Trying To Look Forward

It's been a while, right?  

I mean, since I've posted anything here, right?

But even with all of the madness around us these past few month this year, the world has not stopped spinning.

I shake my head daily.

Try not to look at the gloomy news, but let's be honest, it's too hard not to look when they are all important issues.  It's overwhelming, and that's putting it mildly.

I try to look ahead to a positive future.

A future where my brown skinned grandchildren won't even have to consider the color or their skin when they step out of their door to go play a game of basketball at the local rec. center.  Take a bike ride to play at a friend's house, walk to school(should that ever be allowed again), have a picnic or go bird watching in a park without being harassed.  These simple pleasures are what I wish for them.

And how about a former President who can't even get his portrait hung on a White House wall without it being an issue for the current man who lives there??

Our eldest grandchild can't even experience a normal high school graduation this year or make a memory of her senior prom.  Will she even have a normal university experience?  Will that learning be online as well?

My husband and I are still staying away from other people, due to our age and some health issues, but we will get through all of this madness much better off than many others, but still.... it does not stop us from worrying about others.

To take my mind away from dwelling on all of the negative, my husband helped me hang drop cloth curtains in our screened porch.  He'll tell you that he got 'Huckleberry'd into it'.  AND he's right.  He did.  I am guilty of making him do much of the work, but he is totally enjoying that the porch is a bit cooler temperature-wise this year and sits out there much more than he has in previous years.  If your porch is hot due to late afternoon sun from the west beating in, then I highly recommend doing this to your porch.  Get your husband to help you!  LOL

 We celebrated Memorial Day in a quiet way.  Hung some red, white and blue buntings on the porch and stuck small flags in all of the planters on the porch.  It looked festive, but it was for our eyes only since Covid kept us from inviting friends.  BUT, my husband is a veteran, so it's his day and I make it special for him despite not having any guests. We grilled burgers and hot dogs and I made potato salad, which was plenty of summertime food for the two of us to enjoy.

(Buntings are from Plow and Hearth and they are superb quality)

Our wisteria on the trellis has bloomed, a sight that always takes my breath away, and I am already looking forward to seeing them again next year.

Next year.  Yes, we always have that to look forward to, don't we?

Thanks for stopping by.

And......Five Months Later.....

 Summertime is beginning to close it's doors and autumn is peeking in the windows.

I can't begin to express how happy this makes me, considering that #1, I don't enjoy heat, humidity, bugs and the sheer discomfort of it all.

Some will beg to differ with me, those who live for summer, but we all have different souls with different loves, and autumn just happens to be MY love.

 Our pups enjoy the lushness of the lawn and rolling down the hill that we refer to as our 'backyard', but after only five minutes of enjoyment they are panting and ready to head back inside.... especially THIS particular summer which has had extreme temperatures for weeks and also months on end. Enough is enough Global Warming!

Mankind, or Manevil rather, has caused much of this and it's an issue that I highly doubt will be solved.  It's just sad.

 As happens every year, August and now the past couple of days in September brings foggy early mornings and spider webs. Makes for some nice camera shots, but OH those spider webs that string from tree to bush, bush to house, and across sidewalks at face height!  LOL  You should see us swat at them as they surprise us walking down our own sidewalk.

 Our garden did a great job of growing tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapenos once the early summer lettuce was done.  One or two years ago we had tomatoes up through Thanksgiving.... the plants that just kept on giving I guess you could say,

but this year that's not happening.... no rain other than just a few sprinkles here and there which is really not enough to sustain the garden, or the lawn for that matter.  We took what we could get because each year is different when you garden.  Ask any gardener and they will agree.

 And so, not enough time was spent on the deck and porch, other than the evening dinner grilling.  Autumn always pushes us to spend more quality time out there, and most days no one needs to twist my arm to get me to have my morning coffee there.

 July saw us with eleven inches of rain!

Less in August, and halfway through September and the lawn is crunchy, brown and dry with only 8 tenths of an inch so far.

These photos of the crepe myrtle were taken in August, and the intense heat for weeks on end caused a not so beautiful bush this year.  It gave it it's best shot, but it certainly was not as pretty as most years.

So, in summary, summer has had us dragging our feets and heads a little bit closer to the ground.  Just ask Izzy and Rowdy!

We had a lot of old and broken items piling up around the place, mostly in the basement, so we rented a large rollaway dumpster and filled it up.  We feel a bit lighter having some of the 'junk' gone.

 Here's the last tomato on the vine which my husband picked yesterday.

TADA!

Game over, Garden!  See ya next year!!

We always have a lot of wildlife in the yard, but this year there seems to be a lot more deer than in years past.  They poop everywhere and eat everything.... except for the garden which is fenced, and the hosta, which we planted basil around and also used a deer spray, so they left those alone.

 It's not like I can't see you!!!

Stop pretending you are invisible and SHOO!

So, now that temperatures are beginning to drop in the evenings, we have taken back ownership of our screened porch and even taken a few naps as the sun goes down.

I paid a shopping visit to Marshalls, where the pillows and throws as well as other autumn decorations were in abundance.

I had purchased two fall pillows last year and added to my collection.

