My Hydrangeas, Daisies & More

 My lovely hydrangeas and daisies are in full bloom.

When we landscaped our yard six years ago, I deliberately told the landscaper I wanted to keep my plants small.  After having over grown shrubs in previous homes, I knew how fast and huge plants can grow over the years.

The original landscape design was loaded with plants.  I cut it under half what was shown.  

I didn’t want shrubs that would obscure the view of the house or allow someone to hide behind them.

One thing I miss from our Pennsylvania home is the flower window boxes on our cute shed.

My plan is to someday add window boxes to my garage windows.

I’m holding out running the sprinklers in the front yard.  It’s so expensive to water the yard here.

I was shocked when I received my first several water bills the first season the grass was put in and watered frequently.

I didn’t even know how to run the sprinkler system.  I googled it and learned.  This is the first house we have had sprinklers.  One thing I learned over the years, the brown grass will turn green again.

I was in pain the last week.  So I didn’t get much done.  I even had to cancel one of my strength training sessions on Friday.  I don’t know if it was bursitis and/or arthritis in both hips.  All I know was it hurt and it disturbed my sleep.  Last night I finally took an Aleve and slept better.  It’s not gone completely but it’s not bothering me as much now.  We have had a lot of rain and more is forecasted for the next week. 

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A friend gifted me her Brother Cut n’ Scan machine.  I have misplaced the manual but I found the DVD with all the information and the manual.  I’ve printed out the manual and it is much easier to read than the original one that came with the machine.  So maybe it was a blessing I misplaced it.

I have to rearrange my sewing area [..again] to accommodate the machine.  It has to be connected  to my PC.  I’m hoping I can get it connected  so I can at least tell my friend I used it.

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I went out to lunch for the first time since March 2020!  It was wonderful to visit with a dear designer friend who is helping me plan to convert my screened in porch to a 4 season room.

We looked at Pella windows to replace my screens and a sliding door to replace the current door which has never closed properly.  

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I had hoped to finish a July 4th wall hanging in time for Independence Day but I don’t think it will happen.

It’s pieced but needs to be sandwiched with batting and back and quilted.

We plan to BBQ for Independence Day.  

I might fix Strawberry Shortcake because it such a nice summer dessert.

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I keep changing the subject, but I have 34 Inspector George Gently books by Alan Hunter (pocketbooks and kindle versions).

There are more but I haven’t found them all yet.  I’m going to try to see if Barnes and Noble can order the ones I am missing.

So what have all of you been up to this summer? 

Have a wonderful day!

Spring Cleaning & More

 I’m back.  

I have been meaning to blog but instead I’ve been Spring Cleaning.

I have a lighted China Cabinet above my coffee station that was filled with teacups, Polish Pottery mugs, miscellaneous mugs etc.

It was busy looking to say the least.

So I decided to go on Amazon.com to see if I could find some teacup holders to hang my teacups.

I found a set of four and ordered two after measuring to make sure they would fit on my shelves.

They came quickly and they were easy to put together.

I positioned a set for each side to show off my teacups through the glass.

I had a set of white teacups that I placed on the back row and put my set of Royal Daulton teacups in front.

Then I order two racks to fit on my bottom shelf to better display my Polish Pottery mugs.

I was so pleased when they fit perfectly too!

I am lucky to live very close to a Polish Pottery store here in my town.

I couldn’t believe that I have 22 Polish Pottery mugs!

I love them because they are all bordered by a deep blue ring, microwave and dishwasher safe too.

And, as many of you know, once you start reorganizing it expands to other areas.

Next I ordered six white racks to go in my Christmas Cabinet.

They look nice, are study and display my Christmas decor beautifully.

These little white racks are working out so well that I ordered three more of this size plus one larger.

I have a Knick knack cabinet in my laundry room that could use reorganizing too.

I even managed to polish my silver that had turned dark.

We had a lovely sunny 80 degree day yesterday to celebrate my niece’s boyfriend’s birthday.

Andrew loves to cook so he BBQ’d baby back ribs on the grill.

They were delicious!  

We are back to rain and cooler temperatures the next few days.

But I took a delightful spin around the neighborhood on my Liberty Trike yesterday.

The builder is still working on the drainage in the wet lands behind our property line.

They reached behind me on Friday and then quit at noon leaving this ugly thing with gravel in it and the pipes all lined up.

The machines are so noisy I had to put ear plugs in my ears. 

 I dread them coming  back but I want the work completed.  

The machines run back and forth all day!

They even drove up my driveway with a pickup truck loaded with 5 or 6 of these heavy pipes and across the back yard to dump them without asking permission.

And the ground was wet from the rain.

