Water Fountains

Hi there everyone. Hope your day was special. Sitting here watching the Bachelorette as I write this blog.... eh...can't just watch, need to be doing something. So tonight I shall blog about my water fountains. Which I did mention I would do this last week when I did the Water Fall blog. So here we go.

This is my fountain in the back yard....as you can see there is lots of water in it....that's from a few big storms we had. The goose moved from the left side.........

To the right side....I can see him better from the kitchen window, when I look out every day to see how things are growing.

So here is my little water fountain on the front porch. I have it on right now.....and can even hear the fountain from in the house. So relaxing to listen to water trickling in the fountain. And relaxing too, just sitting on the front porch, watching the day pass by.

I have actually seen people walk by my house, as I am walking  Kylie across the street. The people stop in front of my house and look at the porch, trying to figure out where the water sound is coming from. Or maybe they are looking at my flowers too.

OMG looks like Andi is going with Josh. What a shocker. That's good though, I guess I didn't like the shifty eyes of Nick, he couldn't look her in the eyes and was always looking away. I wish Andi had picked Farmer Chris....now I would have liked him....but it looks like he might be the next Bachelor....oh yeah...now that will be a show not to miss!!!! I wonder if that girl from Toronto will end up on the show....now that would be a twist. Farmer Chris could get to know her that way.

It all shall be interesting.....as the world turns. I guess we are all looking for that "forever love" sometimes it can be very elusive and can never be found.

Well, you all have a great day and keep looking up. If you want to see what I am talking about on my other blog...here is the address:cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com  Cheers ~ Louise

500 Posts and Hibiscus Tea

Hi there everyone. How is your day going? I am loving this weather...mid 7o's is just perfect and not high humidity....perfect, perfect. I am not a hot weather person and especially as I get older, hot does not agree with me or my ankles. So I have been praying....God keep it cool....and He has. But there is still August and September....then comes October, November and December and we know how cold those months can be. But for now, this has been a very comfortable Summer in my books.

So today is my 500 post on BlogSpot. I guess there should be a celebration of sorts....it's been fun blogging, don't know if I have a lot of followers that are actually following every word I type....it would be nice....but that is okay if you are not. It has been good therapy for me and maybe hopefully helped someone along the line.

Through the course of blogging here, I have ended up with a 2nd blog at: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com  I was forced to go there because I could not up-load my pictures on blogspot. To say the least I became very frustrated, and started a 2nd blog. Wordpress is still a bit confusing to me, but it seems to attract more followers and reach more people for some reason. So, I will keep it going for the time being.

I have made some hibiscus tea. In all the years I have had this plant, never realized I could make tea with the flowers. Now I am hooked and can have fresh hibiscus tea during the winter too!!! I looked up on Youtube how to make the tea and it has lots of good properties like Vitamin C and also keeps the blood pressure down. Which I need.

So you take a tea pot with filtered water and boil. Take your hibiscus flowers and pull the petals off. and place in the water and let them steep.

In this picture you can see the petals starting to lose their color. I take the flower petals out when they go completely white and have lost all their color. The water will have turned pink as you can see in the two pictures below.

I also added a half package of stevia to sweeten the tea a bit. Such a pretty color and very tasty also. I think I am addicted to this luscious and refreshing tea.

Here's another picture of the tea.  I have also been making Hyssop tea with the leaves, which has a bit of a licorice taste to it, and Bee Balm tea, which you can use the petals of the red flowers (and you can eat the bee balm petals also, good for bad breath). I suspect you can use the leaves of the bee balm also...have not done that as yet. I think I have enough teas to keep me busy drying for a couple of weeks. I do have some lemon mint leaves to dry also.

Well as you can see....been busy making my own teas. JP likes the Hyssop tea the best. It's mentioned in the Bible and was used for Passover in Exodus 12:22. So yeah, he likes that Hyssop is in the Bible. So it must be good for our bodies in some way.

Time to close and get going on some of these teas. I told the Pastor's wife I would bring some mint tea for her to try tomorrow. Maybe I should google "how to make lemon mint tea" and see what it says.

You have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

PS I blogged about this wonderful tea on Saturday. Not exactly sure why it did not post....I guess I need to contact Blog Support...have nothing but frustrations with this blog. Sorry for my rant!!!

Water....Falling

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying this wonderful weather. Well, at least it is beautiful here in Wisconsin. All this next week it will be in the 70's, beautiful (bella), beautiful (bella) weather. Was looking at some pictures on Pinterest and saw these pictures of waterfalls.....oh I love the sound of water...falling. Guess that is why I enjoy the two little water fountains I have. One on the front porch and one in the back yard. Today I will show you these beautiful water falls. Saturday the waterfalls on the porch and the back yard.

Seljalandsfoss, Iceland

 New York

 California

Waterfall Highway, Portugal

I am making this blog very short. But stand by, I have a few ideas on the back burner. So you all have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

If you would like to read what I am doing on Wordpress....here is my address there. cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

Beautiful Day and Made Some Scones

Hi there everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Saturday....my goodness, the weather was just perfect today, here in Wisconsin, at least in our neck of the woods. Really did not accomplish anything except take a day off and just enjoy the front porch and back yard. Watered my porch plants and fertilized. Then we brought the glider chair to the porch so I took a small snooze while listening to the radio. Oh, and I got my little fountain going on the porch. It was so quiet on this block...couldn't even hear any kids screaming. They must all be up at Bay Beach in Green Bay.

So JP and I took a walk down to "Kylie's Park" with Kylie...she was in all her glory, taking mommy and daddy for a walk and showing us what she enjoys the most. We came home and got the grill going for steak, vegies and toast. About a half hour later we went to Tom's Drive in and Kylie got a baby ice cream cone and we had hot fudge sundaes. So yeah....it was a really nice day. Now here I am doing my blog....day is done, gone the sun....(sniff)...Saturday's just never last long enough.

