FlowerLady's Musings

A tad warmer this morning

2012-02-13T08:23:00.002-05:00

Good morning Folks,

This morning it was 47 when we got up and felt like it was 42. Yesterday morning it was in mid 40’s and felt like it was 36. It is still ‘cold’ for us down here though. Below is a picture of the scullery window yesterday morning. The orchids are usually outside, but during cold weather they come indoors.

I stayed indoors for the most part yesterday as it was windy which made it feel cold all day. Tomorrow is is supposed to be pleasant and I hope to get outside to play in gardens. I still have some work to do on the back reworked area.

Yesterday I wanted to do some beaded embroidery and here is the completed piece. The heart itself is about 2”x2”, with the frame 6 1/2” x 6 1/2”. I’ve got to mount the piece then put it in the frame. I really love embroidering and using beads makes it even more enjoyable. I used an old mother of pearl button too.

This morning we do our errands then it’s back home to our humble abode. I always love pulling into our driveway, driving through the opened gates, parking and closing the gates being back in our little haven.

My box of crochet thread should arrive today. I can hardly wait to crochet with those luscious colors.

Hope you all have a great week and a nice Valentine’s day. I’m planning to fix a stuffed steak in the crockpot. We already have the steak in the freezer, I just need to get a couple of things at the grocery and I’m ready to go. I enjoy cooking, but on holidays I enjoy it even more. I learned early on in our life together that I could follow a recipe and make a wonderful meal for a fraction of the cost of eating out, and we would have left-overs too.

FlowerLady

***

Who, being loved, is poor?

Oscar Wilde

***

Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart, and the joy in a heart.

Author Unknown

Rain, cold front, Bernie news, thread colors

2012-02-11T08:15:00.001-05:00

Good morning everyone,

Boy did we ever get the rain yesterday! Streets were flooded where I work, as it was just too much water for the drainage system to handle. I was glad to be inside. It had started raining lightly here at home when I left for work, but got to raining heavier over the 30 minutes it takes to get to work. I’m always glad to get to where I have to be when driving through rain. It is NOT one of my favorite things to do. DH said it rained here most of the day, but not like we had 9 miles away. More rain is expected today but not at all like yesterday, and then tonight it is supposed to go down to 42 and feel like it is 30. That will be cold for us. It’s a good thing we did not put our heater back up into the attic.

Bernie commented in my last post that she is fine, but there is some kind of Google glitch which shut down her blogs, picassa albums, etc. She hopes to get it all figured out and be back in here soon.

I ordered 12 colors of crochet thread for crocheting needlecases and they should be here Monday. I look forward to creating these sweet, useful cases. I really enjoy using mine. It is so nice to not have to look for needles in the pincushion, they are in one place.

Here are the color swatches.

River blue

Copper Mist

Maize

Dusty Rose

French Rose

Light Peach

Linen

Myrtle Green

Orchid Pink

Russet

Silver

Wood Violet

Today is my last day or work for this week. I look forward to puttering around here until I go back next Thursday. Hopefully we will have some lovely days of sunshine so that I can play in the gardens.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

FlowerLady

******

Sunshine is delicious,

rain is refreshing,

wind braces us up,

snow is exhilarating;

there is really no such thing as bad weather,

only different kinds of good weather.

John Ruskin

******

P.S.

Hopefully I will remember line three if a hurricane comes our way this summer.

What has happened to Bernie H's blogs?

2012-02-10T11:36:00.002-05:00

Hello Friends ~ I tried to get into both of Bernie's blogs and both have a sign that pops up and says the blogs have been removed.

I feel withdrawal symptoms starting already.

Bernie I sure hope you are ok.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

Days of Liquid Sunshine

2012-02-09T08:39:00.002-05:00

Good morning Folks,

We’ve had days of what we call ‘liquid sunshine’ and there is more to come. I am not complaining as we really needed the rain badly. I planted seeds a week or so ago, some have come up and I’m still watching to see what others will sprout. Hopefully all of this rain won’t make the seeds rot.

The other day though we had some time where we didn’t get rain and I was able to get a load of laundry washed and hung out and almost dry before the next rains came. Brought it in and hung it around to continue drying, which didn’t take long.

Thank you to those who have wondered where I’ve been. I worked a 5 day work week last week, and when I get home from work I just want to relax. It’s not the work that wears me out, it’s the going to and from work, and being around people. It is our ‘busy season’ so some days are busier than others. Things are looking up at work and I’ve had my pay raised back ‘almost’ to where it was before the economy crashed. I am thankful. I’m working today through Saturday this week, so today will be my first day of work.

I do have some pictures for you.

La Marne roses.

Fading Phyllis Bide blooms.

‘Cocktail’ rose blooms

This is the same bloom, only a day later.

‘Callisia fragrans’ or basket plant. I love the scent of these blooms and the bees love them too.

‘Mom-of-millions’ love the difference in colors of these two pictures.

‘Bon Silene’ rose

‘Cocktail’ roses again.

Cordyline ~ I just love these vibrant colors.

Next is an epiphyte, and air plant.

Kalanchoe blooms

La Marne rose rain drenched.

Reed orchid blooms

This is a tiny little orchid plant that I thought I had lost. I went out and lay in the swing in our screened in ‘catrium’ on the back of our cottage the other day and in this pot of some kind of fern, lo and behold, the orchid wasn’t dead after all. I went through old pictures to find the name of this but alas I couldn’t find them.

Firecracker blooms by the front gate, looking out onto the 5 lane busy highway.

Tuesday morning I made these two loaves of bread. Well, the bread machine made the high oatmeal loaf of bread. The other loaf is fresh strawberry and cream cheese bread. Nice with afternoon tea or morning coffee.

Let’s see, as to crafts, my needle tatting book came in so we picked it up at Walmart the other day. Now I can practice until I am comfortable and having fun with this new (to me) needle art. I also ordered some lovely colors for more needle cases. I sold another one the other day, which makes 3 now. The ordered colors are ~ russet, river blue, copper mist, silver, maize, wood violet, light peach, dusty rose, myrtle green, linen, French rose, and orchid pink, those are all size 10 thread. Then I got 3 size 30, fine thread, in cream, white and natural. I love making these needle cases, and I really like using my own. It is so nice to have needles where you can find them, instead of hunting all over your pincushion.

Work on the caravan is a bit slow right now as DH is reading up on electrical stuff, which caused him to go up into the attic and add another ground wire for our hot water heater sub panel. He passed all inspections years ago when we did some building here but things have changed so he did an improvement before doing anymore on the caravan. The little propane/electric refrigerator that came with the caravan is waiting to be installed next, and a counter built, the little stainless steel sink and the stove set in too. The 6’x8’ space is shrinking.

Well, I need to get a move on, so that I can get a few things done before heading off to work. Hope you all have a great day.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

****

Life can be found only in the present moment.
The past is gone, the future is not yet here,
and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment,
we cannot be in touch with life.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Reworking a garden area

2012-02-01T08:14:00.001-05:00

Good morning Folks,

Hope you are having a good week so far. Our weather has been perfect, although we really could use some rain. Grass is crispy, and I have to hand water things I want to live, often.

Lately I noticed the awning that is over my potting bench is turning down on the side where it’s attached to the pine tree that came down in hurricane Wilma. It’s been 6 years since then so gravity and rotting has taken a toll on what’s left of that tree. I told DH what I had noticed, and after looking at pictures of the tree in 2007 when we started working on that area, DH suggested taking the tree out after lunch, so that’s what we did. It took about an hour and a half.

The garden that is to the south side of potting area where this leaning pine was, has been somewhat neglected as the heat of last summer made me feel ill and my garden muse had deserted me back there. We are going to fence off the back/north side of this area and make a new entry on the driveway/east side. Then I should feel a lot better about being back there because hopefully the neighbor’s dog won’t pay me as much attention with another layer of fencing between him and me.

This is how the shed looked right after Wilma

Here’s the start of new garden area in January 2007. The roof of shed was repaired along with a new sidewall. On the other side of the privacy fencing at the back of the property is where the ‘pit bull’ lives that slams himself against the fence and growls and snarls when we are back there. Needless to say, that has taken the joy of potting anything up back there.

March 2007

2008

The stainless steel sink was dumped curbside by a restaurant that was remodeling many, many years ago. It is heavy about two feet deep by ten and a half feet long.

This is after we put up the awning.

The area is a wreck back there right now, and we are working on reclaiming this space for me. The new entry will be on the side where the donkey/cart planter is.

