Summer in Arkansas

Angel Wing Begonia

Some kind of day lily - not sure about this one!

This Easter Lily is going to be a really, really, really late bloomer!

Mandevilla

And even the herbs are loving this heat!

Lavender

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

The lemons are growing quickly!

And Grandma's Rain Lily just keeps on and on blooming.

It's a hot, hot summer day in the south ya'll.  Time for a tall icy glass of sweet tea!

Hot Summer Days

It's so hot here during this time of year - well, I suppose the heat wouldn't be so bad if the humidity wasn't so high but it sure makes it hard to breathe when you're outside.  My poor husband is the one who does the watering of our plants and it takes a good hour so he comes in dripping wet, and not from the sprinklers!

I finished another small patriotic piece last night.

I'm not sure what I'll make this into - I have a ton of small pillows and a couple of patriotic door hangs so I'm looking for something different.  Any ideas?

I was in WalMart a couple of days ago and they had school supplies out and some already on sale!  They had the small notebooks, not spiral ones but the old fashioned kind with a paper binding, on sale for 50 cents so I bought four.  No thoughts except they were cheap and who doesn't love a new notebook.  I've made covers for two of them and will do the other two the first of the week.

We went to the Farmer's Market Saturday and I picked up some tomatoes, okra and zucchini.  The tomatoes are so wonderful right now and the zucchini were beautiful.  Thankfully there are two or three organic farmers there so I feel pretty comfortable buying from them.  I made zucchini bread that was from a recipe I found on the internet and it was pretty good but I think next time I'll add a little crushed pineapple to it.  That sounds good to me.  I also tried a new recipe today for Zucchini Gummy Candy.  The verdict is out on that so I'll  let you know.  Just in case you want to try it here's how:
4 cups zucchini, cut in 1" squares (take the seeds out before cutting)  (I used 5 cups)
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar or splenda
2 pkgs Kool Aid (no sugar added)
Boil the water, sugar and Kool Aid, add the zucchini and boil for 30 minutes.  Drain and put in dehydrator until the zucchini is leathery, not crisp.  It took about 12 hours for mine today, and it's a bit sticky.  I think since it's supposed to be candy it's not quite sweet enough.  Next time I'll up the sugar a little.

We're having a family weekend - all the kids and 6 of the 8 grandchildren.  That doesn't happen often!  I think there will be 15 of us....oh my.  I'll let you know how it works out.  :)

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.