Flowers and More Sewing

What a morning!  You-know-who woke me at 6:30 a.m.  I decided I might as well get up.  I will probably take a nap this afternoon.  Anyway, after breakfast I started my morning chores.  I had a few extra because I was lazy yesterday.  Brian called and I talked to him for quite a while.  I had not talked to him, except briefly, since before he went to Hawaii.  They had a great time.

 

After I finished my morning chores, which included putting my supper in the crockpot, I headed outside.  I filled the birdfeeders, which made the birds happy.  I had five bags of birdseed in my car, so I got the mower and attached the cart so I could move the bags of birdseed to the container I keep it in. 

Next on the agenda was weeding the azalea bushes, the concrete containers where I planted flowers, and around the one hydrangea bush.  By then I was getting really hot and tired of bending over.  So, I took the cart off the back of the mower and cut the grass in the circle and the front section of the area next to Ricky and Lenora’s. 

 

By this time, it was time for lunch.  Even Penny was ready to eat, and she let me know she was hungry as soon as I walked in the door.  She is becoming much more vocal.  So, we both ate lunch.  Penny is now taking a nap on top of her crate.  I talked to Jana via telephone, and now I am going to rest for a while.  NOTE:  I just made a pitcher of cold tea.

 

Didn’t do much this afternoon.  I talked to Bertus.  Hadn’t talked to her for quite a while.  I was pooped!  However, supper was really good.  I had country ribs, which I made in the crockpot, and a baked potato. 

 

WOW!  Yesterday was quite a day.  We were told that we would have some storms with heavy rain, but nothing severe.  So I didn’t monitor the weather at all.  Now I knew it was raining heavily, we had a lot of lightning and thunder, but I didn’t think too much about it.  It started here about 11:30 a.m.  About 11:45 I received a text from Renea (she was at the hospital with her dad and mom) asking if I was home or at her house.  I replied I was at home.  Why?  Well, it seems there were tornadoes all around me.  I thought about going next door, but decided not to since I was concerned about getting struck by lightning.  I turned on the television, and, at that point, the tornadoes were east of me.  So, Penny and I hunkered down here in the mobile home and prayed that we wouldn’t get blown away.  She was hiding under the bed, and I was in a corner of the addition.  There were several tornadoes but we were fortunate enough to be in the donut hole.  I said many prayers both during and after the severe weather.  We had three inches of rain in about an hour and a half.  There were a few more showers later, but for us, that was the worst.

Today it is cloudy, hot and humid.  I did go to Kroger this morning, but will be spending the rest of the day inside.  So, this afternoon I started my next project.  I am making hot pads for Brian and Tracy that will match their placemats.  Again, I have never made any of these so it should be interesting.

 

It is now Saturday and it is very hot and humid.  I spent about an hour and a half weeding in the front of my deck.  It finally got so hot and buggy that I quit.  I am going to have to work outside either early morning or evening when the shade gets in my front yard.  Summer has arrived early.  We didn’t have much spring.

The day lilies are starting to bloom.  They are so pretty.

I had more irises start blooming.  I don’t remember planting these, but they sure are pretty.

I finished the three hot pads that I was making for Brian and Tracy.  Not perfect, but okay.  They match the placemats I made for them.  My two biggest problems were the row of stiches closes to the edge and the area that I had to leave open to insert the padding.  I had trouble getting a good closure with all the padding.  I guess it will just take practice.

Hopefully, one of these days I will become a “good” seamstress.  Right now I am still learning.  When I worked at City Hall there was a lady I worked with who made clothes, suits for her husband, just about everything you can think of.  Anyway, she taught me a few things and I did some sewing way back then.  I think I forgot everything I learned.  Now I get instructions from the internet.

Learning A New Craft

Today is another day – brilliant statement, right?  This morning I went to Tigertown.  First stop was Target so I could pick up two toys that Copper likes.  Kevin and Renea do not go to Target so I said I would get them.  Jana had given Copper one for Christmas and he liked playing it, so much so that it finally was destroyed.  So I bought two of them this time.  I also went to Kroger, and stopped to fill the gas tank on my car.  I also bought a toy for Penny.  She played with it when I first gave it to her, and then she put it aside for later.  It was a mouse – not a pizza. Typical.

Since it has been so hot and dry I have not been doing much yard work.  It is supposed to rain on Sunday – I will believe that when I see it – and then cool down for a couple of days.  Hopefully, I will get some yard work accomplished then.  The only thing I have been doing is watering trees, bushes and flowers.  Some are doing good, and some not so good.  My tulip poplars still do not show any signs of life.  My yellow irises are finished blooming.  However, the dark purple iris have just opened.

So, while I have been inside I have been learning to make placemats.  I think I mentioned that in a previous blog.  Anyway, I made a set for me first to practice.  They didn’t turn out too bad.  I definitely still need practice, especially making the edges straight.  Oh well, they are mine.

