Sewing Room Time

It's been a rainy, cool day. I love to spend such days in the sewing room and since I had a few projects to finish...

For those who prefer the bigger picture. (I'd have to back out of the house to get the entire room in.) My sewing room is tiny. But it's mine and filled with all the things that make me happy. Many of you are in this room, believe it or not!

Before I forget, and since so many were wondering, my new iron is a Black and Decker. I purchased it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for around $60. I wanted a sweet yellow number, though I couldn't justify the $200 price tag. This works so well. I am very pleased. My last iron was a R*wenta and I was much less than pleased.

I started off with these scrap paper mason jar lids. Just cut a bunch of circles and pop them over the metal insert and screw on the top. For a simple thing, it makes such a sweet difference. (Not my idea...seen somewhere...on Pinterest maybe.)

Finished up a needlebook. I used *this* tutorial for some ideas.

Then I remembered *a little project* mentioned on my blog a long time ago. I modified it for my needs and soon it was done. A lot of fun, too. 

Little dresses in the packages and little dresses on the packages. John's off to celebrate birthdays tomorrow. He had another bumper crop year with two new great-granddaughters. 

Edited to Add: This little photo puts a ribbon on this story — John's greats! 

Hope that you enjoyed hanging out with me.

Wishing my Canadian friends a wonderful holiday weekend!

The Challenges of Reading My Blog

On my chatty days, the challenge is for me to write so that you don't feel as if you're riding a roller coaster. Some of the most fun times here at the blog are when I've been misunderstood. It happens nearly every day. It used to cause frustration. Now I can laugh. ☺

Recently, I've been accused of giving readers a headache, which is not much fun for them I'm sure. This is partly my own fault — my lack of communication skills — and partly that a portion of readers aren't really here; they're just moving through on a swift train. They aren't in a reading mood. I get that. Sometimes all I want to see is a picture book, too. And when it comes to a picture book, this is not the best blog to be.

Glimpses of my little corner are not all that photo worthy...I know that. This is a case in point: the best I have to offer you today is a hanger of linens on the upstairs dresser...oak. (I have a new iron and suddenly ironing has become a joy again.)

All this to say that I am feeling very blessed that so many people have wandered through this blog in the past six years. Why I have any readership is a source of constant wonderment to me. As you know, Google reader is leaving July 1. I have yet to learn whether Google Followers will be gone as of that date, too. My best guess is that since it's all connected, one day we'll wake up to find them gone...poof.

(Oh boy...it is so tempting to say something right here that would toss many for a loop. Some of you will know what I'm thinking and others will just have to guess because I'm not connecting the dots today. Another day...)

If you had told me yesterday morning that the oppressive heat was going to leave and that it would be chilly enough to bake those wonderful molasses cookies last night (recipe in sidebar), I might not have believed you. If you had told me yesterday morning that the Supreme Court was going to rule as they did, I might not have believed you either. All day long I felt as if I woke in one country and ended the day in another. I'm weary. I'm tired. I'm yearning for home.

Making a Path

All boleros all the time here lately. They bloom and are spent all within about a week's time. I sure do enjoy this one special week of summer when the bolero lilies are blooming. This is a header I might usually feature except that it feels "too hot" with all the actual heat and humidity.

~Bolero Lily Love~

This is why we were off on our little trip yesterday. Something must be done about the pathways that are either packed earth or have small strips of grass between two gardens. I'm tired of mowing the grass right into the garden and the little protectors there are not working to keep the clippings out. 

These stones are the remedy. Seven of them for ten dollars. What a deal! John knows all the best places. He's bringing over his square shovel when he comes home for lunch and I'll be getting to work this afternoon, if the rain holds off. We found the crushed brick, too, but didn't purchase any. 

And we managed to have some fun in the middle of errand running — breakfast and supper out. We can return tonight and have this for supper.

The whole world looks a little hazy like this...humid and blah. Now we're looking at another week of rain. So weary of this wet weather we're having, though as John says, "It's better than no weather at all." 

Wanna complain about the weather or praise it?

Gallivanting~Second Try

Now I pride myself on a few things. One is my spelling. I have been a good speller most of my life; however, I am slipping. I have forgotten how to spell a few words, if I ever knew in the first place.

I did know how to spell lightning once, but somehow it became "lightening" yesterday. Two completely different words! I couldn't have had anything to do with that...

This morning, I wanted to look up the meaning for gallivant, yet I was spelling it "galivant," which made finding the definition tricky.

Today, while I am gallivanting, I will be looking for turmeric, which heretofore, I have called "tumeric." You see what I mean?

This reminds me how for years I would order "schrod" at restaurants. Waitstaff gave me funny looks, but I seemed to get what I wanted. Why was I ordering "schrod" when I really wanted scrod? I'm blaming me mum. She always ordered "schrod" too. This may go away back.

It's been so long since we went gallivanting that we may have forgotten how to do that, too. Let's see. I'll check my photos. Ahhh, yes, way back on June 2.
That was the day we finally found some local honey and have since been spared the agony of allergies.



These photos were taken to show Auntie that we do have her kind of food up here — for a price — not listed.

I took them with the iPad camera, which isn't very good. It was all I had with me.

Really, I must stop leaving my camera behind. Why just last Saturday when I was going back and forth through the many detours in town trying to help John with the Ponderosa, I actually saw a man lift a miniature horse from his van and kiss it on the lips!  Now you just don't see these things every day and I would have liked to document it.