***

Below is the first picture taken Sunday before I trimmed the cape honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, morning glories, and an Old Blush or Bon Silene rose, not sure which, from the fencing. Then DH unfastened the tree from the awning, strapped a strong cable to the tree, hooking it over the hitch on his van, while I pushed up the end of the awning with a 2”x2” 8’ board, so that he could pull the tree up out from under the awning. Good grief, this is embarrassing, look how bad it had gotten.

The next series of pictures are in sequence.

We put it beside the caravan’s garden fencing for the time being and will move it later. DH took off the outer decaying bark and the core of the tree is very hard pine and he wants to keep it and use it for some project or other. Heart pine wood is really hard and supposed to be impervious to termites. We have it up on blocks.

Tork is checking it out and has already used it as another one of her outdoor scratching posts.

I cleaned up all the debris and there it sits.

This next picture is right after I had done the first clean up once we had the thing out of the ground. There is still wood and roots there, but we’re just going to leave that for now and let nature run it’s course.

Below you can see that I added another layer of bricks and tightened up the bed. I did this Monday afternoon.

In this bed there are three wonderful aloes with wide, fat leaves which get a stalk of yellow flowers when in bloom. DH found this aloe dumped curbside a year or so ago. Little ones are coming up around the main one. There are also two blue agave plants, which are small, several spreading callisia fragrans, or basket plant, plus gobs and oodles of mom-of-millions, and other assorted growing things, weeds included. I look forward to working on this bed making it pretty and presentable. Right now it stinks. I look forward to the cape honeysuckle and the roses taking over the fencing again. Besides Old Blush or Bon Silene, there is also Prosperity thriving back here.

That’s it for this little project for now. I’ll keep you posted with it’s progress.

Thanks for looking.

FlowerLady

***

Half the interest of a garden

is the constant exercise of the imagination.

Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897

Server and email address changes

2012-01-31T11:32:00.002-05:00

Good morning Folks,
If any of you have tried to email me lately and it hasn't gone through it's because I'm changing servers. The one I've been using for the past two years raised it's price quite a bit so a change was necessary. I will be contacting as many of you as I can personally from my address book.
Anyone can contact me with the email address in my profile here at blogger.

This is a quick post just so anyone who tries to contact me and can't,
won't start worrying.

I've got pictures and more to share later. I will try to post before work tomorrow.
I'm working a 5 day work week this week. :-)

Hope you all have a great week whatever you are doing, wherever you are.

FlowerLady

Forty-two years ago today…

2012-01-27T09:41:00.001-05:00

I flew to Spain to join DH. He was in the U.S. Navy and this was his duty station for the next 3 years and two months. He arrived in Spain near Christmas the month before, and started looking for an apt. for us to live in off base.

He ended up finding one on the beach, for $75 a month. We were on the 5th floor of an 8 story building. Our apt. faced east so that we always saw sunrises over what we called hump-back mountain. From our apt. we could also see the gold dome of the cathedral in Cadiz across the bay. We could see ships coming and going from the port and little fishing boats as well.

My family took me to the airport in Miami, and my flight was late afternoon. This was my FIRST airplane flight, so I was a bit scared. I landed in Madrid after a long flight, and had to wait for a connecting flight to Sevilla, where DH would pick me up. I could not speak Spanish, couldn’t find any information booths open early in Madrid so didn’t know where or when my next flight was. I had about a 3 hour wait and just wandered near the information booths. After some time and much worry and prayer, an American gentleman came up and asked me if I needed help and I told him my situation. He showed me the flight board and told me which flight and when my plane would be leaving. He asked if I’d had anything to eat and I said no, so he bought me an orange juice and a pastry. I thanked him. He had said he was flying to Rota too, but not on my flight. He saw me to the gate of my flight and I got on board.

When I got to Sevilla, DH wasn’t there to greet me. He had gotten lost. He had stayed the night before in Sevilla, and had left early enough to get to the airport, but being a newbie in a foreign country, got lost. He asked directions and headed to the airport which was on the outskirts of the city. I probably had to wait 20-30 minutes. What joy when I finally saw him. I told him about the gentleman in Madrid, and we waited for the next plane from Madrid to thank him, but the man wasn’t on it. We left and headed off to our new home as newlyweds in Rota, which was several hours away. We said the man must have been my ‘guardian’ angel, and I still feel that way to this day.

We were blessed to have gotten the duty station in Rota during the Vietnam war. We were blessed to have started our life out there. The influence and the memories of that time are still with us.

We loved living in Spain and traveling around the country.

I’ve no pictures to share as they are all on slides right now.

Our adventure is still going on.

FlowerLady

***

Be glad of life

because it gives you the chance

to love and to work and to play

and to look up at the stars.

Henry Van Dyke

My first Etsy sale, new plants, Tast

2012-01-24T16:40:00.001-05:00

Hello Folks,

Here it is Tuesday afternoon for us. We woke up to a gentle rain this morning and it must have rained for quite awhile from the evidence of puddles. We needed it and I hope we get some more.

I’ll be working at my job the rest of the week so am trying to get caught up with blogging for the week.

Yesterday my first Etsy sale happened and I was thrilled to say the least. It was the ecru colored needle case. Thank you Jane.

Today I worked a bit on my spreadsheet for inventory. Yikes, that is a learning curve for me. I’m glad DH is into that sort of thing and can help me out. He makes up formulas too and that’s great.

We went to H.D. this morning because DH had to return something and he wanted to check on some electrical stuff. I went into the garden dept. and ended up buying two pentas, one a reddish and the other a lavender, and a flax lily. I repotted them, and was able to split off a flax lily tuber and potted it up. Later I’ll divide up the plant some more.

Here are the tiny flowers of the flax lily. Really sweet.

Yesterday I planted some native Blue Flag iris seeds into a flower box and look forward to seeing them sprout. Susan thank you for the seeds.

I was late on last week’s tast stitch and today the new one came out, the Cretan stitch. Last week’s was the Feather stitch. and I did it yesterday. I used a variegated green thread and the little plants I was making reminded me of the asparagus ferns we have growing in the main garden, so I added the red berries that they get.

Here’s how I am storing them. In a photo album I got for free when DH found boxes of craft items last year. There are three sleeves to each side of a page, and I’ve plenty to use for the 52 weeks of TAST.

I’m moving along on the embroidered heart. Still have a bit more to do.

DH has cleaned up the tiny fridge from the caravan, painted the outer sides of it even though it won’t be seen, to retard the rust that had started. He used some oak looking formica that we had in our stash to make a new cover for the front.

He’ll be cleaning away rust from the little two burner stove that was original too and painting it with a grill/stove paint which only comes in black. He used steel wool to get some of the rust off to see how bad it was, that’s when we decided to paint it. DH had a quart of the paint in his workshop so we won’t have to buy any.

We are going to use some granite looking formica that we had in our stash for the counter top .

I think that about does it for now.

Hope you all have a great week.

Chat with you later ~ FlowerLady

******

We can easily manage if we will only take,

each day,

the burden appointed to it.

But the load will be too heavy for us

if we carry yesterday's burden over again today,

and then add the burden of the morrow

before we are required to bear it.

John Newton

Crocheted needle cases and lavender filled hearts

2012-01-23T13:18:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note to say that my crocheted needle cases are now listed in my Etsy shop.

Also, since Valentine’s day is coming, you might want to check out the embroidered and beaded lavender filled heart sachets to send to someone special.

Or just to let someone know they are thought of, or if someone is feeling blue, the scent of lavender is calming, healing, a wonderful scent for mind and body.

FlowerLady’s Creations is the name of my Etsy shop.

I will be listing more items when I can.

Sincerely ~ FlowerLady Lorraine

What is this vine?

2012-01-23T12:43:00.001-05:00

I have been babying this vine thinking it was something else. It has little tiny white flowers that smell sweet and remind me of honeysuckle.

I live in s.e. FL zone 10.

Sorry the flower came out blurry, I know doubt jiggled it while taking the photo.

Thanks for your help in identifying this.

FlowerLady

Where has a week gone? Blooms ~ lots of pictures

2012-01-23T09:02:00.001-05:00

Good morning Folks,

Well, it’s Monday morning here in s.e. FL. I hope you all had a great weekend. I planted some seeds yesterday, repotted a rose and moved it into the main garden. Last week I worked in the secret garden and in the main gardens, and it felt great working in them. I even got a scrape and bruise down my right shin bone, front of leg when a piece of decorative cement fell over and scraped down the leg. OUCH! At least I had my long jeans on, but it sure hurt like crazy. It’s much better today. I’m going to try to stress less this year, go with the flow, and not be too envious of all the beautiful gardens I see on the internet. I’ve more seeds to plant, and cuttings to take, that I hope will root.

