Flowers * From * My * Garden

Hi there everybody. Hope you are having a good day. Been a little warm here of late. 90's plus. It is finally going to be in the low 80's, I guess 10 degrees makes a big difference. I have the fans going constantly, all day and all night just to get some relief. I really need to get a new window air conditioner, especially when the different people come here to help with the care of JP.

I do have a window unit out in the garage...does not work well though. Runs for about 10-15 minutes then starts spitting, so I have to turn it off.......it's old, got it in 2005....yeah, guess I need a new one. A portable air conditioners would be good, then I could move it around the house...(I am thinking I can, don't know if that is possible though.)

So in this blog, I am showing my flowers from my garden. The first photo is my first rose of the season. I just realized, I probably planted that rose bush when we first moved into this house. So it must be at least 30 years old!!! Yeah, we will be in this house 30 years July 27th.....wow, how time does fly!!!

My peony bush is thriving, always blooms abundantly. I get many vases of peonies....but then they shed their beautiful petal all over the place....I decided to use the petals as mulch......why not, won't hurt. Above is my Iris....only got a few blooms but they sure were gorgeous this year.

Alliums. I like these guys very much, but they don't keep their purple very long. So I was driving down Richmond Street last week and noticed at Dairy Queen that someone had spray painted their Alliums in the garden.....what a good idea. Got to try that.  So below in the next two pictures you can see my spray painted Alliums.

Here's another view of the painted Alliums. Cool huh??

The rose bush below....just not sure what is doing. 2002 it was blooming beautifully. Then we had a new porch put on the house along with siding. The workmen stepped all over this rose bush, so bad that I thought it had died. A couple of years later it started to grow back, but very wildly and there were never flowers on it. We would always cut it down to size, cause that is all it did was grow, but no roses. Then low and behold the last couple of years it has been blooming. In this picture you are seeing more roses then it has ever produced.....now sure how long this will last, but it looks nice to have a little extra color in the front yard.

I have so much more to do outside, but it is hard leaving JP alone in the house, never know what he is doing and need to check on him. Probably by the time I get everything done....it will be fall and time to prepare for winter. 

Below are my Columbine's they grow along the side of the house....I wish they looked like this all summer long, but no, their blooms are gone now and they look like weeds, but I let them dry and the seeds spread and then I get more Columbines growing the next year.

So I think I shall close here for now. Before I do, a bit of an update on JP, he is not getting any better and is getting harder for me to take care of, I am wearing out. My 11 hours a week just is not enough to get things done while someone watches him. I do appreciate their help though, the girls tend to JP, give him a shower, do dishes, wash the floor, vacuum, fold towels....what ever I ask. So that helps, they will feed him too if I show them what to make.

I guess Community Care is still trying to find a place for him....assisted living may be the answer for him and then there would be people care 24/7. I am told, then I can be like a wife and come visit him then go home...sounds wonderful at this point, but I wonder how lonely I will become????? JP and I have been together 50 years, 48 of that we have been married......so I am not sure how this will all pan out.

So I shall close here for now, take care and talk later. Keep looking up, I am pretty sure things will get better....as God is working behind the scenes, we just can't see Him working for our good.

Cheers ~ Louise
 

Oh My...Last Post for the Month of July!!!

Hi there everyone. Can you believe it? The last day of July, I think it was just a few days ago that it was July 4th.....right?!?! The summer is flying by way too fast. I am still working on my yard, planting, painting, pulling weeds and what ever tickles my fancy. Sometimes I just prefer to be lazy and do NOTHING!!! I read someplace, that in retirement, everyday is Saturday.....I am still waiting for that, guess I have not been retired long enough....lol!

So, Sunday I cooked on the grill. I am surprising myself, I've grilled more this year then I have in previous years....not sure why, one reason might be that I moved the grill to the patio area rather then in front of the garage.....seems more cozy here and I can sit on the chair and watch the fire. The walk into the house is shorter...…(ha, by a few steps). 

