Flower Friday: August 21, 2026

 

Welcome to Flower Friday!

It's hard to imagine that the kids are going back to school soon!  Our neighborhood kids start school on Monday!

Andrea sent me a photo of her zinnias.  I forgot how pretty they can be and wish I had grown some last year!

Our neighbor, Mary Louise puts together really interesting groups of annuals.  This year the combo is pinks and purples.  So pretty!

Last of all, the sedum is beginning to bloom.  We have to be careful around them as the bees LOVE them.  Last week Lucky and I both got stung and poor Lucky didn't understand it all :(

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Sewcation!

 

I'm writing this on Sunday.  If all goes well, family members are picking up my Mom today and taking her to the beach for a week.  Some of the family decided to give my brother and I a break; so for the next 5 days we will be taking care of ourselves and having some fun.

I intend to sew a lot this week.  My next hand surgery is on August 26.  I'd like to get my "Twinkle" top assembled and a baby quilt as well for Katie (neighbor).

What will be really nice will be that my most energetic times are in the morning but that is when I have Mom duty.  My brother takes over in the afternoon. So it will be really nice for the two of us.

Today (Monday) is also a good day.  For about 15 years, our dishwasher has been broken.  My husband always balked at replacing it because we can just wash our dishes by hand (translation:  I can wash all the dishes).  I mentioned to him that after my surgery he'll probably be washing dishes for weeks.

Suddenly purchasing a dishwasher was really REALLY important and our new appliance arrives today.

I'll be back for Flower Friday but in the meantime...

have a great week!

Flower Friday: August 7, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!  How is you garden doing?

Andrea sent a photo of her sedum, so pretty!  I didn't know there was a sedum that came with such striking and dark leaves!  Thank you Andrea!

Swan Hydrangea:

The pink salvia has self-sown and is blooming again!

Russian Sage:

Tomatoes are still coming in but a critter did get one the other night.  Brad was upset because it was an heirloom and those are our favorites.  The heirlooms have been huge tomatoes, especially in comparison with our other varieties.  This was eaten over night so we know it wasn't a squirrel.  Maybe a groundhog or raccoon?  Brad wants to put the trail cam up to check.  More on that later!

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Flower Friday: August 7, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!

Sue sent a photo of her pretty phlox growing outside her vegetable garden:

Sue also shared her lovely violet that is blooming indoors:

Annie sent a photo of her St. John's Wort:

Crepe Myrtle is blooming around our neighborhood.  This is a plant I don't remember seeing during childhood.  The first time I saw this was down south.  Now there seems to be a variety of these that can tolerate our cold winters:

Have a safe and happy weekend!

What's New...

 

I haven't posted much because things have been busy!

But here is some good news:  my first tomato!

My husband thought I was crazy to buy 9 plants but it was the only way to insure we get some tomatoes.  The squirrels tend to eat them as soon as they ripen.  This year, I pluck the fruit as they begin to ripen and let them finish in the house.

The two on the far left are heirlooms.  One is Cherokee Purple and the other is Brandywine Yellow.

I'm on the hunt for a specific Salvia now.  The only hummingbirds I've seen this year are at a Red Salvia plant that looks like this:

Two weeks ago, I spent most of any free time in the garden.  The weather was good and perfect for weeding and clearing out.  Now it's hot again and I try to sew in the attic when it is cool enough up there.  

I'm assembling the Twinkle blocks now.  It will be a scrappy Christmas quilt.

I haven't finished the 18 large stars and I still have 14 of the small stars to complete.

I'm really enjoying making this quilt even though it's time consuming.  Whenever I make a project with the sew and flip method for triangles, I try to save the small triangles right away.  My can is getting pretty full and I have to start thinking about what I will do with these.

That's it for now.  What have you been working on?  I hope you are having a good summer.  Hard to believe it is already August!

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: July 31, 2026

 

Greetings and welcome to another Flower Friday!

It seems odd that it is the last day of July!

Sue sent these lovely photos of her perinneal amaryllis 

(AKA naked ladies):

Linda the cat also enjoys the amaryllis!

I think that Linda is as pretty as the flower.  She's adorable!

From Jim's Garden:

Coneflowers and Blanket Flower:

And his Fern Leaf Coreopsis:

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Flower Friday: July 24, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!

It's that time of the summer when we are aware that the days are getting slightly shorter and autumn is around the corner.  Around here all the gardening is focused on weeding, watering, deadheading, repeat.

My perinneal hibiscus bloomed this week:

And the Swan Hydrangea is blooming now as well:

We are finally seeing some butterflies visit.  Just in time as the butterfly bush started blooming!

And the pretty cleome has begun to bloom:

Have a safe and happy weekend!