction! Let's now get to the photographic PROOF of just WHAT this little lady of mine can do-- with some yard tools, plants and potting soil! Of course, I'll do a bit of 'slipping-in-of-GOOFY-GEEKY commentary' along the way here and there! (It just would NOT be MY blog, if I didn't do THAT!!)---

Right next to the steps going up to our porch, is this WAY-nifty set-up! There's also an old dryer 'barrel' under the plant-life to the right! That's one of my wifey's 'creative-gifts' too. Utilizing 'found objects' to really add some visual 'jazz' to her plant and flower displays!

An over-all look at the flower-bed / plant-set-up at the left-front of the 'Cozy-Cottage'. Deb put in a major amount of work and effort, into getting this area flat and level! Check out how even and EXTRA-straight everything is!

A mix of planted items, along with a few things in various-sized pots and buckets-- keeps this 'garden spot' from being ANY kind of boring!

The blooms on some of these plants almost look FAKE, they're SO colorful--don't they???

It takes a SERIOUS commitment (not to mention all of the DAILY up-keep and maintenance!) to keep all of this plant-life vital and growing! Deb doesn't hesitate to jump into ALL of that with BOTH feet! Once she starts in on a project like this, it's 110-percent for her, ALL-the-way!

Another spot, with a mix of just the RIGHT amount of green and beautiful colors!

I'll just let these next few pics do 'all the talking' for me!

This is the area around the base of the old giant elm tree in our front yard. Once again, Deb's utilized old wash-tubs and other 'found' stuff, to keep the viewer's eyes moving, all around this spot!

A vintage 'little red wagon,' under a couple of the potted items! Truthfully--- something I wouldn't have EVER thought of doing! Like I keep saying--- the 'ol Loydster isn't the ONLY 'creative-thinker' in this marriage of ours!

 Now that we've checked-out the sights around the front of the 'Ferrell-abode', let's have a peek at the goings-on around back, shall we?---

One segment of Deb's veggie-garden! Some KING-sized peppers, and other kinds of 'stuff that's good for you' thrives and grows healthy and strong back here, up against the property's fence-line!

This is just a SMALL part of 'the crop', from the tomato plants that my wife has put in this year! Needless to say, we'll soon have more tomatoes than the two of us can eat! (Don't get me wrong-- I absolutely LOVE tomatoes! Believe me-- I'll be gobbling-up a good amount of these babies!)

Yet another project that Deb's been working away on! Believe it or not-- these natural sandstone slabs, were buried just under the surface, in various areas-- around our front yard! Dozens and dozens of them! Deb's been gradually digging them all up, to utilize as a 'natural floor surface' in a little 'patio-area' she's been wanting to set up in our back yard. 
As things progress on THAT effort, you can count on an update in a (hopefully) near-future post!

                                                                                   

One more thing, before I finish-off this here post! I just want to say how VERY glad I am, to see my SPECIAL little lady diving off into what she loves so VERY much!  It's something I've missed. Witnessing that creative-energy flow from her, into all of the BEAUTIFUL plants, flowers, and other 'growing things'-- that she's once again working on surrounding our little house and property with!

 

You are truly my NUMBER ONE blessing, wife-o-mine! It's been GREAT seeing you be able to do what I know you LOVE to do so much! It also has added those previously mentioned 'splashes of color', that make this little 'micro-ranch' of ours, feel like a HOME! Loved you then, love you now, will love you ALWAYS, my FOREVER sweetie!

                              See you NEXT time around gang! 'Til then-- stay SAFE, SANE and HAPPY!!