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

Birdie Houses

 Hi Everyone......how is your day going, hope you are keeping cool in this very warm weather. Now remember, if you live in a state that has cold harsh winters, think back to these warm, warm days. At least in winter you can bundle up to keep warm.

 So in these three pictures are our bird houses and bird bath. This has been quite the busy place for active birdies, squirrels and chipmunks. Together they seem to feed on the same stuff. When the squirrels and chipmunks show up....we send Kylie out to chase them away, but they seem to come back when she comes in the house. I have seen cardinals, wrens and finches. Lots of sparrows though.......but that is okay, it is fun just to see the birds enjoy my backyard.

Another view of the houses. The green and white house came from Steins ($16.98) and the red barn came from Menards ($12.98). The same green and white house can be bought at Walmart ($9.97). There is still some things I want to do with the "birdie garden" but it has just been tooooo hot to spend alot of time outside. Maybe when things cool down a bit. This is much too warm for me.

Well time to close here for a bit. You all take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

Blueberry Pie and Planters Station

 Hi everyone, how are you all doing today? Feels like it is going to be a warm day today, already put the air conditioner on in the kitchen. The fans have been blowing all night long, so there is an ever so light breeze flowing through the house.

Well, as you can see in the above picture, we have blueberries!!! A friend brought them over on Saturday, oh yum were they ever good. I froze some, made sauce, ate some, made a salad and fruit salad bowl and oh, made a baked oatmeal with berries breakfast dish. AND this lovely pie in the next picture.

 I just kind of through this together using the left over Phillio sheets in the refrig, spraying each layer, then I dabbed whipped cream cheese on the phillio sheets, then poured the cooked berries over the cream cheese. Baked at 375 for 20 minutes and WAH-LAH a wonderful, tasty torte. It lasted two days. I certainly will make this again.

 Here is a piece of that pie.........only thing missing is the whip cream. Which I bought when we went out to the store later on in the day. The next piece of pie was even better!!!

 Here you see JP eating his pie, he doesn't like pictures taken of himself, nor does he like pictures taken while he eats.......or what he is eating....but we all know "Pie was on his agenda"!!!

 In the picture above is our new/old planting station and JP is giving it a work-out. I bought a bunch of petunia plants for him to plant. I paid $2.25 for 9 containers with 3 plants in each (27 little plants). So he planted them in 5 containers and took them to the church for decoration.

We have taken and planted zinnias around the church, but they got "weed-whacked" so we thought maybe planting them in pots would discourage the "weed-whacker" and he would know for sure he is to "STOP there are plants planted here"!!!!!

I took this picture from the kitchen window, you can see my purple clover in the forefront. Don't think JP knew I was taking this picture of him. I think this planting station will work out well for us. At least it is up high enough that we don't have to bend down. One person told me...."why do you need a planting station, just use the ground." Why yes, the older one gets, the harder it is to bend down and get on the knees!!! THEN it is hard to get up........so I say, "to each his own."

Well, tis time to cut this blog short, it is getting late, going on 12 noon. Time to get ready and take my bike into the bicycle shop to get fixed. It's a Schwinn and is over 42 years old. The tires are bad and it needs to be cleaned up. Gonna try riding it around the block for the rest of this summer.

Talk to you all later and have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

Some Cards I Made Today.....

Today I went to Betty's house. She does classes in her home where she shows new techniques with making cards. I have probably been going to her house for 5-7 years. My goodness, where did that time go???? She always has some really cute ideas.......only problem, I usually never have the stamps, paper or punches to duplicate the cards made.

So the above card is a little bunny swinging on a swing....cutesy card. He is colored in with colored pens and layered on pink die-cut card stock and colored papers and green card stock, embellished with a bow and flower.

This card was especially fun to make, it has that water-color effect. Inking the stamp then going over it with a color pen then spraying with water and stamping. This is one of those cards that I would like to duplicate but don't have the stamps.
A little PS on this one.....not exactly sure why this card is encased with a larger frame, but for whatever reason, it is what it is.........enjoy!!!

This card was chalked with an oil-base chalk, made for a nice effect and was fun to make.

This card was also created with the oil-base chalk. The funny bird was masked. Stamped then covered with another bird and chalked in the red and yellow. Then the bird was chalked in blue. A very fun card to make. Again, no stamps like this at home to duplicate.

Well, that is about it for today....time to punch out for the day. You have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

4th of July Projects

 Hi Everyone of you that may be reading this blog today. Hope your 4th of July celebration was wonderful!!! Happy Birthday to America!!!!

We celebrated by doing things around the house. Finally got my little fountain going. Was trying to figure out how I could do this, then it dawns on me just to put the fountain in a pot with dirt, then I added the fake leaves and flowers to add some color......works like a charm. The neighbor gave me this fountain over 15 years ago, it used to hang on the garage.....now it has found a new place on the front porch.

