Nature geek..........

So far there has been some rain and yes, the latest 'fix' or 'test' of the porch roof has once again not stemmed the tide of dripping water and bowls on my porch.....but in between the rain I went outside to look around..........I think the animals love it when it rains because the humans go inside and they have their nice peaceful world to themselves once again.  It's kind of like how we  feel when company leaves.  I think I surprised a few.....like this pair of butterflies.....

 BTW, I dug around and found my Mother's birding books.....she always loved birds and I knew I had them because I had bought them for her.  I had never really looked in them.....she was the birder, not me! LOL!  But lo and behold I was able to id the bird the other day and learned a few things too!

It was an Eastern Bluebird!   Yay!!!!  The reason I know it was an Eastern and not a Western Bluebird is because it had a white belly and the Western has a blue belly and it was a male that I saw.

 The Sibley's guide was excellent but the other book had a photo but was more about Bird Watching and 'birding' in general which is also very useful....

Of course, anything to do with birds and Miss Peeps is right on it!

The roses are blooming in among my weed bed.....I only grow the hardiest roses as anything that survives with my 'mis-care' must be hardy! LOL!  I grow them for the smell but these don't smell.

I also picked my one blooming peony as it was beaten down by the rain last night and there are more storms on the way....I took a sniff as I love the smell of peonies but ...again....no smell!  I'll have to get my nose checked along with my eyes evidently but I can still smell bacon cooking so all is not lost, thank goodness!

Steve and Mick, 'the roof boys', were here when I got back from Walmart Thursday afternoon and they wanted to test to see if it could be the chimney somehow........so this is what they did.......

Evidently it's not the chimney because it was dripping this morning......

The mystery remains unsolved....I think we may have to call in Hercule Poirot or Maisy Dobbs!
Well, I'm off to 'batten down the hatches' before the next round of rain arrives.  I need to make bread, a salad, fix some strawberries and asparagus and other 'chores'.  Yesterday I got some screens washed after I hooked up my new hose, finished baking off those cookies, and worked on those Easter presents that still aren't done.....yes, you heard me right.....I should know better!  It's Springtime.....it's busier than Christmas around here! LOL!  The temp is 78 (very unstable atmosphere), humid and the wind is really blowing.  A good day to stay inside!  TTYL!
Happy Trails!

 

Spent my wad at Wally World!

Yesterday was another beautiful day and supposedly the only one for quite a few...more storms on the horizon for today and over the weekend so I got some laundry out on the line and headed to Walmart.  But before I did I spied this cutie out in my backyard..........unfortunately I was in such a hurry to take the picture it is blurred.  Okay birders....what is it?  I thought bluebird at first but then oriole? 

I had to bite the bullet and get a new hose but hopefully this one will last and it is twice as long as my last one........I hope it lasts for more than one season!

I got a bunch of seeds too....I even got cactus seeds!  I've never seen those before and there were some organic and loads of perennials which I also rarely see in seeds.  I'm not having a vegetable garden as it is so not easy down here even in containers but I did succumb to radishes, leaf lettuce, kale and some bush beans.....I just can't help myself.....it's the gardener in me! LOL!

 Connie!  Look what I found at Walmart.....solar butterflies!  After I saw yours I really wanted some so I went looking and lo and behold!  I got 3 and can't wait to get them in the ground!

A new paint color for my Adirondacks?  The dark green is faded so I though maybe this color would go nice with the orange brick of the house plus dark colors absorb the heat.

More organics at Wally world...........yes, I was already into this bag...notice my nifty bag clips?  Clothespins make great bag clips!

The asparagus wasn't organic but who can resist asparagus in the Springtime?  I have a recipe from that Cook's Country magazine I want to try....asparagus gratin...although I really love it just tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted....yum!  BTW, if you want to keep celery, green onions, asparagus and maybe  a few other veggies fresh...stick them in water....they won't go limp on you like they do in the frig.  You can still pop them in the frig but the water keeps them hydrated.

And I couldn't resist getting a few of my Kombucha's!  This is multi-green.....I had it last night and with the electrolytes and probiotics even a trip to Walmart didn't wear me out....too much! LOL!  I've got to make this myself....as it's over $3 a bottle.

I'm in for the next several days now except guess what I forgot?  Batteries!!!!  Duh!  I may have to run up to the Dollar store before the monsoon arrives.
Happy Trails!

Yesterday was perfect!!!!

