Category Archives: Gardening

Halcyon Days and Sock Love

David and I celebrated our forty-eight wedding anniversary this past week.  We decided to take a whole week from weekend to weekend to celebrate.   It’s been a long week.  We wanted to go antiquing, but most of the antique stores we went to were either closed or more like junk sales than antiques.   We wanted to go to a Daylily farm and it rained cats and dogs on us.  In fact, it rained almost the entire week.  We did manage to get to Olive Garden for dinner which was very good.   But it was still all good.  When you have been married to the same man for almost your entire life, you don’t expect fireworks all the time, but we did do fireworks one night in our driveway with some old firecrackers and bottle rockets.  There were people shooting off fireworks all around us.  Some people don’t like this time of year because of all the fireworks, but I love it.  We have had a lot of fireworks in our marriage.  Some good.  Some bad.  As we looked back on our life together, we both feel it’s been a pretty good life.  When I said, “I do,”  I meant it and still do.

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We did get to Streamcliff Farm again and had lunch with our older son and his friend.  I managed not to buy any flowers this time, but I was tempted.  I don’t know what they feed their plants, but all the flowers are huge.

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We couldn’t get over how big these begonias were.

After lunch, we went back to the daylily farm, it wasn’t raining, and yes, I bought some daylilies.

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It’s called New Creation Day Lilies and do they ever have a lot of daylilies.  You picked the ones you wanted and they dug them for you right then.

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The first day we went there, it was raining, as I said. This lady was out in a garden picking off the dead blooms.  She had a bucket full.

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This handsome fellow strutted around crowing and keeping his hens in a row.

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There were several roosters and they were all crowing up a storm.  I love hearing roosters crow.  When we went to the Virgin Islands, chickens roamed all over and you could hear the roosters crowing.  It was such a pleasant sound to me.  It sounds like country.

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The day lilies were gorgeous.

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I brought one of these home with me.  Along with four others.

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We drove through storms during our drives.

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We laugh because we have driven through so many storms in our lives and made it out alive to tell about it.

What’s life without a few storms along the way?

It wasn’t all play however.  Our rhubarb just keeps on growing and we keep on picking it.  I have made two batches of strawberry rhubarb jam.

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The first batch was eaten up almost instantly.  We had company and there was a teen-age boy who really, really liked this.  We went through a couple of jars at that meal.

We have been trying to trap a groundhog that has made its home under our front porch.  This is what we have caught thus far.

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Several bunnies that we let loose back into the yard.

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And this.

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He/she was not a happy camper.  Don’t know whether it’s a male or female and I’m not going to check.

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His/her day was not going as planned. David took it over to the woods across the street from us. Hope it doesn’t find its way back.

Still haven’t caught a groundhog though.

But we do have a lot of these and this one is becoming a sort of pet.  Coming to eat under our bird feeders every evening.

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Peter Rabbit and Farmer MacGregor is no where to be seen.   You’re safe with us, Peter.

Remember when I went to see Susan Branch at a book signing in Cincinnati?  Her husband was handing out seeds from their wisteria vine that grows at their house.  I planted the seeds and now I have two of these.

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I am hoping they will grow and produce flowers one day.

Okay, I can’t get away without writing about socks.  My fingers have been flying and socks have been coming off the needles in record speeds!

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All different sizes. That little sock.  That’s my daughter’s size. She has very tiny feet.  In fact, her next pair I have to make a little bit smaller.  She wears children’s socks.  She certainly doesn’t take after me in that respect.

I peruse yarn webpages like I use to fabric pages. My quilting has been laid by the wayside for a time.   I cannot stop knitting socks.

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I keep buying yarn.

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I really, really like these yarns I got the other day.  All variegated and different shades of color.

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I have knit one sock from this and I absolutely love it.

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I’ve got me a lot of sock loving happening in my future.    Yippee!  I never thought I would ever get the hang of knitting socks, but now that I have, it’s really very simple.  Of course, anything is once you know how to do it!

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Speaking of gardens.  My garden is not doing too shabby.  These are some daylilies I have had for years and divided and planted all over the yard.   I got the first ones at a grocery store.

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I love my Summer garden.   Every year it surprises me.  When Winter gets here, I will think I will never see this again and then, it happens like a miracle every single year.

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I wish my mother could see my garden.  She loved her garden too.  Perhaps she can see it, but then, she’s in the most beautiful garden imaginable as I type.

I will leave you with a picture of what I call the “Screaming Tree.”  When the doctor’s house next door to us was torn down, they also took out deadwood out of an old tree and just left its carcass.

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Every time we pass it I think it looks like it’s screaming.  As if it cannot believe they tore down that beautiful, old house.

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What do you think?  Bye.

 

 

 

My New Obsession

I love making things.  Mostly sewn things.  It was my goal years ago to have at least one hundred quilts before I died.  Well, with having a quilt shop and making so many display  projects, with family loving quilts too, and with going to auctions for years, I finally accrued, created and found at least one hundred quilts.  I don’t own all of them.  Many of them have been sold or given as gifts.  All my grandchildren have at least two quilts I made especially for them.  I have made quilts for charities, for church projects and for Samaritan’s purse.  I wish I could see all the quilts I have made in one big pile.   I have quilts for every season.  Quilts are on every bed, on both couches, on every chair and hanging on walls.  I have a big box of unfinished quilts in my shop.  I have one quilt on my sewing machine in the process of being quilted.

But……..a new obsession has taken over my life.   At the beginning of the year I read Lucy’s blog, Attic 24, where she was learning how to knit socks. She made it sound so appealing, I immediately ordered the Minwick Mum’s Sockalong book that took you step by step through the sock knitting process.  At first, it was all Greek to me.  I read it over and over.  Tried knitting socks. Tore more socks out than I care to mention.  Learned that tearing out your knitting stitches was called “frogging.”  Dropped stitch after stitch.  Knitted more ribbing and sock legs.  Learned how much fun knitting the heel flap is.  Found out turning the heel was easier than I ever could have imagined, picked up stitches even when I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing. Knit the gusset and finally decreased the toes. Decreasing the toes is when everything usually fell apart because the book said I had to use double pointed needled to do it.  Then, the other day I just went ahead and decreased the toe stitches on my little circular needle.  No dropped stitches and easy as can be.  I can’t tell you how many times I would get to the toes, dropped three or four stitches and tear out the whole sock.  But, I didn’t give up and have finally found what works for me.

