A Few Flowers & Some Projects on the "To Do" List

Hi there everyone....hope you had a nice weekend. I am not sure I accomplished a whole lot, but I did enjoy the weekend, watering flowers and vegies, taking pictures, resting and reading my book that Diana wrote. "Lucy and the Mystery of the Dark Woods" During the week, after JP leaves for work, 4:00 pm is my reading time, just taking that little bit of time is so relaxing.....even though Lucy is struggling with  her life situations.

So in the above picture is a new peonie bush I got from the neighbors......I rescued it, they were going to throw it out.....NOOOOOOOO.....I will take it, they did not like the ants.....well that is fine with me, I just shake the flowers so the ants fall off (sometimes). So here is the first bloom from the little bush.

My purple climbing Clementius. She is in 3 different places, climbing up the side of the porch, climbing up a fence in the back yard and side of yard, climbing up the trellis.

I mentioned in my previous post that I had some projects on my "to do" list. Can you believe.....16 projects, that will keep me busy all summer and fall. Some of these projects may continue on into next summer too!!!

Project 1 - Freida the Frog.....I have the tires, just have to get the rest of the stuff together.
Project 2 - I want to make a Dragon Fly, made out of old fan blades and fancy railing post....spray painted and jewels and wire. Should be a fun project.
Project 3 - Paint the front door with the paint rebuilding together left behind. The door never got painted by them.

Here is a single rose.....this plant is really doing good this year.....I fed it lots of old coffee grounds in the fall. So it is pretty perky this summer. The plant is about 22 years old.

Project 4 - Paint daisies on my old shed.
Project 5 - Screw some old shutters on the old shed. I finally bought a new drill....so this can be accomplished.
Project 6 - Paint the old wicker chair white.

This is my lily bush.....each year it gets bigger and bigger.

Project 7 - Hang rods on the new basement windows and hang curtains.
Project 8 - Spray paint the bird feeder tire green.
Project 9 - Spray paint JP's old bike for a yard decoration with flowers.

This is a new addition to my garden. Cosmos along side the house......I am planning to get some transplanted to the front yard too.....will have lots of seeds for next year.

Project 10 - Paint and make a pallet planter for herbs.
Project 11 - Clean and straighten the basement...it is still disorganized from getting the new basement windows replaced.
Project 12 - Paint the same daisies that were painted on the shed, on the basement wall going down the stairs.

This is the same rose bush (two pictures previous) taken in the late afternoon and close up, it almost looks like a water color rose.

Project 13 - Hang boarder on walls in kitchen ceiling.
Project 14 - Back splash tiles applied behind the stove. (almost done with this project)
Project 15 - Paint two walls in the Dinning room an off white.
Project 16 - Have a garage sale!!!

So there you have it....I am not sure how much I will accomplish this summer, as I have 2 appointments with the eye doctor for cataract surgery (I am a little scared) on July 22nd and August 5th.
The Doctor said I am a good candidate for the surgery and there is a chance I may not have to wear glasses, maybe just those bifocals from the dollar store. Plus I am still dealing with the Dentist and a deep cleaning on July 7th...then 6 cavities need to be filled. I think the cavities will have to wait till September or even October. My head can take just so much....you know???

Well you all have a great evening.....see you in July. Keep looking up.....Cheers ~ Louise

A Garden Walk on Saturday - Part 2

Hi there everyone. Lovely day today.....I need to get some things done....have a long list of project to do.....but sometimes have a hard time starting them. In my next post I will list everything I want to do...."my summer to-do list."

Well today is the last of the pictures from the garden walk on Saturday.....in this picture is the lady's Hostas and Gnome garden.....gnomes, gnomes everywhere!!!!

This was a cute gate....it sort of covered up her junk area and made it pleasing to the eyes. It says, "Meet me at the garden gate."

In this picture is the entrance to her lovely garden and another place to sit and rest and drink some iced tea.

Her Begonia garden....I love the red begonia plants, so healthy they look too!! Can you see her red garden furniture? I got to sit at her table and just kind of survey the whole back yard. She said they moved in this house in 1979 and she started with one rock garden near the drive way.....and just sort of spread out over the years......yeah, she had room to roam. I didn't even get pictures of all her gardens. She invited us back in August to see her garden.....will have to do that.

Here is her lovely pool......she has 5 daughters and 10 grand babies....all boys, can you see the tractors on the walk-way????