I also made Brian and Tracy a set.  Mine are the same on both sides, but I used different material on the two sides of the ones I made for them.  I think they turned out pretty good.  Getting better.

Sunday we had some rain, about ¼ inch.  We are in a drought, so the only thing this meant was that I didn’t have to water the trees or bushes today.  The weeds are growing (like weeds) and they really need to be cut, but the grass is so dry I hate to run the mower over the weeds.  Hopefully, we will get some more rain during the week. 

 

I didn’t feel good so I just had a lazy day.  Kevin and Renea put together a plate of food for me and Stephanie brought it over.  Kevin had fixed ribs on the grill and Renea made our favorite potatoes.  Sure was good.  After supper Kevin and Renea brought me a piece of Reece cup peanut butter pie.  It was awesome!  I watched a little television in the evening and went to bed early.

 

By Monday morning I felt much better.  It was a gloomy, cloudy, misty day.  So, I spent the day inside doing odds and ends jobs.  I guess you could say not much of anything.  Watched DWTS and was glad to see that Heather got cut.  For some reason I just did not like her.  Of course, it now to the point in the show where I will hate to see anyone get voted off.  I have several favorites, but I don’t think any of them will win because they are not the best dancers.  We will see.

 

Last week I had my bloodwork done, so today, Tuesday, I saw Dr. Miller for my results.  All of the bloodwork was fine.  However, since I have been using the “emergency” inhaler several times a day he has prescribed a maintenance inhaler for me.  I will pick it up from the pharmacy tomorrow.  Since I will be going to Ohio from mid July to mid September, he had me make my next appointments for June since he put me on some new meds.  My blood pressure has been consistent lately.  It still drops when I stand, and I get a little dizzy.  I just have been adjusting the way I do things. 

 

Did a few chores when I got home, then called it a day.

Beautiful Easter Day!

Last night while I was inside doing nothing Kevin and Renea were putting up the fence around the garden.  It is a lot taller than he normally puts up.  Hopefully, this will help keep the deer out.

Today I took the day off from outside work.  My legs have been hurting, and I thought that maybe I had been on my feet too much.  So, today I cut all of the material for my projects.  Then Renea called as asked if I would like to go out for supper with them.  They were going to the Mandarin House in Opelika.  Now everyone knows that I do not eat Asian food.  However, Renea called and they said they fix chicken fingers and French fries for their friends that do not eat Asian food.  I said yes, and went with them.  It was very good.  They liked their food, and I liked mine.  After dinner I came home, watched a little television, then went to bed.

Sunday morning I got up bright and early so I could go to 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick’s.  The church was packed.  I didn’t realize they had so many parishioners.  It was a beautiful Mass.  Father even had all the children come up front with their Easter baskets so he could bless them.  (I had never seen that done before.)  After Mass they had an Easter egg hunt for all the kids.

When I arrived home from church Renea had brought her mother home from the nursing home for Easter dinner.  A little later Stephanie and Ryan joined us.  Then Bruce, Jennifer and their family arrived.  Renea and Kevin had an Easter egg hunt for all the “kids.”  They had a great time.  We had an awesome dinner.  After dinner Renea took her mother back to the nursing home.  (She is doing much better and will probably come home on Thursday.)  Stephanie and Ryan left, and the rest of the kids went swimming.  Kevin even joined them (after all he is a big kid).  The rest of us sat on the patio and watched them.  We made it an early evening because some of the group had to go to work the next day, and the kids had to go back to school.  It was a great day.

Monday I spent most of the day at the Honda dealer getting my oil changed and all the other things they had to do when the odometer gets over 38,000 miles.  I was there for five hours and left a thousand dollars poorer.  They did find a birds nest next in one of the covers under the car.  It was huge.  They asked me if I wanted to take it home with me, but I said no!  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  I was so surprised at their finding it that I never thought to take a picture.  I spent my time there reading a book.  In fact, I read the whole book.

Didn’t do much after arriving home.  Just didn’t feel like it. Penny was glad to see me.  I have decided she doesn’t like being left alone. So we snuggled for a while. Made both of us feel better.  I watched DWTS in the evening and then went to bed.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

And, yes, today has been a busy day.  I did all my morning chores, which I have been rather lax in doing lately.  I did my laundry.  I also put together and sewed four placemats for me.  Since I have never made them before, and I am making four of them for Brian and Tracy, I thought I better practice first.  Didn’t do too bad for my first time.

Didn’t do any yard work today.  It was too hot.  I did go out and water all the new plants and trees.  That was it!

STILL PLANTING

Good Morning.  The weather has started getting pretty hot so I only work outside until lunch time.  This morning I did some weeding and planted my rhododendron.  The reason I planted the rhododendron was because Kevin is planting his garden today and I know he is going to be very busy.