Oh yea, yesterday while out in the main garden taking pictures, I looked at a vine I’ve been watching as I noticed it had buds on it. I thought it was going to have purple morning glory type blooms, but instead these are tiny little that smell like honeysuckle, at least that was my interpretation of the scent. What a pleasant surprise as I love sweet scents in the garden. I’ll show some pictures in the next post in hopes that someone in garden land will be able to identify it.

These pictures were taken over the last 3-4 days.

Four o’clocks.

Dainty Bess

Louis Philippe

Love ~ The first two pics were without the sun hitting the bloom. I then walked away, and a little bit later turned around and the sunlight hitting the bloom made me take another couple of pics.

Plumbago

Blue Sage

Spiderwort

Phyllis bide from bud to open bloom.

Kathleen

La Marne

Louis Philippe

Mm. Laurette Messimy

It’s time to fix us some breakfast.

Hope you all have a great week.

FlowerLady

A new stitch for a new piece

2012-01-15T16:57:00.001-05:00

I have been so inspired by all the stitchers work that I am seeing at Stitchin’ Fingers and with the TAST 2012 project, that I dream about beads, wake up in the wee hours thinking about embroidering, beads, crocheting, tatting, etc.

I visited Ina’s website because she has some great tutorials for using different stitches. Her peacock really inspired me and I want to try that too, although not on this piece.

Most of you know I love roses, and when I saw what she did with a buttonhole knot stitch to create roses I had to give them a try. I made a practice one, then decided to add one to the piece I just started this morning. I’ve got to try the rose buds too and add them to this piece.

I wanted to embroider another heart so here is the start of this next project. I used the blanket stitch to tack it down to the background fabric. The drawn lines are there because I’m going to make this another sort of ‘crazy quilt’ design. The heart size is about 3 1/4” by 4”.

Here is a close-up of the rose and leaves. When I finished I was pleased and felt happy. Learning something new and having it come out half way decent is wonderful.

The size of the rose with leaves is 1 1/2” x 3/4”.

That’s it for now. Time to think about fixing supper. Already have the beef in the crockpot that smells wonderful. I’ll fix mashed potatoes and some fresh carrots cooked somehow. The bread machine made a loaf of oatmeal bread this morning so we’ll have a slice of that too.

Happy Creating ~ FlowerLady

A yellow ribbon for Alfred

2012-01-15T10:20:00.001-05:00

This may be old fashioned, or out of date, but I do it as a reminder of the one I know who is overseas and to pray for them and their family waiting at home. The first time I did this tribute was for my niece’s husband who went to Afghanistan, he was there at least twice and maybe three times. Hard on all of them each time. I did it again when a cousin’s son was over there. Now I am doing it again, this time for Tracy’s Alfred, who is in Kuwait and will be gone almost a year. He just got there last month.

Tracy and Alfred have three children, two still living at home and she is holding down the fort while he is gone. My love and prayers go our for them at this time.

You can visit Tracy here at The Enchanted Cottage. She is creating a haven for her family on a budget and encourages others in their pursuit of the simpler life, getting out of debt, etc.

It is not easy for our military men and women any time they are away from family and home life. The all need our encouragement, support and prayers.

FlowerLady

Brrr and flea goodies

2012-01-14T20:10:00.001-05:00

Good evening Folks,

We had a ‘cold’ for us day, gray skies, wind and it was a good indoor day. Although, we did go to an indoor flea market within walking distance. It was a nice brisk walk. They don’t have this very often and the last time we went I got a nice pair of clip on earrings. (My ears aren’t pierced and I love the old clip or screw on earrings with nice stones/beads or anything artsy that strikes my fancy.) The doors opened at 8 and we got there about 15 minutes early and with the wind blowing it was COLD. We were up pretty close to the door and building so it was better than being further out. I wanted to find beads, or lace or what-have-you to create with. I had some $ from the sale of my first needle case, and spent it on beads, and 3 nice little pillows from Germany that I plan to embellish.

The beaded necklace I took apart. Three groups of strands of nice creamy seed beads, a nice group of strands of black beads, and a nice strand of pearl beads.

I was thrilled to get more bugle beads in the bead box. Sorted the beads according to colors and am itching to create.

I also bought a hand made pair of earrings that are made out of paper. The copper and green colors caught my eye, and they were only 50 cents.

As I was going table to table I spied the next item with a piece of masking tape and the word FREE on it. I love birds and ducks and have them as figurines and paintings. This one had been broken and glued back together, (not very good but still, they tried.) The coloring really struck me. It looks like an older piece to me. It now resides in my scullery window display.

DH bought a book by Lee Childs, then we left.

Not long after we got home our neighbor called up and wanted to know if DH wanted to go to the indoor flea. DH told him we had already been but he’d go there with him, so off he went.

He came home with a little something for me. When we had been there earlier, I had seen these earrings that a lady had a whole display of and said they were all Monet. I was familiar with the name, but when she named her price, I passed. When we got home I told DH about the earrings, no description or anything, just that I’d seen this display and that she’d said they were Monet. When he came back later, he said he had something for me and he hoped it was right. I couldn’t believe it when he pulled these out of his pocket. They were the very earrings I had held in my hand. Of course, he got a thank you and a big kiss and a smile from ear to ear from me.

******

Now, here are some birdie pics from the other day and one from this morning. These photos were taken from inside the scullery, through the window looking out at the bird bath. I had to race out here to my little space for the camera, hoping the bird would still be there when I got back. He was, and I believe he is some kind of finch. He was taking his sweet time getting down to the water, making sure there was no danger near, before dipping into the pool.

I don’t know what kind of bird this next one is. This was taken this morning, and before I could get another picture, some other bird flew into the area and scared this one off.

******

Here is the caravan floor with 4 coats of polyurethane. Now you have to remember, this space is only 6’ wide by about 8’ long. To the right is where the counter will be with the stove, refrigerator and sink. The gray piece that the pillow is sitting on is where the butane tank goes. There will be a bench at the back of the picture up to the gray box, and most likely a bench on the left side so not much of this floor will even show, but the plywood flooring is now nicely coated with about 7-8 layers.

******

Well, it’s about time to go get horizontal to read awhile before sleep. I had off today, which was nice as I usually work Saturdays. Yesterday I had a good day at work, made a nice sale and got a nice tip from the buyer. My boss was pleased and so was I. I’ve never had a customer give me a tip before. I don’t go back to work again until Thursday. I get to putter around here. Yay!

Tonight it is supposed to get down to 45 and with the windchill factor, feel like it’s 38, so that is going to be cold for us. I brought some orchids in hopefully everything else will do fine. I do need to hand water some things tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great week coming up.

FlowerLady

First & second TAST stitches, and more blooms

2012-01-12T08:07:00.001-05:00

First of all, I want to thank all of you who visit and especially those who have left comments. I do pass along your kind words to DH about his work and we both thank you for them.

Sandra ~ Thanks for the link for beginner photographers. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I will when I have more time.

We have a garden project going on that I am NOT going to show because the before is so AWFUL right now. It’s my potting area and since that pit bull who lives behind us is so aggressive when we are back there, I don’t hang out there any more. The owners are better about calling him away from the fence, but when he first throws himself snarling and barking at the fence, the adrenaline flows and I get totally freaked out. Anyway, we’re going to be blocking off this area further away from the fence with more privacy fencing, and creating a new entry so that I don’t have to go in and out by the back path. I’ll show before and after pictures later when the project is done.

After procrastinating, I finally did my sample of the first and second stitches for TAST. Here is a link to my sample with info about stitches.

Here is the picture.

Now for some blooms before I get ready to fix breakfast and get ready to head off to work again today.

Kathleen blooms fading away.

Louis Philippe

Mm. Laurette Messimy

Enjoy your day whatever you are doing, wherever you are.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

Warm weather and photos for Etsy

2012-01-08T16:23:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon Folks,

It is a sunny Sunday afternoon, 75 right now. I was puttering in my gardens this morning, and ended up ‘sweating’, in January. It is just beautiful out though. This is why all the northerners come down this time of year.

