This morning as I am in one of my happy places my chair enjoying my cup of coffee before I start the real work this was my view Sophie was in her happy spot! She happened to claim it before the normal sun worshipping Rudy did!

She followed the sun around on the floor and soon became overheated and Rudy once again got his spot back.

So staring at me from the left are these two clowns. Lord forbid I ever get to sit in my chair all by myself! 

Eyes were on me and waiting for the chance , just maybe I will let them share my chair.

Well of course I caved, just look how sad Rupert looks! He is my baby!
I am glad to see the humidity hit the road for a few days anyway, i have a wedding cake and wedding flowers to work on so do not wanna put the air conditioner in! I am a cheap charlie and besides that we go all winter with the doors and windows shut up. I really enjoy having them open and the fresh air coming in. Who can not love the sounds of summer, birds chirping, dogs barking and kids voices as they play outside. I love it!
A busy week is in store for me and as much as I enjoy wedding cakes and flowers I really do want to be outside! I have made great strides in redoing part of the backyard and wish I could really get it finished this week but that is gonna have to wait until next week! I wish you could see how pretty it looks right now. I have a lot of lily's blooming. I have pictures , don't worry and I will be posting them so you all can see. In the meantime do not forget to deadhead your flowers, it will keep them blooming longer, I try and do this for at least a half hour a day. Enjoy the sunshine and enjoy your week!

Happy 4th of July!!

I started my day by waking to more sunshine! I love waking to the sun. Working on some garage sale stuff  and going through some old purses I found 31.00 and some odd change today,man that is a fun feeling finding forgotten money. Enough to pay off the end of one more bill! I am hauling in a load of aluminum cans tomorrow that should be enough I hope to buy some bags of mulch.
No plans today so I got some more yard work done and thanks to the help of my neighbors I got rid of some bigger tree saplings that means I  can finally get those flower beds whipped into shape. Was able to hang all my laundry outside and let it dry outside, just love those air dried towels when ya get out of the shower.
Ended my day by sitting on my porch, in my favorite swing with a little glass of wine.

  Angie said she needed wine bottles so I am trying to help her out and while enjoying the sights and sounds outside this was my lovely view tonight.

Perfect end to a great productive day!

Lovely Gardening Days!!

I have had one busy week so far! I have gotten so many things crossed off my summer to do list! I finally have the veggie garden planted even though it is not everything I wanted it is planted,peppers, tomato's,cucumbers, onions, beans zucchini,and even tried some baby pumpkins and gourds we will see if they amount to anything or not. I am calling a extended summer at least thru the end of October. 
I got all of the front flower beds cleaned up and need to stick in a few plants yet and then add some mulch. Have done some painting and still have more to do. It is coming along.
I have always fed the KOI fruits so  this week we tried some veggies they love romaine lettuce and frozen baby peas! Zinny was so interested in trying the foods also she went for a little swim in the pond! I use a feeder ring that way I know how much they are eating she thought it was for the dogs also.
The lily's are starting to bloom and I have color popping through all over the place is so much fun to see what's new in the blooming department everyday.
I am flower sitting for Elayne and I sure do like having more color out front! She has the cutest solar lights in some of her pots. I will take pictures so you all can see them too. I just have to share my favorite gazing ball with you, It resides in my blue garden, well what used to be a blue garden, now it is a free for all!

I own 5 gazing balls and this is my all time favorite! 
I am enjoying all the sunny days and the sweating that comes with it, need to be outside as much as I can this week as next week I have a wedding booked so will be spending most of my time inside. Keep gardening it is so good for the soul!!

Glorious!!!!

OH it is a glorious morning I am down 54 pds since the beginning of the year!! I am so excited, I have done this on my own no help from surgery,shakes,or fad diets. I have given up white flour,sugar,watch my carb count and have added in a ton more fruits and veggies.
 I have been guided by a nutritionist with great recipe's and motivation. She gave me the summer off from bi-weekly check ins of weight,support and blood pressure checks(which is normal/not high) and I am doing ok, I exercise very little, well I call it extreme exercise having to mow every 3 days and constantly pulling trees and weeds. 
I eat 7 times a day, always have breakfast and be sure to have fruits and veggies ready to snack on in the refrigerator all the time. I spend every Sunday preparing snacks for the week. I write all the carb counts on  packages so I know exactly what I am eating. I have found some great low carb items to have on hand. I make a garlic chive cream cheese spread that is great on crackers, celery and cucumbers.
 The sun is shining and I am HAPPY! I am excited to get in the soil and get some more planting done, even though it is too late for some of the things i really wanted to plant, I will try and find more pepper and tomato plants to fill in those spots. Salsa is good and if the dogs would kill that damn rabbit that keeps coming into my yard, I would be overjoyed!  my lollipop lily's are blooming one of my favorites!