Now, my quilt is still sitting on the sewing machine waiting to be completed.  I hardly look at my fabric even though I have a purse needing to be finished and material for a skirt.   Now I  surf the web looking for yarn companies and drool over yarn like I would drool over fabric.  I have several circular needles, sock blockers, and other knitting paraphernalia. I have looked up my old knitting books from the seventies when I knitted sweaters, booties and hats for my children.  I have baby things on my mind.  I even ordered yarn for a baby project.  And there are no babies ahead in my family. At least I don’t think so.

I have finished two pair of socks and have two more pair almost done.  Today I ordered more yarn. For four more pair!  I think this obsession is going to stay with me for a time.  David has had to listen to me when I could not get it into my head how to knit socks.  He kept encouraging me and said I would figure it all out and he was right.  One day it all just clicked.  The fear was gone.  Now the socks glide off my needles with ease. Oh, I still drop the occasional stitch, but with a small crochet hook, I usually can pick it up.   I wish I could explain to you how euphoric I feel that I finally figured it all out.  It was like a dark cloud of doubt that was hanging over my head just went “poof” one day.     The lesson I took from this is “never give up.”  And I didn’t.  Despite several attempts that went all wrong, I now know how to knit socks.  Now I am looking at fancier socks like ones with cables or other designs.  I’m hoping I can knit socks for gifts.

I guess I owe Lucy and Minwick Mum a huge thank you for turning me on to sock knitting.

I am sure you are tired of reading about my sock obsession.  David says when I decide to do something, I jump in feet first and start swimming and don’t stop.  When I start making things, like purses, quilts or dolls, I never stop at one.  I make a dozen or more.  Now I probably won’t stop knitting socks.  EVER.  I love the process and the finished product.  But, enough about socks, although I could talk about them all day!

We have been doing some things other than me sock knitting and David helping me wind the yarn.  I am trying to start my walking regimen again.  I was up to walking five miles a day a year or so ago and then I hurt my right leg and then by the time it was feeling better, I tore a ligament in my left leg that has taken months to repair.   I just noticed the other day my leg didn’t feel stiff any longer and I wasn’t walking with a limp.    Molly is bound and determined to run into that leg every time I go out in the yard with her.  She loves to play and takes it that I want to play with her every time I go out the back door.   Many times I will play with her, but when I don’t, she follows me as close as she can and then she and Belle get into a tussle right behind me and sometimes slam into my legs.  I’ve taken to carrying a rake and holding it behind me so they won’t hit me.  I really don’t want to have a sore leg all summer.

Last Christmas my older son gave me a cute bench.

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A painted Santa face peeking out.

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A kind of creep Santa peeking out!

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With bird house posts on either side.

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With birds painted on each post.

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Snowmen on the armrests.

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Even Santa’s belt painted on.

Well, it’s almost Summer now and it still sits on our porch.  I tried covering it with a quilt, but it kept getting blown off.  Every time I passed it, Santa was looking at me and creeping me out.  David and I could not lift it because it was made from really heavy wood.   I had no place to store it anyway, so…………

I probably did the unthinkable to some people, but I feel very happy with my new little bench.

I painted it.

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Now, it’s suitable for year round and I can decorate it at Christmas with tiny lights and a wreath, so I am happy with it.   And we don’t have to move it.  It also provides a nice place for the UPS man or the FedX man to leave packages out of the weather and off the floor.   So it’s a win-win for me.

I don’t get up very early any more.  For the first decades of our marriage we had to get up for work or to get the kids up for school.  The alarm rang at 5:30 most mornings.   Lately, I have been sleeping until 9:00 or later.  One day David worked until 11:00 a.m. and when he came home, I was still asleep.   You see, I love staying up late, but I really love the early morning so one of them had to go.  Today, I woke up at 4:30, laid awake and said my prayers until 5:30 and decided to get up.  It’s amazing how many things you can get done before 8:00 if you get up early.   I did a load of wash, did all my ironing and knitted half a sock.  This getting up early seems to be a good thing.  Now I have the whole day to do other things.

When one gets up early, they get to see the sunrise.  I sat out on our front porch and watched the sun come up.

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I have been missing some beautiful sunrises.  The hummingbirds were out feeding and the birds were waking up.  It was glorious.    Still don’t know if I will give up my late nights.  I love to knit and read in the evenings and the time just gets away from me.

I will leave you with some pictures of the late May garden.  It’s peony time and I am loving it.

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And last but not least.  Two years ago when our new porch was being built, I saved some of the concrete pieces from it and planted flowers in them.  I had this one plant I didn’t know what it was and it stayed green all Summer and all Winter. But it never bloomed.  I watched it all last Summer and it didn’t do anything.  Just some green leaves.  This Spring I looked at it and thought to myself if it didn’t produce anything this year, I was going to tear it out.  Well, I am so glad I was patient with it because it is now my header picture.

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It’s phlox and I really do not remember planting this.  There are two different ones and they are so vibrant and pretty.

Here’s to sock knitting, early mornings and the patience to wait for a flower to bloom.  Bye.

 

Flower Child

I was a flower child long before it became popular.  Not the kind of flower child who did drugs or danced naked in the fields at Woodstock.  My mother grew beautiful flowers in her garden and every year I helped her gather the seeds for next year’s flowers.  She also loved African violets and my father made her a little window greenhouse in the kitchen where she grew some of the most beautiful African violets.  She could have won prizes for her flowers, but she grew them just because she loved them.