I have chicken (from Sam's Club) was marinated and sprinkled with my homemade seasoning....soooo good! The red potatoes were halved, sprayed with avocado spray, seasoned with my homemade seasoning. I then put them in the microwave for about 15 minutes then put on the grill. I should have taken a picture when the food was done....potatoes and chicken browned perfectly! I just finished up the last of chicken about 30 minutes ago. Good meal with plenty of left overs for JP's dinners. This definitely will be a regular for the grill the rest of this summer.

 So now I will take you on a tour of my back yard.....mind you, there is so much to do yet, probably by the time I get everything done....it will be late Fall and time to put everything in the garage and shed. In the above picture, I have one cherry tomato plant growing....gives me a handful of tomatoes almost every day. My white rose bush died....we will have to dig it up one of these days.....no rush.

In the above picture, I have 3-4 bean plants growing...yep have gotten some beans off the plants. In the black container above the beans, I have a basil plant growing. I took a bunch of leaves off, rinsed them, and placed them on the chicken, cooked a little bit longer, then put mozzarella on top of the basil and chicken...oh yes!! A little marinara sauce helped also.

See those purple and red drawers and broken brown chair? Eventually I will fix the chair and spray paint it and the drawers will eventually have shade flowers growing in them....any ideas?

Here we are at my pond area....love this part of my yard. I need another layer of mulch to brighten things up. See the ceramic cow down in the right corner??? I will be spraying her white with black spots, she will be a Holstein cow. I think she was originally all brown and the paint wore off....time to repaint.

A few hosta's and inpatient's growing in my pond area. Not a lot of sun shines in this area....it's mostly shade. See my Flamingo's....love Flamingos. 

Here is my little sitting area....although I have not had time to sit, cause every time I sit down on my red bench....I see something that needs to change or moved some place else. See my tires? Been spray painting them and growing things in them....still not done. I have a tire that I will paint bright pink. That will be a colorful addition. Bought a "popcorn hosta" and it will go in the pink tire.

This is my second planter that I received free from Habitat for Humanity. This one has beans, pepper plant and a tomato plant. I am planning on planting some chives, and lettuce and maybe some spinach.

If you have made it to this point, I congratulate you and hopefully I didn't bore you. 

In this planter are onions, carrots, a new planting of radishes, beans, pepper plant and cucumber plant that is really producing an abundance of cucumbers. As I mentioned in a previous post....these plants get the morning and early noon sun.

So there you have it. A walk in my garden. I have a few more pictures to share, but that will come in the next post, hopefully within the week.

Talk to you all later, have a great week and coming weekend. Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Secret Stamper Images Pt. 2

Hi there everyone....how's life by you? Well, here we are the first day of Summer!!! Hip-hip-hoo-ray!!! The weather is lovely today, I like it when the weather is in the 70's....so comfortable.

So in my last post I said, I would continue my secret stamper images in 3-4 days....today is day 4 so I thought I better get my rear in gear and do what I said I would do.....(gosh there sure are a lot of "I's" in that last sentence.....6 I's!!! 

November....Tis Thanksgiving of course. I sent the turkey, my card is on the right, secret stamper card is on the left. My background is a napkin....one of my favorite ways of making a card. Glue card stock with a glue stick then layer the card stock with a single layer of the napkin and smooth it out like you would with wallpaper. Makes for a nice effect. I have quite a collection of napkins for every season just about.

December......I sent the green wreath...my card is on the right and secret stamper is on the left. I am always amazed at how the secret stamper comes up with a completely different idea....always fun to see.

In January, I sent the spider holding a heart, thinking in advance for Valentine's Day of course. I liked her little verse. "Your friendship lifts my heart!"

February, I was thinking ahead to Easter with my card on the right and secret stamper on the left. I sent the background. She came up with a great idea for sure.

For March, I sent the green frog. I love this card..."I am hiding, can you find me?" The frog was a digital off the Internet. I cut him out then layered him, cutting his leg and eyes out, then layered him on some succulent patterned paper. My card is on the right, her card is on the left. 

