Lots of rain around North Iowa today and a tornado about an hour east of us. God provides rainy days for so many reasons – the crops first of all. The corn has popped up in Tim’s field across the road, in the same field I measured each week last year. I may have to do that again this year.
Connie is at the lake this weekend and has a big finish to show you – her Bullseye quilt! I just love it! It’s so bright and fun!
Every time I see another Bullseye, I want to make another one – now I want to make one like Connie’s!
Hazel absolutely loves the Frisbee Becky gave her and if I could be consistent when throwing it, she could catch it nearly every time. She gets hot though and then it’s into the swimming pool – with her Frisbee.
After I got all the plants moved out I started cleaning – mostly the floors and all the “saucers” that were under the plants. They’re now washed and put away till next fall.
Floors are concrete and not intended to be shiny – I’m just happy they’re scrubbed for the season! I put lots of stuff aside to take to Junkin Gal. I know I have too much stuff but when I return a lot of it to the thrift store, it will feel like I just rented the stuff. Haha! Is it possible I could be a minimalist? …….. No, I don’t think so!
The night blooming cereus or the orchid cactus has its first bloom.
When Hazel saw it she was afraid of it! She barked and barked and would not go close. Too funny!
I counted at least a dozen more blooms on the plant which is many years old. Plant is not very pretty but when it finally blooms, it’s all worth it!
As I moved rugs this morning, this rug moved out of the sitting area even though I still like it very much.
I love my cats, too, but they were really hard on this rug as you can see.
Several readers had memories of bullhead fishing. In Becky’s 3rd grade class a few years ago, the kids were assigned to write about a real event in their lives. Becky wrote this story as an example.
Our family was fishing for bullheads at Crystal Lake when we were kids. Family consisted of Mom, Dad, Mary, Becky, and Jack. Becky cast her line and caught Jack’s cheek right in front of his ear with the hook on the end of her line. Dad cut the line and rushed Jack to the doctor, where the hook with the night crawler still on it was removed.
When she wrote her tall tale it went like this. After Becky caught Jack’s cheek with her hook, she cast him back into the lake and ended up catching the World’s Largest Bullhead which sits at the end of Main Street right by the lake even today.
Hilarious!
I just had to add this bullhead story while it was fresh on my mind. I also have an aging revelation nearly every day. I never thought much about getting dressed, pants, shoes, etc. but lately it’s become very clear that I need to sit down to get dressed! What’s with that? Good grief, I hate getting old!
That’s all for today, Girls! I got delayed writing this because I started right in cleaning this morning. I’ll bet most of you had more fun on Memorial Day than I did. But now it’s done!
Great post – love the fish story and the flower and the hooked rug and the quilt!!!
I’M not sure how old you are—–I think around my age, or I might be a tad older, but I have to sit to get my shoes and socks on, and getting my underwear on, I usually lean against the bath room cabinet to give me support. I hate that I’m getting old. My mind thinks I’m still 45-50.
Marie Beers – disgusting, isn’t it? I will be 71 in July.
Ha! Wait until you get to be my age. I will be 82 in July, 11 years older than you. I am still kickin’…but not as high and not as often. I finally don’t have a car, and live in Assisted Living, and get taken to the dining room in a wheel chair! Whew! And I often use a walker.
I think you are doing just fine, all the work you do. But if I could give you and everyone on here a piece of advice just “don’t fall”!!! Not an easy thing to master.
Mary E.
😄😄😂what a funny story. We just finished a rain storm. Snow is in the forecast…again! My husband is at the Boy Scout Ranch trying to get the water working. I’m sure he’s wet and cold. Not such a fun holiday, but we can celebrate any time.
Your porch looks great. The breeze will feel good this summer.
Thanks for the Hazel fix, she makes me smile.
I’ll check back later for ads to click.
Well, Mary, I was having a nice Memorial Day, just gardening on a clear, low seventies, blue sky sunny day. Until I noticed four carpenter bees making Swiss cheese out of our fairly new shed. I had just said to my husband, “This us the first time all of the gardens are set and all we have is maintenance.” Now we have to rid ourselves of carpenter bees. And I’m not sure, I don’t know much about them, but all around one hole, the corner of the shed is all chewed up. Woodpeckers? Squirrels? The bees? I am ready to give up and let the bees, chipmunks and mice win.