I have to tell you I would much rather take pictures of flowers and butterflies than take pictures of my pieces to put on Etsy. I’m having a hard time with the colors coming out right. I know too that everyone’s monitors will show different colors. I’m a point and shoot lady, and tried my hand at manual and apertures etc. today, because I wasn’t happy with the colors with point and shoot. They were a little better with the manual setting, but I’ve got much to learn. Sheesh! If any of you photographers out there have any tips, I need help. Pretty please and thank you.

Below are pictures of three crocheted needlebooks I made.

The first one is ecru, that wasn’t too hard to get. Embellished with a mocha colored crocheted and beaded flower and an antique mother of pearl button.

This is a sage green with a grassy green on the inside, very hard to get. I had to do some color tweaking when editing. Embellished with a creamy crocheted and beaded flower and an antique button.

This one was the hardest. It is a deep burgundy color thread, black interior. Embellished with an ecru crocheted and beaded flower and an antique mother of pearl button.

You have to have decent photographs to show your pieces so I’ve more learning to do.

Now after that flustering photo session, I went out to take pictures of blooms.

‘Kathleen’

Below is ‘Mm. Laurette Messimy’

Here is DH’s work on the caravan floor. He has finished painting the ‘faux’ tiles, two coats, now he’s ready to paint on two or three coats of polyurethane. He wanted to get the floor done before he brings in and sets up the refrigerator, stove and sink. Then he can make the counter for those things. There’s still quite a bit of work to do, and every step done brings us that much closer to completion. He used that cushion to kneel on while he painted.

That’s it for now. I’ve got to get pizza dough going in the bread machine and get the Italian sausage and sauce cooked and simmering. Kale will be added to the sauce again. We enjoyed that when I tried it before.

Hope you all have a great week. May we all remember to be thankful for our many blessings. May we learn from mistakes, and keep on growing graciously.

FlowerLady

Getting Cold in s.e. FL

2012-01-02T17:03:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon Friends,

On this second day of Januay, it is partly cloudy, we’ve had a few sprinkles, it’s windy and a cold front is moving down over us. Here in southeast FL the prediction is for a low of 43 tonight, tomorrow night’s low 39, and with the windchill factor it will feel colder. To you people who live with really cold temps, this will seem mild. In northern FL it is really going to be cold, and hopefully it won’t harm the citrus crops.

I took some pictures this morning, changed my header, we had breakfast, the bed clothes were changed, we headed out to do errands, stopped at a yard sale and I spent a whopping 60 cents.

The teddy bear was so sweet and was only 10 cents, so I brought him home to be a member of my collection. The two sprays of flowers were 25 cents each and I couldn’t leave them there, they had my name all over them. I told DH I’d like to put them in the gypsy caravan. The flower sprays need to be gently dusted. These goodies make me feel happy.

Now, on to the blooms from this morning’s walk around the gardens.

The first two are of bougainvillea. I love the sunlight hitting the blooms in the second picture.

Next two pictures are of the rose Chrysler Imperial.

Hibiscus.

Kalanchoe

‘Kathleen’, a real sweetie.

Well, that’s it for now.

FlowerLady

***

One of the most delightful things about a garden

is the anticipation it provides.

W.E. Johns

The last Friday of 2011

2011-12-30T09:16:00.001-05:00

Good morning Friends,

I hope you are gently unwinding from the Christmas holidays, and hope your new year celebrations will be nice ones.

I want to thank everyone who follows my blog, and all who leave comments. I look forward to new year of visiting with you at your blogs and sharing what’s happening here in our little compound.

The ‘aromatherapy tree’ has turned brown, and will come down tomorrow. It was a nice treat while it lasted. Glad it wasn’t in our cottage dropping needles like crazy. Our little indoor decorated tree will come down on the 1st. I left it up because I really love the lights and sparkle and sweetness of the ornaments. It will be nice to get it all packed away again, and won’t take any time at all this year.

DH painted more floor tiles in the caravan yesterday. He took a break this past week. He also did some tree trimming yesterday and there’s more to do as this is all hanging over our driveway from the neighbor’s trees to the east of us and it is getting out of hand. They are lovely, but they are a pain in the rear, and they just keep on growing and growing.

Today is my last day of work for this year. I am so thankful for my job and that things are doing better there. Thank you for all of your prayers, they are much appreciated. We are hoping for a better 2012.

I’m crocheting, learning needle tatting, looking forward to being in the TAST project, am ready to embroider and bead again. DH has helped me set up a spread sheet so that I can keep track of materials, etc. for my little Etsy shop. I’ve got to take pictures, edit, upload, and list of items I’ll be selling in there and that’s going to take some time. Gardening is never done down here, so there is plenty for me to do outside.

Here are some pictures, which may be the last ones posted for this year.

Enjoy.

This first few pictures are of Mm. Laurette Messimy.

Begonia blooms

Cape Honeysuckle

Blue Sage

I blew this up and loved the look.

May you all have a wonderful 2012 filled with many blessings.

Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

Something sweet and blooms I forgot

2011-12-26T07:28:00.001-05:00

Well, to me it is sweet anyway.

I was heading out to work one morning week before last and we saw a Christmas tree thrown out across the street. What the heck, a week or so before Christmas? Well, when I got back home there was the tree sitting in a stand that we had found a while back, that holds water, right by the screened porch entry. I could see ‘why’ they had thrown the tree out, it was dying and needles were falling, but it smelled! I was thrilled. All week long I’ve enjoyed this wonderful scent as I walked past or as I was working in my shed’s garden. Aaaahhh! DH knows how I love the smell of a good Christmas tree. Every Christmas I walk up to the trees at the grocery store and stick my face in them to take in their scent, I can’t help it. (We’ve had a few real trees over the years, but they aren’t worth the expense or the hassle. I enjoy my fake trees, they just don’t have that wonderful scent.)

So, here’s a picture of my Christmas aromatherapy this year. I might be saving some of the needles for potpourri, or for putting in sachets. The rest will become mulch.

There are many ways to show love each and every day,

and DH setting up this tree just for me

was one of them.

I took a picture of the yellow dwarf poinciana yesterday morning, and edited and cropped it for some close ups.

Have a nice week.

FlowerLady

******

Words to ponder each and every day.

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not,

but rejoices for those which he has.

Epictetus

***

Hope you’ve had a lovely day.

2011-12-25T16:46:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon Folks ~ Hope you’ve all had a good Christmas, with little or no drama, lots of love, laughter, good food and good conversations.

We had a nice quiet day and since I had packets in the freezer for today’s meal (from Thanksgiving), all I had to do was make cranberry sauce this morning, and heat up the meal in the freezer. Turkey breast with sherry, green bean casserole, and sausage cornbread stuffing. We also had some homemade chunky applesauce and a glass of white wine.

Here are some blooms from Tuesday morning.

Morning glories

Tecomaria capensis or Cape Honeysuckle and morning glories.

Prosperity roses with morning glories in the background.

Tuesday evening we celebrated DH’s birthday. We had Cedar Planked Atlantic Salmon with Orange and Ginger, delicious! Served it over rice with a side of broccoli and a couple of glasses of chardonnay. We started out with margaritas served with crackers spread with cream cheese and topped with a sliver of anchovy and a caper. For dessert we had Key Lime pie in a graham-coconut crust. Yummy.

Wait, stop eating I want to get a picture.

Here are some pics of latest caravan work. After painting the floor with several coats of paint, DH drew the hexagonal tile shapes, then started painting the floor on his birthday.

Here the floor is as of the 22nd. He said he’s going to have to give it a second coat as it is thin in spots. After that he will paint on a couple of coats of polyurethane. This is painstaking work, and he’s doing a great job. I wouldn’t be able to be on my knees doing that, hunched over.

He was sneaking around here the 22nd and 23rd working on something and I found out this morning what that something was. We recently got a cell phone for me to use strictly for 911 calls or if I need to call him when I’m out on the road. Neither of us likes using the phone and we are NOT giving this number out to anyone as there are limited minutes and it’s for our own use. We’re weird I know. But anyway. He made me two boxes, one to store the info and charger in, and the other to hold the phone so it won’t get smashed in my bag that I carry to work. He used oak laminate flooring, molding, and masonite. I love it and that he made it for me. The big box stays at home.

He made an opening in the bottom to keep dust from collecting.

Below are blooms from the 23rd.

Sea hibiscus or

Talipariti tiliaceum

I forgot to turn the flash off before taking the first picture below. This is our state butterfly, the Zebra Longwing.

I won’t add pictures about my tatting needles and first attempt. You can see that blog post over at FlowerLady’s Creations.

