Monthly Archives: August 2018

Once There Was A Summer

Remember those first few days of Summer when you thought they were spread out before you like a gift just waiting to be opened?   So many plans made for picnics, road trips and long, lazy days by the pool.   Blue, blue skies?   Warm sun on the face?

Days when clouds had curls on the top like a Dairy Queen ice cream cone? 

DSCN7927

Summer didn’t quite turn out that way for me.  I have spent a great deal of Summer painting and gardening.   We have talked for years about painting the house so this year we have decided to get it done.  But first, we wanted to try some paint colors to see what we would like. We painted the shed and my shop a deep, dark syrupy chocolate and I like it.

DSCN7926

DSCN7895

Between David and myself we got them both done with two coats on each.   We are having the house painted.  No tall ladders for us.

It’s rained so much this Summer so we painted between the rain drops.   The rain has done wonders for my garden, though.

DSCN7914

The pumpkin vines have spread everywhere and I have seen a few pumpkins starting to form.

DSCN7915

One vine grew up and tree and then down and there is a pumpkin hanging in there somewhere.

DSCN7916

And the vine continues to grow down to earth again. Who knows where it will end up?

DSCN7921

These pumpkin vines are waist high on me.  The leaves are huge.  I hope the pumpkins won’t disappoint.

DSCN7892

Being a farmer’s daughter, I am always glad to see that the farmers have good stands of corn and soybeans in their fields. I heard on the radio that harvest may come early this year.  Good for the farmers.

And even though it’s Summer, I have still found time for knitting.  In the early morning or in the evenings I try to knit a bit.  Here are a few of the socks that have come off my needles.

DSCN7902

With all this yarn I knit a pair of patchwork socks.

 

DSCN7904

DSCN7913

Not sure anyone but me will want to wear these colorful socks, but I do love them.

DSCN7907

Another pair of socks from odds and ends of yarn leftovers.  I rather like these, too. These were a bear to knit for some reason. I tore out one of them three times, once when I was at the toe.   Grrrr.

DSCN7905

And I found the colors in this ball of yarn almost matched my patchwork socks.

DSCN7929

And here they are.  See the mistake?  It’s hardly noticeable, but I know it’s there.

DSCN7912

And I also did some patching of holes on some older socks I knit.  These are some of the first socks I ever knitted.  I knit little squares and sewed them over holes.

DSCN7910

Then I did a little yarn embellishing.  I will be glad to wear these on a cold Winter’s day.

DSCN7908

The children are all back in school sitting at their desks hopefully filling their brains with useful information that will get them far in life.  Our oldest grandchild started college this year and our youngest is in fourth grade. How fast they have grown.    Soon the leaves will begin to change. The air will have a crispness in it that I have longed for all Summer.  I am not a hot weather person.   We have plans for this Autumn.  I will be making trips to Indianapolis with our daughter as she takes part in a physical therapy study for MS patients.   Pray for good results.   Then we will all go to Walt Disney World together and have some fun.  That’s our plans.

Hope your Summer was full of everything your heart desired and that Autumn will be the same. Bye.

Oh, and Belle and Molly give their regards.

DSCN7923

DSCN7925

Woof!

 

 

 

 

Nobody and Everybody

I’ve been hearing and seeing a lot on opinion sites about Nobody and Everybody.  Everybody loves this tv show. Everybody is flocking to see that movie.  Nobody likes our president. Nobody believes a thing he says.  Nobody goes to rallies willingly.  They are paid.  Everybody wants a woman in the White House. Which woman?  Everybody loves this new food, book, tea, laundry detergent, store etc., etc.

Just who are these Nobodies and Everybodies?  And why don’t I always agree with them?   I went to a movie once that Everybody was raving about and it even won an Oscar.  Most boring movie I have ever watched and some people even got up and left when full frontal nudity came on he screen.  Who are these Everybodies? Don’t they have any taste?

I went to a restaurant Everybody said I should not miss. It would be the highlight of my life.  Worst food and service I have ever received.  Everybody was wrong, evidently.   Maybe I am a Nobody.  Because I don’t always agree with all the Everybodies.

What do you think when you see something advertised and it is said that Everybody loves it?  I immediately become suspicious because these Everybodies have steered me wrong more times than not.   I hear that Everybody is getting a certain vaccine.  Well, I haven’t and I probably won’t.   Some vaccines have been proven to be more harmful than helpful in the long run. I got vaccinated for something a while back only because a friend had been affected by this particular disease and told me I really must get vaccinated against it.  So I did. A few weeks later I heard that getting the vaccination could CAUSE you to get the disease. What????!!!

Who are these Everybodies and Nobodies?  Where do they live. Do they live in a nicer house than me, have a better dog, car, cat, refrigerator etc?    How did they get so smart that Everyone wants to follow Everybody?    And the Nobodies are just party poopers.  Really.

So the next time you hear something advertised and someone says, “Everybody loves it, or wants it, or has used it, etc.,”  just remember, if you aren’t part of those Everybodies, it isn’t true.

As for the Nobodies. Nobody listens to them anyway. Bye.

August and Where did Summer Go?