I was able to get a bath in and my hair washed before the storms hit but unfortunately the only 2 times the weather radio went off was when I was in the tub and then when I had my head under the kitchen sink faucet! LOL!  Even the cats came up to me and cried as if to say "can't you turn that thing off"!  They are too funny.  One alarm was for other counties and the second was for a severe thunderstorm which I don't go to the  basement for.  We were under a tornado watch but no warning and we never lost power so it was a cozy stormy day which I love!  The roof guys never came Tuesday and so, yes, the roof leaked again and I have bowls out there.....I try not to think about it...lol!  Anyway, I changed the sheets on my bed and made my egg salad with a little curry powder added.  I won't eat it any other way.........love!

 You can't see the rain or the blowing and it was really much darker but the grass is feeling good, the birds are loving it and so are all the green things you see out there! LOL!

  Here's my egg salad...........it was so good if I do say so myself.....pretty simple, red onion, hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, mayonnaise and some curry powder....try it...you'll like it!  I think I got the curry powder idea from Martha Stewart years ago.  I had it last night on some toasted organic bread....yes, Walmart carries several varieties of organic bread now!  I didn't get my bread made this week....Spring is so busy!

 I did get some cookies made though....chocolate chip with pecans.  I use the Original Toll House Recipe but I only use 1/2 the chocolate chips they call for and I think that is 2 cups and I use one and I use one cup of chopped pecans also.  I'm not a huge chocolate fan....it's okay but I don't want too much in my cookies.  I ate a few while they were still warm........talk about comfort food!

My cute little timer my daughter gave me...........and the red oven mitts are felted wool that I knitted...I need to knit another pair.  I got the pattern for free on the Purl Soho website.  They have lots of great craft projects, free patterns, and supplies. They aren't cheap but they are quality.  If you sign up for their emails you get some free patterns too.

I jury-rigged this wall of hanging objects several years back and nothing has fallen down yet! LOL!

The pans are hanging from an old wooden broom handle that I suspended across the cabinets.  I did  test first and I check every once in awhile to ensure the handle isn't  'slipping' from side to side....so far so good.  I used large 's' hooks to hang the pans.  The other wire 'whatchamacallit' came from pieces of a shelf that I was able to wedge in between the cabinets and again 's' hooks to the rescue!  I need to clean off a few of the things but overall it's a handy place to hang things that take up too much room in a drawer.  I may replace the wire 'whatchamacallit' with some tension rods eventually.

Last but not least...a little tip...sometimes I want some cookies but I don't want to stay up late baking all of them (like these chocolate chip cookies make a big batch..probably 7 or 8 cookies sheets for 12 minutes each) so last night I made 3 batches and then put Press and Seal over the mixing bowl with my cookie scoop inside with it and I will bake up the rest of them this morning.  My sweet tooth was satisfied and yet I didn't have to stay up late to finish them.  Of course, if you bake them in the morning you won't have that problem but cookies were not a priority yesterday just a 'would be nice' project after priorities were done.

Today is sunny and cool and I need to get some laundry out on the line and go to Wally World for supplies mostly for 'the girls'...it's always about them! LOL!  Plus, more storms coming tomorrow and over the weekend so I want to be ready with everything we need including more batteries! LOL!

I hope you have a great day!

Happy Trails!

2nd mowing and beautiful Springtime!

I mowed yesterday after picking up branches all over the yard.  Mother Nature has been stormy and breezy and cleaning up the dead debris from winter.  I have a pile to burn but it's been a bit windy.  Yesterday was a beautiful day to be outside and the 2nd mowing always looks so much nicer than the first  one in the Spring.  The birds were singing their little hearts out and the butterflies were out in full force!  They love these flowers I planted last year and I'm pretty sure they were annuals but they reseeded and came up in mass this Spring and they bloom all Summer long and into Fall.  I don't know what they are but maybe one of you can id them for me.  Plus, the butterflies love them!

The clematis are still blooming well...........

The Iris are up....both the regular and the Japanese..........

My peony bush has one bud but then I found another bush with a bud....do they spread?  I know I only planted one bush several years back and I only get one bloom per year.....what's up with that?
Up North they were always falling down weighted with so many flowers.

The sedum is up and I think there's another next to it on the right in a red color but it's struggling............

My lavender came back.....Yay!  I've never had much luck with lavender so I tried potting it up and that seemed to work last year.

This one never really died back in the Winter and has spread from one plant to several now..........

 Also, the Coral Bells are blooming...........

I found these blooms on the edge of the woods and there are quite a few all along the border of my property.....I'm praying it is raspberries!  It looks like it from what I remember of my raspberries on the farm...........they have thorns too!

