Puttering

 

Good morning Folks ~ Here it is Tuesday morning. For the time being, I no longer have a job.  My last day of work was the 18th. This sure takes time getting used to, but I am thankful for this time to reflect, recuperate (from cold and ribs), and to putter. (I’ll let you know ‘if’ I hear from the lady who took my name and number for possible two days of work a week.) For now I am enjoying being home.

Thanks again for all of your well-wishes and prayers as to the cold and ribs. Cough is just about gone, and the ribs are doing better. I was out doing some ‘light’ stuff yesterday morning and my rib cage let me know when it was time to stop, and I did.

My friends who gave me the cement planters came over here after they got off work on Saturday and John unloaded the planters from my van. (He didn’t like me having to cart them around.) He put the two larger ones in  place, and the third one I didn’t know where I wanted just yet, so it’s ‘waiting’.

I thought hoped I could move this myself with this dolly, HA! I have to wait for some man power, unless I think of a way to roll this over to the chosen spot.

I’ve been ‘puttering’ mostly in the mornings as it’s been hot and humid already down here in s.e. FL.

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To putter =  occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks or not concentrating on anything particular.

I’ve been moving potted plants to areas where they will get some sun and shade, as the sun moving overhead scorches and dries pots out. This will be easier for me to take care of also.

The next two photos are from inside the little porch, which is our main entry into cottage. This is looking south towards the front patios and 5 lane road out front.

This is looking north.  Still more tweaking to do on this side. The galvanized bucket catches the water from the a.c. I use the water to water plants.   You’d be amazed at how much water comes out of the a.c.

I moved the little lion’s head fountain from the ‘cat-rium’ at the back of the cottage to this area and it is very comforting to say the least. Hearing the sound is so nice. You can see that I’ve got trim to replace around the a.c. yet. All in good time.  I don’t like the gray of the fountain, so that’s an upcoming project.

This is Maranta leucoreura, otherwise known as a prayer plant, as it closes up its’ leaves at night.  I love the colorings of this particular one. So right for Plum Cottage.

Both of the roses below are unknown as there were no name tags with them.

 

I guess that is it for now. I’ve got some errands to do this morning, and my stomach is letting me know it is hungry.

Have a great day wherever you are, whatever you are doing. Count your blessings.

FlowerLady

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Plant on a whim. 
Lay the footpath where your heart says it should be.
Change things because you feel like it. 
Garden for the love of it.
   Lindley Karstens

***

Here is a you-tube video you might enjoy.

Rose - Queen of Flowers

New ‘gifted’ planters

 

Hi Friends ~ I forgot to show you these planters in my last post.  My friends Nanci & John who are retiring and moving out of their shop next door to where I worked, gifted me these ‘heavy’ cement planters. The two larger ones are 35 inches long by 14 inches wide by 15 inches high. The one with shells on it, which by the way decorate all 4 sides, is 27 inches long by 15 inches wide by 10 1/2 inches high.  All are steel reinforced, all have drainage holes. John plans to come over in a couple of weeks or so with his helper, to get these out of my van (they are in the middle of van not the back), and placed where I want them.  I’ve got to figure out where I actually do want these.  I think I can handle walking around the gardens looking for the right spots.

By the way, I am doing better today, hardly coughing at all, and ribs are not giving me as much pain.  I am thankful. I am still just puttering , resting and recuperating.  Yesterday I worked on clearing off my work surface. It looks much better and I’ve already started another project.

I am itching to get out and do things though, but am holding myself back. It is very warm out today, it feels like summer is here. We had LOTS of heavy rain yesterday, more rain expected this afternoon through tomorrow. The lawn needs mowing, I need to go around with the weed wacker too. There’s trimming and raking up also.

Because of rain we had earlier in the week, the large bird bath filled up, and the frogs did their thing in it and now there are lots of little froglets developing. There’s probably more in there now than when I took this photo. The frogs have been croaking, glad to have rain and puddles.

Here is my Meyer Lemon, also gifted to me by Nanci & John.  The scent is wonderful. There are around 3 clumps of blooms, which hopefully will all turn into lemons.

This picture was taken on the 8th of this month, April.

This was taken on the 23rd. There are also two other smaller lemons on the little tree.

Forgot to show this picture of amaryllis in last post too.

I just love this begonia. Deep burgundy colored leaves and pretty soft pink blooms. Doesn’t it look nice against what will be the color of this little cottage?

Next is Thryallis. What a wonderful scent this has. I’ve already made two rooted cuttings from this, and plan to do more.  I see this a lot around the county as clipped hedges. Mine is more sprawling, which is more cottagey.  At the botanical garden they have theirs in the butterfly garden as a tree and it is wonderful.

Here is another shrub with a wonderful scent that wafts through the air, Sweet Almond.

To have a healthier body, spirit and mind, plant a scented garden.

Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

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"The gardens that make us happiest flourish because we have taken the time to make sure they feed our souls and fill a special place in our lives. Sometimes you have to think about what you really want from your garden ... once the beds are laid out and the rose bushes planted."   
Lindley Karstens

Strenuous projects on hold

 

Good morning Folks ~ Another cracked rib from too much coughing = pain. This started last Thursday morning. It will take time to heal and get back to normal. I had this happen about 5-6 years ago. I just started taking (yesterday afternoon), a homeopathic remedy for sprains, strains, stresses and bruised bones, for pain and healing. Until I heal, there will be no house painting, mowing, weed-wacking, etc. I’m doing the bare basics. It hurts to bend, to get up and down from bed or a sitting position, to cough occasionally. The hardest thing I did this morning was make the bed and that was painful.

I haven’t called the people yet to come do their ‘haul away’, but at least I’ve made the decision to do that and am looking forward to cleared property. (I need to clarify that my friend and I did that 3,000 lbs. last year, not recently.)

My job is over.  I was going to go in Sat., but decided against it with the way I feel.  Driving to and from work is a 30 minute drive each way, tightens me up and makes the rib area hurt more. I’ll see if the lady antique dealer calls me in the next month or so.  Until then I’ll relax, taking a vacation. After working at this job for 17 years, not working is going to be quite a switch.

I’ve got a loaf of oatmeal bread baking in the bread machine and starting to smell this little place deliciously.  There is just something wonderful and homey about the aroma of yeast bread baking.

Since I started this post,  the bread machine has done it’s thing and just beeped to let me know the bread is done. Boy does it smell good. I took a picture to torture you.

Captured these two blooms yesterday. The scent of a gardenia is one of my most favorite.  It’s the first scent I recall when moving back to FL around 1960. My grandmother had a bush full of these and they were heavenly.

This is my favorite hibiscus, Hugs-n-kisses.

I did a quick errand yesterday, to the bank, not far from home and on the way home, I stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store. It was Sr. Citizen’s day and maybe I’d find a treasure. I did, well, at least to me it is one. It cost me a whole $1.49.

This is 34 inches wide by 48 inches long. I was looking for something to put on the love seat for Miss T to sleep on that can be easily washed and here it is. Here it is laid out on the bed to get a picture of it.

Below, I put it over the rumpled cover on loveseat, and up under the two other granny square afghans across the back to see how it would look and it adds to my eclectic, cottage look. I think Miss T likes it too. I need to take the white cover off and wash it, then put it back on with this over it.

Back in February I was asked by a male follower, if I would make a heart for his wife who would be having a birthday this month.  Now that her bday is over, I can share it here. It has her favorite colors, a crocheted, beaded edging, a love charm and their initials . He left it up to me as to what to do.This was fun to make even though I was a bit nervous creating a special order. It went all the way to England. I took the photo on top of a ribbon embroidery book.

Here is my latest little creation. It is 2 1/4 inches by 2 1/4 inches.

If at any time you like one of my creations and wish to buy, just let me know. A commenter just let me know that she wants to buy the purple pincushion, and another is interested in the two bead edged shells that I did. You don’t have to wait for it to go in my Etsy shop.

To close this post I will share one of my favorite single roses, ‘Kathleen’ a hybrid musk. I love her simple beauty and her sweet scent. I’ve had her a long time now. I better make a cutting or two of her and hope they root, to have spares.

That’s it for now.

FlowerLady ~ from Plum Cottage home and gardens

The winner is …

 

Good morning Folks ~ I couldn’t sleep, so was up before 4 this morning. I’ll take a nap later.

I used Random.org for the drawing for this heart below.

And … the winner is ~ Jane, of Hope & Thrift.

Congratulations Jane.

Thank you all again for following me, for your moral support, love and encouragement.

You’ve been a blessing in my life, especially since losing my DH 28 months ago.

***

I think I’ve figured out what to do with the rest of iron, wood, etc. here on the property. One of the last things DH said to me before he left this planet was to “Get rid of the junk. I know it will make you feel better.” Well, with hard labor on the part of a female friend and myself, we loaded almost 3,000 lbs. of iron to be taken to the scrap yard, which netted around $288. I don’t feel like having to deal with this anymore, I just want the property cleared. The ‘artist in residence’ who used bits and pieces from our ‘junk collection’ through the years is no longer here to create with it. I’m not going to be using it either. I may keep out a few decorative pieces, but for the most part, I won’t miss any of it.

I looked up junk haulers who come in, give you an estimate, and if you accept it, they come in with their crew and in a day or so (depending on how much you have), it’s all gone, and things raked smoothly and looking good.  That’s what I want to see. I can see DH smiling at this.  We had started clearing out, but then he became ill and all projects, including this one were stopped.

So, I will take before and after pics to be posted at a later date.

***

Saturday at work, was hectic in the morning, then an antique dealer from down the street who I had not met before came in to speak to the girl who does pottery and painting restoration. She knew we were closing up shop and she asked me what I was going to be doing.  I told her I did not know. She asked for my name and number and said maybe she can use me a couple of days a week when she moves into a larger shop, which she should find about and sign contract soon. She was impressed that I’d been where I am for 17 years and that DH and I had had an antique shop ourselves, before my working here, for 8 years. (We met my boss in our shop, he bought a couple of pieces from us.) She said I would already know some of the interior designers who we all mostly deal with on Antique Row. She deals in Scandinavian antiques. Anyway, I’ll keep you all posted about this too.

The funny thing is a little while before she came in, a gentleman dealer from Atlanta, GA said to me that something good would come along for me.

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Here are a couple of my latest pincushion/pillow creations. I had already created the beaded/embroidered flowers on the material, and had them stashed, just took them out while not feeling so hot and did the rest making them into what you see now. Both roughly 5 inches in circumference.

My sig on the back.

In this one I used three antique rhinestones from my stash of beads, etc.

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Thank you for your comments on my bead edged shells. Now I’ve got to put on a backing, then do a beaded little edge to finish them off. You’ve inspired me to do some more.

I will post my Etsy link when I’ve got things listed in it, which I hope will be soon. I took a vacation from it after losing DH as I just didn’t want to have to deal with that for awhile.

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I hope you all have a great week whatever you do, wherever you are.

FlowerLady

Here’s a poem for today.

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Whatever be the depth of woe
Along the path that I must go,
I'll sing my song—
My song of joy for all the love
That's lavished on us from above,
And count no loss of treasure-trove
When things go wrong.
I'll sing the sunlight, and the bright
Soft smiling stars that gem the night;
For gifts of good
That God hath spread along my way,
The lilt of birds in tuneful play,
The harvests full and flowers gay,
The whole day long
I'll sing my song
Of gratitude!

John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922),

"My Song" (October Twenty-sixth),

The Cheery Way: A Bit of Verse For Every Day, 1920

Flowers, a sweet ‘win’, another beaded shell

Good morning Folks ~ Hope you are all doing well. I am feeling better with each new day.

Monday afternoon I received a wonderful give-away win, that I had forgotten about.  Terry, who had the give-away, got sick and waited until she was well to work on my gift.  I ‘love’ it. It makes me feel happy. It suits me to a T. She did a lovely job. I don’t know much about needle felting, but have admired lovely creations by so many out on the web.  You can read Terry’s post about creating my piece, here. She did a wonderful job!  Butterflies, flowers and birds, bring JOY to my heart.

Thank you Terry.

***

Next we have three glorious stems of the Dancing Lady orchids. I’ve been watching for a few weeks for these to open. This is at the back/east of caravan, between caravan and the ‘solar clothes dryer’, (clothesline).

I just love the ‘cat whiskers’ blooms.  These do look like Miss T’s whiskers.

This is ‘sweet almond’ and the scent is heavenly.

Here are another couple of pics of the first beaded shell I did. More of the detail.

Here is the second beaded shell.  I just love this design and it was relatively simple to do. Except that I bent my needle out of shape going through the somewhat hard backing to do this on, when getting started. Needle is very thin. The needle has a long eye which is great for threading. I did buy some of the .006 very fine beading thread and it works great.

You can see how to do this here.

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I need to quit procrastinating and get some pieces listed in my little Etsy shop. Kathy B. gave me a huge plug in her comment, so I need to get busy.

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Well, I guess that’s it from Plum Cottage.

( I need to do quite a bit of prep work, before repainting the cottage plum, although, if I do it one section or two at a time, maybe it won’t be so bad. I had a ‘highly recommended’ painter out yesterday to get an estimate. He would charge me $60 an hour, he normally charges $75, said he’s fast. He understood if I wanted to do it myself ~ I told him I am on a limited budget ~ and gave me some pointers.  He also told me the paint brand I have picked out is a very good one. Behr Premium Plus Ultra. It has the primer and the paint all in one.  I had read about it online, decided it was what I wanted to use, and it was a joy to work with from the paint samples. Anyway, this is going to be an ongoing project, doing it when I can. He told me to not work in the sun, to take breaks and to drink lots of water. He sounded like my DH. (We were always conscious of these things, so as to not get dehydrated.) He/Jimmy the painter,  encouraged me and said he would walk me through the job and if I needed him for tips or any help to give him a call.  The encouragement alone was worth $60.)

Enjoy your days ~ FlowerLady

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If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces,

never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.

Flavia Weedn, Flavia and the Dream Maker