Be on the look out for

I'm not sure where it is headed, but the summer squash is on the move again. Last seen heading over the fence into the strawberry patch. Approach with caution as we are not sure of it's powers, we think it may be trying to link up with the zucchini. The zucchini seems to have tapped into a secret source of nutrition as they are reaching monstrous proportions. The tomatoes seem to be sharing the same source as they are also exceeding all expectations. I know it is hard to tell from the pictures but the zucchini is about the length of my forearm. With the tomatoes think the largest beefeater type and that is where they are. I tried lifting the branches and gave up as the weight is so much I thought the branch would probably break. My mouth is watering for a good BLT. The zucchini amaze me with the speed with which they grow. The gourd plants are spreading like mad and covered with flowers, but I am afraid it is too late in the year for me to expect any gourds. I talked to a lady in the hardware store and she said hers do not even have flowers yet. The cold wet spring coupled with low temps over the summer has slowed the growth in many plants. I am just going to have to plan more carefully next year and start everything much earlier inside. I need to make lists and timetables so I can keep myself on track with all these projects.

I guess now would also be a time to start on Christmas projects, I have not made my Angels for a few years. With all the upsets and changes my creative juices were at a trickle. Time to open the floodgates and get back at it. I also need to twink Jim's Santa suit, actually I think I may make a whole new one. We went with a soft fabric thinking the kids would like it, but I think it is too soft. I am thinking a stiffer fabric that will hold it's shape.

It was very misty this morning and I thought my roses looked so pretty like they were gem encrusted. I also finished a new project on Monday, an arch. When in Mankato for the dentist my friend Ellen spotted the arches on sale at Michael's. On Sunday I had finally decided where I wanted to put it and went to work. I was moving right along and feeling pleased with my efforts when it came to a screeching halt. There were not enough screws!! bummer!

Being Sunday nothing close was open so had to wait until Monday and then success. I was rather pleased with myself, not having to take it back apart because I had put something in the wrong place. I am the person who in home Ec had to take her shirt apart 3 times due to putting sleeve inside blouse, putting it on upside down and inside out. Takes me a bit to get it all together. So, wadda ya think?? I have a whole scenario planed with paths and lots of plants , then it will not look so lonely. I want to have climbing roses and clematis growing over it. I plan on making lots of stepping stones in different patterns and will use those. My goal is a cottage garden with little lawn and tons of perennials. Was pleased so many of the plants came up this Spring. The white flowers are Cleones or Spider flowers and the original plants were pink and white. The ones that came up are 99% white, hummm. Mother Nature likes to give me puzzles.

I have yammered on far too long here, thank you for coming to visit. Looking through and seeing who shared their time with me, I get joy and smiles from your visits. Best to all, Barbara

Is your hut on fire?

I was sent this in an email and thought how true. Some times what seems the worst opens a door to something better. Enjoy!

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?' Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here? ' asked the weary man of his rescuers.
'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.
The Moral of This Story
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart,
because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.
Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground.
It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

Warmish Sunday

Jim is on his way back to work, he was supposed to be home for 4 days but something broke at work . So, now he is on the way back and it will be two weeks before he is home again. This is always the part that bugs me the most and I have all the selfish whiny thoughts of I wish he were here. Yuck, do not like to be like that, should be sending lots of prayers up being thankful he has a job. He had a project this weekend that went well, got the item made and shipped. I am so proud of all his talents, just wish they would come together a little better for him.

Had to brag about one of my roses, I think it is so lovely the different hues. The bud it starts out with is perfect in shape and takes several days to open. In all we get to enjoy the rose for almost a week. The other roses are growing so fast, lots of buds so will have beauty and great scent for weeks. As I mentioned before the garden is going wild, so fun. In the foreground on the right is the ONE zucchini plant, on the left are the strawberries. Back right are tomato plants, middle are the monster yellow squash plants, left we have broccoli and cauliflower. Taking over the fence in the back are my gourd plants, this is a 5 foot fence to give you some prospective. Now you see why I am revising my garden plans for next year, much more room. So lucky to have so much space to spread out and plant to my hearts content.

Wanted to show of the terrible twosome, Molly is really growing fast. She gives Charlie a work out, fearless little thing. Charlie is changing color, my theory is that since he was always tied out he got bleached. Now that new hair is growing in he is a wonderful shade of chocolate. I am also showing off several more of our projects as in painting house a better color, putting down a real porch floor rather then sheets of plywood. I have a new storm door picked out. The current one is bent on the left side where it was pried open when they broke in and stole our woodwork and appliances, plus it is uuugly. The upside is that we can't sit around and moan we are bored or have nothing to do. It will be fun to post pictures showing the afters as we get them done.

Going and reading others blogs is a pleasant way to spend a few hours, so much diversity, but so much the same. We all have joys, sorrows, challenges and successes. How we meet the hurdles and clear them gives us different slants on life. I learn so much from you all and enjoy your visits and comments. Thank you for sharing, Barbara

Soothing Saturday

The weatherman predicted hot, hot, hot for the last several days, thank goodness he was wrong.
Noon time and it is 75 with a nice breeze, I have about 4 loads of wash on the line and have been playing in my flowers. The government is urging us to hang out our wash to save fuel so I am being good and doing my part. I also enjoy it and figure that walking up and down the stairs and toting the laundry baskets is good exercise. As often happens when I am doing something that does not require my full attention, my mind wanders off the beaten track. I was thinking how we are so dependent on machines and end up running from dawn to dusk. While I am saving fuel and hanging my clothes out, I am enjoying the fresh air, sunshine and birds singing. I am moving around and exercising which helps my health, I have time to daydream and think important ? thoughts. When I take the clothes down I fold them so when I get inside all I have to do is put them away. If I have missed any stains in the washing, since they did not go through the dryer they are not set and I have another shot at getting them out. I always tried to pass on to the kids how to make their clothes last longer. Turn them inside out, treat stains from the back, always check for stains, take things out of the dryer before they are bone dry. The guys actually do a better job of it, makes me proud.