I was tired after mowing but watered my plants outside and today we are under the threat of severe storms....I always like a rain after mowing.....it just seems soothing to the grass.  So, indoor chores today which are many!  There's laundry, change sheets, make some egg salad, freeze the leftover ham, ironing, chocolate chip cookies (I never got the pie made), make Mediterranean Salad and do a little knitting, crocheting and sewing.  We shall see if I get all that done! LOL!  I hope you have a great day!  Stay safe!
Happy Trails!

It's Monday! What are you reading, listening to and/or watching?

I haven't been getting a ton of reading time in with being 'too pooped to pop' at night....I think part of it is allergies that affect my eyes and they are really 'blurry' by night fall.  So, I am trying to get to bed earlier...lol....before my eyes give up.
I'm still reading these..........on page 519 of 734 pages.....it's a biggy.........but very good!

and this one.............on page 234 of 305 so I'm getting there............

as for magazines........there are these on my nightstand...........

and National Geographic which the scientist in me loves!  My friend, Sue, gave me a bunch of these from the library that someone dropped off and I am thoroughly enjoying them and plan on passing them on to my grandsons who also love science along with my daughter......they are too precious to end up in a dump somewhere....not that they would but you never know!  Thank you, Sue!

As for watching....I watched a great movie that Connie of Far Side of Fifty recommended....The Great Gilly Hopkins (Netflix) and then over the weekend I watched Places in the Heart with Sally Fields and Danny Glover which was excellent about a depression era widow who takes in outcasts to save her family home...I watched this on the Feeln channel which costs me $36.00 a year and has the best movies and shows!  All decent too....family oriented....my kind of movie channel!  The podcast people have sort of waned in their podcasting....once a week or maybe once every 2 weeks of my favorites...I'll have to find some new ones, I guess.  I did watch several episodes of Life Below Zero about 4 families living in Alaska near the Arctic circle.  The strange thing is the single woman in the show swears like a trooper while the others don't swear much....it's on Netflix and its a reality show.  It's not great but I so love to see how people survive off the grid pretty much and I wish they wouldn't try to impart so much fake drama into it.  I just want to see the daily lives and struggles of those who are brave and know how to survive in the wilderness and the beauty of it.  If any of you know of any other shows like that please let me know....I'd like a simple one....not the hyped up drama where they rehash the same stuff for half of the next program.  Sorry, I didn't mean to rant but maybe I should go back to watching decorating shows? LOL!  Please share what you have been reading, watching and/or listening to.
My list was long today per usual for a Monday but it was a beautiful day and I got quite a bit done so the week is off to a good start!  I did laundry, hung it outside, went to town and got a few items and did some banking, paid some bills, cleaned the litter boxes, knitted a bit on my 2nd sock and brushed both Nitty and Grace....the 2 who are really shedding!  Of course there was also dishes and cleaning up the kitchen etc. There's lots left on my list so I will have plenty to do tomorrow thank goodness! LOL!
I hope your Monday went well!
Happy Trails!

YOP Week #43

 It's been quite a week.....storms, rain,  and my porch roof is leaking again!  There went my 'craft weekend' again.  The 'roof boys' came over Saturday morning to look at it and checked everything...they'll be back Tuesday but that took me until 2:00 in the afternoon after getting a late start and not having eaten anything so I made a big breakfast and that ended up being supper!  The Hotel of Bees CAL is going and I am on Row  6.  Every row is different and some are a real learning curve but I am moving forward and it does help to have the support of the other CAL members and even Christina, the designer, gets on and answers questions which is great.  This is all I have so far but I am enjoying it and some of the shawls are finished and/or further ahead and it is very inspiring to see theirs.

 I finished my first Hermione's Everyday sock and have just about finished the cuff on the 2nd sock....it's going much better and faster this time.

 I was going to paint on my new paint-by-number painting this weekend but that didn't happen but I did gather my brushes and read the directions.  I'm just wondering if I need an easel to work on it or maybe I can jury-rig something as it is BIG!

I've been really tired this week as the storms woke me up on 2 different nights.  I think I need to get more than cafe curtains as even little Annie was trying to move her bed in the night to get away from the 'strobe light' lightening.....it was really intense.  The week ahead is going to be busy as the lawn needs mowing again and there's weeding and painting outside to be done.  I hope you had a good week and I'll try and catch up with everyone this week.  I hope I get some energy too! 
Happy Trails!