In the Summer my daddy would put me in the car with a few buckets and a shovel and we would drive down to the river where daddy would dig up sand and put it in the buckets to take back home to put in my sand pile.  While he was doing that, I was pulling up flowers(weeds) to take home and plant in my sand pile.  They didn’t last long, of course, but for a short time I had my very own garden.  I was always looking at the flower catalogs Mother would get.  I would go with her to the greenhouse where she purchased flowers for her porch boxes.   The man who owned the greenhouse knew my mother by name as she was a regular customer and came back every year.  I loved walking down the rows of flowers and choosing the ones I liked in my mind.  My Mother would buy a flat of flowers and bring them home and plant her porch boxes.  I can’t remember a time she didn’t have porch boxes planted when I lived at home.

Now I have gardens of my own and can plant whatever I want.  I still love going to a greenhouse and looking at all the flowers.  I love the smell inside a greenhouse.  The smell of fresh dirt and flowers is the best scent in the world. Wish they could make a perfume of it.  I probably already smell like that about every day in the Spring when I am outdoors planting and digging and dividing the flower clumps.   Today I finally got everything planted, I think, although I did see a corner in my kitchen garden that has only one flower planted there.  We cut down a redbud tree last year and I haven’t filled in the space yet, evidently.  Time to buy more flowers!

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So, come into my garden and see just a few of the flowers that are growing there.

Irises!  One of my favorite flowers because you can’t kill them and they multiply year after year without you doing anything at all.   I told a friend of mine I even mowed my irises down in the Autumn and she thought I was crazy.   But, I do, and every year, they come up bigger and better than ever.

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One of my favorites.  One day a couple of years ago, a man stopped by our house and asked if he could have a start of these irises, so I dug up one for him and asked him if he had any flowers he would like to share.  He did!  He brought me some lilac bushes and I planted them and one of them is doing well.

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These are becoming one of my favorite flowers now. Digitalis or Foxgloves.  They reseed themselves and are biennials so I should have some every year.  I have planted their seed everywhere and bought more plants, too.  You see, I am making my garden self sustaining so that one day, when or if I cannot plant or work in it anymore, the flowers will take care of themselves.

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One of David’s mother’s rosebushes.  It is doing so well now.  For a while, I thought I had killed it, but with loving care, it has come back and has a lot of blooms.  The roses smell just like roses should smell.  I have two of these bushes.  I feel so blessed.  Another reason I can never leave this house.  I have too many flowers from family members that grow all around my garden.  I think of those people every year when the flowers bloom.  Flowers like David’s grandmother’s sixty year old clematis, her snowball bushes, my mother’s day lilies and these roses.  It’s a family garden for sure.

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These poppies were started from Grandma Henley’s( David’s grandma) garden.  She had a beautiful garden behind her house and these grew profusely.  I remember her squatting in her garden, her knees up to her ears,  weeding the flowers until she was almost ninety years old.  She also grew the best rhubarb behind her outhouse!

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I planted two new Asiatic lilies.  I have ordered more Irises and peonies to be planted in the Autumn.   Nope, can’t have enough flowers.

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Speaking of peonies, they are starting to bloom now.  They are my very favorite flower.  They are beautiful and smell wonderful.  The only thing is, they just don’t last long enough.

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I have them in red, white, pink and pink and white.

Flowers are not the only things that have been on my mind.  You remember my sock journey?

I have become obsessed with sock knitting now that I kind of understand the process.  I still don’t like the double pointed needles at the end when decreasing the toe.  That is when everything goes all wrong all at once if I don’t pay special care or I get interrupted.  Which is why I only try to knit them when David is at work.    I am trying to figure out another way to decrease the toes.  Every sock has been an experiment in knitting.

    I do have a finished pair now.  My grey socks.

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I got a little carried away with the second sock and it’s a tad longer than the first one, but no one will notice when I have them on as they are slouchy and loose.  Made out of wool and acrylic, they will be warm to wear next Winter.

I have purchased several circular needles so that I could have different socks going at all times.  I just ordered more needles and sock blockers.  This hobby is becoming expensive!  Now, I drool over yarn like I have drooled over fabric for years.   There are so many yarn companies and so many beautiful yarns to choose from.

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I really love this yarn.  It isn’t exactly a stripe, but there are variegated partial stripes throughout the sock.

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Ready for the dreaded toe decrease on another sock.

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This winter I plan to have a lot of different socks to wear and I am going to try to knit socks for family members if I can figure out how to make them smaller and larger.

It isn’t true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks because I am living proof you can.  I never thought in a million years I could learn to knit socks, but I persevered and finally accomplished it.

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I hadn’t been in my shop for weeks because of the sock making, but today I went out and started a new purse.  I wish I could tell you where I got this pattern.  I got it online and I have made so many purses from this pattern.   Several people carry my purses.   I call this one my garden purse.

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I have this fabric that has country words on it, so I cut out some of the words and sewed it on my purse.

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I’m really loving making this purse.  I’ve done some embroidery on it and will soon have it completed.   Just give me an afternoon.

Hope you are enjoying these wonderful May days.  They are going by so quickly. I wish I could wrap one day up and take it out in the middle of the Winter and enjoy it once again.

Here’s to flower children and those who love them.  Bye.

 

 

 

 

 

May Days, an Author, and a Lightning Strike

We are in the merry month of May.  One of my very favorite months of the year when the flowers are in full bloom and I can plant even more.  I just went to the grocery this morning and this particular grocery has had the best perennials I have ever purchased for sell again this year.   I came home with three new lilies and some Gerbera daisies.  Now to find a place to plant them.  My garden is quite full.  I asked David the other day if he thought I would ever have enough flowers and he said, “No.”  Simple as that.  He knows me too well to think I will ever stop adding flowers to my garden.  I did take some flower starts to my oldest son this weekend who is trying to cultivate a small garden by his front door for curb appeal.  I took lilies, lambs Ear, irises and Shasta Daisies.  Now, I hope he plants them and doesn’t let them die.

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  The crabapple has bloomed and gone.  It was so beautiful and now I have to wait a whole year to see it again. 

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Begonias and some sweet flowers on the front porch.

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Look!  Aren’t these the sweetest little flowers?  I don’t know what they are called, but I love them.

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Oh, I wish you could have smelled the Mock Orange this year.  It grows right by our driveway and just walking by them one can smell their lovely fragrance.  They are thick in the Tiny Woods and since we cut the big tree down, they seem to be expanding, which is fine with me.

