More This and That

I forgot to tell you in my last post that my husband and I have been on vacation!  We aren't big travelers but we did something unusual for us and took a Danube River Cruise.  We began in Budapest on the AmaViola - what a beautiful city and what a beautiful boat.  This is my favorite picture from Budapest, taken on our night river excursion.

I believe this was their Parliament building though, to be honest, after a while the buildings began to blur on me.

My second favorite place was the Benedictine Monastery in Melk, Austria.  It was founded in 1089 and reminded me of Downton Abbey, only way, way bigger!

I believe they said one wing had 60 bedrooms - necessary because visiting dignitaries and royalty traveled with an entourage!

Another favorite place was Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs, who reigned in Austria for over 600 years.  Gold leaf was, apparently, quite popular among the royalty of that time!

I have no idea where this was taken - can't remember - but you can tell we were enjoying ourselves.  :)  My husband's faithful hat has traveled everywhere with him.  He isn't supposed to be in the sun and it was blazing hot that day.

We cruised from Budapest up to near Munich.  Slovakia, a country I've seldom heard of, was quite beautiful, by the way.

When I got back home my flowers were blooming like crazy.  My vegetables could take a lesson from them!

This angel wing begonia was given to me by a dear friend at least 20 years ago!

This lemon tree was a Mother's Day gift this year - I might actually get lemons from it!

And this Mandevilla was a gift last year - we wintered it inside of course.

Since it's summer and other people's gardens are actually producing I'm still doing lots of this:

This, That and The Other

It's been really hot here for the last two or three weeks, maybe longer.  And we've had no rain for a couple of weeks, so my "garden" hasn't done well.  We only have a few containers on our deck but the past couple of years they've done pretty well.  This year I planted 2 cucumber plants and I've harvested...get ready for it...one cucumber!  And it's pretty pitiful looking.  :)  This isn't it - I found this online - but it looks a lot like this.

Hmmm...two cucumber plants cost about $7 so it's a pretty expensive cucumber!

I also planted two squash plants and I've gotten three squash, but it does have a few babies so maybe there will be more.

But the tomatoes are looking good and my herbs are growing and growing and growing.  I've harvested and dehydrated big batches of basil, cilantro, thyme, and stevia.  I have several others that I'll be storing pretty soon - oregano, mint, rosemary, lemon balm.

I've gotten some finishing done on a few cross stitch pieces and I'm adding to my little pillow collection these two:

And another patriotic piece I did as a door hanger...

I apologize that I don't have the designers to tell you - I've reorganized my patterns and wouldn't you know, can't remember right now where I put the already-stitched ones!  :)  However, I can tell you that the following spool is by Milady's Needle.

The pattern shows a small pincushion on the top but I'd rather use it as a scissors keep so I'm leaving it plain.  I have one other of her patterns that goes on a spool too so I'm anxious to get it stitched up.

I'd like to add a small rusty jingle-type bell to the bottom of the 1776 piece but I can't find one.  I read somewhere that Hobby Lobby has them but I've looked there and can't find any.  Anyone know where I can find them?

I have some other things to tell you but I'll be back in a few days to do that....it's my bedtime!

I'm Trying Really Hard....

I'm trying really hard to get back to blogging, but this time of year is full of things to do and I feel a bit like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland....running here and there yelling, "I'm late, I'm late!"  I've done a bit of this:

And the flowers have to be tended to:

I had some aprons I wanted to "decorate" and gift to friends and family.  These were aprons I bought half price at Hobby Lobby, and just added the embellishments to.

These weren't pressed yet but I think they're pretty cute and will be a big hit!

I've also done some spring cleaning - all the blinds and windows, pantrys and closets.  I'm not showing you those but trust me, they're clean.  :)

I finished the stitching but not the finishing on this cross stitch piece.

And just yesterday got the last hand stitching done on this Independence Day pillow.

I've probably made a dozen of these but everyone who comes by my house wants one so I only have this one left right now!

In my cleaning frenzy I found a couple of old pictures that I'm going to put on here for family primarily but you might enjoy them too.

This was the one and only time in my life I ever had a birthday party - I was 5 and wanted desperately to be a cowgirl.  This little outfit was my gift.  :)

This is a picture of my parents I believe right after daddy got home from WW II.  I look a bit like my mother I think.

This is a picture of my husband and I with our three "kids."  The one standing by her daddy is the oldest, the one standing next to her brother is the middle child, and the boy is the "golden child" as his sisters call him.  He was a late baby born when they were 8 and 11.  What do you think?  Do I look like my mother?

A Morning In The Life of a Retired Woman

Get up at 6:00 a.m., make a cup of tea, and go to your "prayer chair" for an hour of Bible reading and prayer.

At 7:00 put the bread you left rising the night before into the oven and turn off the chicken stock you left in the crock pot all night.  Strip your bed and put the sheets in the washer.  Mix up WW Blueberry Banana Muffins and when you take out the bread put those in the oven.  Stop and eat breakfast.