April was the Dragonflies. I had a bunch of these dragonflies colored in, so I thought it would be fun to see what the secret stamper would come up with. My card is on the right, hers on the left.

So there you have it....we have started a new session already....May and June with July coming up. I better start thinking about what I will send to my secret stamper for July. Something summery, I am sure!!!

If you have noticed on my blog....I have not added any more cards to my Etsy store. The items that are still in the store all expire in September. After that, I will be closing my store. I will have been on Etsy 10 1/2 years and only had 67 items sold. I have decided, it's not worth it for me anymore. Everything is for a season, and I guess my season on Etsy has passed. Etsy is also making a few changes and I guess I just don't feel like jumping through the hoops with more learning curves....nope, not no more. That's okay, I was never much of a good entrepreneur. I have tried many times to sell things. I have made cards, crafts, etc. grown vegies and sold eggs, or sold for someone else (ie. Mason Shoes, Herbalife). Guess I am just not a good salesperson. So, I guess for now on...I will just donate or give away.....that's what people like much better, everything for free. Maybe I have been dealing with a bunch of liberals and didn't realize it. Now a days….you just don't know.

On that note, I will close this post for today. Stay tuned, next post will be either about my little garden or the cards we made at Betty's. Talk later, have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Some Of This and Some Of That

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good week. I am just popping in to say hi....nothing special going on this week.

Took the taxes in to the accountant on Monday, hopefully there will be a refund coming. Plans are to buy a new "used" stove. My  old stove is working on only 2 burners, the oven works but the oven door does not close all the way and heat escapes. JP grey taped the handle bar onto the oven door because it kept falling off. The clock and timer do not work, yeah, the oven is in bad shape and needs to be replaced. It's only 25+ years old, I think it has seen it's day.

Oh yeah...and my slow cooking pressure cooker stopped working on Monday, while there was a pork roast cooking in it....geez. Well, I switched it to my old crockpot and finished cooking it in there.

Went to Shopko today to see if I could return it....nope! No receipt and policy is, it can't be over 90 days. I've had the cooker since July, that's like 9 months. So the clerk said contact the manufacturer, sometimes they will replace the appliance for free....now that would be a good thing. As I really enjoyed this appliance, slow cooking, pressure cooker, canning, (never did get to can anything, was planning to do that this summer.) Well, we shall see. Another hoop to jump through, but then life is full of hoops to jump through, isn't it????.

JP and I had our teeth cleaned Tuesday, our smile is a little bit brighter today. We both have lots of work that needs to get done....but have to wait until there is enough "moola" to pay for more work.

Raked some leaves from along side the house, the crocuses were popping up and could not find the sun. Now they are smiling too. Maybe in a couple of days I will work on another section of the yard, doing Spring clean up a little at a time. By the time Summer comes, I should be finished. I have many plans, like I did last summer, maybe this summer I can get those plans done and mark them off my list.

 

The Chicago Blackhawks played last night, Wednesday.....but lost, oh well, there's always the next game this Friday! I do believe they will be in the Playoffs for the Stanley Cup.....those are always exciting games to watch.

 

Went shopping today, and maybe tomorrow too, need to check out a few things at Walmart. It's always fun to get out and see what specials Walmart has. 

 

Time to close, well, I guess I got a lot of things accomplished this week, now we are off and running towards the week-end. Yay for week-ends....but they go sooooo fast.

 

Have a good day and a great week-end. Keep looking up cause better days are a'coming. Cheers ~ Louise

 

 

Looking Forward To.....

Hi there everyone...guess I have been "MIA" again. Just not a lot of things to write about....winter starts to get a little bit long by this time. Although the snow is beginning to melt and the birds are tweeting louder...so it is feeling like Spring.

I am looking forward to Spring and my gardens, flowers and trickling water in the pond. Bringing out all my ceramic animal creatures.....there's just something about Spring....you know??

Maybe this year, I will be able to "ENJOY" the Summer and my backyard. Sickness won't be a focal point in my life this year. It's hard to believe a Hernia can rule one's life the way that hernia did.

