THURSDAY GOODIES.....

 I like Thursday because...

I got a phone call from my library...they are starting up the book club again.  It's been 6 months since we had a meeting...I miss all the folks that come to the meetings.  We have a meeting on the 24th at 6:30....it will be outside in the pavilion, so we can have social distance. 

I also like that I got my Valentine Quilt done, you can see my post HERE.  On to the next UFO...my Jar Quilt.  It needs sandwiched, tied and binding.  But I'm out of batting, so I'll have to order some.

I also like this new show I've been watching on Netflix...New Tricks.  They have 8 seasons and I'm on season 6..there are 12 seasons done, so hoping Netflix gets the rest of them.  You can read all about this T.V. show on wiki

Our tomatoes have been producing lots of tomatoes...nothing like a fresh tomato off the vine.  These are called Black Prince tomatoes..they have less acid for people that can't tolerate a regular tomato.

The strawberries are producing...but sorry to say they don't make it to the house..they get picked and ate from the vines.

Do you read the comics?  One of my favorites is Garfield..

I laid out my Crazy Quilt on my design "floor" to see if I had enough to put it together.  Toby and Bob decided to lay on it.

Do you have a TBR(To Be Read) list?  I have one on my blog...it's in my TAB at the top of my page.  I collect book titles when I visit other bloggers.  Then I check my library to see if they have them.  I quite a list so far.  Have you read any of them?

Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan.
Fire in the Thatch - E. R. C. Lorac
The Martian - Andy Weir(Library)
The Night Diary - Veera  Hiranandani(Library - JF)
The Last House Guest - Megan Miranda(Library)
India Black and and the Widow of Windsor - Carol K. Carr
Crime Scene - Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman(Library)
The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang’s 
One of Us is Lying - Karen McManus (Library-YA)
A Piece of the World - Christina Baker Kline(Library)
Still Life - Louise Penny(Book 1) (Library)
A Fatal Grace - Louise Penny (Book 2)(Library)
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith(Library)
The Cousins - Karen M. McManus
The Toy Makers - Robert Dinsdale
The Marvelous Land of Oz -  L. Frank Baum
The Final Deception by Heather Graham(Library)
Lord of the Flies - William Golding(Library)
Devolution - Max Brooks(Library)
The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens
The Library Book - Susan Orlean(Library)
The Book Woman of  Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson
Westerling Women -Sandra Dallas
Legacy of Lies - Robert Bailey
Grandma Gatewood's Walk - Ben Montgomery  

A Single Thread - Tracy Chevalier(Library)

The Dutch House - Ann Pachett(Library)

 Well, I guess that's it for likes....hope you all a great....

I'm linking up with Lee Anna Paylor for:

I Like Thursday

SPRING OR SUMMER.......

We are having a mix of Spring and Summer weather here.  It has rained everyday for the last 2 weeks.  Several of those days were downpours.......the rest were just rain a little and then stop....continuing like this all day.  So everything is wet...wet...wet. 
The last couple of days it has been in the low 60's and 70's, with high humidity.  According to the calendar it is still spring....but it feels a lot like summer. 
Everything is blooming or about to bloom around here.  The grass is growing really fast.

The Rose Bush I planted two years ago is loaded with blooms...

The front garden is a little bare....haven't planted anything new this spring.  The Hosta's and lillies are doing good. Thinking about some petunias and marigolds to keep the flamingos and gnomes company.

 This is what I call a "Lost Cause Garden".  I've planted lots of stuff here, but nothing seems to grow, except the weeds and grass.  Right now it's a collection of garden pots and other decorations.

Hope everyone has a wonderful.....

Linking up with....

Nature Notes

A GARDEN AND A BOOK......

I have this piece of overgrown, weed infested ground under my kitchen window.  It started out as a rock garden.  Over the years it's turned into a weed patch. 

Most of the rocks are still there and one plant has survived.  The Yucca plant is actually thriving.  It started as one plant and it now has 3 plants.  This spot has sun all day, but gets some evening shade.  I've been thinking about making a desert garden out of it.  The soil isn't the best so it would be perfect. 

While I was at the library last week, I picked up a gardening book. 
Gardening Shortcuts - Jenny Hendy

This book is full of great ideas for your whole yard, from borders to beds, from pots to sculpture.  It also gives you the names of the flowers to put in your garden.   Really great book.....I give this book 5

Creativity Reading Challenge
Library Love Challenge
Outdo Yourself Challenge

IS SPRING HERE?????

Maybe, it was 39 degrees this morning.  Haven't been able to plant the tomato's, corn or grape vines for fear they will get frozen.  While I was our looking around the yard, I did spot some new growth on the Rose Bush I planted last year.  It's kind of spindly right now, but it's green.

Also the Paper Whites are up, full of blooms.

Some of the flowering trees are blooming and of course if nothing else is up and going, there's always the Dandelions.

MY GARDENS.......

need some work.  I was over visiting Canadian Needle Nana's place and she has her post linked up for the I Like....over at Not Afraid of Color.  So I decided to jump in and post about all my likes outside.  But the gardens you will see have been neglected the last few years.  With my hubby being sick and me trying to get back into the rhythm of living a new life without him, the gardens have gotten a little weedy.   The front porch area was really over run with Hosta plants, so I pulled out most of them and bought some new pots and flowers to freshen up the outside some.  Went shopping for some new pots for the front of the house.