PS your cactus is gorgeous… and Hazel is a hoot! You could write a children’s book… Hazel the Adorable Hound! Oops, is calling a dog a hound an insult?
Carol – what’s a carpenter bee? Do they chew lumber? Or do you have something else going on there? The squirrels have chewed a hole in our little shed. No, not an insult in my eyes! I want to be a children’s’ book author in my next left. My first book will be the House Goat and then Hazel.
I have carpenter bees in my back fence. They are very large, slow flying bees that burrow into the wood and leave larvae for next year’s bees. I read on a blog that some ways to get rid of them are to rub vicks vaporub on the underside of the wood. One is to create a wasp’s nest out of plastic bags and hang it up under the eaves, because the carpenter bees don’t like wasps. I am doing this one this year. I don’t have any vicks right now.
You can also take a badminton racket and swat them out of the air, then step on them with your sturdy shoes and kill them. They don’t swarm you when you do this. I’ve done this.
The Terminx guy said he would spray the holes, but I know he didn’t because the holes are on the posts facing the fence and thus unreachable. Also, he didn’t spend enough time back there to have done them all.
Hi there, thanks for the tips! Our exterminator did spray two holes, or sprinkle some dust or something, and gave me the “stain your dry wood” advice. He also gave suggestions to deter the woodpeckers … we have a woods behind our house, and neighbors with decrepit old sheds, why pick on the newer one??? I guess he likes my wave pansies and lace drapes in the window (my husband didn’t!)!
So carpenter bees, I now know more than I wish. They drill evenly spaced perfect little holes, which evidently are tunnels that they deposit eggs/ larva/ whatever they are… and then hang out and feed them the same way hive bees do. At least that’s what I’ve read, perhaps someone reading knows more…
Can you tell I only view bees as lovely pollinators and don’t really delve into their biological functions?
After they do their damage, which isn’t extensive unless you get tons of them, we had four that I could see (they are actually solitary little pests), the woodpeckers come along and drum away at the holes to eat them and the larvae for dinner.
It’s actually the woodpecker who creates the really damage. The woodpecker banged out a good six inches in length by three inches section of the corner of the shed. Not only do they get dinner for their efforts but this is how woodpeckers claim their turf. The loud drumming on dry wood tells the rest of the woodpeckers, back off!
Our shed is three years old, Amish built, really well constructed for a shed. The exterminator told us the best thing to do is re-stain the shed as it’s beginning to dry out. Evidently carpenter bees and woodpeckers like dry wood.
We were told we’d only have to stain it about every ten years! Ha ha! We thought, well, we’ll stain it in 2026, and in 2036 we’ll be dead and … not our problem! Ha, ha, if we live that long, we’ll be staining it six times! Jokes on us!
So if you don’t know carpenter bees, you’re lucky. If two of them are fighting to claim the same spot, and you’re caught in the middle, they will buzz dive you to make you go away. We had them every year at our nail post at the street, so last year we got a metal mailbox situation to stymie the bees! You just cannot outfox Mother Nature!
In my next life, I will be looking forward to your children’s books! I was a children’s literature “specialist” pre-retirement… hoping I am reincarnated as a librarian!
We had a noon cookout today and after we ate, I was checking the Weather Channel to see when forecast storms would arrive as our son had to drive back to Indianapolis. Yikes! Tornadoes in north Iowa! Looked up Garner to see if you & Connie were at risk, glad to find out you are west of the bad weather. We didn’t get the mid afternoon storms that were forecast, but now we’re in a level 3/5 on the severe storm warning scale and under a tornado watch until midnight. Could be an interesting evening!
Love the fish story and all your flowers. Glad the tornadoes were not near you. We had a quiet weekend here in VA with good weather till we had a tornado warning on Saturday afternoon. No touch downs but we did get hail the size of quarters. Worked some on my 3 quilts I have going at the same time. We are Nascar fans so we watched the races on Sunday.
Carolyn B Shenandoah Valley VA
Your cactus flower is gorgeous! And huge!! No wonder Hazel was a little apprehensive! And your rug is so pretty–almost matches the cactus bloom. Our Gizmo wreaks havoc on anything he can scratch on like that too. Makes me crazy sometimes, but he’s such a lover that I have to forgive him.
