Rainy day ~ Lots of flowers

Good afternoon Folks ~ We’ve had rain off and on since 5 yesterday afternoon. More is expected through the weekend. I did some gardening yesterday morning, then mowed after a nap as it looked like rain was coming. I went to the grocery store in a lull this morning, and soon after I got back home it rained, same with taking pictures this afternoon.

If these are too many pictures to look at please tell me and I won’t  post this amount in the future.  I couldn’t help myself when I was outside, all of the colors on a gray day, and after working inside for the past five, three at my job and two here at home.

You can click on pictures for a larger view.

Frangipani & spicy jatropha to the right

Golden dewdrop

Hamelia paten

Spicy jatropha

Sunflower

Orchids

Bulbine blossoms and bee

La Marne

Unknown roses

St. Francis wearing a wonderful patina.

For Rebecca who loves the caravan.

I found this painted yellow hope chest a few years back, did a U-ie to go back and load it in my van.  It must be cedar because that is what it smells like inside. It was out front of a day care center.  I took it out of the bedroom to make way for the desk I set up in there. In the caravan, I’ve still got to finish walls and then paint the whole thing.  All in good time. There’s only half of the team now, and I’m learning as I go without my loving tutor, coach, mentor. I’m used to being the helper with ideas, not the whole workforce.

Don’t you like my fancy headgear?

That’s it for now. The bread machine made a loaf of coconut milk bread earlier and I’m going to cook a pot of lentils for supper.  I have another day off from work, so plan to putter indoors working in the bedroom. Did some today, it will take awhile to finish this room, but every day there is forward progress.

Thanks again for you loving, encouraging comments.

FlowerLady

***

God made rainy days

so gardeners could get the housework done. 

Author Unknown

(Well, at least make a start, or continue where you left off.)

I did it!

 

Hope you all had a nice long holiday weekend.  Hope your week is a good one too.

Well, moving the computer was a several hour project and I am pooped, mental exhaustion more than physical, but I am so thrilled to have accomplished something I’ve only done once, and the last time DH was here to walk me through the steps.  I won’t be so intimidated the next time.

Each little new thing done sure makes one feel good.

Here is a photo of the computer in it’s new place. I sat in the chair and turned it on and it worked, I got online too. Sweet relief!

******

Learning is a treasure

that will follow its owner everywhere. 

Chinese Proverb

Never stop learning.

FlowerLady

Rough day Saturday, better day yesterday, project

Good morning Friends ~ I hope those in the United States have a nice holiday today. I plan to putter here working on the bedroom, which one half has been storage, since we opened up the two tiny rooms to make one larger room. We always have had several projects going on at once, and the bedroom was one of them. I’m just going to declutter, take out metal shelving, put up paneling, one panel at a time, and not stress.  The bedroom is a wreck as I go through things, the living room is too, as stuff is being stacked out there temporarily, and my little creative space is another disaster area.

I do get intimidated by things that need to be taken care of around here, but with God’s help, I can accomplish things I didn’t think I could.

I bought one sheet of MDF beadboard paneling yesterday.  It’s already painted white, eventually, I’d like to paint the whole bedroom when it’s done, a ‘silver dust’. For now, white works. I used a handsaw, a drill, and a little tiny saw on the paneling.

A worker loaded a sheet onto my cart, I rolled cart to check out, paid, rolled it out to van, opened back doors, and slid the panel off the cart right inside. I said, “Hurray!” as I shut the doors.

I am really a novice at doing this sort of thing, although, I was my husband’s helper on many a project through our 43 years together.  I am just bumbling along to the best of my ability.

Below, I had cut the top off, easy, but took awhile using a hand saw.

Measure more than once, before you cut, or measure twice, cut once as the saying goes. Well, I had the measurement right, but drew out the box for the outlet hole, to the wrong side, for Pete’s sake. I am amazed as I didn’t cry, I didn’t use choice words, I think I laughed. I had a smile on my face at any rate. I just have an outlet hole twice as long. I had to cut another hole for the light switch, that came out ok, not perfect, but I can live with it.

Here is the area. I was going to use an old porcelained metal table top, but put it on top of the computer desk my husband had made, and it was too big really for the space so I wondered if we had a piece of marble that would fit.

I went back to our stack of marble, found one that was 16 inches x 48 inches.  Got a dolly for hauling it, got it inside, then could lift it myself to get it up on the desk top. Now, what am I doing to do.  I prayed and after awhile, I got the idea to use the two wooden kitchen chairs one at each end, and slowly add 2 inch thick pieces of wood on either side until I had it where I could slide it over onto the desk top. I already had the piece laying on a stool, so just had to slowly work my way raising the marble higher and higher. 

That marble is heavy, but I did it! I was so pleased.  The marble is not perfect, as when I was moving it, one corner broke off, it’s to the back under the clock. Stuff happens, I’m not perfect and won’t be in this life.  I am still thrilled with the way the space turned out and started hanging art work right away.  Now I am psyched to work on the rest of the room since I broke the ice with this project. This wall had no wall board as we had had a leak in bathroom shower plumbing. So, this 4 foot section and the one behind the piece of furniture next to the desk, had studs showing.  That piece of furniture is heavy, so I’m not going to worry about moving that right away.