 Got these pots at Lowe's along with the flowers.  It looks a little better, but I need one more for the right of the steps.  It  looks uneven to me.  I've got another flower bed to the right of the porch that needs some work done on it.

 I need to re-plant some flowers, move some out, and get the weeds out of it.  Not to mention take down all the clutter my hubby put there.  I think I'll leave the bed frame, I like that.  While I was taking these pictures one of the many squirrels, and I mean lots of them, that live here, came out to check me out.

You can't see him very well, he kind of blends in with the tree.  He's sitting to the left.  He watched me for a few minutes and then scampered off.  The other garden I need to work on is the stump garden.....yea you read it right, it's an old stump from a tree we cut down a few years ago. 

It's gotten over grown and needs some flowers taken out and some new put in.  Like the front garden, it has some clutter my hubby put there.  I can't get anything done with the gardens until it quits raining.  It seems to rain everyday.  We might get one sunny day out of seven.  Of course it rained early this morning so the grass was all wet. 

So I put on my polka dot boots before going out to shoot these pictures.  I really LIKE my polka dot boots.  They kind of clash with my dresses, but I don't care.  They keep me from falling on the ice in the winter and they are really warm.

No I don't have one sock on.  The right boot seems to like to "eat" my sock.  lol  Why is that, one shoe or boot always seems to do that.  It's one of life's mysteries I guess.  Well, I guess that's it for now.  Off to clean up the kitchen and do some laundry.  Have an awesome day!!

WATER IN THE GARDEN.....

My son has been working on putting a water feature in our garden.  It's a work in progress.

Still moving stuff around and taking stuff away.  While still working on building the fountain.  And it sounds so nice sitting outside and listening to the water.

I'm linking up with Kim over at Little By Little for Simple Things Thursdays.

I'm also linking to Jo at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen for Share Your Cup Thursday.

ROSES....

We have lived here for 35+ years.  These roses where here when we moved here.  So they are at least 35+ years old.  I know it's an antique rose by the petals, but not sure what kind of rose it is.

It's a climber as you can see.  It's climbing up this tree and yes that's poison ivy mixed in with it.  It starts out as a very dark burgundy, then fades to a lighter red.  And they smell so good.  I'm also linking up with St. Germain's Blog for Seasons.

IN MY YARD.....

is this weed growing flower bed.  The kids like to get up on the edges of it and walk around it.  Or just walk around inside the bed.  So I thought I'd make them a walking path.  I put some large pieces of flag stone in there to make them a path to walk on.  Our son recently bought some flowers and herbs to plant, but not in this flower bed, they would die for sure.  But there are several pots in the bed.  I'm going to plant some Petunia's and Marigolds in the pots.

ARTIFICIAL OR REAL.......

This is the front garden.  The hubby put a collection of  rummage sale stuff in the garden.  But I like the way it looks now.  No more "stuff".  I took a front shot and a side shot.  See if you can tell which is artificial and what is real.

Front shot....

Side shot....

BUSH......

This bush/tree, I'm not sure what it is....but it has blooms on it that smell really good.  When I bought it, it was suppose to be a Snowball Bush, but no Snowballs have come out.  Maybe it's a wanna be Snowball Bush!

ABANDONMENT.....

I've tried for years to get something besides weeds and grass to grow in this flower bed.  I've tried Chrysanthemum, Tulips, Petunia, and Marigolds.  None of them survived.  So I'm just going to let the weeds and grass have it.  And they don't do all that well either.

 

RED....

My Tulips bloomed.  They are beautiful this year.  These are just a few of many.

ARTIFICIAL....or real

I took this picture back in October.  Didn't know quite what to use it for.  I really like this picture, if you didn't know the difference you would think they are real.

LAST OF THE ROSES.....

This rose bush is still blooming.  I took this picture the 1st of November. 

ROSES

My roses are blooming and they are loaded with blooms this year.  I haven't seen one bug on them either.  The red roses were here when we moved here30+ years ago.  Not sure what kind of rose it is.  The pink roses are an heirloom rose called Seven Sisters.  My mother had a Seven Sisters bush years ago and it was really huge.  I wanted one for my own, so went looking on the internet for a seller.  Mine has been growing for about 10 years now and it gets better with age.  The Antique Rose Emporium is where I got mine.  I wish you could smell them,  they smell so good.

Seven Sisters Rose

Red Rose

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, BUT WITH WORDS

I have odd stuff in my flower beds. Chairs, a bed, anything I think would look interesting. I'm dying to get an old bathtub or toilet for my garden. But for now I have a new ornament in my garden.

Bella decided she wanted to climb up on the chair in my garden. She looks pretty comfy dosen't she. But she didn't stay long. So my chair is back to being empty again, until I get a pot on it with some flowers. Waiting for the cold to clear out so I can plant some Petunia's.

SIGNS OF SPRING

All the flowers and trees are putting on a show here. So thought I'd share a few with you.