These are my little Cosmos....I bought some little plants and also planted some seeds. I am thinking there may be some volunteer cosmos coming this year....hand hardly wait to see what happens.

These "Brown Eyed Susan's" volunteer every year in my front yard. I wish they would volunteer in the backyard too....maybe cause it is not that sunny. Front yard is all sun.

Tulips.....love those tulips, I was not able to plant new bulbs last Fall, because of being sick with the hernia......maybe this Fall some new bulbs will get planted. (geez...the thought of Fall, put that out of my mind.)

My Crocuse's growing along side the house....a sure sign of spring when they show their little flowers.

Another picture of my little babbling pond....gosh I love the sound of water trickling....oh, but I guess the pond was not trickling in this shot.....but it sure looks nice.

My lovely rose of summer....can't be any more beautiful. I must make a copy of this rose and frame it. (Some day)

This past week I have been working on getting papers together for  Income Tax time. Be glad when this is over and the refund comes, then I can breathe a bit. I am hoping that we will get enough of a refund that I can buy a new (used) stove. My stove is going on 25-30 years and a couple of burners do not work along with the clock and timer......with all the cooking I do, a new stove is needed, tools of the trade, right???

JP's family was here last Friday....they got here about noon and left at 2:30....not a long visit....we went to Festival food and got some take out food at the salad bar, which is always good. They wanted to get back to Chicago before it got too late and the kids were a bit crabby too...so time to leave.

Sunday, I am going to a Stampin' Up Camp. Those are always fun. I will post the cards I make on Monday. They will be mostly Birthday cards....so that will be neat. I need some ideas for Hospice, cause next week is my Hospice meeting and I need to get about 50 cards put together.

Next week I have my Blue Apron meals coming....that seems to be the highlight of my week is cooking something different. I bought a plantain banana today...I am going to fry it in the next few days. I saw a recipe from Blue Apron doing that, do you think I can find that recipe...nope, so I guess I will try www.cooks.com. one of my favorite places to go for recipes.

Well, time to close, need to get some dishes done and dinner cooked before JP comes home. Have a great day tomorrow and keep looking up.....better days are coming!!! Cheers ~ Louise

O.C.T.O.B.E.R.

Well, here we are in October....what happened to the summer???? Did I miss it or something???

I have some really good news.....FINALLY we are going to get some results on our roof. We got a call today that next week will be when they start working on it. Do you want to hear something funny??? It was 3 years ago this month and next week to be exact that we had our roof worked on the last time. Maybe this time, the leak can be caught.....I sure do hope so, I am SO tired of catching water drips from a leaky ceiling.  Rain is predicted for the next couple of days....so hopefully it won't be downpours of rain.

Today I am making the BBQ chicken in the crock pot. I used the marinara sauce adding ketchup, brown sugar and Worchester sauce. Ummmm, it tasted really good. JP will have the chicken over toasted tortilla's, chicken soup, salad and fruit.

I guess in the next few days, I will start bringing in my plants and ceramic animals for the winter. Our first frost will be this weekend...hopefully I will get a few more tomatoes to ripen before that happens.

Well, this will be a short blog for today...you all have a great day tomorrow and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

An Anniversary and Flowers.........

Hi there everyone. Well, it is Labor Day Weekend. Where art thou oh Summer???? The days are going way to fast, I believe we just had Spring???? Is that right??? Now I know what my mother meant when she said not to wish my life away because it will go fast enough. Just like these flowers, they bloom one day and POOF they are shriveled up and gone the next. Except for the "black eyed susan" in the 3rd picture. They last for at least 5-6 weeks which is fine by me. I really love them.

So Wednesday we celebrated 41 years of marriage, it came and went with not too much excitement. I bought myself some white lilies at Festival for $2.98....I love their smell. Which reminds me, I should take a picture of them before they poop out. Bought JP a pair of work jeans and a blue T-shirt. Made a card and we had chocolate cake and ice cream.