My husband painted the large painting, the painting over the lamp and the pencil sketch is also his beside the lamp.  The monitor for the computer is going to go in the space under the large painting.

This was one of our favorite towns in Spain, Ronda.

This is an oil painted by DH while we were living in Rota. He would paint at the dining table in the tiny dining room. The painting is small and highly detailed.  If you click on the photo, you will get a larger one so as to see just how detailed it is.

It is La Mosquita in Cordoba, Spain.  We have the post card on the back of painting that he used to paint from. The size of painting is 10 inches by 12 inches.

This is a pencil sketch that DH had done from a photo he took in 1973, when we were on our 60 trip by eurail with backpacks before we came back to live in the states.  This was in Florence, Italy.  We waited around to capture the little lady in black for I don’t know how long, because we knew it would be a great picture.  Widowed ladies in Spain and Italy, maybe Portugal too, all wear black.

This painting I found at a local flea market many, many years ago.  It is a copy of a famous painting.  I bought it and two framed prints for $1, so I got this for 33 1/3 cents. I couldn’t wait to show DH.  We had seen this painting in an art book of ours.

It is called “Matrimonio en Seville”, originally painted in 1570 by Juan de Cejeda (off the back of painting), this copy was done in 1950. 

DH picked me up at Seville’s airport Jan. 1970, as I had flown from home to be with him in Rota while he was in the US Navy. So, this was the beginning of our living together.  Seville was another favorite city of ours that we visited a few times while living in Spain.

This is a sweet oil painted in 1965.

Well, that’s the extent of yesterday’s project.  Not perfect, but it makes me happy.  Today I plan to move DH’s computer out of the living room into it’s new space.  I hope all goes well with that. It makes me nervous.  I think I’ll pay some bills online first, in case I have a problem.

If you care to, you can read about my rough day Saturday, and what helped me out of my sad state here.

Have a great week everyone.  Count your blessings, learn from mistakes, and love, live and enjoy in each new day.

FlowerLady

Flowers galore

 

Good afternoon dear Friends ~ It is a few minutes after 4 p.m. EST in s.e. FL. The skies are dark to the south, and thunder is rumbling in the distance.  Monday morning we had heavy rains with flooding in some areas getting over 5 inches of rain, then in the middle of the night we had a slow moving thunderstorm with torrential rains which brought more rain.  I prayed and read for awhile, waiting for the storm to pass over, finally it did and all was quiet again.

My heart goes out to all who have lost family, loved ones, homes and businesses with these tornadoes that ripped through their area. The pictures and videos are heart breaking. May God be with these people as they go about rebuilding their lives, and continuing on, even with heartbreak. Rough times are ahead, especially with the grief and the missing of loved ones.

It is devastation like we are seeing from these storms that make me appreciate so much, even with my own loss, as, I haven’t lost everything.         I am thankful for our little haven.

***

Below are some of the flowers from the last couple of days.

Spiderwort, with Borderer in the background. Spiderwort is so ‘easy’ to grow.  Some consider it a weed and a nuisance. Not me.

This is Thryallis.  A wonderful shrub that gets pretty large.  I saw it at the botanical gardens and their specimen is huge. The flowers sweetly scent the air. Mine is in a pot right now.

Whirling butterflies.

Here is the morning glory bush cutting in the early morning in the scullery window. It’s barely light outside. I like how the light from the overhead light is shining down on the blooms. (By the way, nice roots formed on this so I planted it in a pot today.)

Here it is a few hours later with the bright outdoor light behind. This is more the true color.

This is the wonderfully scented unknown lavender rose I bought recently.

Here it is on the left, with the McCartney rose on the right.

This little sweetie is ‘Kathleen’ one of my very favorites and bought many, many years ago. She has a delicate sweet scent.

Here is ‘Borderer’.

An early morning view in the scullery.  This is what I come out to when I make coffee in the mornings, sometimes it’s darker out and sometimes lighter, depending on when I wake up.  This part of our kitchen is a dream come true and I love it. We took out a wall between the kitchen and the utility room and renamed that new space the ‘scullery’, definition~ a place where dishes are washed and food is stored. As an aside, DH worked in the Navy scullery when he was in boot camp in 1969, washing dishes.  He also voluntarily washed dishes in our scullery too.

I wash dishes looking out into the ‘secret garden’, pure delight.  Thank you dear husband for your skills in making this dream become a reality, and in all the other dreams we built around here. I enjoyed being your ‘helper’ all through our years together and this project was one of my very favorites. It made our cottage seem so much bigger.

Look at the sweet reflection in the window.

 

is Forever

FlowerLady

Thy mercy,
O LORD,
is in the heavens;
and thy faithfulness
reacheth unto the clouds.
Psa_36:5