Well, this is a long post, that’s what happens when I take a break from posting.

Enjoy this last week of 2011.

FlowerLady

Have a lovely Christmas

2011-12-23T08:08:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends,

As Christmas day approaches

may you feel the Love and Light of Jesus/God

surrounding you and filling your lives with peace.

May 2012 be filled with many blessings.

Love ~ FlowerLady

A drippy, gray, Saturday morning

2011-12-17T08:13:00.001-05:00

Hello Friends,

I do hope you are all winding up shopping and are able to relax and reflect somewhat on Christmas. We can get so stressed out on things we ‘think’ need doing, that we forget to stop and enjoy the small things, forget to be thankful for our many blessings.

It is gray and drippy here this morning. A ‘mini’ cool front is moving down but it isn’t going to give us chilly weather, just cooler weather. Right now it is 70 at 7:40 a.m. Christmas day it is predicted to be around 80. We like the holiday better when there is a chill in the air, but we don’t always get what we want.

Here are some pics to brighten the day hopefully, of those who now have barren and sleeping gardens.

The first three are of the red hibiscus, very tropical.

Next we have dear sweet Maggie, a found rose that could be a Bourbon rose.

Poinsettias and tropicals.

Latest caravan work for those of you who have asked recently. Now that the mud work is done, DH has started on the floor, painting the first coat on yesterday. There will be another coat of under color for grout, and then he’s going to paint on hexagonal shapes in terra cotta color and then a couple of coats of polyurethane for protection. I went in there the other day, sitting on a little step ladder, just enjoying the work that DH has done, and envisioning how it will look when finished. From trash to a treasure that is for sure. A little 6’x8’ space filled with light.

I took the next two pictures yesterday morning. One looking into my little space, and you can see the little Christmas tree in the living room too and the other picture looking out onto the patio from my little space.

Some of my latest creations above and below.

Well, I better get a move on. I’ll be heading off to work again today, looking forward to puttering around here starting tomorrow. Don’t know yet what I’ll be working this next week, but I think I’ll take a break from blogging to relax and reflect in the holiday.

May you all have a lovely Christmas and a love and peace filled 2012. May you have good health, may your needs be met on a daily basis. Let us be thankful for our many blessings, no matter the size.

Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

Cassia Blue butterfly (Leptotes cassius) and blooms

2011-12-09T09:26:00.001-05:00

Good morning Folks,

It is a gray, humid, warm Friday morning, with a little rain in the predictions. We could use the rain.

I went out with camera in hand because I wanted to take pics of DH’s mud work progression in the caravan and my first picture was this one below. The Cassia blue butterfly was resting on the TX sage that is inside the picket fenced garden at the back side of the caravan. He is only about 1/2” high and I rarely have gotten photos of these little sweet flying flowers. He flew away when I tried to move in closer.

I love this bougainvillea growing up over my shed along with the rose Louis Philippe.

The next 4 photos are of Maggie, a wonderful old garden rose.

Next are pics of my unknown orchid.

Here we have poinsettia, ferns, spiderplants, Moses in the bullrushes and various other assorted bits of greenness growing in December.

That’s it again for now. I need to get things done before heading off to work.

Enjoy your Christmas season with all the preparations.

FlowerLady

Our little tree and latest needlework

2011-12-08T19:57:00.001-05:00

Good evening Friends,

It is Thursday evening in balmy s.e. FL. We had a tiny cold front move in but by Sunday it is supposed to be 80 degrees again. It certainly does NOT feel like Christmas.

Monday I decorated our tiny tree and have been enjoying it ever since. It’s always disappointing to take a tree down, and I know it’s because all of the color and sparkle are no longer there. I enjoy it while it’s up. I turn on the lights first thing in the morning then go make coffee.

Here is our little $2 tree from a yard sale a few weeks back, decorated with crocheted and beaded wire ornies that I made and some from a swap over several years between online friends in a forum. The ornies from the swaps are special and bring back memories from that time. Special ladies one and all.

As a comparison, here is our humongous ‘curbside shopped’ tree from last year, with all the wonderful ornies from our 42 years of marriage and some that were DH’s grandmothers too. It is fun to do a tree this size, but not always. This is only ‘half’ of this tree.

I left off the back bottom branches so that is would go flat against the wall.

Below is a picture that I captured the other morning when I went out to the scullery. The sun was shining in through the window and this tugged at my heart.

Here are the crocheted and beaded hearts I made yesterday. I made two different ones today, but don’t have pictures yet. These below are 2” across, and have 90 beads each. They are made with size 30 crochet thread using a size 13 hook, tiny, and I wear strong glasses while creating these. I really enjoy making them.

Well, it’s time to go get horizontal to read before sleep. I’m actually working 4 days instead of 3 so have two more days of work, before I’m home again to putter around here.

DH is doing ‘mud’ work in the caravan. This little, project is a delight.

Enjoy each day of this Christmas season, seeking the beauty and good in each day.

Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

Tatting needles came, little tree is up, more flower pics

2011-12-06T07:45:00.001-05:00

Good morning Friends.

Here it is a week since I last posted, where has the time gone? A blogging friend just posted saying she hoped I was ok. I am, thank you. If you could see my little space here, you would see some of what I’ve been doing, beading, embroidering and crocheting. I crocheted a sweet little needle book and someone already let me know she wants to buy it, before I even got it into my Etsy shop. I crocheted another one and decided to keep it for my own needles. Yesterday I bought some more thread, in ecru, burgundy and a sage green, and started crocheting after I put away groceries and cleaned up the kitchen. Here’s the one I made that is sold. This took a few hours to do, but I really enjoyed making it. I used an antique button, and one of the laces I got recently.

Yesterday we did our errands, one stop was Walmart to pick up my tatting needles ordered last week. I barely looked at them just to see that they were what I ordered, then wrapped the pkg. and put it under our little tree. We don’t really ‘do’ Christmas these days. We have what we need and get things we want during the year. DH suggested I put these under the tree. This year we are counting the restoration of the caravan as a Christmas gift. DH is doing most of the work, I am his helper, and it is coming right along. Anyway, I won’t be trying my tatting needles until after Christmas.

I had a Walmart gift card and a little $ tucked away, so while at Walmart, I looked to see if they had crochet thread in the size I wanted, they did, plus some sewing needles and straight pins. Then I wanted to see what they had in Christmas lights. Our lights have all finally croaked, either whole strings, or parts of the strings. We can’t even remember the last time we had to buy lights, eons ago it seems and were a bit surprised at the prices, and they don’t have the old ones, they are all LED’s, which are energy efficient these days. I bought a small 50 lite strand, multi colored and it was just right for our little tree. I’ll take pictures later as I’m still decorating the tree. A tree comes to life once the lights are on and lit, and only gets better with the decorations. Yesterday I saw a beautiful huge decorated tree at one of the local large Hispanic grocery stores that we go to, and some of the multi lights were purple. Oh boy, would I love to have that, they might have had orange in the mix too. Really pretty and different. The colors of ours are red, blue, green and gold. The blue and green being the more vibrant colors. I love the blue.

Since we don’t shop retail all that much, seeing the prices of things is a shock. Holy cow. We really don’t need to add more ‘stuff’ to our over stuffed little cottage, and we don’t use our credit cards to purchase things just because we want them. That’s how so many end up in debt that they have a hard time paying off. I am thankful for all that we already have and for the good deals that come our way, whether sale items, curbside shopped, or gifts given. I am thankful I can take cuttings from plants and sometimes have them become rooted plants. I am thankful for seeds that sometimes grow too.

The past few nights the scent of Dracena fragrans has been filling the air. It is too much for DH, and I wouldn’t want to stay outside and smell it for very long either, but from a distance it is tolerable.

These are the blooms before they open. This plant is on the back side of my shed, probably at least 10’ tall. There are roses, a hamelia paten, and bougainvillea all growing up and over my shed. I loved these blooms with the roses.

Now for some other blooms around here.

Blanket flowers with Mexican tarragon blooms.

Copperleaf shrub..

Once again, I have forgotten the name of this hibiscus. I need to make a tag for it to help me remember.

This is sweet Kathleen, with a hint of poinsettia behind.

La Marne roses.

Sweet Maggie.

Mm. Laurette Messimy

Old Blush.

I bought this many years ago, and have since lost the tag and don’t have a clue as to what it is. I am in s.e. FL

This is an unknown orchid, given to me by a friend many years ago.

This is Vincent Godsiff.

That’s it from Plum Cottage. I do hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season.

