Summer Garden Picture Extravaganza

Today I thought I'd share more of my flowers and veggie pictures with everyone and you'll get to see why I don't have time to do much of anything else, ha ha.

I'll start off with my favorite spot to sit in the morning. Our house faces east and this is the front porch where I start off my mornings waiting for Zoey to do her business. The birds are singing and the sun filters through in patches lighting up a zillion different beautiful shades of green and my flowers glistening and soaking up the gentle morning rays.

From my seat I can see my weathered weather vain that I took from my mom's garden. She loved and collected roosters and now I do, too. I can't talk my husband into putting it on the house so I have to be content with it stuck in a whiskey barrel.

How about these gorgeous caladiums that are stealing the show... and my chair.

I can also see my little bunny peeking from under the Vick's Plant in the terra cotta pot. It really smells like menthol.

What garden isn't complete without some hens and chicks?

Here's another sweet reminder of my mother. In fact all the bunnies were hers.

I love my elephant ears. I hope I have enough energy to dig them up this year. They turned out so great I want to have them again without buying them next year. That is pink hibiscus behind them not blooming at the moment.

Another lush spot next the front walk. Love those caladiums!

While we're in the shade, walk a bit this way around the house and see these beauties reaching for their share of sunlight. Oh and around the corner, there is Zoey playing the frog detective and she's found a suspect.

Yes, that's how close our house is to the lake and yes, I'm scared to death and have been ever since Asher was born. He fell in once off the dock while I was in the greenhouse but Thank God I had a sixth sense and had just put a life jacket on him. He was quite shocked though, and then thought it was great fun.

Ok, on to the front of the house again and into the sunshine. Over here I have what I call the septic pot garden. Out here in the country, we don't have things like sewer systems, or cable for that matter. So my hubs said no digging a garden here because the septic tank is just inches below. So I improvised with whiskey barrels and pots and I've snuck a few plants that I know have shallow roots in to the ground.

Angelonia, what a perfect plant. It's been sweltering and it just keeps blooming. These pots get a lot of hot direct sun for many noon time hours. I've dug another one up each year and kept in the greenhouse and it comes back each time.

Walk a few steps over to the swing garden.

Take a closer look at these Black Eyed Susans... just stunning. I love these happy little flowers.

Some lantana just cause it's so pretty and the butterflies love it. Another tough plant I dig up and take in the greenhouse.

Sit in the swing, look to the right and here's the view of the house. Happy little volunteer petunias.

So this is cheating a little. This picture is last years flowers. I forgot to take a swing picture while I was out the other day taking these pics. Oh well, a few things are different and this was taken in August last year so the morning glory is thick, which I'm beginning to wonder if it will be that hardy this year. I am relying on volunteers and didn't actually plant any this year. Live and learn.

Ok, I have to brag a bit about my veggies. Enjoy these...

I'm popping cherry toms in my mouth as I write this post.... mmmmmm

I thought this little guy looked like a rubber ducky.

So there you have it for now. I hope I haven't bored you to tears by now. I love to share my gardens with friends. I don't have any friends that regularly visit in person since we are pretty far out but I've enjoyed having you today. Thanks for looking and I'd love any suggestions or comments. Talk to ya soon!

7 Things ABout Me

My good bloggin' friend, Cambell Jane has bequeathed me a fun award called the Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you Jane! For those of you unfamiliar with Jane, she is a very talented artist and has a fun blog to read. As you all know, I need to pass this on to a few of my other bloggin friends. I'll name them later.

The Versatile Blogger award just asks for you to disclose 7 things about yourself that readers might not know and pass it on. I don't really try to hide things about myself so I'm up for it. Of course I need to keep all my deep dark secrets well... secret and all skeletons will remain in the closet for this post :)

1. I'm a girly girl, but I'm lazy and sometimes it's too much effort to play the part. But I like to appear feminine.

2. My favorite meal would be a perfectly seasoned medium rare ribeye steak with a sweet potato that has brown sugar, cinnamon and butter with 3 sides including a salad with French dressing, shrimp creole, and crawfish etouffee a yeast roll and a never ending glass of fountain drink Diet Coke.