This crushed something intrigued me. John thought it could be crushed bricks. Since we're looking for crushed something today, I'm remembering this stuff.

I tell you, Blogger is driving me batty and formatting is wonky. This post will be interesting to see. (A little too interesting, I had to delete and start over.)

A loverly day to you!

Backyard Garden~Mosaic Monday

~The Scene~

~The Bits and Pieces~

I've been chomping at the bit to get out there and take photos. It's been a thunderstormy afternoon, which makes for dramatic lighting (no, I did not mean to say lightening ☺ lightning [Thanks, BJ, for keeping me straight!☺☺])

This reminds me of my grandson's being at a pool party last week with his classmates. His mother was also there. When a thunderstorm brewed up, he strongly suggested to his mom that it was time to leave. She said, "Go get your shoes." He said, "No time for that!"

He would not have liked seeing me out there with the camera for sure. But what I won't do for the cause when I'm feeling chatty.

Linking to Mary's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. 

Meet Me in the Meadow

~Source~

Some months ago now, my friend Diane shared Meet Me in the Meadow by Roy Lessin with me. I signed up to receive the devotional in my email. Every few days, I must remember to fetch it from the trash. For whatever reason, my email program won't allow me to add the address to my contacts list and it doesn't recognize the gold that it is dropping into the trash. So I've added the link to my sidebar and will visit that way. There's always something pertinent shared in Meet Me in the Meadow. The Word of God is timely; It is perfectly suited to our needs; It perfectly describes our condition. Please visit "Source" and read the brief message it contains. You'll be blessed.

A beautiful Sunday to you...

Everything From Trees to Watermelon

I'm feeling very chatty these days. My Vitamin D levels must have finally kicked in.

Have spent a couple of days at the Ponderosa doing the little things that John tends to overlook. For example, he's very good at detailing a car and not so very good at detailing a stove. This morning, before the sun gets around too far, I have some window washing on the west side to accomplish. I really think that I'm going to need to hog tie John to get him out of there. He keeps seeing one more thing and one more thing and, at this rate, there'll always be something more that can be done and it will never end. (The most recent was closing in the porch and putting in all new windows. Ackkkk...enough already!)

~~~

You know that you're really not paying attention when people from neighboring countries have to provide you with local news. Pamela asked me if I had felt the earth shake and I replied that three or more trees had been taken down and so, yes, I had. LOL! You know how I love it when a tree goes down over here in the jungle. Anyway, wouldn't you love to see my new view? This has happened quite quickly and one of these photos was just featured the day before yesterday, but I show it again as comparison.

~Before~

~After~

~~~

Here are some first and lasts in the garden. I always like to document them. These photos were taken on the last day of spring.

~the first Bolero Lily~

~The Last Phlox~

(I almost missed it!)

~The first Crimson Knock-out Rose~

~The First Pink Knock-out Roses...yes, the chewers have arrived~

~The Last Peony~

~The Morning Glory just beginning to climb~

~Hoping that one day it'll look spectacular!~

Okay, I've pestered you long enough. Off for breakfast, which will include the first watermelon...now that is another good thing about summer. 

Oh here's a question for you... One grand loves watermelon; the other hates it. Both of my children hate it. Who hates watermelon? Do you love it or hate it?

Some Levity Please

Please excuse me if you already know what I'm chatting about today. I really did crawl out from under a rock last evening around 6:30 when I learned that M*arth* Stew*rt has two grandchildren. Perhaps I could be forgiven for not knowing about the second, his being an Irish twin and all, but the first? Did you know this?

And have you ever heard about Alice Bee and her wonderfully funny dad Dave Engledow? Just found them last night, too. In case you need a laugh as much as I do, check out the links. You can always learn more by Googling.

*smoothie king*

*father's day breakfast*

Apparently, Mommy is finishing up a military tour in Korea and Daddy and Alice Bee are on their own. Hahahahahaha... John and I spent a wonderful time going through the photos and laughing our fool heads off. We're quirky that way. Perhaps you are, too.

(Please do not pin these photos. Go directly to the source for any pinning or linking. Thanks!)

hApPy suMMeR to YoU!

Tying Up At Least One Loose End

Thank you so much for another fun Note Card Party! Do you find yourself wandering around in your archives and getting a bit lost there? I do. It's rather like a search through Grandmother's Attic, which I used to love to do...achoo...pardon me. 

~~~

Speaking of Grandmother's Attic, this is my final post on kitchens for a while. I'm rather sick of them, especially mine. Sometimes, mine even turns my stomach. Ha! Anywho, I'm not always fair with my readers. As my mother once said, "How you make this little dump look so good cracks me up." True. She said that or something very close. 

I do it this way — I show you this, which is bad enough ↓

rather than that...↑

Let's try that again. This...↓

And not that...↑

One last time... ↓

And not that↑

This post is dedicated to Ceekay who stamped her foot so cutely during her tantrum on the 14th that I had to indulge her a little. 

Have a super day! It's a corker here and I'm mowing the lawn. What a way to spend the final day of spring.

Note Card Party~June

Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you.

~Richard Brinsley Sheridan 

~June 2010 as a header photo~

~June 14, 2013~

~June 7, 2013~

~June 14, 2013~

Make that lilies, roses, columbine, and peonies [to see you]. Three note cards came from this month alone. This means that I haven't been posting enough. I could tell you why, but it would be an exercise in exhaustion for us all. ☺

Our next party will be July 17. It's time to mark my calendar! Please mark yours because, obviously, I can not be counted upon.