Connie’s Bull’s Eye is bright and wonderful! I have thought about making another Bull’s Eye as well, but mostly because I’d love to try one of the different layouts!
Becky’s bullhead story made me chuckle. I always love seeing those ‘world’s biggest’ statues around the Midwest. Minnesota, I think, has a biggest Walleye somewhere and, of course, Paul Bunyan and Babe in a couple of different places. I just think they’re fun!
Our Memorial Day has been quiet. We have folks waving flags from bridges over the interstate–some have been out for hours! The remake of the Hallelujah chorus you sent had me in tears before the first verse was sung. I’ve always gotten emotional whenever the National Anthem is sung or the colors presented, but it’s worse now that Justin is serving. I get so I can barely breathe thinking of him being in harm’s way–and every soldier is someone’s son or daughter.
Diane Bauer – i
Diane Bauer – I thought the newest version of Hallelujah was just beautiful and Becky and I should learn it so we can sing it in church in 2020 during the Memorial Day service.
I had no ads at all until I posted my comment, and then I had 6 to close. So ladies, if you post a comment, go back and check for ads before you close out the blog!
Diane Bauer – thank you for encouraging everyone to close the ads!
Connie’s Bullseye is a real winner! I really love it! If Hazel likes to play frisbee you might look for one with a soft edge. It’s made of nylon with tubing in the edge so it won’t hurt her mouth when she catches it. Our dogs love them! Your porch looks great!
Ellie – she doesn’t seem to mind but I’ll look for one – thank you!
Good thing my nephew took his mother and me to the 2 cemeteries yesterday. This morning it is so foggy we can’t see the church that is right across the street. The fog comes and goes. Right now it is raining and supposed to get worse overnight. I can’t imagine what it would have been like at the National Cemetery programs this morning. They probably couldn’t see the tombstones more than 15 feet away? I’m sure we’ll see pictures on the news. It is a good day to stay inside. I’ve been trying to pick out fabric for the convent quilt.
I’m with the lady who cries when they play taps and when they fly the lost man formation and just even flyovers. They are breathless.
I know different locals have different names for things, so is Iowa a bull head place?
Betty K – no, I don’t think Iowa is known for bullheads but it seems that it’s a Midwest thing.
Sharon in Yorkville, Illinois
Hazel is adorable and I love your Night Blooming plant! Memorial Day was quiet here. I spread grass seed on Sunday and hoped for a gentle rain. It was a deluge. I wonder where the grass will come up! sigh…a shady yard doesn’t make it easy to have a nice lawn.
I wonder how many saw the Memorial Day concert from Washington. I watch it every year. God Bless our military and our country.
Sharon Lowry – Darn it – I forgot to turn the tv on last night! I always watch on 4th of July, too. Raining here again this morning. Yuck.
We had two rounds of heavy rain in the Oskaloosa area today. The sun did shine in the afternoon, but more rain predicted for tonight. Our fields are so soggy and wet here. Corn is up in many fields, but most beans are not planted yet. We feel for the farmers. My husband is a retired farmer, so we have been there in the past. Love all your pictures. My husband grilled hamburgers for supper. It was too rainy to grill at noon.
I am starting to collect fat quarters for another bullseye quilt!. Really like the cactus bloom.
No ads even after I commented.
Jeanine – ad blocker on your device possibly?
No, I had it on, but took it off your blog.
No ad blocker on.
Jeanine – hmmmm – that was only my suggestion
I no longer have the balance to stand on one leg to do much of anything. It’s a rude awakening to discover these things. On a bike trip in Holland last month, I discovered I can no longer ride 30 miles in a day, even in flat Holland. Other people in our group were passing me right and left. Then I discovered they were riding e-bikes! No wonder! I tried one out and I’m always having an e-bike from now on. I turn 75 in a few weeks. Loved seeing Hazel lounging in her pool! What a cute dog!
Pat Smith – what is an e-bike? I can no longer stand on one leg either – so annoying! Hazel says “thank you”!
Ladies, hit the blue title in Mary’s blog. Many ads are there!!
Linda Rouse – really? Thank you, Linda!
We had over 2 inches of rain today so it was a great day to sew. Your cactus blooms are very pretty.