I couldn’t believe their nerve.

Well, I better get back to work.

Thanks for visiting and all the lovely comments.

Early Spring & Snow Forecasted

 The trees have budded out here in Ohio.  It’s the earliest Spring I can remember in a long time.  And then up popped a weather forecast on my iPhone today advising that heavy snow of 3 to 5 inches is forecasted for this Tuesday night.  I’m tired of snow.  My Serviceberry tree in the front flowered a few days ago too.

Lots of changes happening here in my neighborhood.  Across the street a new house is being built on the empty lot.  It’s been empty the whole six years I’ve been here.  The geese used to build their nests there and raise their young.

And behind our property line for our street the Davey Tree workers came through and torn down a 20 foot strip of trees to install drainage for the new homes (28 homes!) that will be built behind us.  The builder “promised” that no more trees will be cut down but I’ll believe it when I see it.  They let the huge trees fall into the wooded area they didn’t cut and unfortunately lots of uncut trees were damaged.  This area is considered wet lands and it wasn’t to be cut or disturbed.  Today the workers came back to remove most, but not all, of the trees they cut down.

Today I spent most of the day cleaning my granite kitchen counter tops and stainless steel appliances.  I really like the Method Stainless Cleaner.  Boy does it shine the appliances!

I made strawberry shortcake again for the second time this year.  It’s turned into a family favorite dessert. 

We have used our BBQ grill already too.  

I have always used Bisquick’s shortbread recipe to make my shortcake.  

And, of course, lots of Reddi Wip Whip cream!

We love our doggies, senior gal Jewels and puppy, Lucky.

Lucky is so adorable and sweet.  He loves all his toys.

He is spoil rotten of course. 

Getting sleepy.

Eyes closed.  Toy still in his mouth.

Jewels in the meantime sleeps a lot.

Thanks for visiting and have a good day!

Mr Spider

Back in 2016 my neighbor and good friend, Deb, asked if I could sew a new yard spider for her.

She gave me the old spider to use as a pattern and I proceeded to order black nylon fabric.

The project sat until my college room mate came to visit and made the mistake of asking what project we would be working on.

I said “a spider”!

My friend, Karen, taught me to sew all those years ago in college.  She made the pattern pieces from the old spider and I sewed it all together.  We had fun putting it together.  It took us three days to finish.

Deb and her hubby were thrilled with it.  But I did tell her no more spiders.

Every Halloween Deb and her hubby put huge yard spiders out.

Mr. Spider is just one of many.  And he isn’t the largest one either!

Mr. Spider gets moved all around the neighborhood.  

You never know whose yard he will end up in.

I just saw this morning that my town is having Trick n’ Treat this year.

Guess I better buy some candy.  

Kimberbell Watermelon Table Topper & Screened In Porch

 

This project sat unfinished for about two years.  I finally decided it is time to finish it.

I sandwiched it with top, batting and back fabrics, squared it up and started sewing on the binding.

Only to realize I forgot to quilt it. 

LOL!

What really makes this topper POP is the theme appropriate fabrics.

Whole watermelons, red and white checks with cute little ants and red backed fabric with the black watermelon seeds add so much personality to the topper.

All the fabrics came from my quilting cousin’s fabric closet.

    

I used my Janome 15000 embroidery/sewing machine to quilt it.  A little straight line quilting and free motion quilting.

I have about seven different table toppers done so far.  

My next one I’m working on is a November (pumpkin) table topper.

We’re still having summer weather here in Ohio.

Even today it is currently 81 degrees out.

A couple more weeks and I will have to think about breaking down my screened in porch.

I purchased a storage box to use to store the porch furniture cushions over the winter rather than storing them in my spare bedrooms.

I move all the porch furniture together in a corner and cover it all with huge painter’s cloths for protection from dirt and pollen over winter.  

I also roll up the outdoor rug and cover it too.  

So far that system has worked out well.  

As much as I like Fall, I dislike all the leaves in my gutters.

You can see the huge tall trees and they produce “millions“ of leaves in the fall and early winter.

We are lucky to have woods behind us although someday soon there are plans to build 28 homes there.

I hope they leave some trees as a barrier.

Some parts are considered “wet lands” and they have building restrictions.

So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

So, are you ready for Fall?

Saturday Morning Coffee on My Screened In Porch

 It’s Saturday morning and I’m having my morning coffee out on my screened in porch.

When we moved from Pennsylvania back to Ohio, I told my Hubby I had to have a porch like we had in Pennsylvania.  

A couple of years ago I invested in good outdoor furniture for the porch.

It is unbelievable how much outdoor furniture can cost if you want it to last.