 Here again is my fountain in the back yard.....oh my goodness, it is so relaxing to listen to the bubbleing sound of the fountain doing it's thing. I thought I would dig a deeper hole for the liner.......but you know, I think I will just leave it as is. You like my watering can??

 FINALLY finished the fire-pit garden......this little project was done yesterday. It took about 7 wheel barrels of mulch and black material to cover.........hopefully NO weeds will grow. We also dug up this old wild grape vine which NEVER produced grapes.....I think we had the female and needed the male....oh well. Now it is gone and I can plant some Gladi bulbs...I think there is still time to plant. Hope so, cause I still have some tomato and pepper plants to plant today.

These are my pretty Purple Clementis's....I transplanted some of these in two different spots this spring. Along side my Star Clementis on the front porch and back where the grape vine lived. Next year I will try to get some morning glories growing there also. I am very happy that the grape vine is gone.

Well, it is time to close for now, hope you all are enjoying the day. I need to get my act in gear and get some more work done, need to lose a few pounds by Monday, have a doctors appointment...ick!! Follow-up on my blood tests from January.

Keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday to the United States.

May God continue to Bless this Country

despite those that have turned their back on Him.

II Chronicles 7:14

"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sins, and will heal their land."

Many Men and Women have died and given their lives that we, today, might be free.

May we never forget what they did.

Just as we should never forget what Jesus did on that old wooden  cross over 2,000 years ago.

He died on that cross, that we might be saved from our sins. How great a sacrifice was that??? 

This Great Nation is heading in the wrong direction,

God help us!!!

Romans 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"

So keep looking up, for your redemption draws nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

"These Boots Were Made 4 Walking"

 Hi Everyone........how is your day going. Well, Saturday is over and done and tomorrow is the last day of June!!!! My goodness this month went by fast. I should be all done planting things, BUT........could not resist a few sales today. A Big Boy tomato plant for 75 cents, zennia, and petunia plants for 75 cents. We also bought a pretty hanging plant for $5 at Northside.

Then we went to Menards and bought a new lawn mower (our old/used mower bit the dust), bought some bricks for landscaping, buy one brick, the second one is free....deal!! 6 bricks for $5.28 and 6 bricks for FREE!!! We also found a new plant........forgetting the name, it is going to bloom pretty blue flowers, probably will plant it in the front yard. I will be looking for a red rose also........I still have time yet, don't I??

Here is another angle of the boots, see the geraniums in those boots that were made for walking??? In back of the boots is the new plant. Slowly but surely things are starting to gel together. Didn't do much outside as we were doing alot of shopping. I did manage to put some new batteries in some of my decorative lights that were dimming. I like the little twinkling lights at night......soooo pretty!!!

Well, time to close this blog for the night and for the month of June. So, see you in July with new cards, recipes and gardening ideas. Take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

My Wagon Wheel and Plant Station

 Hi Everyone.......how is your day going???? Thought I would get this blog up and going while the sun shines. I should be outside planting something.......well maybe after I do this I will go walk Kylie around the block and then come home and plant something. In the above picture is my new/old wagon wheel. Cute huh? I had it on the other side of the stump and urn, but I think it looks better on this side. There is a little less business..........decorating a garden is sort of like making a picture or card....don't want to over-do and want to keep things balanced.

 Here is a close up of the old wheel. I got it for $20, that was all I had to spend. The antique guy wanted to sell some other wheels to me, like some of them were $35, $40, or 2 for & $135......I said, all were not in my budget. He asked from where we were from......Appleton......I said, so he must have figured we had some money to spend. I told him all I had was $20, then he showed us this wheel, yep, that is the one. I said it had quite a lot of character. He said he was a character also. So we piled it into the back of our roomy van and off we went. I think the next time we go there, we shall look for an old ladder. We didn't get to rummage through the place, so there needs to be another "field trip" in the next few weeks.

Don't you wonder about the history of this old wagon wheel? Like, why was it painted red, who made it, where has it been? Where are the other 3 wheels? Are they still in circulation? Questions, questions, questions.

So here is the "plant station" JP picked up on someone's curb.....it's really a nice work bench, but I think I will use it for planting flowers and stuff, kinda fix it up and paint it "barn yard red" and find an old bathroom sink. So many ideas, so little time!!!!

In this picture, JP gave me some old work boots of his. I picked up 5 plants for $5.00. 4 Geraniums and 1 Impatient. Sounds like a fun project. I find so many ideas to do around here. I hope I can get it all done before the fall. It would be fun to enjoy the backyard too minus the mosquitos. They like me toooo much!!

Well, time to close here, hope you enjoy some of the things I am working on....haven't worked on any cards lately......maybe tonight after the Chicago Black Hawk WIN over Boston.......Go Hawks!!!

Take care and have a good evening and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

My Garden Fountain....Start to Finish

Hi everyone, how did your day go today?? I have been taking these beautiful days to work on my gardens while the sun shines.