I have strawberry,raspberry rhubarb custard pie's in the oven and I am gonna be treating those out to someone today. Maybe you will be a lucky recipient and I have a special little pie just for me to have as a treat. Have a great Sunday!

This is the finished project, they are delivered to my taste subjects and we will wait to hear the results, my own recipe.

Making headway in the veggie garden!

I am sorry I haven't posted lately just trying to get on top of getting my poor veggie garden in! I think the only thing that is growing and doing well this year are tree seedlings and creeping charlie!! Man I hate that stuff, my whole garden area is just about covered in it. I attempted to try and till up the garden with my little Ryobi but that crap kept getting wound up in it so I would have to stop and clean it out and rake off what I could. I did get one area pretty good and planted my grape tomatoes and all of the pepper plants! YEAH! making head way. I had to call in the big guns to tackle getting the ground worked up, Thank heavens for Larry! He is coming out tomorrow and is gonna get it tilled up for me. I am gonna be a planting machine so mother nature you keep those tears up in the sky and let the hot lookin guy shine down on us!
My lettuce is doing good in the big pots and hopefully the dogs will catch and kill that rabbit that has been getting into the back yard and has ate off all of my strawberry plants! Sophie my fierce hunter get your killing face on and get that damn thing!
I think we have gotten the pond leak controlled , of course when it rains everyday it is kinda hard to see if it is fixed.I have faith and thanks to my friend Eric for helping me out! 
That damn bird as she is known as now is still sitting on her eggs! I went from calling her crazy to damn. I really need to do a thorough cleaning of her cage so I can mess with her happy little world and get her back to normal. I miss my chatty bird she is way to quiet!
I have posted new tips and recipe's so check them out and happy gardening!

Enough of the rain already!

I don't know about you, but seriously I have seen enough rain for about 6 weeks now! I was so excited to have an extended summer vacation this year so I could get some serious painting and staining done and not a damn bit of it is done. I STILL DON"T EVEN HAVE MY GARDEN IN!! All my plants are sitting on my porch waiting to get into the ground. This woman needs some serious SUN and now!
I worked out in my yard all day today, pulling more little tree's out and creeping charlie, good lord where did that stuff come from, it is all over the place and weeds I have never had before has found there way to my yard. I am on serious patrol to get rid of the weeds. I had beautiful lush green grass growing and this year it is full of weeds, I am pretty sure the weed control I have put down has not even touched them this year. First free chance I get and the sprayer is coming out for some massive eradication! 
A week ago after much research and even a few phone calls I was told I could easily move the honeysuckle vine. Pretty much was  told there would be a fat chance in hell I would cause it any harm. Well I have killed it! I dug it out so ever gently and moved it to its new spot along the back fence watered it faithfully and yep! it is a goner! I have it on my list now to replace it with a new one!
I hope I have found the pond leak, let's hope it was the spot and is fixed. My summer visitors are back. ever had that feeling someone was watching you? Well today I am busy pulling trees out from my new farm and I had this feeling I was being watched. Wasn't the dogs 2 of them were lounging on the back steps, the long hair one Zinny was of course rolling around in the freshly cut grass something else for her to carry into the house , Rupert was barking at the non existent squirrel he thought was up there in the tree, and the others I am sure were in the house sleeping on the couch. The fish were all swimming around in the pond and then I spy with my eyes 2 little eyes peeking out of the water staring at me! Yep the frogs are back! I knew I heard them but haven't seen them till now. Wonder how many free loaders I will have this year?
I sure hope we all wake up to some beautiful sunshine, I have so much to get done out there so please let the sun shine!

The honeysuckle vine after I moved it, it looked so good and now it is as brown as can be!

Just one of those weeks!

It has been one of those weeks. Sometimes I just want to stay in bed and hide from the world so nothing else could possibly go wrong.  
I have always been willing to help others out but when it comes down to me needing some help it seems to be a different story,
I have plugged away and am getting things done around here, I really want to be painting and staining. I was told that I should not stain the fence until it has 4-5 days to dry out well that is suppose to be Friday and do ya know what the weather man is predicting? Yep , that damn rain again.

A Week I am glad to see end!