I also finished mowing the grass.  Of course, the first section of grass I cut needs it again. 

Late yesterday afternoon I finally ironed the material.  This afternoon I worked on Brian and Tracy’s placemat.  I’m getting there slow but sure.  I also cut several more patterns for one of my sewing projects.  I then laid the patterns out on the material and cut the material. I have now pinned the first couple of pieces.  I am making cell phone holders.  I am making mine first to be sure I am doing them correctly.  Next step is getting out the sewing machine and sewing the pieces together.  I’ll let you know how they turn out.

I also went down to Kevin’s garden and took some pictures.  Rebecca (Bruce and Jennifer’s daughter) is here helping him get everything planted.  Here they are planting tomatoes.

Every once in a while they jump in the pool to cool off, and cool off they do.  Kevin said the water is 78 degrees.  Yesterday afternoon Kevin cleaned the pool so it is ready for summer.

 

Later in the afternoon I heard some gunshots.  Apparently, Kevin and Rebecca were finished planting for the day so he took her to the “shooting range” in the woods and they both got in some practice.  I understand she is a really good shot.

Yesterday morning at the quarterly breakfast Kevin and Bruce received the Commanding General’s Achievement Award for Civilian Service.  Congratulations to both of you!!!!!

After supper I watered the trees and bushes, including the new ones on my side of the yard.  Now, I am finished.  That’s it for today!

Most Trees and Bushes are Starting to Bloom

Ninety percent of the grass has been mowed.  I am waiting for Kevin to fill the mower with gas so I can finish mowing tomorrow.  I also need to pick up a pile of sticks from the front yard and move it to the side yard so Kevin can mulch them.  I will also need to water all the trees and plants in the front yard.

 

I have finished weeding all the plants in front of my deck.  Now I just need to clean out the rest of the area.  I cannot us Roundup because of the plants in the ground and the bees.  I also watered all the plants that I weeded.  I cleaned out, and prepared, three containers for when the Franklin trees arrived.  This time I will be planting them in pots and hope they do better than the last ones. 

I haven’t done anything to the area around the birdbath yet.  I need to clean it out.  It hasn’t been weeded since the year before last. Last year I didn’t get much done because of my health problems.  This year I have a LOT of work to do to catch up.  I plane to plant my irises around the birdbath, but they have started blooming so I will have to wait until they are finished.  My yellow iris are beautiful.  It looks like some of my purple ones will be blooming soon.

All five of the rose-of-sharon bushes are looking good.  They all have some green leaves starting on them.  The forsythia bushes look good, and so does the new weeping willow.  However, only two of the dogwoods have leaves.  All of the redbuds look good, and so does Kevin’s maple tree.  The two new crapemyrtles show no signs of life. All the rest of the crapemyrtles (5) look great. I dug up the old Franklin trees.  They were definitely dead.  Four of the six new pecan trees (from last year) survived.  The chaste tree (from last year) really looks good.  The holly bushes grew a lot and look great.  The dawn redwood (Jim’s tree) survived and looks good.  The Bradford pear trees are alive but don’t look very good.  The weeping cherry tree doesn’t look too good either.  The older weeping willow tree in my backyard is looking good.  However, there is no sign of life on any of my three tulip poplar trees.   The golden raintree  and purple pansy trees do not show any signs of life either. 

IF WE WOULD JUST HAVE A DAY TO TWO OF A NICE RAIN MAYBE THEY WOULD PERK UP.  I do keep watering them.

I am working on Brian and Tracy’s placemats.  The ones I am doing using plastic canvas are taking forever.  I have about half way on the first one.  They may have them in time for camping next year 😊 

I also have a couple of sewing project which I am getting ready to start.  Today I washed the material.  Tomorrow I will iron it and cut the pieces.   I guess you could say I am making progress.

Kevin did get the mower filled with gas, but I didn’t get the rest of the gas cut.  I finished watering all the trees and plants that I didn’t get to yesterday.  I also weeded some more of the area in front of my deck, and checked the areas I had already weeded.

The new rhododendron arrived today. It is actually in a container. It looks healthy.  I weeded the area I want it planted, and put the plant there.  I also watered the plant.  There are a lot of buds on the plant.

Kevin has taken a couple of days off work so he can get his fence put up around his garden and get more of his garden planted.  He did tell me that he would plant my rhododendron tomorrow.  He also plans to plant the five rose-of-sharon bushes that Renea’s dad ordered.  They arrived yesterday. 

Kevin had bought a trailer of top soil, and today he worked on filling some holes in both of our yards.  I had one really deep one on my driveway.  Yea, I know, my driveway is dirt and gravel.  But it did have a deep hole, and I almost always hit it when I came home, especially if it was dark.