Put eggs on to boil.  Peel apples and make an apple crisp (also WW).  When the muffins are done put in the apple crisp to bake.  Chop celery, peel the eggs and make chicken salad from leftover chicken.  Move the sheets to the dryer and put a load of towels in the washer.

Take the apple crisp out of the oven and chop more celery for the Chicken Cacciatore you plan to make later today for canning.  Get the sheets out of the dryer, put the towels in the dryer and put on a load of dark clothes; then make the bed.  Notice your husband outside power washing the outdoor rugs.  Wash the dishes used thus far this morning and put the bread away now that it's cooled.  When the chicken stock is cool enough, strain it and put in the refrigerator so that when it cools you can skim the fat before canning it.  It's 10:00.  Get dressed.

If you stop by my house at 10:00 and I'm still in my pajamas don't ask if I'm having a leisurely morning unless you're standing at least 10 feet away.  Maybe 15.  Don't ask my husband about his leisurely retirement either.

Who Says Retirement is Boring?

Certainly not me!  I have no idea how I worked as long as I did because there's far too much to do at home!  If I've not visited your blog I apologize - I try to get in a few reads every few days but I've not been very successful.  I'm saving them though so when I have an hour to sit I can go back and catch up on everyone.  :)

I've finished a few of my cross stitch pieces and can't wait to show you.  First up is this piece that is part of a collection....I showed you the large pinkeep by Scattered Seed Samplers a couple of posts ago.  This drum is done in the same colors and complements it beautifully.  I couldn't stuff mine quite as tight as she did but I love it just the same.  And take a look at the back of it - so beautiful!

This is the second piece from the Virtues collection that I stitched....can't wait to do the rest of these.

I don't remember what this pattern is called but I do remember that I only stitched the center part of it.  I wanted something that shouted spring and I wanted to do a quick stitch so this worked perfectly for that.  And yes the azaleas above and the Carolina Jasmine in this are in my yard.  Love them!

And this was a quick one I did for St. Patrick's Day.

Switching now to wool - isn't this the sweetest little church?  I put it on the lid of a basket.

I've also done some canning - needed to restock my pantry.  Ten pounds of potatoes -

Seven quarts of pinto beans -

And 7 quarts of chicken soup -

My BFF gave me some old glass jugs she found when she was cleaning out her dad's auto shop.  He had stored oil and other yucky stuff in them.  They are beautiful leaded glass and I have  no idea what I'll do with them but just couldn't see them go to the trash bin.  Here's a before/after picture of what they look like.

Got any thoughts about how to use them?

And lastly, I got to babysit with one of my granddogs for a few days.  Her name is Ellie, and when we made our frequent trips outside she made a friend, named Bingo.  This is Bingo coming to invite Ellie out to play.  I told him no, she's not old enough to see men friends.  :)

Hope you're having a beautiful week!

And Then Another Thing Happened....

Do you ever feel like the hands on the clock are spinning out of control?  You know, like on those cartoons when the hands go around and around and around?  I do.  I can't seem to keep up with the days!

We've been away for a while on another mission trip.  Those of you who have read my blog for years know this is a frequent occurrence.  We were only gone a month this time (sometimes it's as long as four months) and it rained like crazy while we were in south Louisiana.

And when we got home it started raining here and rained for 5 or 6 days!  And poor Louisiana, well it just got worse there.  They've had lots of flooding and people lost their homes and had to be evacuated.  We drove to a town a couple of hours away from us on Wednesday to see my brother, who is in the hospital there, and it looked like this above, only deeper water.  Scary times.

We see spring everywhere here, from the neighbor's tulip tree

to the Carolina Jasmine which is threatening to pull it's trellis to the ground!

I love this vine but it runs everywhere and we've already had to pull it out of some nearby azaleas.

I even have this one little hyacinth I planted 10 years ago that comes up every year

and this wonderful stuff that I don't know the name of but which is the most persistent plant I've ever had!

We've kind of gotten spring fever and wanted to buy some potting soil - have you noticed the prices this year?

Inside my violets are all blooming -

And I've been doing some stitching!  I've actually finished the cross stitching on several things but only these two are really finished and ready for display.

 You can't tell in this picture but the bunny noses are done with a cashmere thread - just adorable!  And I love the way the variegated rick rack looked with this fabric.

Is there anything more spring time that bright colors?

Meanwhile, I have a long list of things to-do - it never seems to end.  Visit folks in the hospital, walk 2 miles a day, wash my kitchen cabinets and oil them, go to a couple of yoga classes, get a pedicure, send some get-well cards, clean up my sewing room, go through my winter clothes and get them ready for moving to another closet or to the storage building, plant my spring herbs, join the Silver Sneakers class at the Y, dehydrate the last of my frozen soup vegetables....the list goes on.  How about you....is your spring to-do list never ending like mine?