Here is a picture of her lovely patio furniture......yep, and a nice place to sit and enjoy the summer drink iced tea and reading a good book....don't you think???

This was another garden in front of the house to the side of the garage.....she sure had LOTS of statues and signs to catch the eyes.

Here is her burning bush.....it sort of died out except for a little branch that started to bloom. I liked the effect of this sawed off tree......it can hold all the objects in her garden that need a place to hang out.

Well, I think I will close here....I need to go work out in my garden.....someday, I will have a pretty garden like this, dream on....but right now, I shall just enjoy what I have. You all have a good day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

A Garden Walk On Saturday

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I did....yes I did. Except for the mosquitoes, the days were perfect, as I sit here typing and scratching those little bites. Was just sitting on the front porch for 10 minutes and they found me!!!!! UGE!!!! I found that spraying some "Salonpas" which relieves pain also works to relieve the itch of the skeeter bites, I will try anything at least once if it helps a bit.

Well, yesterday we went on a "garden walk" of 5 gardens sponsored by the Master Gardeners of Appleton. We went to 3 of the gardens. One garden I did not take pictures. But the last two gardens were absolutely beautiful as you will see....so many great ideas.

In this  picture, I liked the way the plants were planted in old crocks and the cute little water fountain in the front is always such an eye catcher to me. Love the sound of water running.

This is the back of the house and another water fountain....I like that door as a decoration and the ladder to the left has a climbing Clementius....good idea.

Here is another crock with some Hydrangeas growing in it......very pretty. I do have a large crock....but I am not sure I want to use it as a planter as yet.

A garden is not complete without a few homemade signs. "When Heaven falls to Earth - It becomes' a garden" (Not exactly sure what that word is after the saying)

In this picture, is the second garden walk. Look at that beautiful garden, lots of vegies and flowers mixed together. I love all the little walk ways, stones, boards and what all this gardener found to make her garden attractive.

This picture shows her creativeness in using different things to catch the eye, plus the usefulness...this old pot belly stove became a hoe, rake and shovel holder in the middle of her garden.....good idea.

Now this was the center of attraction for me.....her workshop, with all her garden utensils.....gosh, I sure would love a little shop like this for all my stamping stuff. And look at all that work space. There was an upstairs also....it looked like her "get away place to hide."

This is the sign hanging in her shop. "I live in the garden I just sleep in the house"

This sweet little girl's sign says, "God laughs in the Flowers"

And the last sign says,"May all  your weeds be wildflowers"

After going on this walk....now I have lots of projects I would like to do, to add a little sparkle to my garden. I still have my "Freida the Frog" made out of tires to make, a dragon fly, made out of fan blades. I want to paint the old bike downstairs pink or white, paint my daisies on the garden shed and put shutters up.....yeah, so much to do yet. By the time I get everything done....Fall might be here. Well, I hope you liked this little tour of 2 gardens....I still have a few more pictures, so I shall show you them in Part 2 coming in a few days.

Tomorrow I have and eye appointment at 11am. The Doctor is going to talk to me about my options with cataract surgery and probably check my eyes again....I need to ask him just exactly what am I seeing when I have cataracts, I know I am seeing lots of floaters which really irritates me. Sometimes I feel like a bug is flying by and I want to swat it.

Well, you have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

A Card Making Kind of Day

Hi there everyone. How is life going with you???  Yesterday was a card making kind of day. We usually meet once a month, but for the next couple of months, we won't be meeting, because the rode outside Betty's home is getting widened and repaved....so I guess it will be a mess for a while. So September will be our next card making day. Here, you see the following cards we made.

I took these pictures outside on the front porch. So there was a little more light to play with. Betty has lots of die cuts...so the fancy oval and flowers are a die cut, we colored the flowers and leaves in with Copic markers.

In this picture, the coloring in, was the light house. The frilly vine is a die cut. Then we layered the papers and ribbon and embellished with the bow and gems.

In this picture, the background is patterned paper, the flower was stamped on a iridescent paper and then embossed. We cut out the flower and colored in some of the pedals with pink copic markers. Very simple but elegant.

This was the first card we made and the duck is colored in with copic markers. Again, some of the lovely oval die cuts that Betty has.

I have not been able to get down to the basement in the last couple of days to make cards. The heavy rains caused a little flooding in our basement and backyard. The dehumidifier had been running for 3 days and there's still lots of moisture in the basement. Hope all my papers don't get wrecked.