When I was a girl, I lived for Summer.  School was a necessary evil.  I did well in school and made good friends, but I preferred to be outdoors and with my animals.    The last day of school was such a celebration for me. I feel sorry for children now who seem to be going to school all year around and don’t have the luxury of long, lazy Summer days to do just what they want to do. It seems children’s lives are so planned now. Even times to play with friends are called “Play Dates.”      Sports and other things fill children’s time.  When do they have the time to be bored?     Being bored is not a bad thing. It’s been made to be a bad thing in today’s fast paced, go, go, go society.  One must be entertained every moment of every day.

I was never bored as a child.   There was always so much to do on the farm.  I did have chores to do, but when they were done, my time was my own.   If I wanted to play a game of baseball, I joined my brothers in the barn lot where we would play all afternoon.  A game of croquet or badminton sometimes was the order of the day.  But mostly I played with the dogs and the cats and the calves and baby pigs and chickens and ducklings on our farm or swung on the swing and read a library book for hours.   Because we lived in the country, I didn’t have friends close by to play with so I had to entertain myself.  I learned to sew on Mother’s sewing machine, how to cut apart a chicken for Sunday dinner and how to saddle a horse.   I was in 4-H where I learned to embroider, bake cakes, tube paint, weave baskets and raise a sheep.

I still love Summers, but they seem so busy now.  Every year we plan a project and this year it is painting all the buildings on our property.  Most have not been painted for years so they are due.  I wanted to paint the outside of my shop, but first I had to remove everything that was on the front porch.

DSCN7881

This is not all of it. It looked like we were having a garage sale.

DSCN7878

And so I began to paint.

DSCN7880

Going from the color Chocolate which has been on our house and our buildings for years and years to Oxford Brown or as I like to call it Dark Chocolate. The paint looked just like chocolate syrup in the can.   Between David and myself we have the shop just about done. I love how it looks. We are hiring someone to paint the house because no more going up high ladders for David and my anymore.      We have wood fencing all around our property which we have been painting on for years and this year we hope to have most of it completed.  I love to paint, but I have been painting on something since January and am about done for a while.

Since it’s been our 50th anniversary month David and I have been doing some traveling and visiting places from our youth

DSCN7836

The church where we said our “I dos” 50 years ago.  It looks pretty much like it did fifty years ago.  Golly, but it seems like only yesterday.  I can still see the people at the door of the church throwing rice as David and I got in the car to drive around town.  David’s brother was driving. He came up from the Virgin Islands,   where he lived, to be David’s best man. They drive on the left side of the road there. When he left the church, he was driving on the left side of the street and we had to holler at him to get to the right!  It was one of the best days of my life.   It’s been a great 50 years.

DSCN7838

David’s Grandmother’s house.  She’s been gone many years, but we use to visit her often and she would cook us dinners.  She was a very good cook.

DSCN7839

We’d sit on this front porch and  watch the town go by. It was and still is a little town where everyone use to know everyone else. I don’t know if it’s like that now.   I miss it.  I miss Grandma Henley. She was so good to me.

DSCN7824

We’ve done a good bit of swimming with the grandboys.  We got this wild steer for them to ride in the pool.

DSCN7811

We are still getting rhubarb.  Made this freezer jam.

DSCN7810

Rhubarb sauce which David loves.  He even puts it on ice cream.

DSCN7814

And Rhubarb crunch. Yum.

And we have done some antiquing and other things.

DSCN7817

Found this clock for my shop which was perfect.

DSCN7818

This cute little tray.

DSCN7819

This tablecloth which matched the clock completely.

DSCN7820

A birdhouse I found.  A four holer.   Hope the birds can decide among themselves.

DSCN7833

We ate at a German restaurant which had very good food.

DSCN7846

Sitting out on the shop porch one evening, we watched a rainbow be born. I have never seen it happen before.  First it was very dim and got brighter and brighter and lasted for quite a while.  God’s promise.

DSCN7841

There have been quite a few rainbows lately.

And so Summer continues on for just a little while. I will hold it to me as long as I can.  I have so few Summers left on this great planet of ours.  As long as my garden is blooming, it’s Summer to me.

And my garden is blooming profusely right now.

DSCN7884

The view from my back door.  Everything is so lush.

DSCN7882

The best hydrangeas I have ever grown.  Right by our front step.

DSCN7877

I think these are called Tiger Lilies.  Their seeds look like ripe blackberries.

DSCN7862

DSCN7855

I call this my kitchen garden.  Not much food grown here except a few tomatoes.

DSCN7858

Hibiscus grow all over the yard from one plant I got from my neighbor years ago.

DSCN7861

Lawn children play among the flowers.  A long time ago real children played in my garden.  Now they are all grown and live away.

DSCN7865

DSCN7866

Just a couple of the day lilies I grow. They are one of my top five favorite flowers for beauty and ease of care.

DSCN7873

Belle roaming in her garden.  She loves to sniff the flowers.

DSCN7876

And, of course, Molly follows me everywhere I go.

So, Summer slowly leaves us now. I’ll be looking at these pictures in the midst of Winter snow, sleet and ice.   I know in some places fires are raging so we must send a prayer for all those in the areas, for the people and for the wildlife. Be safe. Bye.