We were going to go out to eat last night at "Little Chicago" but JP was having so many arm pains I said "forget it, we'll stay home" and eat. So I went to Festival and got a piece of "prime rib", fish, mashed potatoes and chicken wings at the deli. Then I bought some mushrooms to go with the prime rib. Made a salad and we sat down to a pretty nice meal that didn't take long to make. I still had dishes to do though....oh well, good food always comes with dishes that must be done. PS...JP"s arm pains have subsided today. My diagnosis? He gets worked up about something, it's like anxiety attacks, he says they come from Satan...I say go to a Doctor, he says, "yeah, right, they don't know anything". So we go back and forth with this and it DRIVES me crazy and him too. It's just a short putt for both of us.

I am thinking I will buy another piece of prime rib again. I cooked it for 3 minutes on each side while sautéing mushrooms with the meat, then poured the au jus over the top, oh my that was a wonderful "slice of heaven". Yes, I will do that again.

So here is a shot of my two hibiscus's, I bought these plants maybe 5 years ago. Had planted one of them in the ground and it did not take too well. The other plant I thought had died, but it seemed to resurrect itself. They both had a rough start. So this year is the first year they both bloomed, and I couldn't have been more happy....least I know they both survived a rough upbringing. I keep them in the house through winter. Then bring them out in the spring.

This is a close up of my black eyed susan. They seem to pop up where ever they like and volunteer their time in my flower garden every year. I tried to get some seeds going in the back yard but they just don't seem to get it....the front yard is where they like to grow.

Well time to close and maybe go over to my other blog and write something, maybe about beets. You have a great day and a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. If you would like to visit me at me other blog the address is: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com
Cheers ~ Louise

♥♥♥ I Love Paris ♥♥♥

Oh my....it was so cold and snowy today. So, I decided to take a trip to Paris, France for Valentine's Day. Suddenly that familar song popped into my head, "I Love Paris". Although I have never been to Paris, it sure was fun to visit via Pinterest.com. So come along for a short trip to Paris. The sights are beautiful!

              The song: "Every time I look down on this timeless town, whether blue or gray be her skies,

                 Whether loud be her cheers or whether soft be her tears, more and more do I realize.

                                      That I love Paris in the spring time,

                                       I love Paris in the fall

                                           I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles,

                             I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles

I love Paris every moment, every moment of the year, I love Paris, why oh, why do I love Paris? Because my love is near".

Happy Valentine's Day to you and your favorite people. May this day be special and you enjoy the day. Keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Here's an interesting little tidbit about the Effel Tower. Did you know there are approximately 4 acres under the Effel Tower. That sure puts things in perspective doesn't it. I have always seen the Effel Tower in pictures. So picturing 4 acres makes that tower pretty big!!!

Star Clementis or Jasmine??? Which is it???

 Hi everyone....hope you had a great Saturday. It was another beautiful day, a little chilly but still wonderful. Oh and did you see by the calendar.....it was the last day of summer.....(sigh).....now to really enjoy the Fall. As winter is peeking around the corner again!!!

Well, as you can see by the title of this blog...Star Clementis or Jasmine...which is it??? Last year at this time, I had a garage sale, and a lady told me this vine was a "Star Clementis" well, I believed her, figured she knew her flowers and never questioned it. So at this years garage sale....a man came by and saw my vine and he asked if I knew what it was.....I told him last year a lady told me it was a "star clementis" he said he had a vine like this also....and it is called a Jasmine. I said, really....I always thought it was a "star". No he said, it's a Jasmine....well, all this time, I thought......so I looked up on the computer..."Jasmine Vine" and sure enough it is a Jasmine.........an exotic flowering vine from China who likes warm weather.

OKAY.....I looked it up and GUESS WHAT!!!! This vine is called a.....STAR JASMINE VINE.....now how about that......both the man and the woman were right, I am at peace now......lol!!!

 Here is a shot of the "star jasmine vine" from the inside of the porch, gives us lots of privacy, don't you think?? Here's the link for more information about this vine. http://treesandshrubs.about.com/od/commonshrubs/p/star-jasmine-trachelospermum-jasmineoides.htm/ Hopefully this takes you to the link...if not just type in "star jasmine vine" and you will find all sorts of info.