More lessons from the garden, plant things further apart, these plants get huge!! Next year I am allowing much more space, some of the tomatoes and sweet potatoes have disappeared under the summer squash. The watermelon is invading the strawberry patch and the zucchini has taken over the whole other end of the garden. Some of the tomato plants are about 5 feet tall, wow, and getting covered with maters. The enjoyment of picking fresh, non chemical treated veggies is great. Jim has enjoyed zucchini fritters served with sour cream, fried zucchini with marinara sauce. He is also enjoying the strawberry jam I made. Once the tomatoes are ripe the fun will really start, I am checking out all kinds of recipes. My friend Ellen gave me a recipe for frozen coleslaw, never heard of it, tastes great. Once the new crop of potatoes comes in she is going to show me how to can them, in December we will be able to enjoy all kinds of fresh stuff.

This is one of those nice, relaxing days that are so few and far between. Jim is working on a project and having fun in his own shop which is super. He is also finding lots of his toys, amazing all the things we have. Days like this help to make up for the ones where it is 30 below and the wind is howling. Hopefully this winter will find us a little warmer.

Best to you, Barbara

Lots of Love

I knew what I wanted from this picture but could not get the flag and the wind to cooperate. I enjoy sitting out here when the weather is nice. This week is going to be hot, but we have been lucky and not had too much really hot weather. I did turn on the air in the bedroom yesterday afternoon as it was kinda sticky.

Sitting here checking my email and Charlie walks up and puts his head in my lap. I start petting him, he is so soft and sleek petting him is almost therapy. He looks up and give a big sigh, he would probably stand here for hours if I had the time. Just a little while ago my mind was in a completely different place. There are times I feel like a gerbil on a wheel, running and running and not getting anywhere. Thinking like that spirals me down and I have to give myself a kick to go in the other direction. Why is it so easy to only think of the negative and forget all the good we have. While we are not where I would like us to be, we still have so much. A roof over our heads, food, love and the chance to improve our situation. Our health is good, not perfect but so much better then so many others. My brain still functions, or at least I think it does. I guess what is getting to me at the moment is that there is so much that needs doing, some times I just kind of shut down. The logical part of my brain tells me that it will all come together, just keep plugging. The "pity me" part of my brain looks for all the things that are wrong. Then Charlie walks up and gives me love and all he wants from me is to be petted and he is content. So, shut up Barbara and keep plugging!!

Molly is such a cutie pie, of course that is my take. If Elvira could talk she would have a whole different view, Molly bugs the heck out of her. Molly runs and runs and then flops down and is asleep. Sorry about the background, she could have picked a more attractive spot,lol. She is so soft, even her paws are soft and she still has that baby dog smell. I will try and remember that when she is 75 pounds and huge. I took almost 100 pictures the other day, interesting things everywhere. The digital cameras are great, instant gratification.

The pink and yellow flowers are the ones that my friend Ellen cleared out of her garden. We filled the Pathfinder twice with all she gave me. It was like Christmas, getting new plants for the yard and pots and even some trees. She gave me some small Black Walnut trees, they are supposed to grown quickly which is great. There still are lots of areas that need trees to help block the wind and a bonus for these will be the nuts. Ellen told me people spread them in their driveways and run their cars over them to break open the tough outer husk. Then you take them inside to dry and on days with not much to do you pick out the meat.

Well, off to do some of the multitude of jobs that await, best to you all and thank you for coming to visit.

Monday once again

Well before she left on vacation Violet Lady gave me an award, now if I could only figure out how to get it over here. Hope she is having fun, beautiful part of the world she is going to.

Thank you for the kind comments about the new header. One of the things I like about old homes are the porches. You see so many that have closed them in and to me it is a shame. I enjoy walking out and just standing there and listening and watching. When I can I like to sit out there and just be. I keep trying to imagine how we can put up screen and have it look nice, how to winterize it without spoiling it. Keeps those brain cells working and moving. I do want at some point and time to add to the porch, I like the ones that wrap around. I think I have mentioned I am a curve and arch person, squares bug me.

The hollyhocks are another joy, last year I was pleased to discover them. Once we figured they were an actual plant and not a weed, they were no longer mowed and allowed to grow. They gave a lot of flowers last summer, but were spindly and I spent a lot of time propping them up. This year they are standing tall all on their own and popping up all over. Hopefully next year they will continue to increase and put on another show of beauty. Most of the plants I am putting in are perennials so should come up again. At this point I am having some problems with them coming back, not sure what I am doing wrong. I was having pretty good luck with the ones I put in, until something maybe rabbits discovered them. They seem to find mums and daises tasty. So now need to do some fencing.

Jim will leave in the morning and it will be 2 weeks until he is home again. Hopefully the new guy they are hiring will work out and things can get a little more normal. Which of course leads to "what is normal", hummm. Too late at night to go there.

Best to you all, thank you for visiting, Barbara

Check out my Slide Show of Molly, Charlie and Jim

I saw this on bits and pieces and thought it was a good way to introduce our new girl Molly to you all. Molly is a Redbone Hound, Heeler mix. Her buddy is Charlie a German Shorthair, Choclate Lab mix. Jim is my husband and Molly's protector. She is being such a super girl, already tells us when she wants to go out, not sleeping through the night yet but soon I am sure.