What a surprise and some blooms too

Good morning everyone. It is Sunday, breezy, and partly cloudy. Another gorgeous day in so. FL. This weather is ‘why’ people move down here, or stay here for the next few months.

Below is the morning sky looking to the west with the moon.

Here is the sun coming up and shining on the clouds. Sorry about the power lines. The 5 lane road is to the right.

Yesterday morning I had a wonderful surprise when I started reading one of the blogs I follow. I had completely forgotten about the drawing she was having.

I found Nicki Lee’s RavioLee Dreams blog through Stitchin Fingers, which I am now a member of. There are so many wonderful stitchers in this group. Anyway, Nicki Lee hand dyes Venetian lace and sells them in lots. She also does beautiful crazy quilting pieces. Here is her Etsy shop link Raviolee Dreams. If any of you do crazy quilting or scrap booking or other projects that can use lovely bits like these, do give her a visit. She just might have what you are looking for.

My surprise was that I won the $30 gift certificate for her hand dyed laces. I was thrilled and yelled I won, and was laughing and almost crying I was so excited. DH had to come see what all the fuss was about. I was thrilled to say the least and he was happy for me.

She is sending them out to me tomorrow. I can hardly wait to see them and then start using them. I will post pics of my sweet little pretty pieces of Venetian lace after I get them.

This was started earlier ~ We decided to go to HD for a sheet of 11/32”x4’x8’ plywood for the caravan’s door, and two 3/4”x4’x8’ sheets of styrofoam, for insulation material. DH is making the door as we didn’t have one for the camper. The original door was a short one. He is using the lock and handle from original door though. He is making a window with panes, that will open out, to let in breezes.

Anyway, we stopped at a yard sale, something we haven’t done in ages. There wasn’t much there, but there was a small, narrow Christmas tree I was interested in, a CD of symphonies and DH was interested in a couple of small hand tools, both American made. We got all for $3. The tree even has little clear lights on it and I’m already thinking of how I want to decorate it. This is smaller than the other small tree we have, plus we have the humongous one. I did the huge one last year and didn’t feel like it this year. This little tree is just right. It’s about 3 1/2’ tall, including the plaster pot that it is in, which I will cover with something or other.

I didn’t have to work yesterday so I played outdoors. I gathered up bricks to use as a border for our little caravan patio. I placed them, but still have to dig out dirt to make them level with the rest of patio. I’ve got to add some rocks into cracks between stones, then DH is going to mix up cement to fill in spaces on top of the rocks.

The rusty cast iron piece between two chairs is an old wringer washing machine base, found of course. I will probably leave it rusty, just clean it up a bit we don’t mind rust.

I brought an ‘old’ cement donkey and cart that someone gave us many years ago when we helped her have a big estate sale before she moved, to beside the caravan. I’ve still got some tweaking to do of this area, it all takes time. I’m not going to leave that greenish pot there, it doesn’t go at all.

Now for some blooms from this morning.

The first two pictures are of Chrysler Imperial. These two blooms were filling the whole area with their wonderful old rose scent.

I looked a little while ago and this bud was fully open.

Pink Pet or Caldwell’s Pink.

Plumbago

I loved the salvia color against the new growth on Chrysler Imperial.

The next two pictures are of South African foxgloves. This was a volunteer.

Next we have a ‘weed’, a native though, called Spanish needles. The seeds are these little long things that stick to you and that’s how they spread. The plants are tough and hard to pull up, and butterflies love them. I try to pull up most of them though, because they are a pain.

I guess that’s it for now. Oh yea, I did buy two bags of potting soil at HD for growing seeds and cuttings in. Hope to work with that this week before heading back to work Thurs-Sat.

Hope you all are having a lovely day and also have a great week.

FlowerLady

As Thanksgiving draws near

I am thankful for so many things. The Love of God, the love that my DH and I share, our little cottage and compound, our critters. Thankful I still have my job. Thankful for the flowers and foliage growing in our gardens. Thankful that I love to cook and bake from scratch, thankful that there are threads, lace, yarns, beads waiting to be worked with into the next project. I'm thankful for each new day.

Lately I've read several blogs where some have lost spouses or other loved ones, or spouses have had strokes, or other things have happened in lives and it makes one stop and think about what is really important in this life.

It is NOT things that make our lives happy. Yes, they can give us joy for a moment, or maybe even many moments, but not true abiding joy. May we all stop and think about our lives, what is going on in them, and search for truths that will give us eternal joy. May Love fill our lives each and every day.

Here are some blooms, from roses that I am caretaker of in this life. They bring me much delight. Working in my gardens makes me think of God the Great Creator,
and I am thankful to Him.

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(Click on pictures for a larger view.)

