Dear Folk and Gentle People

Finally! We met. ッ

It was a wonderful opportunity to meet Mr. and Mrs. T on Saturday last, she of both Across My Kitchen Table and Mrs T's Christmas Kitchen fame. 

Actually, our meeting was a lot like sitting at her kitchen table happily chatting until first the mosquitoes and then the drunk showed up. < thud > Into every blogger meet a clinker must fall. Sigh.

The Ts love getaways and had been in Maine to attend a wedding up Bangor way. They were killing two birds with one stone so to speak. We had been scheduled to meet last year, but then my father passed away unexpectedly. Mrs. T’s father passed away not long after. Life happens and plans must shift when it does.

Except for photos of her adorable little girl self, Mrs. T does not share photos of herself. I recently caught a glimpse of Mr. T in passing so I thought I’d probably be able to figure out whom I was meeting.

As I skidded into the parking lot, Mr. T was the first one I saw. He was sporting four things: Mrs. T, a t-shirt created by his grands, and two black eyes. Gotta love a grandfather who proudly wears his grands’ gift. (The black eyes? Not my story to tell. 😉 ) Sara is just as lovely a person as you can imagine she would be from reading her blog: warm, attentive, gentle, and godly.

We discussed many things. Mrs. T mentioned how much she would like to meet a certain blogger...hope that happens! She said how much her life has been blessed by blogging. Yes, we do find our own here.

We exchanged gifts...these are mine...she knows my color well! You might have to visit *this post* if you don’t recognize the other. I had never seen them before reading there, but I have the feeling that some of my readers will recognize that darling box.

Using my crocheted hot mat to protect my mixing bowls

As we were saying our goodbyes...in fact, I was already in my car...I realized that you might not believe me if I didn’t have pictures. Mr. and Mrs. T indulged me and I have two. The first is a very nice photo...the second is even more wonderful and my favorite after employing my photography trick. You know the one...

That is not a wee hatchet in Mr. T's pocket... I had to look twice! 

Such a cute couple!


Thank you, dear folk and gentle people, for coming my way, which was quite a bit out of yours. I appreciate it very much. ♥ It was a joy to meet you at last!

A Blueberry Day

Do you just love those days when something fun or interesting turns up that you had not planned for? Out of the blue it comes and usually begins with a phone call. 

Mine went this way...

"Hey, Mom, my car's going into the shop today and I was wondering if you'd be able to pick me up and we could hang out together for the day." 

You know the answer to that! My gears began turning immediately: We'd go out for breakfast and afterward we'd clean the garage. ツ

Breakfast went off without a hitch, but garage cleaning was not in my daughter's plans; a trip to Vassalboro was instead.

our route in red

She wanted to purchase blueberry bushes. Hmmm...interesting...okay, I was in.

 arriving at Fieldstone's Garden

grape arbor🍇

 Laurel searching for her blueberry plants

 there it is!

 pleased with her choices...a smaller, tart blueberry and a large, sweet blueberry variety named Patriot

Wish that truck were ours...it would have been easier getting these plants home.

 Now that shepherd's staff has presence!

 holly

 limelight hydrangea

 garden art

 this plant stand/torchiere became Laurel's birthday gift to Michelle...

 Variegated maple, which can no longer be sold as it's invasive

 checking out, but we'll definitely be back another day...

All plants at Fieldstone's are native plants hardy to -40°F...very important in Maine.

Thank you for joining me on this blueberry-finding road trip. 

Procrastinating

Not sure if procrastination is a problem for you, but it certainly is with me. I can procrastinate for hours, days, weeks, even years. I am not proud of it. I am just being honest with you.

As you know, I am "supposed" to be decluttering. I have done some decluttering, but that was boring as all get out. 

So I turned my attention to projects. This old window style mirror, a Wal*Mart purchase for $7 in the 1990s has been a lot of fun in the garden. If it breaks, I don't care. Well maybe a little bit...

It used to hang on the side of the barn a few years ago. You can see that here. Now it is disguising the mess I made power washing the fence. ツ I also repainted the potting bench that John made me some years ago. It was looking pretty scruffy as you can see below. 

Hope that you enjoyed a lovely Independence Day or Canada Day, if you live in North America. My family gathered at my son's home poolside. Most swam, but Michelle and I sat on the deck and chatted. Then we abandoned the deck and the outdoors for air conditioning...ahhhh... And we'll get to do it all over again when we gather at my sister's on Sunday for a family BBQ and another 4th of July celebration even if it'll be the 8th. 😉

It's been so warm, though not topping 100°F, that all my flowers are drooping by afternoon. My mission today is to find them some filtered light. Even though well watered, they seem to be as miserable as I am. I am not complaining. Really, I am not. I don't have to shovel snow and that is a great blessing.

Leaving you with a photo of my "mirror ball" petunia. They are so uniquely marked. You can see what I was describing above...the slight wilt to the blossoms by afternoon. 

Off to get my chores done before the heat truly sets in... 

Thank you so much for all those wonderful tips on my last post. They were fabulous!