3. I am drawn to gaudy jewelry and prints and I always have been. I must have some gypsy in me because I love that look even though I'm short and can't really pull it off. My mom used to always call me Stevie Nicks.

4. I had a great friend in high school that I unfortunately lost touch with and have desperately tried to reconnect with her with no luck. I've written letters and called and finally just got her to reply, a tiny bit.

5. Given the choice of vanilla or chocolate, I always pick chocolate.

6. I took 2 years of French in high school and can't remember a thing.

7. I have a cosmetology license and have since 1990. I just do family and friends now.

So there you have it, nothing exciting but I sure am craving a steak right now. I look forward to reading the 7 things about these friends who I don't know as well. I hope you have the time to post. If not, no big deal. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. That's what my mom always said and man was she right.

Here's my pick for bloggers to reveal 7 things about them. If you're not on the list, hey do it anyway! I picked these because I don't know much about them. But I'd love to learn more about all of my bloggin' friends! You all deserve awards in my book :)

Jen of Equine Epiphanies • Blogging from my balcony (but I still can't find your blog!) • Lilymom (she has 3 blogs, so I don't know which one she'll use if she participates) • Shelinwa of Pics by Shel

Summer colds are the worst

Ugh... that's how I've felt the last few days. Our household has come down with a bug and we are all hacking, snotting, snoring, sluggish and miserable. Why do summer colds seem to last forever? I expect to get a cold in the winter, but I'm insulted to get sick in the beautiful summertime!

I have taken advantage of being inside and have created a few more things that I will hopefully have ready for my GeeJayCreations Etsy shop. Sales have been dreadful, but it's probably my fault at not keeping the shop fresh by adding new stuff all the time. Summer is for being outside, I say. Except when you're sick... ha ha. But today I got all doped up on cold meds that I had to sign my name for and got out there and watered and did a few things to cheer me up. My flowers are good at cheering me up. Tiny frogs jumping from their hiding places as I water and butterflies fluttering about. Hummingbirds dive bombing. Joy! If the snot wasn't flowing freely from my nose every time I bent down it would be a lot more enjoyable, but I'll take it. At least I'm not moping on the couch channel surfing. We were supposed to be enjoying a fun weekend with family in Chicago this weekend, but since we're all sick that's out. Hopefully another time.

Well, my movie is on Lifetime right now... hey at least I didn't mope on the couch all day! Besides, I need to catch up on Work of ARt, which I'm behind on. Have a fun weekend my friends!

Where have I been?

It's been over a week since I've written and a lot can happen in a week. Unfortunately, not a lot of good happened. My Uncle Eddie, my mother's brother, died last Thursday. So I've been to the funeral home the last couple days which is not easy because it is the very same funeral home and cemetery where I buried my mom. Family was all around, which is good. I have felt very alone since I lost Mom and it feels good to see and do things that Mom would have been doing if she were alive. Of course I cried like a baby the entire time. It is all still so fresh and I miss her and love her still so much. It was just a year ago this month that we found out Mom had cancer. I am amazed at how fast time goes by.

Mom would've loved this begonia I took a picture of a while back. Good thing I took a picture of it, cause I killed it. I had a yellow one just as beautiful, killed it too. I think my green thumb is turning brown.

Realizations

I read a blogger friends post this evening (Heather T's Memoirs) and was inspired to share my feelings here now.

Isn't it funny how we have little realizations in life? As a mommy to an energetic little boy, I get irritated at times (too often and too fast) and think of things as a hassle... but then I realize... I'm going to miss this. This time with him has already gone so fast! I just can't believe it and soon my time as the Mommy and his entire world will be 2nd fiddle to his life. All I can do is pray. Pray for wisdom to have more of these realizations! My mom always told me to not pray for patience! So I pray for wisdom. What do you pray for?

Needing Creativity Fairy to visit me

I haven't created anything in real life for a while now and I'm feeling like every time I'm ready to do it, something has come up. My summer has become increasingly busy, but I really miss sitting down with my pencil or brush or VisTablet pen to create something tangible. Oh, I do a lot of creating in my head. Masterpieces, each and every one I assure you... ha ha  but I really need a kick in the creative butt to get me going again! Sometimes all this responsibility sucks the fun right out of everything, doesn't it?

I haven't done any moving lately upstairs to my new studio room either. I cleared it out some but now with swimming lessons, the garden coming in full swing, new super great dog, trips to the zoo, etc. I just haven't had the time. One minute melts into the next and before you know it, it's bedtime already.

I tell ya, everytime I watch the show Work of Art I get inspired. Just seeing other people create gets me going. Is anyone watching that? I know you are, Theresa, if you're reading this. I really like Abdi's work and he really thinks about the challenge, and I think Mark has a really great personality and his Photoshop skills are impressive. For some reason Miles just annoys me. I don't really get Nicole's work so far and Nao from the get go seemed like she thought hers was the best and would win, I'm kinda glad to see her go. I like Erik and can relate somewhat not being formally trained and all. I liked John, Jaime Lynn was ok, but her last piece was kinda a let down. Jaclyn to me is a talented young artist but is very much an exhibitionist and that turns me off. Trong was different and I would have liked to have seen more, I liked him. Ryan is pretty good but seems to be taking the role of artist to heart with his "look" and that kinda over shadows his work. Judith was kinda crazy, but entertaining. I liked it that she bugged Miles... ha ha. Poor Amanda had her bad day on the first challenge.

I think the show ought to go like this: All the artists remain for the entire season, winning and losing the challenges and the winner is picked at the end from a compilation of all their wins and losses together, not from one bad day. Everybody has off days, it's a shame to have someone tossed out because of their bad day, like John, Amanda and Jaime Lynn. Art is subjective and I think most of what the judges say is a load of B.S. Sometimes you can tell the artist getting the critique is like "yeah, that's what it means" all the while thinking 'Look man, I just created something that I hope doesn't get me thrown off the show'. Can't art just be pretty (or ugly) and evoke a personal response sometimes? Why does it have to actually have a meaning all the time? Maybe that's why I'm still a starving artist.. ha ha.

Fish Lips

Can you believe the size of my top lip? Today while watering my flowers I felt a bug land on me and the next thing I know I pulling a knat from my mouth. I didn't think anything about it because they are out in hoards right now buzzing and trying to get in your eyes and mouth and nose. But then I pulled another bug from my mouth and this time I felt a sting. This little bug was smaller than a sesame seed and was black and looked like a tiny little seed. I continued watering and felt it stinging but not anything that would warrant me actually stopping what I was doing to go check. Finally I felt a little pill size puffiness and went to look in the car door mirror. Great. It had swollen some so I went inside to get the Vick's vapor rub, which is fantastic for ANY STING of any kind, takes the hurt right out immediately. I dabbed a little on and went back out to continue watering. About 5 minutes later I noticed that I could see my lip in my peripheral vision! I looked in the car door mirror again and gasped! This is what it turned into!! 

I put up with it for a couple hours hoping it would go down. Nope. So I took some children's benedryl which is nasty by the way, blech. It is still swollen but by about half now 5 hours later.  I think I can safely say now, I don't believe I would look that good with those lip injections.

I'm a bug magnet.

Meet our newest family member - Zoey!

Well, things usually work out like this for me and never as planned. I had plans to get Shena, she was my first pick from the get go... but things changed and I'm so happy (so far) with Zoey. Let me share my story with you...

If you've been reading along, you know that Asher and I went to meet and hopefully adopt Shena yesterday. She turned out to be full size and 6 months older than her picture, but I accepted that in my hour long visit. What I couldn't shake and through no fault of that sweet girl Shena, was that she was part Pit Bull mix. I know, I know for those Pit Bull lovers out there, there is a horrible misconception about these super intelligent creatures, but I just couldn't get over it. My baby and my adult life long cat's life were possibly at steak here and I just tossed and turned last night in bed and barely got any sleep just worried to death about this dog. I felt committed to her, I still do to an extent but in the end I had to go with my gut. I pray she finds a home and real soon. I really hate to think about this animal being put down.

I met Zoey's foster family tonight about 7:45 pm for the first time and they are really great genuine, truthful, no holds bar, good kinda people. I felt immediately at ease and fell in love instantly with Zoey. She was calm and friendly, no jumping no barking just curious and happy to see us. I think I knew the instant I reached down and touched her soft coat that she would be joining our family. Asher loved her, but also loved the foster family's cute daughter named Chevy, they were just a year apart and screamed and played in between playing and hugging Zoey. We went to just visit Zoey tonight not intending to bring her home but everything felt right and fell into place and I guess Asher and I passed "the test" to the foster family. There was another lady that wanted Zoey, but she lives in an apartment with no yard and they had to make the best decision for Zoey. I'm so glad things worked out. God always has a plan, now I just hope that my husband will fall in love with her, too.

Asher was so cute telling Zoey what each room was. He talks to her like she is his buddy. "This is my room Zoey, this is mom's room, here's the bathroom Zoey". Too cute, I wish I had it recorded, oh well.

I have to report that she needs work on a leash and needs better car riding manners but we can work on those. She hurried through the house sniffing and wagging the whole time. Glove, my cat, of course vacated the vicinity. She has lots of safe havens for her to escape to. They have plenty of time to "meet" and honestly, I get the best feeling from this. I'm just sure they will get along, I'm not afraid for her safety at all with Zoey. Glove is sleeping at my feet as I write this, so she's not mad like I thought she would be. As a matter of fact, she has already helped herself to Zoey's food. I may need to stop that, you just don't mess with a girl's food ya know. Plus if something would set Zoey off, I would think her food would be the only thing. We'll see... in a controlled situation.

I set up Zoey's "den" (crate) and put in her brand new fuzzy and soft pad and Asher had to add one of his baby blankets for her "to put her head on" and soon after checking out her new surroundings, we put her to bed. I plan to crate her at night and that is what the foster family did as well, so it's working out perfectly (so far). Granted it's only been about an hour since I put both Asher and Zoey down, they both did excellent. Zoey wimpered a little but I think she got the idea. I turned all the lights down low and put a sheet over most of the openings on her crate and as ASher fell asleep she calmed down and is being quiet and I hope has fallen asleep. Daryl will be home any minute now and I'm nervous, but I think things will smooth out once he sees what a good girl she is. Think positive thoughts for me!

Disappointing Doggy Day

We went to the animal shelter, Asher and I did today with such feelings of excitement and rush of happiness only to find out we can't get Shena until Saturday. Oh... it'll never get here.

In my disappointment and surprise (she is 6 months older now than in the picture! Plus 50 pounds of muscle!) I forgot to snap a new picture of her even though I had my camera with me. I also found out her original name was Lilly Rose. I guess the volunteers rename them, I'm not sure how that came about. I had already gotten used to the name Shena but I think she would pretty much come to anything. The poor thing has been in the shelter and in and out of a foster family for half her life already. I think I will stick to the name Shena. We went to the Pet Food Center anyway and bought some new chew toys for her and I picked out a soft and cozy pad for her kennel that she will sleep in, I'm sure to my husbands dismay.