Had a busy three days, gardening, planting squash seeds and cannas, putting up a fence in front of a bed before the zinnias seeds get growing. Cleaning up pots and buckets that I stored the cannas in over the winter. Walked a mile and a half every day. And the most fun was finishing the quilting and attaching the binding on the last of the 10 quilts I have been making for my siblings for the last four years. Yahoo!
Mary your flowers beautiful, thanks for sharing.
I had to read the fish story to my husband. Very funny! We celebrated Memorial Day on Saturday with family. So today was not great either. I announced I was going to sew all day as it was supposed to rain all day. But before I sewed I wanted to find a wallet that was in one of my purses as my current one ripped. So into my bedroom closet I went, pulled one purse down from shelf and 8 purses fell. Found the wallet but ended up purging some, then cleaning the whole closet, purging more…..never sewed a stitch. Sigh, maybe tonight?
Linda Rouse – sounds like my day – I can get distracted for hours!
Mary, you should put in your post that ladies need to hit the blue title in your blog. I just went in and out 6 times and opened and closed at least 12 times. But I drew the line on opening grooming stuff for a beard. I am not there, yet, haha. Most of my ads are for big fabric stores, clothing and jewelry.
Linda Rouse – and you don’t even have to open the ad, I don’t think. Just click to close it!
Oh that I didn’t know. But clicking on the Blue title IN your blog works with ads Everytime for me.
That rug is lovely! Just trim off the snags with a scissors and it will look good as new,I do it all the time. We have 4 cats,two with good manners, two without. Trimming rugs is a constant ! I love your blog,so kind of you to share your adventures with everyone! 💗
Susie Lenz – well, it would sure look better, wouldn’t it? I’ll do it! Thanks!
Ladies, we are not old! Just OLDER. My body has some age on it but I still feel like a school girl. I’m never going to get old, just older… like every other person on this earth.
I like the pictures of the fish and the night blooming cereus. I had one of the night blooming cereus for quite a number of years before I killed it. I heard about the beautiful blooms but never saw one; yours is beautiful. That fish brings back many memories and even now I enjoy seeing it when I’m in the area.
Always enjoy your post. In one of the pictures with Connie’s quilt, there’s a quilt in the background. Is this a wall hanging? It looks very 4th of July. Also is it available for sale? Thanks for all you do.
Bonnie Glidden – the name of that patriotic pattern is Dandy – available for $10.00
Do I send a SAE or just a address label?
Bonnie Glidden – what are you ordering? We never have asked for a SAE so I’m sure it’s just an address label.
Th orchid cactus is amazing and Hazel is wonderful!
Love, love Connie’s bullseye…as you can tell, I love color.
My niece & I visit & decorate 9 family graves always the Saturday before Memorial Day…something my Mother always did. Today, I attended the Memorial Day Services here in Fort Atkinson, WI…we had a WWII Vet celebrating his 100th birthday today…he was our parade Marshall. So special!
I don’t write often, but always look forward to your adventures & stories of life on the farm.
Donna L – thanks for writing, Donna! You should do it more often and tell us about yourself! I’ve always said – “everybody has a story!” and I see proof of that almost every day on this blog!
Found out this weekend that I am not as young as I thought I was.
I had made a road trip rip to the Mennonite greenhouses by Ionia and bought way too many flowers, so started out by getting them in pots.
Then I dug grass out of the veggie garden Saturday in preparation for tomato plants and cakes. By the time I was done, my hair was dripping wet and I was pooped out. Sat outside and read for awhile to cool off. I was still hot after taking a shower and ended up turning on the floor fan and sat directly in front of it for the final cool down.
Sunday I added more compost etc to the garden and planted. So glad it is done for another year.
Spent the day inside today cleaning out closets……time to purge!
Julie B – Becky always tells me to slow down and not try to do it all in one day. Good advice for you, too!
Mary it really would be a good idea to get a soft frisbee.
Ron’s dog broke a tooth chasing his frisbee.
Vet suggested the soft frisbee
Brenda A – I did not know there was such a thing! Hazel has worn her teeth down chewing on the door into the feed room! She jumps up and grabs the edge with her teeth and hangs on!! Yikes! So could something be done for the dog with a broken tooth? Did the vet pull it?
Yes had to have it pulled.