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David’s grandmother’s snowball bush is so lush and lovely this year.  I just want to stand and stare at it.  We have a smaller one in the back yard and one I just planted in the front yard.  It’s such a beautiful bush.  Molly tried trimming it so we had to put wire around it for a time until she got over the urge to do so.

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My little garden in a cup that I plant every year.  Just some grass and little birds and a bird house I found at a bird store.

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Don’t ask me what this plant is.  It is ferny and in the Autumn it’s branches are a bright yellow. This is the first year I have seen flowers on it which makes me very happy.  I don’t even remember planting it, but I must have as it sure doesn’t look like a weed.

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I simply love Irises because of their simplicity.  They are the easiest flower to grow.  You almost can’t kill them(as if I would try.)  They can take over my whole garden if they want to.  One day when I am too old to go out and divide and weed and plant, these Irises will grow all over my front yard and I won’t care a bit. 

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This little girl loves my garden too.

Besides gardening, I have had a seven week Bible study at my house.  It was called “What Are You Afraid Of?” By David Jeremiah.  It used Biblical references to show us why in any circumstance God is with us and will not forsake us.   It dealt with the death of loved ones, loneliness, fear of financial collapse, fear of natural disasters and other things.  We all have certain fears in life and life deals out some pretty rotten things sometimes, but God is always there in the midst of it all to help us and give us peace though the worst times.  None of us gets out of this life without something horrible happening to us or our loved ones.  I can tell you some pretty sad stories, but I don’t like to dwell on the sadness in life.   I’ve had some knocks and bings and bangs, but I have always felt like God was right there with me through them.  I know you are probably asking why God would put any of us through bad times.  He doesn’t.  we live in a sinful world and God gives us free will.  Things don’t always go as planned.  People we love die.  People we love go through tough times.  We go through tough times, but remember this, If you put your trust in God, He will see you through the worst times of your life.  I can vouch for that.

At the last Bible study, we had a British tea.  Or at least our version of a British tea.  The ladies all pitched in and we had a feast.

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Actually, the table was fuller than this and another table besides and we had so much good food to choose from.  I had made cucumber sandwiches( which I am now addicted to) and egg salad sandwiches.  I baked a sponge cake and had strawberries and real whipped cream with scones.  I am now a fan of scones also.

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These are some of the ladies.  I didn’t show their faces as we all were eating and no one wants their faces on a blog with their mouths stuffed full!  It was a wonderful study and I love all these ladies who are my sisters in Christ.

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I am still knitting socks.  I love the process.  I still have to tear out once in a while, but I don’t get all upset about it.  Just look at it as more practice.  I have taught myself a new way to pick up the stitches down the heel and around and up the heel again using one double pointed needle and my little circular needles.  It has become quite simple for me now.  The only place I really get hung up is using the DP needles to decrease the toe, but it is coming easier as I continue to knit socks.   I have several skeins of sock yarn I am looking forward to making into socks.

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I have purchased three circular needles and these cute stitch markers.  Little sheep on the end of them.  I like them better than the plain rubber circles I was using.  Makes knitting more festive somehow.

This Mother’s Day weekend, David and I went on an adventure.  We took a road trip to Cincinnati to see some special people.

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We drove along a road in southern Indiana that follows the Ohio River.

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The Ohio River is so beautiful and mysterious.  The road we were on was not heavily traveled, so we enjoyed the drive.

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Indiana roads have so much beautiful scenery.  David and I like to get off the beaten path and discover new roads.  But finally, we got into the towns near Cincinnati, Vevay, Rising Sun and Aurora.  Aren’t those pretty names for towns?  Then into the bustling traffic of the big city.  Who were we going to see?

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If you have any of her cookbooks or her first two books in this trilogy, or read her blog, you know of whom I speak.

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The Joseph Beth bookstore in Cincinnati.  I got to see Susan Branch!!!     I love her books and could not wait to see her in person.  I have seen several authors in person and it’s always been fun.

We all waited with excitement for Susan to appear.

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Suddenly, there she was right in front of us.  She told us she was uncomfortable speaking in public, but she was wonderful.  She told how her books came to life and took questions with so much patience.  You know, when you meet a well-known person, you usually have expectations of them, rightly or wrongly, that they will be as you imagined them to be.  Susan Branch did not disappoint.  She is every bit as charming, sweet, kind, nice and interesting as I thought she would be.  She is a very pretty lady with a very sweet smile and she had us all laughing and it felt like we were her girlfriends.

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I loved the outfit she had on. Very classy.  A pretty linen blouse with a scarf.  Her hair was done up in a knot on her head and she just looked darling.

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Her husband Joe, of whom she writes, was there by her side.  Her partner in crime like David is with me.

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He and David took pictures of each other.  Give a man a camera……..

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I just want all of you who read Susan Branch’s books or blog to know, she is for real and not a fake.  She is just exactly as she appears on her blog.  A beautiful person.

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And then, I got to shake her hand and she signed my book and put David’s name in it too, because I asked her to.

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I’m not at all happy to be there!

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I think I was just looking at her with adoration here.

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Look how cute she is.   I could move to Martha’s Vineyard and become her friend in a second.  I’d even make her a quilt if she wanted one.  Am I starting to sound like a stalker?  I hope not.

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I had made a new purse to take to the book signing and on a whim, I asked her to sign it and she did!  Now wasn’t that nice?  Oh, and see that top I have on?  It was new and I wore the store tag on it the whole time and didn’t know it!  David told me after it was all over.  Wonderful.  Hope Susan didn’t see it.

I had so much fun at the book signing.  Met some nice people in the audience.  People who loved Susan as much as I.  Anyway, it was a wonderful time and I am so glad I got to go.

On Mother’s day, we went with our son and his friends to King’s Island for the day.  We hadn’t been to King’s Island for probably at least twenty years.  There are a lot more scary rides there which I would not go on.  I went on one they promised me was not scary and I was crying before it was over. I am not a fan of scary rides.   There’s enough scary stuff in the world without purposely putting yourself in danger!  Security was high that day for some reason.  They were searching all purses and bags and wanding all of us as we entered.