My dear friend and designer Susan helped me select the furniture and the outdoor rug.

I actually bought more than I needed for the porch so I moved two tables and two chairs inside for my Great Room.

The piece I love the most is the chaise lounge.  

The cushions are very thick and deep and it makes all the pieces very comfortable.  

I had landscaping done around the deck and porch a few years ago along with landscaping lights.

My niece lives with me along with her two rescue dogs, Jewels and Lucky.  

Today is overcast with the sun shining through once in awhile.  

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

My Butterfly Bush in Bloom and My Birdhouse Quilt

 Hello!  It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Ohio.  So, I decided to sit out on my screened in porch for lunch on my very comfortable chaise lounge chair.  My Butterfly bush is in full bloom this year.  I had three planted five years ago but only one has survived.

Isn’t it pretty!

I washed out my birdbath and watered my flower pots.  It is a warm sun and I had to come back into the air conditioning. 

I’m hand sewing the binding back down on my birdhouse quilt.  I had it professionally quilted by a quilter friend.  I tried to free motion quilt it but the weight of the quilt made it too hard to move on my Janome 15000.  I suppose I could have tried using my sit down quilter machine but felt that Karen could do a better job and I wasn’t wrong because it turned out beautifully.  Actually I had her long arm quilt four of my quilts.

This is before I sent it off to Karen when I was pinning it to try free motion quilting.  I just love red and blue and white backgrounds.  I’m amazed I made this quilt.  I spend the winters with my cousin, Rozann, in Stuart Florida.  She is so very talented and a very experienced quilter along with her quilting buddies.  I have learned so much from her in the last three years.

When we moved in five and 1/2 years ago we had Time Warner cable put in (now Spectrum) and the rates just keep going up and up.  We had four cable boxes installed and one is a DVR.  But with streaming becoming so more popular I found I wasn’t using all the cable boxes so I have returned three of them and just kept the DVR one in my Great Room.  I’m not ready to leave cable yet but I am thisclose.  We had surround systems installed in our Great Room and downstairs Media Room.  Plus a receiver and different remotes that go with it so it has been a learning curve understanding all this technical stuff.  My hubby was so good with any technology I left all that to him. Can’t do it now though.  

I bought some Bluetooth earbuds to use in the Great Room just to discover my receiver doesn’t work with it.  I would have to upgrade to a different receiver.  It does work one way but only with cable - not with my Amazon Fire Stick for streaming.  So, maybe next year I will look into upgrading the receiver.  I love to stream.  I have Amazon Video, Britbox, Acorn, Hulu and through family I also have Disney + and Netflix.    It is so refreshing to watch other countries programs especially mysteries and law and order ones.  

Well, that’s all for today.  I’m this close to finishing the binding on the Birdhouse quilt.

Last Campout & Fall Colors

We spent a few days camping with family in western Pennsylvania last week.   

We picked a campground close to cousins and had a lovely time visiting with them. 

We were the only campers there except for maybe two seasonal campers.

The campground's bathroom was rated a 6.5 out of 10.  

I wouldn't have given it a 2.  

There was no heat in the building and it was chilly out and raining.  

And would you believe there was a timer that controlled the lights in the showers (they allowed a generous  ~ ha! ~ 15 minutes).  

I passed on their showers.  

My SIL said there was a window opened when she used their shower and she was freezing.  

And her hubby, my BIL, said the main lights were in a motion senser and turned off on him and left him in the dark. 

Needless to say we won't return there. 

Our little shower in our travel van worked just fine and we have heat!  

Oh, did I mention only the first day was rain free.  

We came home in the rain too. 

More packing of knickknacks....there seems to be no end of them.  

Most of these are vases collected over years. 

After the rain at the beginning of last week we have had mostly beautiful weather.

  

Our Green Mountain Maple is changing colors. 

Dropping leaves too!

Hubby said even the leaves on the ground are pretty.

We will hate to leave this gorgeous maple tree when we move. 

I wish we could keep this weather through winter.

I worked hard last weekend...packing more stuff.  

For our last move from Illinois to Pennsylvania we were working and didn't have any time to do any packing or sorting through our stuff.  

Now that we are retired we have time to sort through our stuff.

It feels good to go through everything, cleaning, organizing, and de-cluttering.  

This week we had an appointment with a moving company's representative to get an estimate for our move from Pennsylvania to Ohio.  

We have to pay for this move since it isn't work related like our last two moves.

The appointment was an eye opener. 

We may do more packing then we originally planned to help keep the cost down.

They charge to pack each box plus a charge per pound.  

  

Speaking of crocheting.

I have the most adorable project to share with you on my next posting. 

So please come back to visit.