Sep 9, 2024

Marvelous Monday Update 9/9/2024

How was your weekend, my friends?  
 
Ever since I spent three days working on the Casita, my back has been hurting me.  I had a massage last Wednesday and a chiropractic adjustment on Friday. Hoping it will feel better soon.  What else have I been up to?
 
STITCHY STUFF
I mentioned I signed up for a Halloween ornament exchange and gave you a sneak peek a couple posts back.  It has arrived at it's new home, so now I can show you.

Halloween Cat Ornament
 
I hand-dyed the fabric at the Spring Hoosiers retreat I went to earlier this year.
 
Along with a sheet of stickers, I also sent the Hocus Pocus Halloween watercolor postcard with the ornament.  You can see the postcards in THIS post.
 
I've got my next project kitted up for the Halloween Mailart exchange.
 
 
That's all I have for this week.
 
Until Next Time,

Sep 6, 2024

Oh Look! Pretties....

Every time I pull up my driveway, I'm greeted by a colorful array of flowers and the water feature spraying water into the air.  It makes my heart happy.

Some say buying a premade pot of flowers and replanting is less expensive than buying young plants and making your own planters.  


I disagree.  There is no way I could fill all of my planters at the same cost as premade pots.

The flowers and plants are growing so abundantly!

I bought two of these planters over 20 years ago. They are about 24" wide.  The pots look like concrete which I really like the look of.



Here's how the plants started out this year:



My stair step plant stand has the look of wrought iron.  What's interesting about it is it folds almost flat for storage.  I usually end up putting "leftover" plants in the pots.  It still makes a pretty display, though.  Here's what the plants looked like a month after planting them.


And now....



The tower planter is developing cracks from years of use, but I'm hoping if I baby it along I can use it for a few more years.  It's another of my favorites.

From this....


to this...


It fits perfectly in a small alcove next to the door.

The planters hanging on the front porch railing have filled out nicely.



The mums I planted last year have teeny tiny baby buds on them.  I can't wait to see all the blooms this fall.
 

Several of the perennials are done blooming. They sure were pretty while they showed their floral beauty.

I didn't learn until this year, these flowers are called Star of Bethlehem.  Some say it's invasive, but they have been in the same edge of my yard and haven't spread anywhere else.



I planted a clematis to intertwine amongst the roses on the chain link fence.  This first year, it only produced 4-5 blooms.


I'm sure I've told this story before.  For those who don't know, my Dad (RIP) gave me one spotted tiger lily plant many, many years ago.  He told me one is all I need because it produces seeds and will grow more.



He was right.  I can see him tapping the side of his forehead with his finger saying, "Old Dad knows."

Are you tired of seeing flowers yet?  😁

I was disappointed only two out of eight strawberry roots I planted grew.  


I didn't get a chance to built a raised bed this year, I planted them in pots and will overwinter them in the garage.


I bought a Herb Rocket from Dollar Tree earlier this spring.  I didn't get around to planting it until June.  It's growing up nicely.  Not sure what I'm going to do with so much Basil.  Suggestions?


Many tell me I have a green thumb.

Definition of 'green thumb':
phrase
[US] If someone has a green thumb, they are very good at gardening and their plants grow well.

Since the above is true, I guess I do!  Both my parents grew vegetable gardens, flowers, and plants.  My Dad encouraged me at a young age, probably 7 or 8 years old, to plant a garden. He tilled up a small plot in the yard and saved me some seeds while he planted his garden.  

Actually, I think it was even earlier than that...  through osmosis.




If my Mom were still with us, she would be so excited to see my flowers.  She LOVED plants and flowers.
 
Until Next Time,

Sep 2, 2024

Marvelous Monday Update 9/2/2024

 I just came off of a four day weekend. Gotta love those!  For my U.S. readers, did you do anything special over Labor Day weekend?

PLANNER UPDATE
Back in May I mentioned I'm trying my hand at using a crafty planner to keep track of what I'm working on, (loosely) manage goals, and track my finishes.  This POST talks about how I'm going about doing this.

Well... I fell off the wagon... BUT, I got back on and am trucking along to get caught up.  I've filled a couple more Finishes pages.



I created a new section for when I visited Liberty Hill Needleworks in Williamsburg, VA back in July.  If you're ever in the area, you HAVE to visit.  It's a beautiful shop with lots of models and charts nicely displayed.  They have a website and a FB page.  



I also updated the month-at-view pages in my planner.  More on those another time.

WEATHER
My area had excessive heat warnings Monday and Tuesday of last week.  


Both days registered 106-107F heat index temps.  Actual temps were 99-101F.



It was HOT-HOT-HOT!  On the hottest days of the year, my 3-year old central air until became my nemesis. 


Despite the thermostat being set on 60F for over 24 hours, the temperature in the house didn't drop below 78F.


Thanks to a suggestion of a friend, I slept in the Casita with the AC on.  I actually got cold!

A heating and air company came to look at the unit and said the compressor is going bad.  They are checking into whether it's covered under warranty.

A cold front came through Wednesday and the skies were filled with huge clouds.



WATERCOLOR FUN
I had a four day weekend so I spent one day working on some Halloween postcards I created with watercolor.


 Aren't they cute?
 
Speaking of Halloween, there are some new neighbors up the street from me who are in the process of decorating for the holiday.
 

Mr. B. wasn't a fan when I took him for a walk by there.  With his "ferocious" growl, all 4 lbs. of him let them know to stay away. LOL
 
CASITA NEWS
Since I had four days off work in a row, I spent three of them working on more oxidation removal.  I am SO close to being done.

When I took the spare tire off to do the lower half of the back, there was a stain where the tire cover ground the dirt into the fiberglass.


Some elbow grease took most of it off.  With oxidation cleaner, polish, and wax the stain can hardly be seen.


My coworker said she drove by house and said that the Casita looks so shiny from the street.

The tire cover was quite grimy and needed sewing repairs.
 

I cleaned it up best I could and did the repairs.  
 
 
I decided not to get a new cover because when I get a new spare tire, the cover size will change.

The final project I did over the weekend was paint the bumper.  When I took the tire off, I saw there was some rust forming on the bumper beneath the tire.


I covered and taped off the backside. Can't take a chance of over spray landing on the white fiberglass!
 
 
A bit of wire brushing to get the loose rust off before Mr. Rustoleum and I went to town.


Looks much better, doesn't it?

GARDENING
I received a box of flowery goodness in the mail.  After cleaning out part of the bed where the sedum have taken over, I planted 6 different colors of irises my FB friend in VA sent me.  I'm looking forward to seeing them bloom next year.


Wow, this is a long post.  If you're still with me this far, I'd like to end off with sharing the last page in my gratitude journal.  I started writing it a year and a half ago and have made a conscious effort to write something positive every day.



Until Next Time,