At the restaurant in which we ate, there was a live show where they sang songs from the movies.  It was so good and had me singing right along with them.  We got some really good fudge just before we left the park.    I didn’t get any pictures of the day because I didn’t want to carry my camera around all day.  It was fun and I enjoyed watching David go on all the scary rides with our son.  He’s got a stronger stomach than I do.  It was so nice to spend time with out son also.  He makes me laugh.  A lot.

I haven’t been here for a while because our house was struck by lightning a week ago Sunday.  David and I were in bed and suddenly there was the brightest flash of light and the loudest boom I have heard that I nearly fell out of bed.  It woke David, and I said, “That hit something.”  It surely did.  We lost two televisions, our microwave, the dryer, our Direct tv, our internet, a sewing machine(I was so thankful all the rest of my machines were unplugged at the time,)  our pool pump surge control, and the circuit breaker on our hot tub.  We got everything replaced except our internet, which we just got back today.  I couldn’t wait to write my blog.

Now that all is back to normal or what I consider normal I can write more often.  Or at least I will try.

Here’s to books, wonderful authors, sons and daughters and flowers.  May they all be blessed.  Bye.

 

 

 

 

Rainy Day

See that beautiful redbud and bright blue skies above?  That is what we had a week ago.  Then rain, sleet and snow came and we are back in winter weather.   It is suppose to warm up again and none too soon for me.

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During the cold days there is potato soup making. (This is actually broccoli soup, but I did make potato soup also.)

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There is yarn winding.  Here’s my very patient husband helping me wind a ball of new yarn.

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There’s outdoor fires and sitting around the fire with friends.

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This is one of the friends. Ha.  Look at that toothy grin.

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Despite all the problems she has caused us(David), I love her so much.  She is definitely my dog.  Looking at me with her doe eyes.  Trying to pretend she wouldn’t do anything bad.  No, not at all.

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It rained all day today.  Looking out the window it looked so misty and mysterious over in the now empty lot beside us.  Still getting use to not having a big house there.

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That muddy place is where the big, beautiful house once stood.

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David says he would love to buy this lot.  I sit and imagine planting hundreds of flowering trees and flowers and making our own park in it.   The grandkids could really have a great Easter egg hunt there.  I see wandering paths and benches for people to sit upon.  I already have it all planted and landscaped and it isn’t even for sale!

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Our back yard is coming to life.  It looked so awful just a few weeks ago and then the miracle happens like it does every year.  I never stop being amazed at the change in such a short time.  David has mowed the grass once already and it needs it again.  Note to self.  Plant more flowers and trees and get rid of more lawn this year.

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The garden is in its pink phase.  My very favorite.  First there’s the yellow daffodils. Then all the pink flowering bushes and trees burst into bloom.

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Love it.

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Rain pouring off my shop roof. I haven’t been out there to work on anything for a few weeks.  Knitting socks has been consuming my time.

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I do have this pretty, Spring like fabric that I will be using to make a skirt.

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So cozy sitting in a warm house looking out on the rain.  It’s really beautiful in its own way.

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See the rain pouring from the gutter?  It really came down hard for a time.  They say rivers are going to flood around our city.  A few years ago we had a major flood. Our hospital was flooded, patients having to be evacuated.  Many people lost everything when the water came up to their houses.  We have several friends who lost everything and had to completely redo their houses.  I can’t imagine how horrible that was.  We were not affected at all.  In fact, I didn’t know it was that bad until a day later.  Our town is surrounded by rivers and a flood can really devastate.  Hope it never gets that bad again.

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But the garden loves this rain.  It’s true.  April showers bring May flowers or in this case, April flowers.

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I planted grass for my chickens.  Yes, my chickens like grass and crack.  What can I say?  Ha. Actually, I am growing lawn grass and when it gets tall enough I will put these in the chicken yard so that they can have a salad.

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So hopefully glorious Spring  will return tomorrow.

Bye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Month of Many Memories

March is one of my favorite months.  Probably because it’s my birthday month and I kind of celebrate it all month long.  I had a cake.

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I got to eat out with some of my favorite people and I got some gift certificates.  Always love that.

David and I took a weekend off and just did what we wanted.  Ate out, relaxed, saw three movies and had a very nice couple of days.   We think we enjoy that as much as we do taking a long vacation.  We will probably do a few more of these weekends this year.  We have one planned to go to Cincinnati in May where I am going to a book signing of one of my favorite bloggers.  If you read Susan Branch’s blog, you know what I’m talking about.  I love her blogs especially the ones where she wrote about Downton Abbey.

I bought myself some new fabric. Seems like every March I do this.

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Love getting new fabric. I don’t have a clue what I will make with this yet, but it will be used, I am sure.

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Love these little flowers.

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Decided to complete this child’s quilt I started last winter.

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Each block has a picture of a child playing.

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Among all the getting ready for Easter and company Sunday, I did get this pinned today. I also made potato salad, cleaned the chicken house, mulched some of the garden, did two loads of laundry, did the ironing, fed the dogs and chickens, moved bags of mulch, prepared supper for David and myself and then I collapsed on the sofa and have not gotten up since!  Oh, yes, I mixed up a batch of sugar cookies too.

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Meanwhile the dogs want me to play with them.  I try to give them some play time with me every day, but today, not so much.  Sorry girls.

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‘”Then I just won’t look at you, Mom.”

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The hens are finally laying again. They went through a few weeks that we were fortunate to get an egg a day.   But now, we have them coming out our ears.  The eggs taste like butter, I’m telling you.  So rich and yellow.

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They have been fertilizing my garden area all winter so I should have a great garden this year.  I think I am just going to plant pumpkins and tomatoes.  I have about fifty tomato plants started with some ready to plant outside when the weather is warmer.

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Chickens still love their “crack.”

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They’ll follow me anywhere when I have a bowl of this in my hand.

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I got this quilt pinned this month.  I’m going to quilt it on the sewing machine.

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I just got a brochure in the mail this week for a quilt magazine and this very quilt was in it.  All finished. I hope I get this finished in a few weeks.