Vincent Godsiff



Mm. Laurette Messimy



Dainty Bess



Old Blush



Mm. Laurette Messimy



Dainty Bess



Vincent Godsiff







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O come, let us sing unto the LORD:
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving,
and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.

Know ye that the LORD he is God:
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him,
and bless his name.

For the LORD is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalms 95:1-3; 100:3-5


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Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Six out of seven

Good Friday morning to all of you. I'm off to work in a bit, work again tomorrow also, so no gardening for the next two days.

I did get six out of the seven things I listed that I 'hoped' to do yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised.

The one thing I didn't do was embroider more on the zebra longwing butterfly.

I filled 400 caps with herbal powders. I timed myself and it takes about 12 minutes to fill 100 with my handy cap-m-quick. What a great little tool.

I filled the two sachets that I had ready for filling and the smell of lavender is very soothing. I decided to do some bead embellishment around the edge and like the look.

I did get quite a bit done outside before it got too hot and that felt great. Then we had a nice thunderstorm with lots of rain yesterday afternoon.

I inadvertently cut rose blooms off my pink pet when trimming things up the day before so picked them for a tiny bouquet.

Pizza was yummy and we have the other half for supper another night, probably tomorrow. As tonight I feel like reheating left-overs from the night before, serving it over a brown and wild rice mix.

That's it for now. I need to make our lunches and get ready to head off to work.

Enjoy your day whatever you do.










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Rethink how you work. Just because you've always done something one way, it doesn't mean it has to be like that forever. If you can modify something to better suit how you work, do it. Streamline your tasks and don't aim for perfection. Take breaks. Do everything you do well and find the pleasure in it - it will be there lurking, you just have to find it. Be proud of what you achieve every day because you are providing a comfortable home for your family, you are making the most of the resources you have and looking after what you own. That is a good thing. And most of all, stop thinking that you'll never get through it all.
Excerpt from Rhonda at Down-to-earth blog.

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Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Oh the humidity,

Good morning Friends ~ I hope you are having a nice Sunday. I went out early this morning to plant some things, then decided to clean up a bed I had let go and it was filled with succulents. Oh my, I didn't get very far as it was horrible working out there. The sweat was running right off the end of my nose, my clothes were sticking to me, and I said to myself, that's it for now, I can't take any more. It was only 9 a.m. I checked the weather and at that time it was 84, but with the humidity at 79%, it felt like it was 103. After a shower, and cleaning up the kitchen, I went out to take a picture of the area I started working on, and found a few gems while I was out.

Here is the little bed underneath our Norfolk pine.

This was a real surprise, and I saw that I had already missed a bloom opening as there was a closed up one next to this one.

Here we have Vincent Godsiff.

Pink Pet or Caldwell's Pink

Louis Philippe

St. Francis and feathered friend

There is no spot of ground,
however arid, bare or ugly,
that cannot be tamed into such a state as may give an
impression of beauty and delight.
Gertrude Jekyll

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Hot and Humid

Here it is nearing the end of July already. It is hot and humid here. The humidity drains us of energy. I was out for awhile this morning trimming, weeding and had to quit because it is just too awful outside. It is clouding up and looks like we will get some more rain. We've had a lot, so much so that it's hard to keep up with everything. It is becoming more and more of a jungle as some things take over. We sure look forward to cooler weather. I just checked the weather site and it is 85, but with the humidity feels like it's 105.

Below are some pictures, click on them for a larger view.

This first one is of Pink Pet, or Caldwell's Pink.

This is of our driveway.

This is crepe myrtle.

Mexican petunia

Rain lily.

This is Tork, our helper and mostly overseer for projects.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer,

keep cool,

don't work too hard,

drink plenty of water to keep re-hydrated,

take breaks,

and have fun.

Musings from FL zone 10

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes
on the grass under the trees on a summer's day,
listening to the murmur of the water,
or watching the clouds float across the sky,
is by no means a waste of time."
Sir J. Lubbock

Sunday's Blooms

It is another beautiful Sunday morning.
I went out with the camera to take
pictures of what was blooming,
and here they are.

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This is Pink Pet

Morning glories

Same mgs. but enlarged picture.

Mm. Laurette Messimy

Louis Phillipe

Flame Vine

Ducher

Crepuscule

Cottage Rose

Cassia ~ not sure which one

Bougainvillea

Another Bougainvillea next two photos

This bougainvillea is white with pink and green shading.

This is Cat's Whiskers

This one is for fun. Her name is Tork.
I was trying to take a picture of some flowers
and she got right in my face,
as you can see. : -)

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Everything that slows us down and forces patience,
everything that sets us back
into the slow circles of nature,
is a help.
Gardening is an instrument of grace.
May Sarton