FlowerLady

******

Let us all remember ~

***

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!

how great is the sum of them!

If I should count them,

they are more in number than the sand

Psalms 139

******

Warm weather and learning a new needlecraft

2011-11-29T16:34:00.001-05:00

It is low 70’s, very comfortable weather down here. Tonight it is supposed to get down to low 50’s, which will be nice.

I mowed yesterday morning, and repotted two gardenia shrubs that I got as little rooted cuttings from Tom at 7th Street Cottage last year. They needed to be in larger pots with some good potting soil. They are sitting in the caravan garden area.

I’ve got to take some cuttings of roses to pot up and hope they will root. I’ve got seeds to plant too. It is really wonderful to work in the gardens these days. I’m waiting for my Mexican Sunflowers to bloom. I see them in bloom all over the neighborhood, maybe mine are just late bloomers. They are about 10’ tall, and I grew them from cuttings this year.

Last week I saw a bit of needlework that really captured me. It was of a tree, which you can see here. I found out from Suz the creator of these trees that they were tatted, not with a shuttle, but with tatting needles, which I had never heard of. I watched a little you tube video and became inspired to learn this art. I found the needles on line at Walmart, and ordered them. No shipping charge, since I will just pick them up from our store here after they’ve received them.

Learning new things is good for us, no matter how old or young we are.

Happy Learning.

FlowerLady

I did it, finally

2011-11-29T14:02:00.001-05:00

After much procrastination, many hours of editing photos, and hours spent listing each item, I have 21 lavender filled heart shaped sachets in my Etsy shop. Now I can get back to creating. It’s really amazing how much time this all takes up. You can click on my banner below to see the sachets. Plus, some of them are in my sidebar.

I’m ready for a nap. While I was working on listing these hearts this morning I made a loaf of Pumpkin Bread. The recipe is from Balisha’s blog, Never Enough Time. I added craisins and sunflower seeds. It smelled delicious while baking. Maybe we’ll have a slice with herbal tea after our nap. That sounds like a nice idea.

Well, that’s it for now. It is breezy, cooler today than yesterday, and the sun finally came out this afternoon. This morning it was gray and dreary looking.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

FlowerLady

Blooms from the 26th and 28th Nov.

2011-11-28T20:32:00.003-05:00

Here are the rest of the photos.

The bea, the bea, the bea, that’s all folks.

FlowerLady

Lots of bloom photos

2011-11-28T20:03:00.002-05:00

Good evening Folks.

Here it is the beginning of a new week. December will be here shortly. I wish all of you a joyous Christmas holiday season.

We had a lovely, quiet Thanksgiving and dinner was delicious, even if I do say so myself. The next holiday will by DH’s birthday on the 20th of Dec. and today we spied something in the fish dept. that we thought we’d try. It’s Atlantic salmon on a soaked cedar plank with herbs and spices. We got this one ~ Applewood with Orange and Ginger. I enjoy cooking and baking and especially for special occasions. This sounded delicious to both of us when we saw it. DH saw it first, and it just kept appealing to us so that it ended up in our cart. To justify the price of $10, I thought of having it for his birthday dinner. He was game for that.

He’s working on the Gypsy caravan right along. He’s taking out the bottom windows so that he can re-caulk them, plus is putting in 2”x2” framing on the inside to attach them too, and for the inside walls also. The door is finished, windows in and I have gone in there and sat and just love the sweet little space. Remember this is only 6’x8’. Once we get the original sink, stove and little refrigerator in there the space will shrink. It will have counter space too, that won’t be original as that part was really ratty. This is a fun restoration project, and yes, it is ‘stationary’. I love the picket fenced patio garden area where I enjoy hanging out the laundry too. I am thankful to God for his many blessings and for this dear husband and best friend of mine who has the talents to do this and the many other things he has done with our little compound here.

Now, here are the photos starting with the 24th. It might be an overload, but again, maybe not for those of you who are already moving into winter.

I’ll not post any comments with them. A couple of them really touched me when I saw them to edit them. I am an amateur photographer, and some pictures just happen to come out better than I could imagine. I just point and shoot, more or less.

Enjoy.

These are from the 24th.

I will end this post here, and the rest of the pictures will be in the next post.

FlowerLady

Blooms, recipes, Gypsy Caravan door, photo heavy ~ Happy Thanksgiving wishes

2011-11-22T06:38:00.002-05:00

Good morning Everyone ~ I’ve been awake since around 4 finally got up at 5, just couldn’t sleep any longer, too many things going through my head. Thanksgiving dinner, needlework, my little Etsy shop, our Gypsy caravan and gardening.

We had quite a bit of rain starting Sunday afternoon and off and on yesterday, great for the gardens. DH finished making the caravan door Sunday morning, except for putting the glass panes in and painting it. He used plywood for front and back and 3/4” styrofoam for insulation (we had to buy a sheet of each), and the aluminum framing from an old screen door, plus the original door handle/lock from the old camper. He had to buy two hinges also for the door as he did not have any in his stash of hinges. Yesterday afternoon after the rain had stopped he painted the door a first coat and also painted a few bits that needed painting on the caravan. I think we’ve decided to use some light blue glass from old windows. (They were popular down here I FL many, many years ago, and we have some in our stash of stuff.) He’ll put in a piece of safety glass first then the blue glass behind. This end of the caravan faces west. It is really coming along and is such a neat little restoration project. DH is doing a wonderful job. He took a broken down thing and is giving it new life.

Now, here are two recipes I’m fixing for our Thanksgiving dinner this year. I’ve made both before and they are delicious.

The first is a different version of the old stand by Green Bean Casserole. I made this for the first time last year. Our grocery store was out of the buttermilk powder, so I bought regular buttermilk to make it this year. I also add a small can of sliced water chestnuts to the recipe for some crunchy texture.

Green Bean Casserole

3 tablespoons canola oil, divided (or olive oil)
1 medium sweet onion (half diced, half thinly sliced), divided
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup low-fat milk
3 tablespoons dry sherry (not cooking sherry)
1 pound frozen French-cut green beans (about 4 cups)
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons buttermilk powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and slightly translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, thyme and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the mushroom juices are almost evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour over the vegetables; stir to coat. Add milk and sherry and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Stir in green beans and return to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in sour cream and buttermilk powder. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
3. Whisk the remaining 1/3 cup flour, paprika, garlic powder and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish. Add sliced onion; toss to coat. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion along with any remaining flour mixture and cook, turning once or twice, until golden and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Spread the onion topping over the casserole.
4. Bake the casserole until bubbling, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

******

The other recipe is one I’ve made off and on for years and it has been a hit.

Pumpkin Mincemeat Pie

1 unbaked 9" pie shell
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. canned or cooked pumpkin
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cloves
6 oz. undiluted evaporated milk
2 c. prepared mincemeat (I use Crosse and Blackwell mincemeat with rum and brandy in it. Boy was I shocked at the price of a jar of it this year.)

Combine and blend together eggs, pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices and evaporated (not condensed) milk. Pour mincemeat into bottom of pie shell, spreading evenly. Spoon pumpkin mixture over mincemeat layer. Bake in hot oven (400° F) 45 to 50 min. or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center of pie comes out clean.
From:Farm Journal’s Complete Pie cookbook

*******************

Now for photos of blooms around here the past few days. I really love how our gardens come to life again after the heat and humidity of our summers. Thank you all who share your fall photos filled with glorious autumn colors, and for the snowy winter scenes I’m starting to see on blogs too.

Bon Silene

Fading climbing Maman Cochet blooms.

Climbing Maman Cochet bud. I loved the sunlight and shadows on the petals. This is from a rooted cutting, which I planted next to the arbor in the main garden.

This is Firespike, loved by hummingbirds and I received this as a rooted cutting from Darla. Thank you Darla.

A pretty weed.

Homere.

La Marne

Louis Philippe

Love

I think the first one is Old blush growing up and over my garden shed grotto. The next three after are for sure Old Blush growing in my main garden.

Homere

Now here is a vine that I thought was a different sort of flower, as I had this growing up and over the old shed I had about 12 years ago. I moved this a couple of times, brought it back to this area and these are the first blooms. The blooms are not the same at all. What I had before was the Bengal Clock Vine, now what I have is a different flowering Thunbergia. I think I’m losing my marbles. Can these vines change flowers??? I was really disappointed that this wasn’t the original vine, but these are pretty blooms too.

Here’s our little sweet outdoor/indoor girl Tork.

Hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving week and day, cooking and enjoying good times, whether you are alone, or with others. We are looking forward to a quiet day together.

FlowerLady

******

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace,

the celebration of work and the simple life...

a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons,

the beauty of seedtime and harvest,

the ripe product of the year -

and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.

Ray Stannard Baker

Laces, crocheted wire hearts, foggy morning

2011-11-17T08:06:00.002-05:00

Good morning everyone ~ It’s hard to believe it is Thursday already. A week from today Thanksgiving preparations will be in full swing for Americans. I can almost smell all of the delicious aromas from kitchens around the country.

It is a foggy morning here. It’s been almost like summer the past 4 days, in the 80’s very warm and humid! Those few cool days with chilly nights were really nice. I think we’re supposed to get more of that the end of the month.

Yesterday my ‘win’ of laces came and oh my what a treat! My pictures do not do them justice. They are beautiful!!! Nicki Lee hand dyes these and you can purchase them from her Etsy shop Raviolee Dreams. My win was a lovely presentation in itself. A lovely lace bag, tied with a sweet ribbon with a heart button. I love it.

Sorry for the light glare on this photo. I thought her packaging was really nice.

Here it one pkg of laces, I didn’t look before I shot the picture so that the one lace lower left corner is folded in. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have these and can’t wait to start using them. My mind is working overtime.

Next pkg.

These were actually two separate pkgs. The lavender and green heart was one, and the white hearts another. I’m keeping the larger heart for myself. Isn’t it beautiful? There was a choice of either pink and green or the one I chose.

Sorry for the lousy photo here. This was my little something extra, sweet little charms to add to my creations. Wonderful!!

Thank you Nicki Lee for this wonderful give away of your beautiful hand dyed laces. Congrats on your 600th Etsy sale which was your reason for the give away. Thank you for the inspiration you have zapped me with by your blog and lovely creations, and this wonderful selection of laces.

Below are a couple more crocheted and beaded wire hearts that I made over the last few days. I can only do a couple at a time, as working with wire is rough on the fingers, even though this wire is very fine. I’ve tried thicker grade wires before and they are alright for certain things. I can only imagine what crocheting with sterling or gold wire must be like, wonderful to be sure. I enjoy working with this nickel wire and think it makes delicate work which I love.

Here are all three hearts. I made the blue one with a loop for wearing on a chain. I’d like to use fresh water pearls and other gems with these, but need to make and save up some money first for those.

Here’s the view outside my window this morning. Foggy and peaceful, even though traffic is racing by. I love this vase. DH bought it for me when we were in Lisbon, Portugal, on Valentine’s day in the early 70’s, on one of our little vacations while DH was in the US Navy. We had a VW camper at the time and that’s what we slept and ate in. The cement lady statue out in the patio area is one of my favorite pieces on our property.

After dinner the other night as I was cleaning up I saw this wine drop heart on the counter and had to grab the camera. I couldn’t have done this if I had tried.

Well, I’ve got to do some things before heading off to work today. I didn’t really do anything around here much, laundry, messed with Christmas lights, (grr) vac’d and dusted, made an apple pie with a crumble top, delicious, and made a loaf of white bread in my machine which fell. It is still edible, but it’s always a disappointment when that happens, which it does occasionally.

Anyway, have a great rest of the week.

FlowerLady

***

We can easily manage if we will only take, each day,

the burden appointed to it.

But the load will be too heavy for us

if we carry yesterday's burden over again today,

and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.

John Newton

What a surprise and some blooms too

2011-11-13T13:34:00.002-05:00

Good morning everyone. It is Sunday, breezy, and partly cloudy. Another gorgeous day in so. FL. This weather is ‘why’ people move down here, or stay here for the next few months.

Below is the morning sky looking to the west with the moon.

Here is the sun coming up and shining on the clouds. Sorry about the power lines. The 5 lane road is to the right.

Yesterday morning I had a wonderful surprise when I started reading one of the blogs I follow. I had completely forgotten about the drawing she was having.

I found Nicki Lee’s RavioLee Dreams blog through Stitchin Fingers, which I am now a member of. There are so many wonderful stitchers in this group. Anyway, Nicki Lee hand dyes Venetian lace and sells them in lots. She also does beautiful crazy quilting pieces. Here is her Etsy shop link Raviolee Dreams. If any of you do crazy quilting or scrap booking or other projects that can use lovely bits like these, do give her a visit. She just might have what you are looking for.

My surprise was that I won the $30 gift certificate for her hand dyed laces. I was thrilled and yelled I won, and was laughing and almost crying I was so excited. DH had to come see what all the fuss was about. I was thrilled to say the least and he was happy for me.

She is sending them out to me tomorrow. I can hardly wait to see them and then start using them. I will post pics of my sweet little pretty pieces of Venetian lace after I get them.

This was started earlier ~ We decided to go to HD for a sheet of 11/32”x4’x8’ plywood for the caravan’s door, and two 3/4”x4’x8’ sheets of styrofoam, for insulation material. DH is making the door as we didn’t have one for the camper. The original door was a short one. He is using the lock and handle from original door though. He is making a window with panes, that will open out, to let in breezes.

Anyway, we stopped at a yard sale, something we haven’t done in ages. There wasn’t much there, but there was a small, narrow Christmas tree I was interested in, a CD of symphonies and DH was interested in a couple of small hand tools, both American made. We got all for $3. The tree even has little clear lights on it and I’m already thinking of how I want to decorate it. This is smaller than the other small tree we have, plus we have the humongous one. I did the huge one last year and didn’t feel like it this year. This little tree is just right. It’s about 3 1/2’ tall, including the plaster pot that it is in, which I will cover with something or other.

I didn’t have to work yesterday so I played outdoors. I gathered up bricks to use as a border for our little caravan patio. I placed them, but still have to dig out dirt to make them level with the rest of patio. I’ve got to add some rocks into cracks between stones, then DH is going to mix up cement to fill in spaces on top of the rocks.

The rusty cast iron piece between two chairs is an old wringer washing machine base, found of course. I will probably leave it rusty, just clean it up a bit we don’t mind rust.

I brought an ‘old’ cement donkey and cart that someone gave us many years ago when we helped her have a big estate sale before she moved, to beside the caravan. I’ve still got some tweaking to do of this area, it all takes time. I’m not going to leave that greenish pot there, it doesn’t go at all.

Now for some blooms from this morning.

The first two pictures are of Chrysler Imperial. These two blooms were filling the whole area with their wonderful old rose scent.

I looked a little while ago and this bud was fully open.

Pink Pet or Caldwell’s Pink.

Plumbago

I loved the salvia color against the new growth on Chrysler Imperial.

The next two pictures are of South African foxgloves. This was a volunteer.

Next we have a ‘weed’, a native though, called Spanish needles. The seeds are these little long things that stick to you and that’s how they spread. The plants are tough and hard to pull up, and butterflies love them. I try to pull up most of them though, because they are a pain.

I guess that’s it for now. Oh yea, I did buy two bags of potting soil at HD for growing seeds and cuttings in. Hope to work with that this week before heading back to work Thurs-Sat.

Hope you all are having a lovely day and also have a great week.

FlowerLady

Allamanda cuttings

2011-11-11T11:21:00.004-05:00

Good morning Friends ~ I'm at work and wanted to post about the cuttings a friend brought to me this morning from he and his wife's wonderful colored allamandas. They looked all over for this last summer and finally found two at a nursery. They had given me smaller cuttings earlier this year, but they didn't take. These are nice older cuttings and I have three of them, so I'm hoping they will take root. I love the colors.

This is not my camera so had to figure it out, especially the flash as to how to turn it off. The photo below is with the flash.

This is without the flash and using the flower setting.

New Blog for FlowerLady’s Creations

2011-11-10T09:19:00.004-05:00

I finally got a collage of pictures made for the header of new blog. It will change from time to time as I create or decide to put up other pieces I’ve created.

I have a link on my side bar, but will give a link in this post too.

Thank you all for your love and encouragement.

FlowerLady

To visit the new blog click on photo below.

Blooms from this morning

2011-11-09T09:35:00.003-05:00

Good morning everyone ~ Before I get up to do some dishes and get our lunches made before heading off to work, I wanted to post some blooms from this morning.

Pink Pet or Caldwell’s Pink

Cape Honeysuckle next few pics.

Louis Philippe

Mm. Laurette Messimy

An ancient shell

Philippine violets

Curbside found poinsettias from after last Christmas. starting to change color. I have 4 of these.