So this past week I made some scones. Been wanting to try making them and finally did. I bought this packaged mix from the "free market" and organic food store. It was pretty much fun to make and I probably will do it again.

Can you read the instructions?? Was not thinking and threw the packaging out: Lets see....
1 bag Pamela's biscuit mix                 1 cup milk or almond milk
1/2 cup sugar                                      1/2 cup blueberries or raisins
8 Tbsp butter                                       sprinkle with ground up nuts.
Mix together mix and sugar, then add butter, then milk and fruit. Will be sticky, lay out on parchment paper and cut in small wedges. Bake at 375 degrees on parchment paper for 20 minutes.

Here they are all baked and cooling on a rack. I used dried cranberries and a few fresh and frozen blueberries. Hence, the different colors.

Here is the second group of scones being popped into the oven........they were so crunchy and good when dipped in hot coffee. Yes, I shall do this again.

Time to close this blog and head over to my other blog at: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com  Not sure what I will blog about....it will be a surprise!!! Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Flowers from my Garden

Hi there everyone....omg....this just makes my day when things are working on BlogSpot. Today I could up-load some pictures. So we will go with it....Happy dance, happy dance!!! Next test....will these pictures be extra large or regular size pictures......we'll see.

So in this picture are my purple clematis....they sure looked beautiful this year. Last year I took a lot of roots and transplanted this baby in 2 different places. Some roots went to another part of the back yard and by the side of the front porch. I did take some pictures of the different places. Shall have to take some more pictures of these pretty flowers.

In this picture is my swan, which always gets some red geraniums planted in her. Have some cucumbers planted in the pot behind, got my first cucumber yesterday....oh yay!!! Not sure what that green plant is....that one comes back every year and I can keep it out all winter (covered of course) it grows back. I will have to check to see if the name is still in the pot, if so, I will let you know.

And here....TA DA....are my wonderful "brown eyed susans?" They volunteer themselves every year and I never know where they will grow from year to year.  These are growing along side the house and their blooms will last a couple of weeks. I do so love them!!! So bright and happy!!!

Here is my beautiful white rose....This year only half of the rose bush came back...guess it was a rough winter for them. During the winter there is always a 6 foot mound of snow that covers this rose bush....very well insulated but it was a cold, long, winter for her. Perhaps that is why only half survived.

Well time to close, need to get ready to go pick up some bread at the Salvation Army. Have to start thinking about making JP's lunch, I use lots of bread, so getting bread at the SA really helps us...today he is getting a refried bean sandwich with lettuce. Sounds good, right???

Talk later and have a great day and keep looking up!! Cheers ~ Louise

PS If you want to see what I posted on my wordpress blog, go here:cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

Esty Tap Dancing and Scones

Hi there everyone. Geez these days are flying by. Thought I just blogged yesterday and it was Wednesday already!!! So Wednesday I had another sale from my Etsy store but did not see the sale till yesterday.....well I started dancing as soon as I saw the sale. Here is what sold. Tried inserting the picture, but to no avail!!!


Sorry..........I sorta knew it was too good to be true!!! Back to square one!!! Please see my wordpress blog for the rest of the story and pictures.....sigh!!!! cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com


Please click on this link and it will take you directly to a BLOG THAT WORKS!!


NOTE: Due to unresolved issues beyond my control with BlogSpot. I cannot upload pictures. So I have taken my bogging to Wordpress where picture uploading is more assessable. Please continue visiting me here and at wordpress.
Thanks.
Cheers ~ Louise

Part 2 ~ Hi-lites of July 4th

Hi everyone, so as promised I have blogged about Part 2 of our July weekend. We washed and stained the front porch....oh it sure does look nice. Why did I take so long to do it???

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! I thought just for the heck of it, I would try up-loading a picture to see if BlogSpot would let me and would you look at this, a picture....WOW OH WOW!!! It's a bit too large for this blog...but hey...not complaining, lest I FINALLY can up load a picture!!!!! HOORAY!!!!



I am SHOCKED BEYOND EXCITEMENT!!!! Well, I believe I have two blogs now, if you would like to go to my wordpress blog for the whole story about washing and staining the front porch. In the picture above you can see the "after" the wash and staining of the floor. Oh my goodness I just can't get over it. Okay now that I am up and off the floor....lol here is my link to cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com so you can see "the rest of the story"
Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Hi-lites of July 4th weekend - part 1

Hi everyone how was your July 4th weekend?? Mine was quiet, busy and productive. There is just JP and I and Kylie our doggie...so that is where the "quiet" comes in. No family or friends here in Appleton. So, quiet it is and busy and productive. We got a lot accomplished this weekend. Gas grill turned into a charcoal grill and the front porch washed down and stained. Along with a few other projects.


If you would like to find out more of what we were up to, go to my wordpress blog at: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com


Hope this new week is fun-filled and prosperous for you. Take care and keep looking up.
Cheers ~ Louise


NOTE: Still due to unresolved issues beyond my control with BlogSpot. I cannot download pictures. So I have taken my blogging to Wordpress where picture downloading is more assessable. Please continue visiting me here and at Wordpress. Please leave comments, I like hearing from your all.

Happy 4th of July ~ God Bless America!!

Go to: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com for my post of "Happy 4th of July ~ God Bless America"


Note: Due to unresolved issues beyond my control with BlogSpot. I cannot download pictures. So I have taken my blogging to Wordpress, where picture downloading is more assessable. Please continue visiting me here and at Wordpress.


Thanks and Cheers ~ Louise