Flowers, Bunny, Curbs, and Hockey

Hi there everyone ~ how you all doing??? Well I thought I would try to get one more blog done in July....have been very negligent in my blogging this year...guess there's not a lot to write about during a quarantine. But, little by little things are getting back to normal, what ever that is?!?!? 

So, here are a few flowers growing in my garden...above is my new Walmart Hibiscus plant....so pretty!! It is in a pot, so hopefully I will be able to keep it for the winter in the front room window.

These are my purple clematis's, always so pretty to watch them grow. They are also growing by my front porch.

This is my choir of Bee Balm....aren't they pretty? It's either the flowers or leaves that tea can be made from....I will have to check that out on the internet. Yep....you can make tea with both the flowers and leaves. I will have to go out tomorrow and collect some flowers and make tea. Some of the benefits of Bee Balm, the tea has the capability to cure cold and flu, coughing, nasal problems, nausea, digestive problems, headache, vomiting and other common sicknesses. 

I wonder, do you think Bee Balm could cure Corona Virus???

A bunny in the back yard....he seemed pretty tamed, cause he didn't move to fast when I came up on him. Too interested in what he was eating I guess.

So on the 21st of this month the new curbs went in. We still cannot get out of our driveway though. We never got the memo that the curbs were being done, "park your car on the side street." So we sit, hopefully this week, things will change and I can get out to do some shopping. We are running low on a few things.

Oh YAYYYYY! Hockey is starting August 1st. This covid 19 sure did ruin a lot of lives. I can't imagine how it was for all these hockey players being quarantined and not be able to play the game they love and enjoy!!! I really missed hockey. But now it is coming back and hopefully the Blackhawks will win the Stanley Cup. There will be 24 teams vying for the cup, I am praying for a good outcome. Least they made it to the playoffs...even if it was by default.

Well, I guess it is time to close this blog for a few days or weeks. It seems July was not to busy....which is fine with me. The weather has been really hot, running in the 90's and all I want to do is just keep cool. I found the basement is cooler, so I have spent some time down there. Although I should be spending time doing cards....rather watch TV. I better get cutting though, cause our first Hospice meeting since March will be meeting September 4th. 

Take care and keep looking up.....better days are coming. 
Cheers~ Louise 

Flowers 2 X 2 and Brined Corned Beef

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a good day. My days are getting better, been sick lately with another round with the ulcer.  I guess JP's problem with his teeth got to me. He went to the Dentist on Monday and it has been decided that he has 4 teeth that need to be pulled. I had my second deep cleaning on the other half of my mouth Tuesday. Then got sick Wednesday and Thursday, finally throwing up with diarrhea Thursday. TODAY praise God I am feeling so much better and eating a bit more. Lost a few pounds...so that I will take.

Another thing I am dealing with is the cataract eye surgery on July 22nd and August 5th. All the pre-ops and post-ops that come with it. I suppose there will be the eye drops that have to be applied. Oh I don't know, this sure has been a tough year for JP and I....here's hoping things calm down for us in the next few months.

So below are my two lovely Brown Eyed Susan's that come back every year.....love these flowers. This year I got lots of seedlings to start....So I shall be planting them all over my yard....yayyyyyy!

                              Two lovely orange-red Lilly's

                         Two lovely red Bee Balm blossoms.

Two lovely yellow trumpet Lilly's. Not sure that is what they are called, but I do, cause they look like little trumpets to me.

                         Two lovely yellow Begonia flowers.

This is not a picture of my corned beef in the brine, but from the site I got the recipe from. I made the brine and heated it up, it is now sitting on the stove cooling down. As the recipe said, can't add the hot brine to the cold meat....both must be cold then let it sit in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. I made this years ago when we lived on our 20 acres and raised our own beef....yep, those were the golden days for us....lots of work but we ate really good.

I will let you know how this turns out, as I probably will cook it in my pressure cooker along with some cabbage and potatoes. (golly it is not even St. Patrick's Day!!) I cooked up some steamed broccoli in the pressure cooker tonight....delicious, that will go with the chicken and potatoes (that was cooked in the oven). JP's dinner is all cooked, now I just have to do the dishes.

Well you all have a good evening and a great Saturday.....oh how we love Saturday's!!!!! Keep looking up!!! Cheers ~ Louise

SATURDAY....YaYYYYYYY!!!!

Hi there everyone. Hope your weekend is starting off good!! Have you ever tried to find some funny pictures....and none of them were very funny?? That's what happened for me tonight. I wanted to do a new post using a funny picture, but this is all I could find. Oh well....now that it is actually Saturday morning. I can look forward to sleeping in, probably won't hit the pillow till 2:30am. Yay!!!

Not much has been going on here. Just trying to enjoy the summer and what is left of it. My flowers are doing great and I do enjoy looking at them everyday. Been making teas with my Hibiscus plant, Lemon Mint in the front yard, Bee Balm and Hyssop tea in the back yard. All 4 are really great and each one has some really good health benefits.

