Here We Are....Two Weeks Into September!!!

Hi there everyone. What can I say.....I guess my blogging has been lacking lately. Not much happening, but then, a lot has in small ways. Least we are not facing hurricanes and typhoons and fires. Here, it's lots of rain, heat and lots of mosquito's that seem to find me no matter where I am. That's one good thing about winter, NO MOSQUITO'S!!!!

So JP lost some hours at work, which means finances have been a little tricky of late. I had to sell some old gold and silver jewelry  left by my grandmothers, mother and myself. Total income this time around was $315 which will go partially towards paying the rest of our house taxes. Then, we start all over again next January 31st 2019.

My doggie, Kylie has not been feeling well lately. I am so afraid that I will have to have her put down. I don't want to....God, could she just die in her sleep???? Not sure what is wrong...she is going on 14 years...hope it is old age. Now why, do we put dogs down and not people??? I asked my Vet that question, she said, because we care more for our animals then we do people!!!

Next Saturday, we are having company from Chicago. JP's brother and SIL...they usually take us out to eat, we visit a bit and then they leave late afternoon, so they are home for the evening....it's a "Kwik Trip" like the gas station. If you live in this area, you would know what I mean. We probably won't go out to eat though and just may order out and have it delivered to our front door. I am going to order a Pumpkin Cream Pie from Schwan's, which looks delicious....I always have the dessert.

Some good news, poundage wise, I have lost 30 lbs since last July 2017. Losing has been a very long and slow process....still have much to lose. My blood sugars have been much, much better. Hopefully I can eliminate the pills after a 50 -75 lb. loss. I am still doing the Atkins/keto diet which has proven to work the best for me. I have to admit though, I don't make it a religious thing, as there are some days I eat potato chips and popcorn, oh, and tater tots too. But pretty much stay close to eating the right things.

Well, I guess that is about all that is going on this month....and there is still 2 weeks left to go. So I thought I better put some cards up, as this is a "Card Blog" so following are some cards I made at Betty's last month....just a little slow in posting. Our next meeting will be this next Wednesday already....time flies when we are having fun???? Card making on my own has been at a minimal....as I have not been in much of a mood....need some inspiration, that's why I like to go to Betty's....there is always something that gets my juices flowing.

So this was a fun card to make, I actually made quite a few of these cards for Hospice. Birthday, Thanks and Thinking of you. I have the stamp set and the background stamp....so yeah, I think this will be my "go to" card for everything....easy and fast to make.

This was a fun card to make, punched out owls. We made the branches for the owls to sit on then pieced together the owls. Bright and colorful.

This was a pretty card. The flowers were embossed. The background???? You know, I forgot what we did. I shall have to ask, was it water color??? Anyways, it turned out really pretty.

This card was stamped and embossed, we colored it in with copic markers and sponged in the blue sky and water. Stamping the birds and verse. Betty always has the pieces cut, so we just have to piece it all together.

Thought you would like to see a few cucumbers growing in my garden....gosh these cucs made a great salad and tasted so good....just wish I had more.....maybe next year.

Well time to close here, you all take care and have a great couple of weeks. I may be back before the month is over....depends. Keep looking up, better days are coming!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Summertime Projects

Hi there everyone....I hope you had a nice day off and enjoyed your 4th of July holiday. We enjoyed the day. Made a pork roast, corn and beans on the grill and played in my gardens, oh and got bit up with the mosquitoes.

Today I am going to show you some of my projects I have been working on. Just a few. These drawers were all blue and I repainted them, put handles on them, filled with dirt and planted onions, radish, swiss chard. In the wheel barrel is cucumbers.

In this yellow drawer is sunflowers and more onions. The pie tins and wire mesh were to keep the squirrels out.....but that did not stop the chipmunks though. Out of 15 seeds planted the chipmunk left me 8 plants. I did transplant the sunflowers into bigger pots and protected wire mesh.

These drawers are still in their re-purposed process, the pink one is ready to plant....I just have to get some dirt in there....maybe flowers for this one. The red drawer will probably have lettuce planted when things cool down a bit. I have to get some more red paint for that one yet. Along with some white paint to spray down an old ladder and wicker stool for the porch. (no pictures as yet). Still on the back burner is my "Freda the Frog and daisies painted on the shed door.

See my pretty red bench??? This is my "Red Garden" Eventually everything will be red. I want to get a bamboo 6 foot fence to hide the neighbors junk and make my "red garden" a little bit more private, but that may be down the road a bit. Also on the agenda is some red mulch. This area gets the morning sun and evening sun, will be a nice place to meditate. (hopefully minus the mosquitoes)

I am painting rocks too....I thought different colored rocks thrown around would add a bit of color here and there. A few other things I have been working on....stepping stones, I made one so far. Turned an old tea cup and saucer into a bird feeder, it is still drying, as I used A LOT of liquid nails on it....that might work. Fixed my old picnic table umbrella with liquid nails too....the stick broke and it is still drying.

This is what my neighbors side of the house looks like when I first pulled the weeds and planted some tomato, cabbage and pepper plants. I tried zucchini, but the seeds were too old. If I had not done that....the weeds would have taken over the side of their house. This picture was taken May 28th.

Here is what the side of their house looks like as it is growing....looking good. Least I can keep an eye on the plants and know when they need water. This picture was taken July 1st. Lots of growth, but the two cabbage plants on the left are not doing so good, I had to transplant them because the rain from the gutter was beating them down. Poor things, if they make it, it will be a miracle.

So there you have it....keeping busy outside and inside making cards.....maybe next post will be a few cards. We shall see. You all have a great day and keep looking up.....better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

I'm Waiting for Spring.......

Hi everyone......well, it is February 1st....not much longer and it will be spring!!! And just think, we will see flowers and sunshine, there will be bugs and spiders, mosquitos, bees buzzing, lots of rain, tornados and who knows what else. But it will be spring and lots of work outside. I am looking forward to it.

In the mean time I will keep dreaming and looking forward to the next season coming up. Which is just 48 days away, that being the 1st day of spring March 20th. Daylight Savings is just 37 days away on March 9th. So you see, we have much to look forward to. Easter is April 20th and "NEW LIFE" begins!!!!!! I love Easter and the true meaning of what Easter is all about, not about rabbits, chickens and chocolate but that Jesus was Resurrected, what an exciting day that must have been.

This will be a short blog....was just going through my emails and ran across this House Mouse picture and he immediately reminded me of Spring. So you all have a great weekend and keep looking up, better days are a coming. Cheers ~ Louise