Garden Goodies!

Radishes and spinach are doing well in my garden! I have beets, carrots, lettuce, Romanesco and cauliflower growing as well. I would have more cauliflower along with broccoli except that a couple of the ONLY freezes we have had came at just the right time to kill them.

My garden sink is especially handy for washing the sand out of the wrinkles in the spinach leaves. I love to eat spinach salad with dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, shredded Parmesan cheese, mandarin oranges and raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

I've been robbing/thinning the carrots here and there. They are so sweet to rinse and eat!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

Paper quilled snowflakes and clean windows!

I've managed to finish four paper quilled snowflakes so far. Of course, I've also been teaching Pre-k, taking care of the house and yard and even slipping in some crocheting! I think I will actually finish the Japanese Flower Shawl I started last year around this time! I had to drag out a ladder and clean the transom window BEFORE I could take a photo of it! I have several tension curtain rods left over from when we first moved into this house and had no curtains or blinds. For privacy in the bedrooms, I safety pinned pockets into sheets and used the tension rods to hang them. I used one of them for hanging my snowflakes. So, here they are! I really enjoyed making them.

This transom also needed cleaning. It looks so much better now!

My list of "craft projects to try" grows as quickly as the laundry pile now that I have discovered Pinterest. Hmmm, maybe that is why my laundry pile grows---I'm on Pinterest! Actually, before I allow myself much computer time, I try to accomplish some chores. After school to day, I ran some errands, disposed of the dead rabbit the dogs caught invading the yard, fed the chickens, sorted some laundry, washed some dishes, straightened Brian's bathroom and emptied his trash can.

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

 I had a mess in the house most of the day as I took down and packed up my Christmas stuff. I was working hard, but Samson was definitely taking it easy!

 He wasn't the least bit disturbed by all the packing and cleaning!

 Well, he did take a break from napping to inspect one of the tubs. He doesn't look pleased!

My Dad called as I was packing the last tub. We chatted for a little while and then hung up. I finished the tub, and my hubby helped me lift all the tubs and boxes into the attic. I AM still missing one old wine bottle and two brass deer that I stashed to make room for my "Little Drummer Boy" doll. We poured glasses of wine and sat down to relax on the sofa. Sweety then asked me where I put the cordless phone when I finished talking. Of course, I didn't remember. I had a horrible thought. What if it was in the tub I was packing when I was talking to my Dad. Then I had an idea. We'd just call our number from a cell phone and listen for the ring. We can go out into the garage to be able to hear it in that part of the attic. Well, hubby told me the ringer on the handset was not turned on. He then told me I'm going to need to back out the trailblazer, pull down the ladder and find the tub! UGH, I didn't want to do that. I started wandering around the house looking for it. I found a handset on our bed. It was the one the teenager was using before he left for work. The one I had been using had been on the charging cradle the whole time! BIG sigh of relief.
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Rain, Fabric, China

It has been raining here, a lot, over 6 inches in the last few days. My chicken run is muddy. The yard is mushy. The garden is mucky! The weeds are growing, well, like weeds! The mosquitoes are back in droves. Last summer, we were in a drought!

Since, I won't be getting much yardwork done, thanks to the company of the hoards of mosquitoes, I should have no problem getting some sewing projects completed. This is especially so, since the MOUNTAIN of ironing has been conquered. All of these fabrics have been chosen for aprons. Except the red stripe, it is for cloth napkins.

I also received some wonderful treasures from a dear friend that passed away. It is nice to be entrusted with things I know were dear to her. The assorted pieces of china belonged to her grandmother. I think they are absolutely lovely.

They blend beautifully.

Simple and detailed.

All blues and gold.

Cups that are even pretty on the inside! I miss you "Mum".

If you are looking for me, I SHOULD be in my sewing room.

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

The long awaited shelf!

Yippee! One of my Valentine's Day gifts was the long awaited shelf in the garden shed a.k.a. "barn". First, we had to remove much of the barn's contents.

This is the wall that is awaiting the shelf.

David and Dustin are putting up the framework.

Dustin is giving the hammer a swing or two. (He finally got his haircut that evening. He had been waiting over a week for me to get around to it.)

I decided to give the shelf framework a weight limit test! It was a very warm day here in South Texas. I had been out pulling clover, trimming the oak tree and planting a peach tree.

