Blooms, lost-found, tide will turn, lots of photos

Hello Folks ~

I hope you are all doing well. I want to thank you again for get well wishes and prayers for DH. He is getting better and we are thankful for that. Since it hurts him to chew food, I’ve been making him smoothies for breakfast, and different soups for lunch and supper. We’ve had pumpkin/potato, potato/carrot, cauliflower/broccoli and there’s a pot of split pea soup for tomorrow. I’ve been adding organic beef and vegetable broths, herbs, spices, onion and garlic. I want to make a beet soup next. These soups are all blended so that he can just drink it up from a cup. 

I am so glad that he’s doing better. There’s still a way to go until he’s back to normal, but he’s so much better than he was. As oldsters, we think we are still able to do things, but age, heat, humidity, vitamin depletion, etc. can and do take their toll. We’ve learned from this experience in many ways. I’ve also been thinking more about those in chronic pain and about care-givers.

We felt a change in the air today when we were out running an errand.  It is the end of Sept. so there should be some changes going on and we enjoyed being outside.

Over the past week or so I ‘lost’ two things, couldn’t find them anywhere and I looked high and low. I finally told DH (dear husband) and he started thinking of places for me to look, some I had already looked into and others, no findy items. Yesterday morning I was still frustrated by not being able to find them,  I picked up my library book bag and ‘found’ one of the items, an embroidery book underneath. I let out a whoop and DH said you’re going to find the ‘scissors' next.  Between 5-10 minutes later, I was sitting here in my chair, and pulled the bigger scizzors out of their pouch stuck my fingers in the space, and lo and behold, there was the pair I was looking for. I was thrilled.  I hate misplacing things.  I usually find them sooner than I did these two items. I’ve been flustered and preoccupied with DH and how he’s feeling that it’s a wonder I didn’t lose more things.

The little scissors I got when my late MIL passed away, with other craft items, so they mean a lot to me. I love the patina on them.

You can see that the scissors each have their own little space in my pincushion, scissor and debris bag,(I won this several years ago in a drawing and love it).  I absentmindedly put the little scissors in the wrong pouch, then put the larger scissors on top of them. Now they are where they belong once again. Sheesh.

This is the heart I’ve been working on. I added the lace stitched on with French knots. I’ve still more embroidery and beading to do before I feel it is finished. The colors are a bit more subdued than in these two photos, because of the lighting.

This is a little heart I worked on the past few days.  I love it.  It is 2 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/4 inches high.

Now, here are blooms I took photos of yesterday morning. It was very cloudy.

Blanket flowers

A weed, that I think is a Florida native, not sure though.

A fallen frangipani bloom.

Hibiscus

Passion flower. These are so amazing I can’t quit taking photos of them.  They are still blooming and there are quite a few buds too.

Philippine violet

An old poinsettia that is getting ready for it’s time of year.

Salvia greggii

La Marne roses.

Louis Philippe

Climbing Maman Cochet

Louis Philippe growing up over my shed.

Front gate from the sidewalk.

Side front entry gate into patio area, off the driveway.

Driveway gate. I love the plumbago from next door, very pretty.

That’s it from soggy s.e. FL. We had quite a bit of rain over the weekend and lots of cloud cover. I hope today to be able to wash and hang out laundry as we’re supposed to have some sunshine and little if any rain.

I’ll close this with a quote I came across recently.

FlowerLady Lorraine

***

“When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you,

till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer,

never give up then,

for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn”.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and author.

What a difference cooler weather makes!

 Good afternoon Folks ~ It’s been a busy two days for me. I look forward to going to work tomorrow to sit behind the desk and relax.

Yesterday morning I moved concrete blocks and other flotsum from beside the Gypsy shed. Then I mowed, trimmed some low branches from our neighbor’s property that were hanging in our driveway.  I trimmed and weeded some back by my potting area.  I couldn’t even get in there lately because of so much overgrowth. Plus that crazy pit bull behind us has intimidated me from staying away from my own space.  Yesterday he didn’t even come back there and froth like he usually does and that was a relief. That work all took about 4 1/2 hours. DH did caulking and other wood work on the shed so that I could paint today.