I still have the chore of putting everything back together after the Rebuilding Together people replaced the basement windows. Everything had to be moved from in front of the windows, so needless to say I have plastic containers full of stuff on the floors and not on the skids, like they are supposed to be. I may have a mess down there that I don't realize I have yet. There might be a few cardboard boxes on the floor....oh well, maybe this weekend.

Well time to close here, hope you have a wonderful couple of days. JP and I are planning on going and getting a few ideas on a "garden walk" on Saturday, hopefully the weather will be nice with no rain.
Cheers ~ Louise

Beautiful Bella & Pretty Peonies

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a "bellissimo" weekend. Ours was kind of exciting. Thursday it started out with this site. BELLA sitting on her roof!!! What a site, I tell ya. For whatever reason, she crawls through the window screens and just sits there, waiting for her humans to come home. Well on this fine day, it happened that the man from Rebuilding Together came by to pick up their sign and he saw Bella sitting on the roof. He called Community Service. While he was calling Bella decided to go back into the house. Yes, crawling back through the window screen and back to safety.

As soon as he knew Bella was safe, he left. About a half hour later the Community Service police came. They looked around the house and on the roof. One of them saw me standing on the porch and came over. I told them Bella sits on the roof waiting....she does not jump, but I guess she could and it would be a long hard jump for her. She has done this a few other times. When I see the owners I will tell them and get their phone number. Next time this happens, I will call them and let them know. they said, "great...because there was really NOTHING they could do."

Saturday....Bella was on the roof again. I tell ya....I get such a kick out of seeing Bella sitting calmly on the roof looking off into the distance. She is so funny!!! BUT, not so funny on this day. I went over to Bella's home and told her master "John" about her antics. Bella thought it was great that I was visiting and to get John's attention, she decided to eat a DEAD chipmunk!!! Oh yuk.....I could not look cause every time I looked, I almost lost it and gagged!!! John never did get that dead chipmunk out of Bella's mouth. Bella thought it was great sport and pranced around, thinking she had done a wonderful thing.

After she ate the chipmunk she came up to the porch and wanted to greet me with a mouth shake....looking closely at her, Bella has to different colored eyes...one blue and one grey/white....funny dog!!!

Here you see my peonies...these are in a bouquet in the front of the house. Hold on, I shall go take another picture of the peonies.....the sun is out now I think I will use this picture as the header for this blog.

Here we are a picture of the peonies in a bouquet in front of the house. See my cucumbers to the right?? 3 in a pot and 4 or 5 in the ground....one way or the other....I shall get some cucumbers this summer. Maybe I will be able to share some too. Or make lots of pickles this summer.

My little evergreen tree planted by "Rebuilding Together" is not doing too well....we have to get some cow manure for it this week. I shall make some tea and give it a shot for all the plants....they can hardly wait.

Well, time to close here....think I will go downstairs and make a few cards...have not been down there for awhile....guess outside work is taking up my time.

I have found a wonderful book to read....it's called "The Mystery Of Lucy and the Dark Woods" by Diana Kosmoski, it's her first authored book and I have found it very interesting and good reading. I have taken time, after JP leaves for work, I sit on the front porch for about an hour with an ice tea and Kylie watching the action on the street from the porch. It is very relaxing. As for most books I get interested in, I don't want the end to come...but it will. I may have to ask Diana to write a sequel.

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

Mmmmm Strawberries

Hi there everyone. How are you doing today? All is well here....my strawberry plants are producing...oh my, I am in love. They are not the biggest in town....but they are good to the very last berry.

Yesterday, I saw a Robin enjoying him/herself....I wondered who the culprit was that was eating a few berries. Sitting on my porch, I found out who it was. Gosh, I had no idea that Robins ate anything other then worms!!!! Now I know.

You like my blue bowls? I picked then up at a garage sale...they also have covers. I can use them in the microwave for steaming vegetables and heating food....I shall have to try that soon. For now, they are good for my strawberries.

Nothing too much is going on today. I finally straightened out the garage yesterday, now it is an organized mess. LOL! Today I need to plant my Rose Moss, cucumbers and more zucchini in the front of the house. I will then have cucumbers and zucchini planted in 3 different places. One of those 3 places has GOT to produce some fruit for me this year. I have quite a bit of shade trees around my house, so it makes for some tough growing. I lost my apple trees....they did not get enough sun.

So, we shall see how things go this year. The plants in the front of the house will get sun pretty much all day....that's where the strawberries are. So if the strawberries are thriving....maybe the cucumbers and zucchini will too.