Thought today I would show you how my fountain is progressing. In the above picture you will see from where....my fountain came from. Doug and Sandi gave me the pond and flag stones in the spring. We transported them via Doug's truck with the help Tyler and his friends.

In the picture above.....you see the pile of flagstone, piled in clusters with no special rhyme or reason. I read someplace that putting a fountain together was like a big puzzle, fitting this stone, with that stone. Yep, I can agree with that.

 In the above picture is from another angle, you can see the liner laying on top of the flagstone.

So in this picture, things are starting to come together....but I have so much more to go...at least I could hear the sound of my fountain trickeling....it is so soothing to the soul.

In this above picture, I have been bringing out my ceramic animals. See that goose? Bought him for 50 cents at a rummage sale. Still much more rock moving to go and, I want to make two entrence ways, in the front and on the side, mainly so I don't trip over the big rocks. The slab that the turtle is sitting on, we bought at Menards for $8...it's going to be a little bench to sit on........wonder if I will ever take the time to do that. Lol!!

 In these last three pictures you see the (almost) finished product. I am very happy with the outcome. We bought 2 yards of red mulch. I probably have used 1 yard so far doing a little bit each day while the sun shines.

 As you can see, I widened the area and planted a hosta. Added to the garden today, is my water can hanging from a shepherd's hook, for now.......I may move it some place else, depends.

In this picture is another view of my "Fountain Garden." I thought I might redo the fountain and dig a deeper hole for the liner....but there is electric running to the garage, think I would need to know where that is before I dig deeper, don't want to get electricuted, need to call 811. So, I think maybe at the end of the summer I will do that.......maybe. I would like to add a wagon wheel to this garden behind the hostas, if I can find one....cheap.....at times I am cheap, and at times I am extravagant, guess it depends on my mood!!!

Well it is time to close this blog for a couple of days. Need to get dinner ready for JP. Left over lasagna soup......boy was that ever a good recipe, if you are intrested in the recipe, let me know and I will direct you to the blog I got it from.

You all have a great evening and may the Son shine brightly on whatever creative thing you are do tomorrow and keep looking up, for your redemption draws nigh!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

Wordless Wednesday....says it all!!!

Hope you are having a great day..............keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh!!

Cheers ~ Louise

Garden Walk on Saturday 15th

Hi Everyone. Well today I am taking you on a Garden Walk JP and I went on Saturday the 15th. The weather was threatening to rain but it didn't rain till the evening.

House #1 ~ In the above picture we are at a garden in Appleton that had 703 different types of hostas. My goodness it was a gorgeous back yard. Oh and with different backyard decks, which I did not take pictures of, but I could see one being the morning deck for coffee and the second deck being the dinner deck. (sigh-dream, dream, dream)

In the picture above of the same garden walk is this cute idea of an old wooden ladder with a cute little clememtis climbing up.......I thought was very cute, we shall be on the look out for an old ladder now. Not sure where I will put it though.

In this picture is one of the many hostas, with a lovely rose growing by it. Not sure of it's name, but I thought it was so very lovely what with the wind chimes chiming and the roses growing.

House #2 ~ This metal watering can caught my eye the moment we walked up to this garden.....I said Jay, I need to get a metal watering can and bird bath.........sooooo cute! The can is hanging from a shepherds hook and there are rocks inside the watering can to keep it hanging at the angel it is. Little crystals hang from the spout to look like water. Sweet.

House #2 ~ Had this cute garden bench along side the garden shed, another thing to make for my back yard. I do have a door already, just need to find a wooden table........cute, cute, cute!!! Some people are so creative!!!!

 House #3 ~ This back yard was just totally beautiful.......so big and lucious. I love the way they designed a garden next to their garden shed. There was another garden on the other side, but alas I did not take a picture of it.

 House #3 ~ had many trees in their back yard with lots of different hostas growing under the trees. Very pretty.

 House #4 ~ They had this beautiful water fountain, oh golly it was just beautiful sounding, there were goldfish in this pond. The water was going down two sides of the fountain.

 House #4 ~ Here is a lovely fire-pit. Really a nice back yard. The people had pictures of what their yard looked like over the years and there was once a round swimming pool where the fire-pit is sitting. There was a big deck and a bath house with another little fountain......then you walked down some steps and up some more slab steps all the while walking along a little creek. Very rustic and most beautiful.

House # 4 ~ this was the walk up to the front yard.....they found some blue mulch to distingquish the walk and where the plants are.......in the background is a ceramic deer.......was a very nice walk.

We missed one house and started our Garden Walk at the Extension Office, I didn't take any pictures there. Although if you go down about 4-5 blogs you will find the 15th annual plant sale at the Extension Office. I took a few pictures that day of their garden.

Well I think I shall close this blog for today.........there has been alot of storms going through, I've shut down the computer twice already. Sooo, now I think I will go downstairs and work on some cards and try to get a few cards into my Etsy store and on here.....talk later.

Take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise