Prep work & house painting

Good Friday morning Folks ~ I hope you are all doing well. Spring is coming and will be here sooner than we think. 

I got a text this morning from a young friend at church, and  a week from tomorrow, the 5th, a few people will be here from the church to paint my house. I am excited and nervous.  I'm a private, homebody type, and my dear husband and I always did everything ourselves, so this will be a bit out of my comfort zone.  I am really thankful though for the loving and giving from these friends.

I probably won't post this next week, as I've LOTS to do to get ready. Keep me in your prayers to remain calm and unflustered. :-)

I will show three pics of the before, then the rest of befores and after shots when all is done.  I hope to get some 'in progress shots' done too.  In the bottom two photos I've started moving things away from the house. More to do there and things off walls, so scraping, pressure washing, caulking, and then painting can be done.

Now for some more rose pics, plus one of my lady statues.

Well, that's it from soon to be, once again, 'Plum Cottage'.

Have a great weekend,

FlowerLady

The language of friendship is not words but meanings. 
 Henry David Thoreau

Beaded heart finished

Good afternoon Folks ~ I hope you are all doing well, enjoying your lives. 

Yesterday and today were beautiful here in s.e. FL. Early Tuesday morning was nasty. Living in this tiny wooden cottage, with metal awnings on windows, makes it all seem worse.

Photo below from AccuWeather of a tornado in the Miami-Dade area probably Tues. morning, as that's when we had another tornado warning here. We 'never' used to have these, just thunderstorms.  There were two, with winds from 86-110 mph.

I grabbed my Bible and headed into the bathroom when the winds and rains got really bad, heart pounding and opened to Psalms. I skipped around in Psalms, then came to chapter 32 and started reading. When I got to verse7 I saw my note in the sidebar, and I had read this verse a month ago to the day with the last tornado warning that freaked me out. Not a coincidence

 Thou art my hiding place; 
thou shalt preserve me from trouble; 
 thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. 

Right now it is 74 and tonight it is to get down to 63. Nice weather.

Yesterday I went to GoodWill and Salvation Army thrift stores as it was sr. citizen's day. I got 3 pr. of pants and 2 shirts at GW for just under $15. Yay!  Then at SA I bought two panels of lovely fabric to use in my crafting, and a small lamp shade for the bedroom, right around $7.

Below is the fabric. It's been washed and hung out to dry, ready for me to do something with.

Today I took three black and creamy white cameos and glued them to background material to bead on. Found three mini frames in my stash, that DH had made for me.   I look forward to getting started beading on these.

The pink cameo lady beaded heart is finished and before I put it my Etsy shop, I thought I would show it here to see if anyone is interested and would like to buy it, it will be less expensive without the fees. If I don't hear from anyone by Sunday the 21st, it will then go into my Etsy shop on Monday the 22nd. My email addy is in my profile. If someone buys it through here, I will come back in to edit post and mark it sold. For U.S. mainland residents only.

I enjoyed making this even though it took many sittings and hours. 
The size is 4 1/2 inches x 4 1/2 inches x about 1 1/4 inches thick. There are seed and bugle beads, antique rhinestones, potato shaped and round shaped fresh water pearls, some mahogany obsidian stars, a mother-of-pearl button and two silvered charms, oh yes and the pink Lucite lady cameo.

SOLD

The price includes shipping and handling, priority mail USPS, $115. 

OK, my stomach is telling me it is time for supper, so I'll head on into the kitchen.

Have a nice weekend wherever you are. If you are under the weather, be well. Stay warm and be safe those with winter weather. 
Let's all be thankful for our many blessings.

FlowerLady
 

Happy Valentine's Day

Good morning Folks ~ I hope you are all doing well wherever you are. That you are thankful for your many blessings large & small.  We've been having warmer days which has been nice, night temps are still in the mid to low 50's, instead of the 40's. It's been comfortable here in Plum Cottage and I am thankful.

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes for my back. I am happy to report that I am doing much better. Although my back does bother me by the end of the day and it feels really good to get horizontal.

Below are the two huge & heavy cement flower pots, one tipped is the one that strained my muscles. It was filled with water, so a mosquito breeder, because roots had plugged up the drain hole.  I've got to pull out the roots once they dry up, then figure out something else to put in theses pots. I do have them up on small bits of tile.  The other one drains ok. We paid $5 or $10 for both of these at a yard sale many, many years ago.  They are early Florida pieces.

The other night I was watching some cat videos on You-Tube and Miss Tork was sitting on my printer also watching. (Excuse my messy desk, I cleaned it off in the next day or so, so it looks much better now.)

Once cold morning I looked out into the secret garden and there were birds taking baths. I'm not sure, but  I think these are little finches.  They have the sweetest little chirp.

 Here are two of my three 'barn girls.  They love the barn. Lots of places to hide and DH rigged runways to get to higher places where they like to hang out in the windows up there looking out at the world.  When it is cold, I cover this wire cage that's out there and fill it with blankets and they nestle in all together. I caught two of them the other morning.  These two are sisters will be 11 years old this year.  The one in front is 'Shystie', one in back was the runt of that litter and she's 'Tootie'.

 Shystie is shy. :-) but more friendly these days. 

 Yesterday I came across a velvet patchwork vest that I wore in our little private 'renew our vows' wedding ceremony a few years back. It is too small for me these days and I got the idea to make a couple of heart pillows out of it, so that's what I did yesterday, finishing up this morning. I did not do any embellishing, just left it as it was. I am happy with them. They are 10 inches wide by 9 inches high.  Here's a picture of us on that celebratory day. Barefoot on an old Indian rug.

 So, with Valentine's Day being here, let us think on this, it is  a day to celebrate love, whether we are married or single. This is my 3rd V-day without my dear husband, but I have many, many memories and lots of love in my heart from and for him. We all need love, we all can give love.

The print above is compliments of Graphics Fairy. I added the wording.

Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

Hobbling along & rose babies came

Hi Folks ~ Hope you are all doing well this second week of February which is also Valentine's week. It is cold here and will be all week. Of course, cold for us in s.e. FL is not the same for those of you up north. :-)

The cold is NOT helping my pulled muscle/pinched whatever in my back left side.  It started yesterday afternoon.  I figured out this morning what the cause was, and it's from moving a really heavy flower pot the other day. I've done this before and it takes a few days to work itself out. I've used heat, arnica gel and also taken Ibuprofen to sleep and once today. I'm NOT as young as I used to be and need to be more careful with heavy things.

My rose order came today, yay, both orders. 

 

They really do a GREAT job of boxing them up.  They use heavy duty copper staples from the outside to staple pots to the box to keep them from moving around. There is rolled up paper in the pot, wet, put in there to keep the soil in, then put into a plastic bag and tied. You can see the huge staples along the bottom of the box.

Two were in one box,

six in the other.

  I got excited seeing the purple look stems of the one rose, because that is the Bayse's purple rose. Deep purple stem, isn't that something? I noticed that several of these have LOTS of thorns. YIKES!!!

  Here they are  unboxed ready to grow and bloom in their new home.

 
I carried them two at a time, slowly, back to where they will get tomorrow's sun, if we get any.   Now I'm ready to take an ibuprofen and get horizontal. I have a couple of books of 'cat' stories so will start reading one of them.   Happy Valentine's week.   FlowerLady Lorraine

More Rose photos

Good morning Folks ~ It is chilly here in s.e. FL. At 7:18 a.m. EST, it is 52 and feels like it is 44.  I've not been outside yet, but it's wet, windy and more rain is expected as a big load of it is headed this way according to Doppler weather from AccuWeather.  It is cozy here in Plum Cottage and I am thankful for this new day.

Yesterday I walked the property, to see just how many roses I have growing here. I counted 40, 21 of them have a name, the rest are unknown, came without tags. I have some repeats too. When I got to the back of the property by the small shed, I kept smelling this wonderful rose aroma and finally figured out where it was mostly coming from and that is from one of my 'rare' roses from Connie at Hartwood Roses, Ruth's Wavy Leafed white rose. Oh my, I was almost in heaven. Also scenting the air was Crepuscule and Rose de Rescht.

Below are photos taken on the 5th.

The first 4 pics are of 'Crepuscule'.

This is either Borderer or Homere, I don't remember which.

  This is 'Rose de Rescht' given to me by Deb & Charlie. The scent is oh so wonderful.

  This is an unknown miniature.

  This is another unknown, not much of a scent but still beautiful.

  Another unknown, this might be a 'Knock out' but I don't really know.

The day after I ordered my 4 new roses, for V-day and my B-day, I got an email saying Rose Petal's nursery was having a 20% off on their Bermuda roses. I 'had' to go back and look at that section of roses and ended up ordering 4 more, counting them as anniversary (our 47th would have been this Sept.) and Christmas. :-)

I ordered these 4 below. Photos from the website.