Well, this week I had a garage sale, Thur, Fri and today....made $68 not too shabby for 3 days. Weather was nice and people friendly. I think I will hold another sale next week-end. As long as the stuff is still out and the weather is supposed to be in the 70's next week...perfect for a garage sale. It is Octoberfest also, so maybe there will be lots of traffic too. Well, time to close this blog. I am so glad my problem is solved and now I know for sure what this vine is called....YAY!!!

You all have a great weekend and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

Some "End of the Summer" Flower Pictures

 Hi everybody, how are you all doing this wonderfully bright and sunny day, September 17th??? Well, right now I am sitting at this computer doing this blog....as you can guess. But afterwards, I plan on getting dressed and going outside for a bit. Need to get the garage ready for a "garage sale" this week and next. Hopefully I can make enough $$$ to buy a new computer. (Dream on)

Now for a small tour of my flowers. In the above picture is my "Star Clementius" they cover the whole side of the porch....they are amazing!!! We have to cut them down every fall, down to the ground. But as you can see, by this time of the year they have grown to the roof. The flowers usually last for about 4-6 weeks there about. Then they start to fall off and leave a BIG MESS!! But they still are pretty for the time they are with us.

 This is what you see on the stairs going down from the porch...I put my hibiscus plant on the stairs to catch the rain water...she was getting kind of dusty, so the rain washed her off. Those are giant marigolds down there with a sprinkling of little purple flowers, (forget their names right off hand)

 Now this is my volunteer sunflower with a bee attached to it. In the back ground are 3 roses and the star Clementius. Anyways, the sunflower came from the compost pile, apparently I had some sunflower seeds in the compost that decided to grow. We must have planted some flowers and JP used the compost for extra dirt and "wa la" DAISIES. There are a couple more flowers that are about to bud....just as soon as they do I will take more pictures. This is a first.....probably won't happen again, not unless I plant some daisies from a package of seeds. Ha...and then they may not grow.

 In this picture, is our little cottage type house. It is over 125 years old, one of the first houses to be built on this block. Although you would not know it by looking at it....it's been updated quite a bit. It's a very sturdy house with a 8x8 solid, center beam running down the middle of the house. The joists are 2x8 actual beams and floors (not 2x4). In previous years there used to be a big tree growing in front of the house...a wind knocked it down and it landed on the roof....you can still see where the front part of the roof is a little tipsy.

We had the house resided with new doors and windows added. The roof was redone also. Sad to say, it had never leaked till we had the roof redone...now it leaks. There was like 3 layers of shingles, so no leaks were allowed. Then, the roofer took all the shingles off, and put on new ones.....ever since then, we have had roof problems. Guess we need to get the roof re-done....but alas, no money.....maybe I need to do a garage sale for the roof.....lol!!!

 These lovely flowers are my zinnias......I loves my zinnias. I have planted these flowers along the side of the house for the last 5 or so years....maybe more, guess now it is a tradition for me....the bees like the flowers too.

 Ahhhh yes, my apples.......I really enjoyed my apples this year. The tree is about 15 years old (or more) and this is the first year that it produced so many lovely apples. The lady at Sprangers Apple Orchard told me, now that my tree knows that it can produce apples, we will most certainly have apples next year too.....oh yippie, I can hardly wait. So to date, I got over 115 apples and the birds and varmints got the rest. I made lots of apple pie filling and have about 18 containers in the freezer....lots of pies and smoothies coming up!!!

In this last picture are my roses....I have 4 rose bushes and these are the red ones. Sweet huh?!? I shall have to remember to get a picture of each rose before the season ends and post it here....I love roses. I have this red, a coral, yellow and white rose bushes....I used to have a bright pink one but it died after 20 years. I am sure I still have pictures of it though.

So there you have it, a few pictures of my "end of the summer" flowers.....each year I say I will do less, but more seems to show up....I probably will eventually go with perennials, rather then annuals....less up-keep. But for the mean time this is fine with me.

Well, you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise