Making a Lavender Wreath

I took my grapevine wreath and the lavender out on the deck to work on it.  I wanted to work in the cool of the house but realized that it would have made too much of a mess.. and boy I was right, there is lavender everywhere.  But it sure does smell good!  Thank you to Ginger from Bates Lavender Farm across the road from us.  :-)

Dayle thought I should use the copper wire we got to wire all the bunches onto the wreath.. but as a lifelong crafter I told him that the best way to attach them would be a hot glue gun.  We got my glue gun plugged in and I began attaching them that way and it worked a charm.    

But could we find the extra glue sticks?  Of course not.

Dayle had to get a Covid-19 test today because he has surgery next week to have the other half of his thyroid removed.  He is picking up some extra hot glue refills on his way home.  Meanwhile I was making more bunches, wrapping them with copper wire.  

It's 85 degrees today!  After working for a while I headed into the AC cooled house.  We'll work on this later when it cools down.

A wide angle shot of my workshop.  :-)

Caleb brought our 2nd rocking chair to put by mine so both of us can rock and watch the fish and birds side by side.

Dayle snapped this photo of one of the free Dahlias that we got from Sue at the bottom of our road.  Isn't it gorgeous?

I took my selfie stick out to get a photo of the sunflower buds and tried this higher shot of the pond.

Our first Rose of Sharon bush to bloom.  Happy happy joy joy.

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) and Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) are cousins.

The sunflower bud, I thought it would be more open but it's not opening yet.

The ROS next to the garden shed deck.

I'm looking forward to the shiny new blue metal roofs for the shed and garage/barn.  :-)

Mocha wanted to say farewell to you and wish you a wonderful weekend.  :-)

I hope you're faring well and staying safe.  Please keep my dear husband in your good thoughts next week.  Needless to say I'm worried about it all.  I will keep you in the loop.

((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Flowers & Grandkids

Greetings fellow Earthlings.  Dayle brought in a few flowers from our Dahlia garden.  Oh my.  Having these next to me is enjoyable.  There is also a Double Delight rose which is very fragrant.  I just did a smell test on the Dahlia and it's a good thing they are pretty as they don't smell good.  LOL!

The Dahlia on the left and in back are ones we ordered from Brecks and the pretty one in front on the right is one we got for free from our neighbor at the bottom of the road we live on.  I love it!

Lovely.

Pom pom named "Burlesca". 

"Arbatax" Dahlia.

The bouquet Dayle brought home is doing nicely and lasting well.  Pretty.

Dayle is out running errands, he dropped Mocha off at the groomer, picked up birdseed at Coastal Farm & Garden, picked up a few groceries.. AND.. went into Michaels to pick up a grapevine wreath and some copper wire for me to make a wreath out of the lavender.. and also got some ribbon for me.  I would say he gets a GOLD star today!  What a nice guy!

It was Caleb's turn to stay with us.  He wanted to earn some $$ for his game so he dusted the TV stand, grandfather clock, china cabinet, baby grant piano, oak coffee table, mantel and antique cabinets.  :-)  Win-win!

Our grandson that lives in California, Gabe, and the birthday gift I had delivered to him, a Rubics cube.  He made a video for me showing how fast he can solve the puzzle.  :-)  He's 16 now!  We've gotten to see his brother Michael a few times recently for a social distance short visit.

And this was at the end of the video.  Awwww.. :-)  (This is not a live link, I did a screen shot of his video to show you.)

My daughter sent me the girl's school photos from last term.  They are growing up!  Jenna will be turning 16 and Paige 12.  I enjoyed a chat with both girls a few days ago.  We reminisced about the last time we were together when they came to visit last summer.  I miss them.  Who knows when we'll see them next. 

That's pretty much it for me.  I've been crocheting on Paige's lap blanket.  I want to get it finished to send it to her before her birthday at the end of August.  I hope all is well with you!
((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Lily Time and Surprise Gift

Hello!  How was your weekend?  I am happy as my Stargazer Lilies are starting to open up.  It's one of my favorite flowers.

We have one really big pot of them and every year they faithfully grow.

Our garden is growing around our garden shed.  I have good news.  We have made arrangements for new blue metal roofs to be installed on the shed and our garage/barn sometime in August.  No more moss on their roofs!

Late afternoon sunshine on the shed.  The petunias Dayle planted in the window box pots are doing well and look so pretty.  My son Travis actually built the shelves for the pots for me many years ago.

Our Hollyhock is lazy and is leaning over.  :-)

I think our creeping myrtle needs taming.. it's taking over the pond.

I recently found a smaller wood box to keep some of my small things nearby.  It's made by Frye's and joins my bigger one I've had for years.  They are called Shaker boxes.

I got a surprise in the mail a few days ago, this is a darling needle keeper made by my blog friend Taci.  Isn't this wonderful and thoughtful?  I will get a lot of use out of this when I'm hand sewing.

See how the magnet holds your needle between threading?

It came in this cute little metal box.  What a treasure!  Thank you Taci!!  If you are interested in buying one, let me know.  

It was almost 100 degrees yesterday, I ventured outside to take a few photos and am in love with this Gladiola.

There is a bright red one beginning to bloom next to it which I'll get a photo of as soon as they open up.

Two of the sunflowers we planted are getting tall!  See them in the back right?  And on the left the tomatoes are almost as tall as our 10 feet tall windmill!

Farmer Dayle and our little girl resting on the deck.

So.  I twirl my hair and put it up with a barrette.. and the little pouf that sits on my head was getting a bit long.  So I decided to take my hair cutting scissors and just snip off the long strands.  Voila, I am now cutting my own hair!  I did my bangs next.  

Just look at Kristi's harvest from one day!  I'm so amazed and impressed!

Just something for you to think about.

And from Dan Rather.  

OK.. my work is done.. flowers, friends, fun things and... revolution.  LOL!!   ((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Passing Time on the Farm

We're having rather fabulous weather.. sunny but not hot, no humidity.. perfect.  The Geraniums that Dayle brought out after wintering over in our basement are blooming well.  He's been doing that for a dozen years or so.

Our grandson Hayden asked if we had a few hours of work for him to earn $$ for his Xbox games.  Well of course we do!  I sat by the pond watching the fish and birds and pointed out weeds and blackberries that needed pulled. 

I also had him pull out some of the creeping myrtle ground-cover that was going a bit out of control

He also took the machete and chopped some blackberries that were invading the garden here and there.  He's heading home today but we've enjoyed having him with us.

Hayden took this photo for me with my phone.  Scentimental rose.

Keiko swam up in a beam of sunlight so I snapped this photo of him.  Some bees were buzzing about so Mocha tried to catch one and started jumping around and rubbing her nose on the deck so it looked like she got a bee bite.  Poor baby!

I count my blessings to have acreage where we can have a pond and fish and enough room to feed the birds, they use our creek for drinking water and bathing, too.

I clicked .5 on my iPhone 11 Pro Max which is the wide angle lens which gives a broader photo from where I sat in my rocking chair.

I watch the planes fly over, feed the fish, watch the birds... Dayle was doing some weed whacking and mowing.

Since I completed the 2 cross-stitch projects I decided to pick up my granddaughter Paige's blanket that I need to finish.  Speaking of which, she called me yesterday and so I got to chat with her and Jenna who were playing with their "Switch" - a handheld game.  I sure do miss my granddaughters!

This is my Lucy inspired Dune Blanket.  I made a big one for myself, a lap size one for Jenna and this is my 3rd, another lap size one for Paige.  I chose my own colors for this one.. the bottom sand colors for the beach, sea colors, sunset ones and sky.  

My dear husband made a Costco run and surprised me with this pretty bouquet.

I like the mixed flowers and colors.

I got a text from Ginger who owns the Bates Lavender Farm across the street and she offered me some lavender to make a wreath with so I said, sure, would you like a dozen eggs?  Dayle walked over a bit ago to pick them up while I worked on my blog post.  

I wish you could smell the house right now!

I'm going to make a wreath with them, hopefully I will be able to show you the end result on Monday.

My dear one.. and Dayle.  :-)

t

The conflict in downtown continues.  Our Mayor, Ted Wheeler, went down to talk to the demonstrators trying to show support for their 1st amendment rights to protest.. and while he was there Trump's gestapo sprayed OUR MAYOR with tear gas!  They also were dragging off women from the #Wallofmoms!  Then they doused the medical supplies used on the victims of Trump's thugs with pepper spray and also doused all the food and kitchen items being used to feed the demonstrators.  

Our so-called president is attacking US citizens in our city.  Now he's sending them to other states with Democrat leadership.  Never in my life did I ever think someone elected to the highest office in our country would launch such an attack on his political enemies and his own citizenry in our country.  

And before you tell me he's justified in doing this because of vandalism to the businesses downtown, yes, there is graffiti and some broken windows, and I do not condone that.  But I maintain that our city can take care of itself and our police are not as aggressive and downright evil as these bullies he's sent to beat us into submission.  We will not bow down and give up on our city and our country.

And so.. :-)  Back to crocheting.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)