The shelf is nearly done! The guys just needed to put on the plywood.

They seem to be enjoying themselves.

The final touches!

When I was sweeping out the barn, I found these little eggshells. I am wondering if they are from a Texas Spiny Lizard. Does anyone recognize them?

These clouds were on the North and Northwest horizon. They were beautiful. They were also part of a cold front that blew in just after sunset. We were just beginning to put the stuff back into the barn. It got cold fast! I didn't even get around to taking a photo of the finished shelf because I was cold!

Y'all come back!

Lorilee

Sunday in the yard!

Today was a busy day as far as chores go! We had a slight coolfront which made working outdoors more bearable than it has been! I took down the Purple Martin house. We never did get any Martins this year. A dove had babies on one of the porches. I am not sure if they survived to fledge or not! I also added some wire to the old "monkey bars" on the playset. I now use them for my Passion Vine. I did some weeding, too.

This is the second bloom with bananas on my banana tree.

There were clouds all around, but we didn't have any rain today. We did have 6/10 last night.

The barn door had been sticking. My sweety fixed it today! He also oiled the weathervane so it would turn again. I may have him talked into building a laying box onto the chicken coop for my girls!

The girls were busy too! Two of the younger girls are laying now! They are checking out the laying box. (It is an old covered cat litter box--I always used liners!)

Holly seems to like the laying box!

As I was picking things up to go in and take a bath, this bird nearly flew into me! It was fairly tame and hung around for several hours. It appears to be a domesticated dove.

It was very pretty!

It was glad to get some food. It liked the red millet out of the chicken scratch. It would approach and eat with me sitting about 1 foot away!

Lexi and Honey wanted OUT!

Ya'll Come Back!

Lorilee

An Odd Egg and Other Stuff

By Friday, I could no longer put off a trip to Wally World a.k.a. Wal-Mart, for groceries! I did find a some treats for myself. I have been admiring these lights for some time in other stores. Thanks to Wally World, they were finally more in my price range! I also picked out a magazine to "wish" through!

We had some leftover apples and cores from our snack at school. I like to bring them home as a treat for my chickens and the rabbit, Chewey! She is loving them!

I gave the chickens their treat of apple leftovers and gathered the eggs. This egg looked odd to me. I haven't cracked it yet!

Ya'll Come Back!

Lorilee

I'm still NOT decorating!

I couldn't bear the thought of putting up my Christmas lights with a weedy flowerbed, so on Saturday afternoon, I spent several hours pulling weeds. MUCH better now. I can acutally see my plants.

I adore the way my dwarf Nandina 'Firepower' changes from the spring and summer bright green to the deep red!

I will be sad when the first good frost kills back my Blue Daze!

This plant is called Maltese Cross. This one was well over 8 feet tall until I came out one day to find it broken! I was so sad. I put the top piece into a pot of dirt, and it rooted. The rest of the plant started growing new leaves all up and down the stems that had preciously lost their leaves. I was so happy. I had not had much luck rooting this plant in the past!

I also decided to re-organize my mixing cart. I took my bread machine off since it no longer works! Let's see, my flowerbed is ready for lights, and I am all organized for Christmas baking! I did manage to get the Christmas boxes out of the attic with the assistance of my son and his friend! Let the decorating begin!

Ya'll Come Back!

Lorilee

Washing Machine Woes!

Important appliances NEVER break during the week! Mine always seem to bite the dust on Saturday or Sunday afternoons! Heh, heh, maybe that is because that is when I use them! My just over 10-year-old washer washed its last load on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, it didn't quite finish the job. The clothes were still sopping wet and soapy! We went shopping! We found a great deal on a floor model with $ off for a few scratches. Excitedly, we brought it home, hooked it up and started the wet clothes on a rinse and spin cycle. It stopped mid-cycle and refused to budge. Even several calls to customer assistance didn't help. They gave us the number of a repair person. It just doesn't seem right to have to have a brand new appliance "fixed". My husband went shopping again as stores were closing. I had to start supper and get in back to work on Monday mode! He came home with this beauty. The other washer went back to the store on Monday.
It has glowing reviews on the internet. We are very pleased so far. Of course, I was thrilled just to get the original load rinsed and spun! The spin cycle is awesome. My guys were really impressed with those RPMs. They were sitting in my laundry "closet" watching it go!

Ya'll Come Back!

Lorilee