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I’m still knitting.  When I get frustrated trying to knit socks, I knit another scarf.   I’m trying to use up all my old yarn.

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Speaking of socks, I got the heel flap knitted on this sock and then something horrible happened and I ended up tearing out the whole sock.  That makes about six times I have tried to make a sock.

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I’m almost afraid to tell you about this sock because it’s the farthest I have gotten on one.  I knitted the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up stitches(Oh, that was horrendous) and am knitting the gussets now.  I am seeing a very dim light at the end of the tunnel, but until I get a sock finished I am not going to crow.  Even with all the ripping out and starting over, I quite enjoy knitting socks.  I just have to finish one. When I do, you all will be the first to know besides David, as he has been keeping up on my progress and encouraging me when I get all flummoxed.  When learning to knit socks, you need an encourager beside you so you don’t give up.

Spring has sprung in Indiana.  It takes me by surprise every single year.  One day it’s all grey and dark and the next tiny green leaves are sprouting from the ground and on the trees and bushes.

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The Nanking cherry bushes bloomed first and early this year.  They are already almost gone, boo hoo.

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Our two dwarf magnolias are just about to burst into bloom.  The magnolias around us and in town have already been blooming for a week or two.

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Daffodils blooming everywhere.  I have planted hundreds of them through the years and they really are beautiful this year.

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One of my top five favorite flowers.  It’s a shame they only bloom in Spring, but I’ll take them whenever I can get them.

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I really need to divide these flowers.  August Lilies or Magic Lilies. They won’t flower until August after all the foliage has died.  Looks like we will have a lot of flowers in August.

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My Spring angel by Jim Shore.

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Holding a bird in her hand.  The birds are nesting and singing their hearts out.

Happy Spring and have a blessed Easter.  He is risen.  Halleluhah!!  Bye.

 

 

 

Where Did Last Week Go???

Where did last week go?  For that matter, where did the month of January go?  January use to be my least favorite month, but through the years I have grown fond of long winter days, making things in my shop, sleeping in late in a toasty warm bed, baking and cooking comfort foods, and feeding the birds.  January and I have grown rather fond of each other.

but January sped by this year like every month seems to speed by nowadays.  This was what happened at our house last week.

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I gave our living room a fresh coat of paint.  Through the years  I have painted every room in our house at least three times or more.  I love to paint although climbing up and down the ladder is a little harder than it use to be.

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The room was a light sage green and now it’s a sort of pinkish brown.  A few years ago I painted our bedroom and wanted a soft, darker pink.  It turned out Pepto Bismo pink.  We lived with it.  While painting with this color, I got some on my arm and looked at it and thought, ‘Ah, calamine lotion.”  So now I have a calamine lotion painted room, but I rather like it. It looks really well alongside the grayish diningroom.  We shall live with it.

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This painting looks really good on the wall.

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The fireplace mantle stands out better.  I am getting use to it.

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We had the wolf moon.  I almost missed it, but I got up earlier than usual last Sunday and saw it just before it set in the west.

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I love full moons.  They say people go a little crazy during them, but they have never bothered me.

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I have almost knit to the heel of another sock.  Now I will have to change to double pointed needles to knit the heel flap and then the dreaded heel turn.  I will have to try this when no one is around, all phones must not ring, the light must be just right, I must be well rested and alert, the moon must be in the right phase and nothing, but nothing must disturb me or the stitches will fall off the needles like they did the last time and I tore out the whole sock.  How did someone figure out how to knit the very first sock ever?  How did they teach themselves to turn a heel?  It boggles my mind that someone did it for the very first time without any instructions.  I have instructions, and it still boggles my mind!

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Finished piecing my chick quilt top.  It turned out even cuter than I though it would.

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I could make another one of these, it was so much fun.  It will get quilted soon.

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Today I finished piecing a basket quilt.  This was another really fun one, but oh, so many little pieces.

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I love every piece of fabric in this quilt.

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Of course, I continue to feed the birds.  They are a continuous source of joy for me.  Every time I see a titmouse or chickadee I just have to smile.

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Today I was keeping an eye on this cardinal in the crabapple tree.  She sat there for the longest time watching the other birds at the feeder.

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I kept trying to get a good picture.

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This is the best I could do.  The sun was shining on her making her feathers seem to glow.

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Walking around the yard I noticed that bulbs were starting to sprout in the garden.

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This little bush has stayed this color all winter.

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I’ve been doing a little coloring in this book.

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I have ordered a tin of seventy-two colored pencils to make my pictures more enhanced.

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There is something rather relaxing about sitting down and coloring a picture.  I loved coloring when I was a little girl.  So glad that adult coloring books are in vogue right now.  I love working with the colors and shading and trying to pretend I am an artist.   I saw in Sam’s Club the other day there was a Donald Trump coloring book.  We had our grandsons with us and one of them wanted one, but I said his mother would kill me if I bought him one!  But I thought it was funny.  He got a book, instead.

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I’m beginning to write stories about my two younger grandsons called “The Adventures of Tristan and Foster.”  I have several ideas for stories.  They always want me to make up stories about them when they visit, so I thought I would try my hand at writing some for them.

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We lost Abigail this week.   David went out to make sure they were in the coop and she was laying out in the garden.  No feathers around, no blood.

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We had been getting these really long skinny eggs lately and I was thinking one of the hens must have something wrong with her egg canal.  Since Abigail died, we haven’t got anymore of these eggs so I think she got bound up with an egg.  So sad.  That happens sometimes with chickens.  They can look really healthy, but have an egg stuck inside them and it kills them.

Besides all of this there’s been church going, cookie baking, roll making, grandboys visiting, laundry doing, book reading, dog playing, chicken feeding, Bible study planning, David’s birthday celebrating, and much more.  I haven’t been to the hair dresser for months.  I need a cut and color, but I keep putting it off.  I am getting so lazy in my old age.  Just love staying at home and doing at home things.  I feel blessed.  Bye.

