Sitting on the Front Porch

Hi there everyone....how are you all doing??? Hope you are keeping Cool. Cool. Cool!!!! I am not, we still have not replaced the air conditioner....I had it on for about a half hour last night and then it started spitting and had to shut it down. But, it was on long enough to cool things down a bit in the kitchen. I felt a little cooler, but the coolness did not last long.

About 10pm Kylie and I went and sat on the porch for about an hour...it sure was cooler outside with a slight breeze AND there were no mosquitos.....goodness, could they not find me???? I almost fell a sleep a couple of times. The trickle of the water in my fountain and the crickets chirping had a very hypnotic affect on me.

So, in the pictures below.....you will find me sitting on the front porch, again. Yeah, it's a place to go when I want to take a time out......"my mini vacation" to dream about places I would like to go if I had the money. The last couple of days my wishing has taken me to places where I would be close to water and could sink my toes in some sand.....gosh that sounds heavenly to me about now. But for now, I shall have to dream on my porch and listen to the water fountain trickle on the porch or in the back yard.

So here I am, camera facing east. In the foreground is a big butterfly....it's sitting in my fountain. In the very last picture you will see the water fountain with flowers, flamingo's, light, fall leaves and the butterfly. In this picture you see my brown eyed Susan's and my privacy wall of star climentus. And yes, we have eaten on the porch....not a lot, but some.

That's my glider chair....it's a nice place to fall asleep on. When our air conditioner worked in the kitchen, I would bring that chair in the kitchen and slept in it all night long....very comfortable. Next to the chair on the railing is my 3 pots of basil. I have been drying the leaves for later use and putting the leaves in grilled cheese sandwiches and salads......yum!!!

Oh look.....my tosey's!!!! Just relaxing. So in the front view are my petunia's and that green plant you see is my Christmas Ponsetta.....yep, it's still growing. One of these days (not sure when) I shall have to stick it in the closet or some dark place so the leaves get red. Maybe I better google "ponsetta plant care" and see what the prescription is.

In this view, are my roses, among the roses is lemon mint (that I need to dry and make mint jelly with), petunia's and brown eyed susan's. If you look through the screen and porch railings you can see Hissop growing. That's another plant that I need to bring in the leaves and flowers and dry them for tea.

Finally, my camera is facing south-west and you see my white wicker chair (which I have painted every couple of years), we have had that chair for 25 years now and who knows how long the neighbors had it before us. Anyways, in this picture are my geraniums....they are two years old. JP brought them in for the winter and managed to keep them going. I think they like this spot, cause they get lots of sun.

Here is a closer picture of the geraniums, they are sitting in a pot that straddles the porch railing. I want to find another pot like that.....I think I got it at Shopko...but have not seen another one as yet.

Last, but not least is my little trickling water fountain....water looks a little green, I better change the water. Yeah, this is a nice place to sit....I wish my computer could go out here too, but alas, I do not have a lap-top.....that would be nice though (I think).

Well, time to close, it's 5pm and I need to get some pictures up in my Etsy store. Finally!!!! I have been working on cards, but just too lazy to take pictures and get them in the computer then into Etsy....but today I shall do a couple of cards and maybe a couple cards tomorrow. My next post will be the cards that I put up in my Etsy store.....stay tuned.

Have a great day and keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

How 'Bout Some Flowers 2 Keep Us Warm

Hi there everyone. Burrrrrr.....it is chilly outside!!!! The kitchen window thermometer says 5 degrees......oh baby it is cold out there. I have not ventured outside for almost a week and may have to break down and do some shopping tomorrow as the refrigerator is getting low on food and I need some fruit and vegies for my smoothies.

For today's post I thought a few flowers would warm us all up and maybe help in "THINKING SPRING." Just think....a few more months and we will be seeing some of these beauty's in the next 5 pictures.

Hummmm I wonder....maybe this is why time flies, because we are always looking forward to the next season. Maybe....just maybe....enjoy where we are at for the moment. Ahhhh....take in the beauty of the moment, the snow and cold, the wind, ice and fog. All creations of God and all for a reason. Who knows, maybe diverse weather brings on and helps these flowers to do their very best to make things beautiful for us....I don't know...just thinking.

So here is my beautiful rose bush in the front yard. I do nothing special to protect her during the winter, just put a plastic covering around the base and cover her with leaves. This year I gave her a shot of coffee grounds, maybe about a cup and in the spring she'll get some fertilizer. I read some place that coffee grounds were good for roses and actually for vegetables too. We'll see, so far I think I will give the coffee grounds to the roses and experiment with other flowers for now.

My beautiful peonies.....the bush was so full this year. I actually shared some of her blooms with a few neighbors. I wanted to cut the plant in half and start another bush in the front yard, but never got around to it. Maybe this year. I may have given the peonies some coffee grounds in the fall too.

Here is my white rose bush in the back yard.....this is a newer bush and she produces long stemmed white roses....only thing is, she is a late bloomer. Last spring I thought she had died, because there were no new sprouts, almost dug her up, but then one day a new baby sprout showed up. Finally she took root!!! I gave her some coffee grounds in the fall, maybe that will perk her up some. No pun intended.

My wonderful hibiscus. I bought this plant at Walmarts maybe about 6 years ago for a whopping $1.50 and she just keeps blooming and blooming. I keep her in the house during the winter in a south window and water her every other day. Oh yes, fertilize every couple of weeks or so. No coffee here though.....yet. In the spring when the weather warms up she sits on the porch most of the summer and thrives beautifully.

Oh my brown eyed susans.......I love these flowers. They volunteer to grow where ever. I can always count on them to pop up some place in my front yard. Not sure where they came from....maybe a bird dropped a seed and that was where it started. I usually let the seeds dry on the stems in hopes that they will spread and bloom for next year. Then I cut the flowers off and save what seeds are left for the next year. For some reason, as hard as I try, cannot seem to get these flowers to grow in the back yard. I don't know.....maybe there is too much shade.

Well, I guess I shall close for now, have to go pay some bills and take care of household chores.....yep, a woman's work is never done. Have a great day and keep warm and cozy, looking up everyday. Cheers ~ Louise

Some Flowers From My Garden

Hi everyone....well today I blogged about "some flowers from my garden." You can find my new post at this link: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com 


Thanks for stopping by and do please leave a comment, it is always nice to hear from you.


Cheers ~ Louise


NOTE: Due to unresolved issues 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 @ wordpress.