I worked a little more on Brian and Tracy’s placemat.  I have been so busy outside that I haven’t done much inside.  Oh well, such is life, and life it too short to worry about all of this.  I just do what I can.  And, no, I didn’t get the material ironed today. 

WHAT A WEEK!

This will be a short blog because I didn’t do much of anything.  Last week Monday we had storms, thunder, lightning, hail and tornadoes!  Tuesday was okay.  Cloudy and cool, but no bad weather.  Then came Wednesday.  Again we had storms, thunder, lightning, hail and tornadoes.  However, we were very lucky.  Yes, we had storms, thunder and lightning along with a lot of strong wind, but we did not have any tornadoes.  There were several around us.

Thursday and Friday it was cold (we actually had frost which wasn’t good for our new plants) and extremely windy.  I didn’t even go outside.

The weather improved on Saturday and Sunday.  It was warm and sunny.  Hopefully, we will now be getting back to normal.

We Were Lucky!

Good Morning!  It’s another beautiful day in Alabama.  Sunny and eighty! 

My weeping willow tree arrived yesterday.  Tomorrow (Sunday) is going to be a busy day planting all the trees and bushes.  I sure hope we get some of those April showers now so we don’t have to water everything continuously.  Sure does keep us busy.  Anyway, I have everything ready for planting.  I just need one more plant to arrive and that is the rhododendron. 

Today is actually kind of a catch-up day.  I have been doing so much outside that I haven’t gotten much accomplished inside.  Oh well, I will see how much I can get done today before I go to Mass.  Actually, I got quite a lot done inside.  The biggest thing I did was start on Brian and Tracy’s placemats for their camper.  They are going to take a while because they are pretty big.    I even did a few things outside.  After Mass I didn’t do anything.

Today is Sunday and that is usually my “day of rest.”  However, I have one tree and eight bushes that need planting, and I promised Kevin that I would help him do this.  We/he planted my azaleas into the spots where I wanted them.  He also moved the box of iris out from behind them.  Now I am going to get some white rocks to put in the area around them.  That will help with moisture and weeds.

Kevin (with my help?) planted two of the rose-of-sharon in the front of the property where those planters were by the fence.  One in each area.  Another rose-of-sharon was planted on the corner of the deck.  The other two (I have five) were planted next to my shed.

The weeping willow tree was planted in my front yard near the pecan tree. 

I watered all of these new plantings.  Then we both went inside to drink water.  It is really hot outside today.  I sure hope we get the rain they are predicting for tomorrow.

I even got all my morning chores done including one load of laundry.  Now I am going to get ready to watch the NASCAR race. 

We were really lucky today (Monday).  Our area had some terrible storms including rain, thunder, lightning, wind and tornadoes.  We were lucky in our area because the tornadoes didn’t hit until they crossed the river into Columbus.  They were pounded pretty good.  Lots of damage.  Uprooted trees.  Power outages.  It was nasty. 

Today is beautiful.  However, during the night tonight we are supposed to have more bad weather move into the area.  It is supposed to last all day tomorrow.

Tree and Bushes Report

The azalea bushes have arrived!  I ordered them from a nursery so they are not the little “sticks” we receive from the Arbor Day Foundation.  They are beautiful.  All three are Encore Azaleas which means they will bloom more than once.  They usually bloom three times.

AUTUMN ROUGE

AUTUMN CARNATION

AUTUMN TWIST

I finished cleaning out the area where I want them planted.  Took them out of the box and plastic because it is so hot today (high of 87 and it’s still March).  I placed them where I want them.  Kevin will plant them for me when he has a chance.

He is busy today (Thursday) because he got his bees last night.  He took today off work so he can get them taken care of.

I spent the morning cutting back the lantanas.  That is always a big job.  I was happy to find that there was new growth on both of them.  In fact, a third one has started growing between the original two.  It also has new growth.  I like the lantanas because they are always filled with butterflies once they start blooming.

No more work outside today.  We are supposed to have some bad storms, lots of rain, high winds and hail.

Good Morning!  So much for bad storms, lots of rain and high winds.  We had nothing!  My rain gauge was empty this morning.  So…..I have been watering everything.  I have finished the front.  Checked all the trees while watering and found the two forsythia bushes (twigs) are doing great.  They both have new growth.  One of last year’s trees, the Chaste tree, has some new growth.  All the crapemyrtles are doing great except for the two new ones.  Nothing on them.  The dogwood in Kevin’s front yard does not have any new growth as yet, but his red maple is showing signs of life.  We are making progress.

This evening I water some of last year’s pecan trees.  Four of the six have new growth on them.  I also watered the new trees along my property line.  All six of the redwood trees look healthy and have leaves.  However, the five dogwoods do not show any signs of life.

I checked the trees on Kevin’s property line.  Two of the four hawthorn trees have plenty of new leaves, and two of the four crabapple have leaves.  This is good!

I am now finished for the day.  More tomorrow.