 

 

 

Cold and Snowy

January is doing what January does.  Bringing us cold temperatures and snow.  We had a really nice run of warmer weather, but all good things must come to an end and we are living in a freezer now.  At least we are not waiting for a giant blizzard to head our way as the Northeast of our country is doing this weekend.  Up to two feet of snow they are telling them.  Whoa!  You won’t be able to find bread or milk anywhere up there this weekend.

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With snow on the ground and not much food available, I like to keep the bird feeders full.  The birds have gone through a thirty gallon can full of birdseed in the last two weeks.  When someone says they eat like a bird, they are a voracious eater because birds eat constantly.

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Titmice, sparrows, cardinals. juncos, chickadees, woodpeckers, blue jays and one fat squirrel have visited our bird feeders.  I have seen five pairs of cardinals at one time feeding.  They prefer the ground, so I always throw some birdseed there.

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I am so thankful for cardinals who bring us a bright spot of color on the winter landscape.

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This weather makes the house next door look even more lonely.  It’s been empty for a few years and the people who owned it are gone now.   I don’t know what is going to happen to this house, but I keep praying a nice family will buy it and move next door and bring the house to life again.  I would hate to see it torn down, but it does need a lot of work.

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On days like these my heart turns to Spring.  The Spring magazines are beginning to appear and I got this one the other day.

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So many pretty pictures of birds and stories about birds and what plants to grow to draw birds to your yard.

I have been having trouble sleeping and getting cricks in my neck at night.  We have tried so many different pillow through the years and I decided to try one more.

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My Pillow.  I don’t own shares in the company although I wish I did, but anyway, I bought two pillows from here right after Christmas.

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They both came in a little box and were scrunched into plastic bags.

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But once out of the bag they fluffed up very well.

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I especially like that they are made here in the good old USA.

So I have been sleeping on mine for the last couple of weeks and only had one night that my neck hurt, but other than that, I have been sleeping like a baby.   David is still not sure he likes his, but he doesn’t take to change too well so maybe he will change his mind after a while.

I’m not advertising them or anything, just telling you how mine works for me.  I think it has helped my sleeping.

I have been working on several projects this month.  January is a great month to stay inside and make things.

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I told you about this quilt book I got a while back.  I really love this book.  Lori Holt has designed some of the cutest quilts in the past and this books is chock full of quilt ideas.

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I really loved this one.  Wouldn’t this be so cute for a baby?  If you are expecting or are a soon to be grandma,  this would make such a wonderful quilt for the new baby.  If it’s a boy you could just use blue material instead of all the pink.  I love pink and I am making a pink one.

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Look at this chick closely. The material has little ducks on it!   A chick made with duck material.

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Little chicks lining up on my cutting table one by one.  I need twenty of them.  These are so much fun to make.  I got kind of obsessed with making them after a while.

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Here’s the stack of twenty blocks I need.

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Since this is going to be used as an Easter quilt, I chose this material for the backing.  We sold this in our store several years ago and I have sold some of it at garage sales and still have enough to back a quilt or two.  I really love this material.

And while I work on the chick quilt, my mind is already wandering to the next quilt or quilts I would like to make.

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I want to make a chick quilt using only blacks and pinks.  If you are old enough to remember, in the five and dime stores back in the fifties at Easter time little chicks would appear in all colors.  Pink chicks, blue chicks, lavender chicks.  I don’t know what was used to color the chicks.  It probably wasn’t healthy for them, but at the time I thought they were the cutest things and always wanted a colorful chick, but since my daddy raised hundreds of chickens, my parents thought it was foolish to buy one just because it was a different color.  So I plan to make a pink chick quilt.

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I bought this quilt book from Amazon a couple of weeks ago for a very cheap price.  Four dollars, I think. It was almost like new.  I love to make little quilts once in a while because it is instant gratification and I can make one in a day or so and still feel like I have made something worth having or giving away.

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I plan to make this quilt soon.  I love basket quilts.  I have made quite a few in my lifetime.

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I’ve been going through my stash of fabric to make this quilt. That is half the fun of quilting.  Choosing the fabrics you will need.  I just shop my stash and can come up with a nice selection.

Every once in a while I do some work for a friend.  I am not a quilt restorer, but I was asked to do a little repair work on a friend’s quilt.

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Actually a comforter as it is tied, but there were several of the rectangles that had holes in them.  I took material that almost matched and sewed it over the damaged piece and retied it.  If you look closely you can tell which ones I replaced, but it isn’t too apparent.  I hope my friend will be happy.

This is a quilt made out of double knit.  Not an easy fabric with which to make a quilt.  Back in the sixties double knit was the fabric of choice for clothes.  I made double knit skirts, my son a double knit little sailor suit,  another suit jacket for my other son, and last but not least a leisure jacket for David.  When I made David’s jacket, it had belt loops and a self fabric belt.   Well, I put the belt loops up too high and when David wore the jacket it looked like the belt was directly under his chest.  Bless him, he wore that jacket and never complained.  We have a picture of him in it and every time we see it we laugh.

Double knits came in all colors and patterns. This quilt had a lot of different double knits in it.

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It’s a very heavy quilt also.  I wouldn’t want to sleep under it. Kind of like the denim one David made.  It was so heavy I could barely carry it.

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David put up my little green house and I am starting tomatoes this week.  It won’t be long before May will be here and time to plant again.  Always nice to know it’s coming when we are sitting in the middle of snow and ice.

Last but not least, I hung some red and white hankies in the window to decorate for Valentine’s Day that is coming.

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There’s a living room to paint, a Bible study to start and a trip to plan.  Hope your days are full and blest.  Bye.

 

Signs of the Season

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  We were blessed with family and festivities and all the Christmas season is supposed to be.  A time of joy, peace and blessings.  Now we are settling in for the rest of the winter.  Cold, dreary days.  Firelight flickering.  Candles glowing.  The days for soups, chili, and comfort food. Baking bread.    The days for enjoying our Christmas gifts, if we got any, or just enjoying being inside and working on our indoor chores and hobbies.

I am in a sock knitting obsession.  I started a pair of socks in the last couple of weeks.

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My first time ever to knit on circular needles.