Rain lily

Salvia

Have a lovely day whatever you are doing and a great weekend.

FlowerLady

***

"What greater delight is there

than to behold the earth

apparelled with plants

as with a robe of embroidered works,

set with Orient pearls

and garnished with the great diversitie of rare and costly jewels.

But these delights are in the outward senses.

The principle delight is in the mind,

singularly enriched with the knowledge of these visible things,

setting forth to us the invisible wisdom

and admirable workmanship of almighty God."

John Gerard, 1633, The Herbal

***

A blue favorite ~ Spiderwort

2011-11-09T09:16:00.001-05:00

Good morning ~ I love these flowers. They bloom regularly and spread themselves around freely and that makes me happy.

FlowerLady

Changed Etsy shop name

2011-11-07T17:00:00.002-05:00

Good evening everyone ~ I want to say a heartfelt thank you for the encouraging words about selling my pieces. The ‘pep rally’ to give it a go and to keep creating really gave me the spark I needed.

I got bummed out when I created my Etsy shop Plum Cottage Creations two years ago, because soon after I did it, someone came into my blog anonymously saying I had to quit using the name because it was her name. Etsy had not flagged me to say I couldn’t use that name, even though this lady’s shop has the two words Plum Cottage also. So, that’s part of the reason for my disillusionment with the whole deal.

But, it’s a new day, and when I went to Etsy today I saw that I could change my shops name and I did to FlowerLady’s Creations. I did a search and found no shops with that name or the words. So, here I go.

I’ve got to change my banner to reflect name change, and I think I’ll also start a new blog with the same name, so I’ll be busy this week. Plus, I’m working tomorrow through Friday.

Now it’s time for a glass of wine, before fixing tacos for supper. My all time favorite comfort and happy meal.

Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

Thank you and another dream

2011-11-07T08:11:00.001-05:00

Good morning everyone ~ Again I want to say thank you to all who visit. To those who leave comments thank you for doing so. They are encouraging and I appreciate your taking the time to leave them.

The hardest work of doing the patio is the heaviness of the stones. We had the stones laying so we could see them while working, and one time I brought a stone over to the area we were working on, and it wasn’t the right one, and DH said, “You’ve got to pick the right stone.” That cracked me up. To read a wonderfully hilarious story about that go to Karen’s wonderful blog Quarry Garden and read it here. DH and I both enjoyed that post. Karen has a wonderful gift of writing and I always enjoy reading about her life with Carl there at Quarry Gardens. They are an inspiration.

As to getting the stones to be the same level on the top, we just keep smoothing more dirt under until they feel and look right. I look forward to having this project done, so that I can just get back to gardening. We sold the junker car the 3rd of October, so we’ve really done quite a bit since then in spite of rain. I am really loving this area a lot. It is perfect for the Gypsy caravan.

Right before waking up this morning (old time so that I woke up at 5 instead of 6 like my body was telling me it was), I dreamed about visiting some boutique/gift shops that took consignments or you could have a little space of your own. It was kind of neat, and when I woke up I came out here and started working on a project that I’ve not touched in a few days.

I love to create, but am not crazy about the selling end. It was ok when we had our own shop many, many years ago, but the idea of becoming another seller among thousands on Etsy, hoping that you will be noticed and someone will buy, is rather daunting and discouraging. I’m a timid sort anyway, and am not one to put myself out there, so I procrastinate. I’ve drawers and containers filled with pieces I’ve created. My wish, prayer, hope is that some boutique/gift shop owner would like and buy my work and then I wouldn’t have to worry about selling it to individuals. Creating is such a joy, selling is a drag. At least that’s how I feel right now.

Anyway, I’m going to ‘try’ to not stress over the whole thing and just keep creating, in between gardening, homecaring and work. Creating is a part of who I am.

I’m playing/creating/experimenting with this piece, using two kinds of needlework I love doing, crochet and embroidery. I’ve lots to learn and enjoy as I go.

Here’s how my workspace looks this morning.

Here’s the piece. You can see embroidered and beaded sachets, waiting to be stitched together and stuffed with lavender. I’ve about a dozen or so of these to finish up.

I don’t have a plan I just go with the flow. I love hearts and flowers.

I found a wonderful book at the library this week which I need to get for myself.

It is ‘the Beaded Edge’. Crocheting and beading. Wow! Can be found here.

That’s it for now. I need to get away from the computer for awhile, fix some breakfast, wash dishes, fold and put away laundry, then we have errands to run.

FlowerLady

***

This is the day which the LORD hath made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 118:24

***

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

Ralph Waldo Emerson

***

Blooms and projects

2011-11-06T19:58:00.001-05:00

Good evening Folks ~ It is 7:14 eastern standard time, and I am feeling ready to head off to bed, because that’s what I usually do about now, only the time changed, so I’ve got to try to stay up longer. We even got up earlier than we normally did, before 5, so we are totally messed up. We ought to sleep really well tonight because of that, and because of the work we did today.

I wanted to work on the caravan patio area by the clothesline, DH wanted to do drywall ceiling in the caravan, and we would need each other’s help. Dealing with drywall overhead is a real pain, but we did it, and have two more pieces to put up and the ceiling will be done with that part. DH wants to put drywall on the top part of the walls inside, and paneling on the bottom half. Remember we are recycling here, so some of what we are using is not pristine. It gets the job done though, we are using things up and once painted no one will know the difference.

We have a 5 gal. bucket of stain blocker/primer sealer that we got for free, that we will paint all the interior with before painting. Then we have about a gal. and a half of gloss white wall paint that we have left over from when we did work on the kitchen a few years back that we will paint the walls with. We have two neat lights for the ceiling that DH bought this week at HD and they should give off plenty of light, the space is only approximately 6’x8’. We had the back window open today, no door on the front yet, so there was a nice breeze blowing through. It was around 80 degrees and humid so we were sweating, although, not as bad as in the summer.

Below are pictures of the patio area before and after. I’ve still more work to do on laying what we have left, and we need to find more to fill in, but my body was aching and I was starting to trip over my own feet, so it was time to quit for the day. This patio is made with a load of broken pieces we picked up curbside one morning on our way to do our errands. This is a mosaic patio, and the crack areas will be filled with with small rocks that we have left over from when we redid our drain fields for the septic tank.

Now for the blooms. The next 3 photos are of 4 o’clocks.

Louis Philippe or Cracker Rose.

Colors in the shed garden, porterweed, philippine violet, 4 o’clocks.

Same flowers as above with the addition of Louis Philippe roses.

Where’s the path?

Blue pea vine.

When I saw the shadow on the wall I had to take a picture.

Tomorrow is errand day, and I’m to hear from my boss as to what I’ll be working this week and it could be a 5 day work week for me. That’s why I wanted to work on the patio area this morning. We’ve had a bit of rain this afternoon and earlier this evening, so that’s been nice for the gardens.

I hope you all have a nice week. Don’t forget to count your blessings.

FlowerLady

***

We die daily.

Happy those who daily

come to life as well.

George MacDonald

***

What a difference …

2011-11-04T10:07:00.001-04:00

Thank you friends for your comments.

Blooms, etc.

2011-11-02T14:58:00.003-04:00

Here it is another Wednesday. It has been sunshiny and breezy today. I washed and hung out a load of laundry, which is probably dry and ready for me to bring in. I was back there at the clothesline area earlier, thinking about the patio work that needs doing, and plants I want back there, when I spied Tork in the clothespin basket. What a hoot she is!

After coffee and before breakfast, I went out with camera in hand and although I took quite a few pictures, not all were post worthy.

This is Cape Honeysuckle. I have this color and a bright orange/red color.

Here we have a shabby Gulf Fritillary. I tried to get a zebra longwing this morning, but with the wind blowing he just wouldn’t stay still.

Next are blooms from one of my rooted cuttings of my climbing Maman cochet. I love this rose and it’s scent too.

I love these pretty salvias too.

That’s it from me. I think hormones are messing with me today, as I feel like bawling for no reason. You know how when your throat gets tight, and your cheeks feel strange and tears are threatening behind your eyelids? That’s me today. Tomorrow is another day and I’ll probably be back to my normal positive self. Down days make us appreciate the good days.

Enjoy the rest of your week. I’ll be working again the next three days.

***

Feelings are much like waves,

we can't stop them from coming

but we can choose which one to surf.

Jonatan Mårtensson

***

I’m going to head out back to take down the laundry,

feel the breezes and enjoy the scents and colors all around.