Starting at top left.

Bermuda's Kathleen, Carnation, Winecup and Miss Atwood. 
The description says three are fragrant, the other one, Winecup doesn't say, but I loved the flowers.

So, with these and the other 4 ordered, I will have 48 roses.

Below is a collage of the first 4 I ordered. Photos from the website. 

Starting at top left: Barnhouse Rose, Bayse's Purple, Mozart & International Herald Tribune. I believe all of these are fragrant, the only one I'm not sure of is the first one Barnhouse.  But I love the flowers and they are very hardy.

I'm looking forward to watching all 8 of these new babies grow and bloom.

Many, many, many years ago, I told my dear husband I'd rather have growing roses and flowers than dying bouquets.  My garden is a wild, tropical, cottage style garden with much to fill my heart with love, memories, peace & joy.  I thank God for blessing me every day with my life.  It isn't always easy, but there is something good and beauteous in each new day.

Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

******

I will close this post with some rose quotes.

There is simply the rose;
it is perfect in every moment of its existence.  
Ralph Waldo Emerson

She who loves roses must be patient
and not cry out when she is pierced by thorns.   
Olga Brouman

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature
is that all of us tend to put off living.
We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-
instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
Dale Carnegie

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds 'round my neck.
Emma Goldman

The perfume of roses are like exquisite chords of music
composed of many odor notes
harmoniously blended.
N F Miller

The rose speaks of love silently,
in a language known only to the heart.
Unknown

Roses, roses, roses

Hi Folks ~ Hope you are all having a lovely start to this month of February. Today was a gorgeous day.  Yesterday was too and I was outside working up a small sweat.  The a.c. is on. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 80.

This morning my heart was tugged on for roses once again. This time by Connie's blog, Hartwood Roses, and by a new blog I'm following, les roses du jardin secret. 

Last year Connie offered up some of her baby roses for sale, and I asked her if she'd do a trade for one of my needleworked pieces, and she said yes.  The two roses below are the ones I got. They both are sweet and scented. They are just starting to really take off.

Click on photos for a larger view.

This first one is a seedling called 'Cemetery Rose'. 

From a cemetery in CA. It has a sweet, delicate scent.

This one is called 'Ruth's White Wavy leafed rose'. This has a bit heavier scent. Aaaahh!!!

Connie is a 'serious' rose grower, among other things. She inspires me in many ways.
Here's a link about her.

I went out into my humble cottage gardens the other day and took some pics of roses that are blooming right now.

'Crepuscule'

    This next rose is 'Penelope'

  

  This is an unkn.

  After reading Connie's blog and the other blog on roses, I visited Rose Petal's Nursery, where I have had a wish list going. I went through my list, and also checked again the roses they have in stock. Since Valentine's Day is this month and my birthday is next month, I have treated myself to 4 new roses. :-) They are: Barnhouse Rose, Basye's Purple Rose, Mozart and International Herald Tribune. I will take photos when mine bloom.  You can check them out on the website, also on Help Me Find. They should be here on Tuesday. :-)   *** I am reading a book called 'God Said It, Don't Sweat It ~ How to Keep Life's Petty Hassles from Overwhelming you' by Neil Clark Warren.    Last night I read the following:    "If you get your attitude right, your life will be a thousand times more enjoyable.  For, instance, if you wake up in the morning and focus on all the things that are exciting and meaningful in your life, your energy level will be high.  You will be eager to meet the day head on. Focus on the positive in your life, and you will automatically become more appreciative, more joyful, more thankful.  Life will take on brighter colors. The apostle Paul encourages us to see the positive and then to respond to God with thanksgiving.  When you do, you make an investment in your own contentment, you enrich yourself down deep in your soul, and you maximize every relationship you have."   It's been hard for me to focus on the positive the past three years, yet for my health, mentally, spiritually and physically that is what I need to do.   Growing roses is exciting, they make me feel joyful and thankful, so I need to think about them and look to God to take care of me in every aspect of my life.  He didn't promise us an easy life, but He did promise to never leave or forsake us.   Another saying I came across lately was this one:   "When you arise in the morning, Think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive... to breathe,  to think, to enjoy,  to love." ~Marcus Aurelius~   (My dear husband was called Marcus Aurelius by his Mom and by me on occasion, because of his first name. Reading this was like a little message from him.)

God encourages me in many ways.  Sometimes I just need to be still and know that He IS, and trust Him completely.

Enjoy each day you are blessed with,
FlowerLady