My husband likes the Hyssop tea because it is mentioned in the Bible. Hyssop has a kind of licorice taste. Bee Balm attracts the bees and butterflies for the nectar and the leaves can be dried to prepare bergamot tea. The native Americans shared this tea with the early settlers, who then used it as a substitute when imported tea became scarce after the Boston tea party.

I take the flowers of my Hibiscus plant, rinse them and put them in a hot pot of water. I have talk about the Hibiscus tea in a previous post. The Lemon Mint tea is just as it says...a lemony mint taste. I have some drying on the front porch and plan to get some more dried by the end of this month.

I am getting a few cucumbers from the garden, no tomatoes as yet. It looks like my onions are not doing so good again this year. Oh well.

Don't have a lot of plans for today....maybe work on some cards and get a few new things into my Etsy store. I have been "out to lunch" for the last couple of weeks so to speak....so I better get some things listed, people will think I closed shop...lol!

You all have a great weekend and keep looking up! Cheers - Louise

PS. If you would like to check out my other blog it is cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

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!!!

Pretty Flowers in My Garden (God's Creations)

 Hi Everyone!! Hope you are keeping cool in this hot summer weather. I am sure all the flowers and vegies are enjoying this weather as this is their best growing time.....warmth makes for happy plants (for some). In the top picture is my wonderful white rose plant. I almost had JP dig it up this spring because it was not even sending out shoots of growth,  I really cut it down to hardly any stems then "suddenly" it started to grow.....boy that was a close one for this rose bush......at this blog writing it must have 12-16 blooms on it. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow.

In this second picture is my Delphinium "Guardian Early Blue" a perennial that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Hope it makes it through the winter, it's hardy to -30 degrees below.

 

 In this picture is a White  "Platycodon Grandiflorus" Balloon Flower. There is no green thumb required for this little plant and is unbelievably easy to grow. I still have to find a place to plant this little girl as she likes sun to part shade. So far she is liking it in the patio garden, as she would get the morning sun and evening sun.

 My yellow rose bush out in front of the house. This is her third year, still pretty small, but she makes beautiful blooms.

 I have liked this plant to sit on my front porch for the last 4-5 years. It's a Sonic Deep Purple New Guinea Impatiens. It always lets me know when it is thirsty and survives on the porch with indirect sunlight. Of course it is an annual and I must buy a new plant every year....but this is the one that gets this spot every year.

 So here is my $1.50 Hibiscus plant that I got from Walmart 4 years ago.....she's a going and growing strong. Although, tonight when I went on the front porch, this plant had fallen off the table and onto the floor. I am not sure if the squirrel in question knocked it over or the wind. Nothing else was knocked over, so I am thinking the squirrel was looking for some mischief cause I didn't feed him in the back yard with all the birdies. But he has another surprise for his cute little paws.....I smeared Vaseline on the shepherd hooks so he can't get into the birdie houses and eat the bird seed....lol!!!! I will let you know who won this war!!!

 Petunias in all their glory!!!

My cute little sunflowers, (I'm forgetting their name at this moment, will check it out tomorrow and let you know). So this is just the beginning of my flower parade. So many creations of God's Glory, HE sure is a God of many, many creations. 

I have some more daisies in the 'fire-pit' and some Bee Balm and a few other interesting flowers. Well, going to close this blog for tonight. Getting a little warm sitting here and I need to go into the kitchen to cool off a bit. (that's were the air conditioner is running) 

So you all have a great couple of days, see you in a few. Keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

Flowers from my Garden in this HOT Weather!!

My perennial daisies are still doing well. Took this picture yesterday and was surprised to see they did pretty well during those hot days last week. I watered once or twice, giving them a little drink during those hot days. Their roots must go deep, they are planted in a low spot in the garden, so maybe the ground is still damp from the spring rains. Whoooooo knows, they are still looking good!!!

My Easter Lilly, sweet isn't she?? Planted her a couple of years ago and she has been faithful every year since to show herself off in my garden. I do have another Easter lilly that needs to be planted, probably will plant it in the fall or maybe in August, that will give it a good start. We will be sure to see the lillies next year around this time.

Below are my "maranda's" Looks like a choir of flowers, doesn't it? We sure did not plan it this way. They sure are amazing all at different levels so they all get the sun.

I got these flowers a couple of years ago from a lady here in Appleton. She has a beautiful flower garden with so many flowers.....she happened to be digging up these "Marandas" their other name is "Bee Balm" as they attract alot of bees, butterflies and humming birds. Both of which I have not seen much of.  They are starting to spread now and probably is time to thin them down....hope they take over the weeds so the weeds don't grow as much. 

Well, I am going to close this blog for today, I have some cards in the making, so I shall probably post those in the next few days. You all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption drawth nigh.
Cheers to you this night ~ Louise