Ikenberys, about five miles from home, had tables filled with orange pumpkins, of which I need to go back and buy a few for the front porch,

 but for the back porch I chose three heirloom pumpkins, for which they charge you a bazillion dollars as well as an arm and a leg and your first born child.

JEEZ!

Are these things that rare that they need to charge the price of gold for them?

I dug Mr. Scarecrow out of the basement closet.

See him?  Just his feet I guess.

Oh, THERE YOU ARE, you silly scarecrow.

I adopted him way back in our years between 2000-2004 when we lived in Maryland.

He's gone everywhere we have moved and is still in great physical condition.

I think I'll keep him around forever.

 Here's a bigger view of the porch.  Lots of black and white gingham and buffalo check happening here this year.  A casual fall look that reflects our lifestyle.

So, a few more days of temperatures in the 80's and summer will be history, as we fall into fall and once again take big breaths of cooler air before the really cold air of winter arrives.

Thanks to any of you who are still here and still read blogs.

I'm on Instagram as well under the name dianehakey.

Stop by and pay me a visit!

Love ya!

Sunshiney Happy Things

 The screened porch is beginning to once again take shape for the warmer months of the year, and all furniture has now been 'untarped' and set into place for friends to enjoy with us.

The lawn is greening up, trees are flowering, and soon our mountain views will begin their disappearing act as the leaves sprout and block our view.

We still need to put the indoor/outdoor rugs into place and once the nights no longer drop freezing temperatures upon us, I will also add Boston Ferns to the macrame hangers.

LOVE those Boston Ferns... they are like a breath of fresh air to me.

The potted pansies are still giving us their daily smiles and will be for a while yet, since all they want is sunshine and watering and don't really care about the night temperatures.  Hardy little things!

They may get a surprise in the morning since snow is in the forecast.  icky poo.

 Sometime last week I shared a photo (a very poor photo) of my new bee pendant which I wear on a gold chain around my neck and this week I added to the fun with it's cousin, a bee on a hive pendant. There is a cat eye inside the hive.  Check out the new Shine collection by Pandora if you are interested in these charming bees.  We enjoy having bees buzzing all around our property throughout the summer months and hope that other people will join by making an effort to make their yards bee friendly as well.  NO CHEMICALS!

 I've ruined many a pair of socks by walking out the door, down the sidewalk and across our paved driveway without shoes.

Yesterday I made the effort to stop this sock killing nonsense and bought a $13 pair of rubber yard shoes at Wal-Mart. I can slip these off at the front door when I come inside and hope to make this a healthy 'save the socks' habit.

Happy shoes waiting to go outside today.

Wishing you a happy week-end!

Waiting For April

 Our local grocery store had Boston ferns for sale on their front sidewalk yesterday.  

I had three ferns on our screened porch last year, and they, with some good care, stayed green for months!

Loved that!!

I won't be buying any just yet, since there is the good chance we may still have some over nite temperatures that fall into the 30's over the next few weeks.

Ferns are sold all summer, so there is no chance of me missing out on getting a few for the porch.

They add a bit of pzazz if you ask me.

I tried having Boston Ferns when we lived in the Southwest, but THAT heat simply didn't allow me, no matter how hard I tried, to be successful at keeping them alive.

It's desert country.  It's cactus country. It's ugly country for plants.

Just ugly.

BUT,

we should have an abundance of blooms coming in April.

These blooms were photographed in our planter bed mid April of last year, and I  look forward to their beauty once again.

What Mama Can't Afford

 Praise be to the porch!

The fabulous October PORCH!!

Yippee Kai YAY PORCH!

 So I purchased a few smaller sized pumpkins for the screened porch.

We don't have a lot of 'color changing' trees on our property.

They are mostly piney type trees that don't change like deciduous trees do, so the pumpkins are my fall color from our somewhat like tree house screened porch off the back of our kitchen.

 Did you know that when we sit on this porch that we are at the level of birds flying past?

We see cardinals and bluejays go zipping past us and last month the humming birds were even peeking in through our screens.

Such nosey but lovely little creatures and they make us laugh.

 Along with the pumpkins I had two potted mums on the porch, but today they are planted in the pots on the lower level back patio.  Hopefully they will do well there in REAL flower pots instead of the plastic containers they came in which had them root bound.

 Another benefit to the porch and deck area are that these two have access by a doggie door to be shaded inside the porch, or had through their flapped doggie door to sunbathe.  This month, with it's cooler temperatures, they seem to enjoy sunbathing during the morning hours, and come evenings they move inside and sleep on the dog bed until it's time to come inside for t he night.  Spoiled could definitely be the word to describe them.

 A katie did has been hanging out on the outside of the porch.

She's there on a daily basis.

 October wardrobe with plaids has definitely kicked into  high gear for me, layering is definitely the answer.

AND, red plaid is totally da bomb and makes me feel pretty darned cheery.

 Blouse is Kasper brand from Steinmart at $39.99

Scarf from last year and I still love it as much as the day I purchased it.

The leggings are the Suave brand, also from Steinmart at $29.99,  and they are sold out.

Try these instead.

AND.... still no shoes.

Mama can't afford them.  LOL