Well time to go do a few things around the house. You all have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

A Graduation Card Using Stickers

Hi there everyone...hope you are having a lovely Sunday. We have a graduation party to go to for this handsome man.

Invitations were sent out so I thought, why not make a card using his picture and some stickers. This is what I came up with. Turned out pretty neat I think. The card is on white cardstock, added a side panel of blue and the silver side is a tin tape that I got at the hardware store...I guess it is used for heating and air-conditioning duct work. I ran the tape through the cuttlebug and smeared alcohol ink over it. Then added the picture and the stickers.

The party is from 1-5...hopefully we can make the last part of the party. Well...I guess not....JP does not want to go, oh well, guess I will have to mail the card or save it for next week to give to him.

I have a "stamping up party to go to today also.....now I guess I can take my time at that. Funny how things can get so busy...yikes!!! Life sure does not slow down for anyone, does it.

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

A Very Big Change......

Hi there everyone. How is your day going? Mine has been pretty busy, starting with getting Kylie to the groomer by 8am. Usually after I drop her off, I go to the store for food then come home. Today, I just came home. Went on the computer for awhile, then made some breakfast. Nothing fancy, chocolate rice cakes with cream cheese and strawberries. Sat outside on the porch for awhile. Then started washing the covers on the chairs and pillowcases that Kylie sleeps on. Well gosh, after a shower and haircut she needs clean bed coverings, right??.

Then I went outside to cut some rhubarb and made some crisp....NanaDiana's recipe this is so easy and makes lots....well, it should last at least a couple of days. The Groomer called to I could pick up Kylie at 2:30. So I stopped at the gas station for gas, pizza and coffee then on to the Groomer. Gosh, Kylie was so happy to see me....she must think I am not coming back for her....silly girl.

I ran across this picture of our house when we first bought our little house in 1991.....what a big change this house has seen. The tree in back of the house is WAY big now. The bush in front of the house was really small.....and that tree left of the house was the neighbor's tree...man I hated that tree, it caused a lot of problems. Finally the neighbor had it cut down....the limbs were rubbing on our roof.

The guy we bought this house from was single and getting married. So the extent of landscaping was....all rocks around the front and side and back of the house. Whew.....it took me quite a few years to remove the rocks and replace with flowers and plants.

In 2001 we got a grant from the City to get siding, windows, doors, a new porch and a roof done. The below picture is pretty much what it looked like......I did paint the porch and floor, probably 2-3 years after it was done. It stayed pretty much the same for all these years.

                          (both these pictures were taken in the same month....before and after)

Today.....this is what my house looks like now. The shutters were painted and put back up. The porch painted, new basement windows and a re landscaping......I am so very happy with my little house.....from what it looked like in 1991 to today 2015....it's a very big change!!!!

I wish the picture from 1991 was a little bit clearer, but it was a picture from an old Polaroid camera and had gotten very dark. I very seldom do scanning and for the life of me, could not figure it out.....suddenly I figured it out and "wa-lah" I shall have to do some more scanning of "Old Pictures". That should be fun.

Well, time to close this blog....need to go outside and plant a few flowers and move the cucumbers in the back. They only got about 4 hours of sun....that's not enough. Think I will do some cucumbers in the front....full sun there. Maybe over to the left where that big bush was....plenty of space to roam.

Have a good evening and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Grilled Zucchini

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful day, it sure was a beautiful day. I got a few more plants for my back yard.....cucumber plant, zucchini plant, a tomato plant and geranium plant. And WALAH!!! I got them all planted tonight.

Yesterday, after church, I did some grilling. Hamburger, potatoes and grilled zucchinis. Oh gosh, they were so yummy, I made another helping and grilled them while we were eating.

So here is what I did:
2 zucchinis sliced in half, then cut in 1/4 inches.
2 tablespoon olive oil poured over zucchini
Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste
Seasoning of your choice. I used a rosemary and garlic seasoning.

Set on grill and cook, turn and cook till browned on all sides.

I could not stop eating these as they cooked on the grill, I guess that is why I had to make a second batch.

I think I will get a larger grill basket at Shopko. This basket is small....a larger one would be good for adding maybe carrots, peppers and onions, broccoli, mushrooms, yum! Roasted vegies on the grill!

Time to close here....can you believe it is JUNE 1st???? My how time does fly!!! Have a great evening and keep looking up!
Cheers ~ Louise