Oh, but what a sweet girl she is I can already tell even with just the hour long visit I had with her today. I have to admit, when she was first brought to us and she was a lot bigger than I thought she would be I had my doubts! Plus, the woman at the counter was getting off her shift and bent down to pet Shena and said to me and the volunteer with a smile "aww shes got some bull in her, too". As in Pit Bull. OMG. Not what a mother of a four year old wants to hear. The volunteer told me she didn't think Shena was pit bull and I had looked up American Staffordshire terrier earlier and could see that they could resemble a pit but because of their head and chest being so large, so I hope the counter lady is wrong (no offense to pit bull owners). Then she was sooooo excited and of coursed piddled on the floor and then stepped in it and then jumped on Asher and knocked him into the glass doors... oh my... I thought I can't take this dog.

But I looked at Asher and asked him if he was scared and at first the look on his face was astonishment I think but he shook his head no and by the time we decided to leave she had calmed down considerably and my heart already was connected with hers. How can I not take this dog? We are her only hope. Most of you know that at an animal control type of place, animals are on the waiting list to... well you know. I can't bear the thought. I have to save this sweet dog. I pray that Shena works out. I know that she will not be in puppy stage for more than 6 more months or so and she will surly calm down once allowed to run and be loved on constantly and have her forever home. I really pray too, that my beautiful cat Glove who is about 17 will understand and forgive me for bringing in an outsider and not go neurotic on me or worse. Shena is reportedly good with cats, I hope and pray that is true.

So please, everyone give me your prayers that Shena will work out wonderfully and that my husband will fall in love with her and all will be well. I'll keep you all posted!

Looking for new family member

Well, I don't know what the appropriate time to wait is, but I think we've waited long enough while grieving for Banshee. Although it's strange to grieve for her not knowing for sure that she is gone. But I have accepted that she is not coming home to us. I got to looking and she was 12 and a half. She lived a great life here with us and we miss her terribly. I especially miss her sweet face looking up from under the pine trees when I come home. She would also greet me at my car door, her soft muzzle gently bumping my hand wanting and getting love in return. I'm getting a little misty eyed just thinking of that sweet face I'll never touch again. I was her main care giver and I think her loss has affected me the most.

We are not replacing her, but bringing in a new family member to add joy and laughter to our lives that we miss with Banshee being gone. I have a bit of a struggle on my hands, unfortunately though. My husband was raised on a small farm and animals were kept outside. So of course he wants an outside dog. Asher and I do not, we want an inside one that we can snuggle and love all the time, no matter how hot or cold outside.

Banshee was an outside dog, which I hated but had to go along with. She was destructive as a puppy and while we were both at work, she got bored. She also hated her crate and howled... well like a banshee all through the night. She had the coat for winter and I groomed her to thin it out for summer and later in her life I started to shave her for summer, which she hated... ha ha. I've looked for the photos of the first time I did it and she looked like a cartoon character. She was mad at me for a few days with that one.

This disagreement has been a source of trouble for my husband and me, but I'm sure once he gets used to it, he'll love having an inside dog, too. Growing up, we always had an inside dog, they were part of the family. I want that for Asher... and myself again. Besides, he is not home (awake) for many hours during the day and we are here all the time.

I've done my secret search with petfinder.com and have come to find two little girls that I think will make a great match for Asher and myself. I want to share them with you. I have contacted both the foster owners and am anxiously awaiting for their replies. I keep checking my email, since that's how they want it, over and over! I want to go look right now!!! Asher has surprisingly understood the secrecy. I've showed him the pictures and he is excited. So here they are:

This is Zoey

And this is Shena

Oh my goodness, if they are still available... how will I ever decide???? Both of those faces just make me melt. Asher says lets get both!! Well, that might push my husband over the edge, so we better not.

Shena is a puppy and I have to admit I am leaning towards her. She is an American Staffordshire Terrier Boxer mix. Which really doesn't matter too much to me just that she loves us and we love her is all that matters.

Zoey, is a Spaniel Engish Setter mix, which again doesn't matter. She is 2-3 years old and past the puppy stage (seductively!) She is well mannered and already accustomed to a 3 year old child.

So an upcoming post will either be about the girls or a pending divorce... haha just kidding. I think I will win this one. Wish me luck ladies!

Happy Independence Day everyone!!!