Brenda – yikes! Hazel loves the Frisbee – I’m not a very good thrower tho’
Right now Mary I smell like Ben Gay cause my legs and feet are slathered in pain relief creams. Last night I couldn’t sleep with so many aches and pains from my busy day so I took 2 Advil at midnight hoping to fall asleep. So tonight I thought I will use that and hope I have a pain free night cause I sure can’t do all I use to do. It’s so hard to accept our limits but I am trying. And I sure don’t have as much in my yard to take care of as you do so I know I couldn’t do all you do. It was the first time in many years I didn’t go to our towns Memorial Day parade and services cause I was moving so slow this morning. Felt bad. I loved the tributes NASCAR did last night for soldiers who lost lives with their names on the cars.
Tomorrow rain is expected so I might sew. Looking at Connie’s quilt makes me want to start another one too, but I need to get my flannel one sandwiched and quilted first. I sure love those quilts.
Kathy in western NY – I simply hate that I can’t work like I used to. I know about pain that keeps you awake. I take 3 ibuprofen every night before bed and again first thing in the morning. Right now I have a torn meniscus in my left knee but my doctor won’t fix it because he says I need a knee replacement instead and I’m not ready to do that at this time! I will manage awhile longer before I cry “uncle”!
Waiting won’t help one bit! If you’re old enough for Medicare, have it taken care of. You deserve to be pain free. You have to take good care of yourself. J just turned 80, but I feel about 50 in my head and that gets me in trouble nearly every day. i have to be more aware of my movements so I don’t do something too fast and hurt myself. It’s all a learning process.
B.J. Berlo – ain’t that just the truth! Everyday I discover things I can’t do as easily as I could – and want to! Haha!
Careful with Ibuprofen, it can really mess with your stomach.
Cactus bloom is beautiful as is Connie’s quilt…I see another bullseye in my future. Drove into Fort Worth this morning to attend a memorial service with my son. Was a beautiful service & with the mice breeze and tents that were erected was pleasant. I love the Hallelujah Chorus! Every version I have ever heard is beautiful & moving. Check the thermometer son has on his fence about half hour ago & showing 92…not ready for the heat!!!!
Nikki M – I picked your name out of my brain along with several others – I absolutely loved this new rendition which I’d never heard before. I want us to learn this before next Memorial Day so we can do it in church.
Did I miss a post? What is this new version of the Hallelujah Chorus people are talking about? I thought I’ve read them all.
Sue In PA – google it – this version is about a soldier
Googled the soldier version…brought me to tears…Thank you for sharing.
Love the Bullseye quilt! What an awesome way to use scraps! The bullhead story is great! It poured here all day….
Janie Lang – you must be in the Midwest because it rained most of the day here, too! And now the temperature has dropped and the wind has switches to the northwest. Yes, I love the bullhead story! So funny!
Well, Mary, I agree this “getting old” is not for sissies! However, I do outdo you – I will be 75 in 17 days, but whose counting!! Glad to still be here though.
Good for you for getting your porch all ready for the season! It is beautiful and I’m sure you will have your coffee there every morning and enjoy it every day! The Cactus orchid is so beautiful! WOW! So funny that Hazel was afraid of it. She sure loves her frisbee! Love Connie’s bullseye quilt, yes, so colorful and lovely. I was watching the tornado warnings today – they were saying that one might hit a corner of Rochester but it didn’t. Sure a lot of damage in Charles City! We have had so much rain and I’m sure you have too.
What are the row of pictures of above your porch windows?
Hazel is soooo cute! Just a suggestion don’t throw the frizbee to high for Hazel to jump and catch, as we had lab dog a few years ago and she jumped and hurt his hips in landing.
Too much rain for our area, Storm Lake too. Marie
Marie Fibelstad – all of those pictures on the soffit are vintage dog pictures. I also have them in the piano room. I have loved and collected dog pictures for many years. Would you like to see some of them up close?
Hi Mary – I love Connie’s quilt, it is lovely! We got a puppy when we lived in Cresco a month after we got married, well a long time ago lol and within a year she learned that she loved playing frisbee! We went thru a lot of frisbees and she never broke any teeth. Oh my, she would go after that frisbee until she couldn’t and she would take the frisbee and go lay in the shade until she was ready again, get a drink, and she would bring it back. She played until she was old and couldn’t fly and catch it in the air, but she would still go pick up and bring it back.
We had a good day – we were called early this morning to stay with our 4.5 yo and 2.5 yo grandsons so mom and dad could go to the hospital. By noon we had a brand new grandson Phillip James! After naps we took the littles in to meet their new brother. They thought it was pretty great to hold him. (I also welcomed their mom into the ‘mom of 3 boys club’ lol).
Sherry
Oh, how exciting Sherry! Congratulations on your newest grandson! That is a great way to spend Memorial Day for sure. We had a great weekend – three days of sun in a row! Finally! We spent the weekend watching our grandson in his soccer tournament, cleaning up the yard and today we visited graves and walked around the cemetery marveling at the age of some of the stones – some as early as 1700’s. Such a great day. Mary, the pictures of Hazel in the pool – and the bullhead story, just loved those! Love Connie’s bull’s eye too. And I am glad I am not alone in the “hate getting old” club. Jan in MA
Jan in MA – maybe we should rename this group “hate getting old”! Haha!
Sherry – oh my goodness, what an exciting Memorial Day! Was one of the brothers the grandson who was so small when he was born? Or am I not remembering correctly? Mom is going to be busy, isn’t she?
What kind of dog did you have that loved the Frisbee? I never once thought of getting her one and when Becky brought it to her she had no idea what it was all about. She’s got it figured out now!
Will you be at MN Quilters on the 13th? We’re all going to meet in the food court at 1:00 for a “board” meeting! Hope you can come!
Mary and Janice – It was exciting! And Janice – lucky THREE days in a row of sunshine? I shouldn’t complain – we did have 2 days of very nice sunshine. We got at least 2.5 inches of rain today, last I checked, but no tornadoes in our immediate area.
Mary, Joe and Ben are cousins to Rainn, our 20 oz. preemie grand. Rainn has a brother and sister as well, Rainn will be 8 this summer already! We now have 8 grands, 6 boys and 2 girls. I think this will be it though…8 is a nice number! And as a braggy grandma – I sent you a couple of photos lol.
Our dog (Pumpkin – nicknamed Punky) was a mutt mix, a puppy we bought for a dollar at some flea market or farmers market in Cresco. I think we had been married a month. She was quite orange…hence the name. Supposedly she was a dachshund and white German shepherd mix. She was about 18 inches tall and maybe 35 – 40 pounds. And she shed a lot! Our kids and the neighbor kids loved to play frisbee with her and we had to keep an eye out when they did because the dog knew when she need to rest and would take the frisbee away from the kids, but the kids would run over to her and grab the frisbee and throw it – and she would go after it. She just couldn’t stop. She could probably jump at least 3 feet, probably closer to 4 feet in the air to catch the frisbee. Gee I miss her! She took everything in stride – we brought home 3 babies during her time and she was accepting and tolerant. We’ve never had another dog – mostly because our work life wouldn’t have been fair to a dog being alone that much, but also – what if another dog wouldn’t be as amazing as Punky!?! Anyway…the kids have a dog, I have one laying on my feet while I am typing right now so I am not without dog contact lol.
Yes, I am planning on Thursday at the quilt show. We are suppose to have our small quilt group meeting that day and we’ve decided that a better place for our meeting that day will be at the quilt show! 1pm is on my calendar!
Sherry
Sherry – I loved the pictures and I can’t believe that tiny baby is 8 years old! Wow! I also loved hearing about Punky and know exactly what you mean about knowing when to stop. I have to put the Frisbee out of sight because Hazel would keep on – until she gets in the pool. Then I know she’s ready for a break!
Raining and 50 degrees here – so sad. I don’t even have my tomatoes in the garden yet. Going to the cemetery today to pick up plants. See you in Rochester!
Hi Mary, Thanks so much for the Hazel pictures. She’s a riot! I love Connie’s Bullseye quilt. I’m still gathering fabric to make one. I hope to have it finished in a few months. It was a sunny day here today, but your rain will be here tomorrow. Oh well, sewing day for me. You get so much done in one day, I’m ashamed. The porch looks spic and span, Now you can enjoy it for months! That cactus flower is gorgeous. Never seen one like it before. Becky’s bullhead story was very funny. Thanks for telling it. And thanks for your blog!
As hard as or was to decide to do, I started going to a personal trainer last year when I turned 70. I have been going for over a year now and I am so much stronger! I go to small classes now, and every week I am increasing the amount of weight I can lift and the number of reps I can do with most exercises. And now I can put on everything, excluding my socks, standing on one leg! Well worth the money I spend and the three hours of classes I take a week!