What a week! Everything that could break down or go wrong happened this week, from appliances,pond leak,bad check,vehicle issues,computer problems, and more. I was really depressed this week and just kept plugging away. 
I have a new motto and it is NO! I am learning to tell people No and am putting myself first. I am important and I don't have to bend over backwards to please everyone. No more! NO NO NO! 
No matter how nice it is to make a little extra income, money is not and will not be the answer to it all in the end. You can't take it with you and if I can survive for 48 years with what our government calls poverty income, I can survive another 60 years the same way. No more rearranging my plans to accommodate that little bit. Enough said! I am gonna try my darnedest to get more enjoyment out of life.
I finished a few more projects and will get pictures posted in a few days the baby birds who decided to take up roost in my white clematis have hatched and they are the littlest things ever. As for my bird Bella she is still sitting on her non hatching eggs, good grief she has gotta figure it our sooner or later they are not gonna hatch. I call her a crazy bird, pretty sure she will be saying that soon.

I took pictures earlier this week of my orchid plants which by the way usually bloom in Feb or March and yes they are blooming in June!

I have tried a few new recipes also so be sure to check out my pages as I have posted them there for you to enjoy ! The avocado recipe is wonderful! My favorite of the week.

A very busy productive day and...................

So today as I am working in my backyard I was shocked to see that my beautiful white blooming clematis was dying and after further inspection this is the cause of the deadness you see!

 Here is the culprit! Guilty as charged she has used the vines of my clematis and constructed a nest!

 Here is what I found in her nest and it is the tiniest nest I have seen besides the hummingbirds nest I find occasionally in my hanging plants!

My poor yard, my poor clematis,I have weeds everywhere in the yard due to not being able to get the weed control down last summer and fall and yet this spring. I did apply it once but am pretty sure the rain washed most of that away. I am pretty much starting from square 1 again!This is the back corner that needs so much work done.

 Leaving the back corner you come to the pond garden all those purple wild phlox that is blooming, I did not plant the birds must have planted them.

 My little herb garden right off the back door steps, I have dahlias in my pots this year on the steps.

 Pond area and garden I can not believe how big some of the plants got I might need to do some rearranging I will wait and see how it looks when everything else blooms.

 My pond

 This garage is on my list to get painted and I have a new pallet to put my garden shed on as my yard floods when we have heavy rains .Still have some pots to get planted up and a fence to get stained we just need it to quit raining every other day so I can get going on the painting and staining.

 This is my full sun garden again some more wild phlox,I don't know where this stuff came from but I have plants that were never in my gardens before show up and have pretty much lost all my cone-flower and Shasta daisy's because of the winter we had.The swing is getting torn apart that last wet heavy snow we had did a number on it time to say goodbye.

 This is my little garage garden 1 out of the 3 Clematis has survived so I am gonna have to replace those.

I moved the vine that came down from the side of the house and have relocated it back here. I am hoping it will cover the fence with some added height like the bittersweet vine has on the other side. I hate having those apartments behind me and the people who live there watching my every move in the backyard. If I could build a fence 10 ft high long the back it would be there! This is just a start of the pictures from the backyard I will post more later along with new ones when projects are completed and updated.

Blue Skies and Sunshine

I was so glad to wake up to some much needed sunshine. Now if we just can get it for more then 1 day. I have completed several little projects and have taken some pictures of the backyard. I will post those later today. Many gardens to be redone back there and some tree's to get rid of, seriously I did not sign up to be a tree farmer. Seems I don't have many weeds to pull but a gazillion tree's!! I am not a fan of ash, elm, walnut or silver maple trees they are all trash trees! Unfortunately I am surrounded by them.
I planted my poor strawberry plants that I had received over a month ago in my holding bed and somewhere a rabbit must have gotten in my backyard and chewed them off!!! If mother nature would of cooperated they would of been in their new spot out at the garden!! Had to happen overnight as the dogs would of killed it! 
Found my fairy garden from last year and I need to do a little resurrection of that also! Be sure to check out my TIP OF THE DAY PAGE, I have shared some secrets with you and yes they do work!! Enjoy and get out into the sunshine!

Garden tour 2011

Garden and Pond pictures from 2011 and 2012,change is good!

 Pond in progress,summer 2012 lots of hard work and sweat, do you remember how HOT it was last summer?

 front view of pond in progress last summer's project

 1st clematis to bloom out of the 12

 finished pond project

 My newest garden art, made by Brad A. I just love it!!

 my freeloaders!

 Rupert loves the giant dog water bowl!

Rudy prefers to bask in the sun! I call it the "wienie roast"