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Very tiny circular needles.   I found I liked the knitting part of it, but was dreading turning the heel.  I think I worried about it so much I dropped stitches as I was trying to knit the heel flap, got all impatient about picking up the stitches and ended up tearing out the whole sock and now am using the yarn to knit yet another scarf.  So I am back to square one in starting a pair of socks.  I think I am going to order some different yarn as this yarn is acrylic and not really sock yarn and I did not like the stiffness of it as I was knitting.  Maybe it was a good thing I dropped those stitches.  David said, “you spent hours knitting that sock,” and I said, ” I can start again.  I am determined to knit socks.”  I won’t give up.  If millions of women can knit socks, so can I.

I did get this for Christmas.

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I am not so sure this will be any easier as there is a CD to watch and all kinds of things one needs to know before one starts.  How can a simple sock be so hard?   I know people who knit hats on looms like this, so it cannot be that hard.  Anyway, that is what I tell myself.

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Meanwhile, I told David I wanted to learn to crochet this year, also, which made him get out his crochet needles and proceed to crochet a scarf.

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He use to crochet all the time and even crocheted a huge afghan.  If David can do it, surely I can.  He says it’s easy.  Sure it is.  When you know how to do it!

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We had an informal table this year at Christmas. I didn’t want to be spending the time doing dishes on Christmas day.

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We used paper plates, but I did find these vintage looking ones with napkins to match at Hobby Lobby.

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Kids are what make Christmas so much fun.

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Even grumpy snowmen are fun.  Our oldest son modeling one of his gifts.  As one can see, it made our grandson laugh.

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Another gift I received was this adult coloring book.  It has brought out the kid in me.  I can’t stay away from it.  I collected all my coloring pencils and got to work.

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The pages are all these black and white drawings, but as you color you turn the pages into…

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Little works of art.

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I am having way too much fun with this book.

Other signs of the season are these…..

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Birds at the bird feeders.  A titmouse.  We haven’t seen titmice for years at our feeder so this was a wonderful thing to see.  I hope we get lots more of these pretty little birds.

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The winter garden is still wonderful to see.  There is beauty everywhere.  These flowers only bloom in the winter.  This is the first year I have had them and I plan to get some more as it is a joy to see flowers in December outdoors.

As we come to the close of yet another year, I pray for peace, for happiness, for health, and for the love of family and friends in 2016. I wish it all for you, too. Bye.

 

An Alamo, quilt shops and Ducks

It seems like the days are passing so quickly.   We loved Fredricksburg, Texas.  It’s a great shopping experience, but there is much more to it than that.  David and I like to get off the beaten track and see things most of the tourists never go see.

One of those sights was Cross Mountain. Years ago a huge metal cross was erected on top of a mountain outside of Fredricksburg.  You can walk up to it and that is what David and I decided to do.  Now I had been having leg pains, but nothing was stopping me from going up this mountain. The path was relatively easy and was not straight up, but meandered around the mountain.  It was a misty day, but we said we would never get this chance again, so up we went.

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Even though it was cloudy and misting, the views were beautiful.

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Yes, my hair was wet, but there was only me and David there, so, who cares?

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Even though it looks like my head has been impaled, it isn’t too bad of a picture.

We like to drive around towns we are in and find things that are different from the general touristy things.  We drove out to Lady Byrd Johnson’s  Park south of town.  For those of you who may not know, Lady Byrd Johnson was the wife of one of our presidents, Lyndon Johnson.  Lady Byrd started the wild flower project where wild flowers were planted along Texas highways.  Anyway, it is a nice park.  We saw a river and stopped by it and before we knew it, we had company.

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Oh, did I have any food for them?  I keep crackers that I get at restaurants in the glove compartment of our car.  I tell David it’s so if we are ever in the middle of nowhere and are starving, we’ll have crackers.  Well, these quackers wanted crackers!  I dug out several packages and fed them.  Reminded me of when I raised ducks when I was a girl and how they would follow me everywhere because I was the first thing they saw when they hatched.

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They were so cute. I want to raise ducks now.  I could, you know.  Look how snowy white they are and so mannerly waiting for some crackers.

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Then I ran out of crackers and they started getting demanding.   They followed me to the car and I had to jump in and we sped off before they got inside!

Next we went to the Lady Byrd Johnson pollinator garden.  It was so pretty.  I want my gardens to look like this.

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Perovskia.  I do raise this and plan to plant a lot more next Spring. One of my favorite flowers.  I spread this in the chicken house to make it smell good.

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My sweetie in the garden.

And we found a rare specimen in this garden.  One we have never seen before.

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The Red Capped Americus Siticus Snoreius.  Uncommonly found in gardens of the pollinating kind.  He never moved the entire time we were in the garden.  We tried not to disturb as we didn’t know what he would do. 

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If you are ever in Fredricksburg, Texas, take a little trip to this park.  It’s a nice little place away from all the tourists.

We drove around town some more and I saw the library.  I love libraries though I must admit I have not been in one for years since I found Amazon.com and can order Kindle books so easily.  This library made me wish I was a little girl being taken on her first library visit.  I could imagine curling up with a good book here and spending the day.

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Little lights all around the roof.

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Chandeliers in the windows.  It was wonderful.  I wanted to go in and spend a few hours, but it was closed for the day.  So we went to eat at a German restaurant we had seen downtown.  We were walking along just fine and all of a sudden, I felt something snap behind my knee and I had to immediately sit down.  I could barely walk.  We managed to get to the restaurant and had a delicious meal.  I had three kinds of sausages, a salad and German potato salad .  It was all so good, but way too much to be able to eat it all.  Really enjoyed that meal, but then I had to try to walk out of the restaurant.  David went to get the car and he drove up right in front of a big puddle and I had to leap across it to get to the car which really hurt, but I made it.  I hobbled around the rest of the day holding on to things as I walked.  It’s strange, because this was my left leg and the same thing happened to my right leg about a year ago and it took a few days to get better.   I knew I probably shouldn’t have climbed that mountain, but, hey, I like a challenge.

This morning I was still hobbling, worried that I wouldn’t be able to walk around the Alamo, but I did.  I will write about that in my next post.

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Here’s to ducks, German food and out of the way parks.  Bye.