Mary – wow! That sounds encouraging! It’s worth looking into!
I love Connie’s bullseye quilt, so bright and beautiful. We had a very rainy Memorial Day and a horrible hail storm. All my beautiful hostas and Annabelles totally destroyed. Whatever just started to bloom is flat on the ground and torn. I’m not sure if I should cut back everything close to ground or leave and see what happens. Suggestions ? I saw your pretty flowers and just felt so sad about mine.
Sandy Kolarik – two years ago in July we had a devastating hail storm that leveled my pumpkin patch and shredded everything including my orchids. I cleaned up the shredded pieces and left everything as it was. Unbelievably my pumpkin crop was excellent and my orchids came up from the bottom and bloomed! Maybe trim up the Annabelles – the broken pieces, etc and let them recover. I’d say the same with the hostas. I think you’ll be amazed – if you don’t get another hailstorm! Let me know. Are you also in Illinois?
Yes, have never had such a bad hail. Believe me I’m so grateful that everyone is ok. I know many others have had worse things happen and I’ve always prayed to God to give them strength. This is so little that in the light of the next day I realize life goes on. Thank you for your reply and suggestions, I’ll just clean up and hope for the best!
I love that fish story!!! I wonder how many other people from our hometown have told a tall tale of the bullhead?!?
I am thinking the bullseye quilt would be a great project for my granddaughter to sew up with all my scraps.
Thanks for all that you share Mary; you are the highlight of my mornings!
Kathy Zuehl – I, too, wonder about all the bullhead stories in our community – haha! Bullseye would be a perfect beginner quilt with scraps! Be sure to send me a picture – maybe one of her actually sewing!
She loves to sew when she comes out to my house. She even has her own good machine in my sewing room and I must say, I’m a little jealous that hers sews smoother than mine and they are the same model. I will send pics when we get started on it!
Hazel is so good to put her frisbee away after it’s “ bath” in the pool! I love Becky’s story and Connie’s Bullseye quilt. Mary, you might be able to go to Silver Sneakers classes for free. I go to a Pilates Reformer class at the YM~~it’s on a sled like bench with straps for legs and arms. It builds your core which helps with balance. I’m almost. 69 and can still stand on one leg because of the class. Hubby likes Tylenol Arthritis 650 milligrams. It is not as hard on the stomach or liver. I usually get 5 ads to close every day and if I read it twice, I close twice😃
Wow Mary! Should I be taking my cactus outside, then? I had it in the basement and it has grown quite a bit. I hope it blooms. Your blossom is huge and I was laughing thinking about Hazel’s reaction. That is funny!
Connie ‘s Bullseye Quilt is fabulous, I love bright colors and they look so good together. Your rug is so pretty, cut the ends off and it will look good. We heard on the news about the bad weather in Iowa, the weather has been crazy, hasn’t it? We feel so bad about the people who are having problems with the floods, very sad!
Felicia Hamlin – my plants including all the cactus and succulents flourish outside. If you don’t have growlights in your basement how can it still be alive? When it finally warms up, your plants will thank you for taking them outside!
The cactus flower is beautiful. What an awesome array of color. Really amazing, actually, with all the intricate parts (stamen/anther/pollen). WOW…thanks for sharing. Love Connie’s bullseye quilt and Becky’s Tall Tale is cute, too.
Rosemary – would you like an orchid cactus? I have several potted up and I’m trying to downsize the number of plants. I’d be so happy if you wanted one!
The bright Bulls Eye is fabulous! I remember an old episode of “Dennis the Menace” (w/ Jay North) when Mr. Wilson was trying to get a photograph oh his night-blooming cereus! Yours is gorgeous!! Yes, aging does present new challenges each and every day— I always wonder how I used to get so much done, it doesn’t seem that I have slowed down with time but I certainly am not as productive as I once was! 😉
Mrs. Goodneedle – I also remember that episode! Still looking for the Debbie Mumm book!
LOVE Connie’s bullseye quilt!! I definitely have plans to make 1!! The flower on the cactus is beautiful!!
Fun post Mary. Love Becky’s bull fish story. LOL – hope the rain stops for a few days so we can get some outside work done.