I got a crockpot of Navy beans, with onion, celery, garlic, thyme, marjoram and smoked chicken sausage going before I headed outside to paint this morning.  It sure is smelling really good right now.  I’m going to add some kale to the pot before long.

The north and east sides of the shed were painted this morning.  After lunch the south and west sides were painted.  Oh yea, I also painted the hinges and latch on the picket fence with the plum color.  I just love how this is turning out. I enjoy painting.  DH is thinking about how to finish off the bottom edge.  Plus he has the whole inside to finish off and a front door to make.

What a difference cooler weather makes. We can do so much more outside and don’t feel drained and sick, like our summer heat and humidity make us feel.

Here are the pictures.

I didn’t finish the top part because DH has some trimming up to do there that we forgot about. 

You can see the red rose in the above picture, it is Chrysler Imperial and that scent was wonderful as I was working back there. Here it is below almost reaching it’s end.

This vine is all through the hedge on the other side of this area and has been blooming steadily for months now.  The scent is so sweet and the blooms fabulous.

The next four pics are of the blooms from my rooted cutting of Homere.  I can hardly wait for this plant to get older and give me larger blooms.  These are a delight though even small as they are now.

These morning glories would take over the property if I let it.

That’s it for now.  It’s time to relax and unwind with a glass of Chardonnay before dinner.

Tonight is Survivor again, so it will be a popcorn-date night.

Enjoy the rest of your week and be thankful for your many blessings.

***

No two gardens are the same. 

No two days are the same in one garden. 

Hugh Johnson

Latest project and blooms

Good afternoon Friends ~ What a gray, very windy, look like rain day it has been since we got up this morning. We’ve only had a few sprinkles so far and over 3” of rain is predicted over the next few days. We could use the rain. Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty wet day. This is how it has looked all day.

Well, today is Saturday, and I didn’t have to work like I usually do. I worked Wed. through Fri, and my boss went in today to unload the truck from the Round Top, TX show.

This morning DH and I worked on the picket fencing by the Gypsy Shed. Yesterday morning before work, we worked on the gate. We ‘curbside shopped’ this picket fencing in March of last year. Someone had cut their fencing into 20-32 inch sections when they threw it out. I was so excited when I saw this, as I love picket fencing. I had originally thought I would put it around the main garden, but there really wouldn’t have been enough for that. So earlier this year, we put up the now painted section. DH put the ball finial on top of the 4x4 post and I love it. I took this picture this morning because I thought it was going to pour all day, so wanted to get a picture of our forward progress.

We decided to do more work since it wasn’t raining, just very, very windy. Two more 4x4 posts went into the ground, fence sections were screwed to 2x4’s and two more finials were placed on the 4x4 posts. I love it and look forward to working this area as weather permits. I don’t work again until Thursday, but with rain predicted every day I think, I might not get a lot done. I need to scrub down the fencing with TSP before I paint.

It is a real joy to find stuff curbside, then put it to original use, or reuse/repurpose. We are thankful for all the ‘freebies’ we have been blessed with.

This picture was taken the other morning from inside the scullery. I was washing dishes and saw this blue jay enjoying the bath, (which needs to be cleaned out) and ran for the camera. He flew off after I took the picture.

Mexican petunia.

My favorite passion flower vine. I just love these colors and this vine is growing next to the Gypsy shed, which will have purple and orange colors on the outside.

This is Mexican sage. I love the velvety green/gray leaves and the sweet flowers.

This is a little still life in my seating area at the back of the main garden.

I want to say thank you to my new followers who recently started following, and thank you to all the rest of my followers too. Your comments are much appreciated and I enjoy visiting your blogs also. We learn, and are encouraged and inspired by each other.

Thank you ~

If you count all your assets,

you always show a profit.

Robert Quillen