My animals will be so mixed up tomorrow when I feed them at a different time – I really hate changing time twice a year. Talk about a nothing day – a couple errands in town, unloading feed, cleaning out a small area in the barn and moving some tables and then back to sorting books. The football game came on, I sat down to watch and fell asleep.
I wanted to explain a bit more about all my windows on the south and east. In the winter the sun is low and will come in those windows but in the summer the sun is high overhead and the trees will still shade the house. That southwest corner of the piano room where I put all the plants will be sunny this winter and then the plants will go back outside. There will not be a problem with them cooking in hot sun.
When the sun is low through the winter months and the trees have lost their leaves, the sun comes in all those windows – the sun has a lot of power to warm a room. The screened porch is on the northeast corner to take advantage of the early morning sun before it gets too hot but is in the shade during the hottest part of the day and the sun is setting.
Meet Oliver! I met him at the Dollar Store today – I could be his friend!
It seems none of us like washing windows. Windex has a product you put on the hose to wash outside windows which really works pretty well. My windows need a good cleaning inside and out before Thanksgiving so I will have to give myself a nudge. Along with everyone else, I have big problems with sleeping. I guess that’s why I’m up writing this at 3:45 AM.
Our church had a Swedish meatball dinner yesterday. It was well attended and a lot of helpers to share the load BUT I figured we made just over $2 thousand which is fine but a LOT of work. The great part is we have a lot of laughs while working.
Janet – fun to work with friends but sometimes I think everybody could just make a bigger donation to come up with the money and save all the work. I’m no fun, am I?
So sorry to read of Leona passing, may she rest in peace and her family find comfort in the memories of her life. We finally got some rain here in Wisconsin, 2 full days of gentle rain. Badly needed before the snow arrives. I would have enjoyed meeting Oliver; he is super cute.
As the French say, may dear Leona rest in peace and rise in glory, and may her family and those who loved her find comfort. I can’t imagine the loss of your husband, Diane; I hope that you and yours can adjust to such a tremendous loss.
Y’all are such incredible engineers that you have maximized the passive solar potential of your house!
It’s so hot for so long in Alabama that in recent years, people have taken to putting solar film on the windows to keep the inside cooler during the many months of air conditioning use. You can still see out just fine although it seems just a bit darker late in the day. The film does help with keeping the energy usage down, but the bad side effect is that it blocks the type of light that plants need. It looks as if the plants are getting plenty of good light, but they really are not. Fortunately, many plants can stay out on the porch for a good many months, but I do love all of the greenery inside too.
Some things you just can’t kill either! I can’t stand chrysanthemums; there’s no good reason, but I just don’t like them. A couple of years ago, I wanted to dress up the porch for our Thanksgiving guests, and the only affordable flowers were mums. I had several pots of them around, and I was okay knowing that they would shortly die. Well, they refused to die, and I couldn’t bring myself to just put them in the compost. In April, they were still going strong! I put them out where the afternoon sun would provide just a little too much light and heat … and I could finally have a mum-free porch.
Susan – I gave up buying mums for the opposite reason – they’re almost like buying cut flowers – they die in a week or so in their plastic pots. I couldn’t have that film on my windows but I do understand the premise.
Thanks for explaining about your windows. I love how the sun comes in for the plants in the winter, and the trees shade the windows in the summer. I would enjoy those outdoor views.
Your new friend, Oliver, is adorable.
I brought in a pot of parsley from our back deck thinking our south kitchen window would provide enough afternoon sun; it only took a week for it to turn yellow—dried parsley for us. 🤣
Thanks, Mary 🥰
Mary,
Catching up with several days worth of blogs while I watch the Lions game. All beautiful pictures and quilts. Sorry to hear of Leona’s passing. What a wonderful long life she had. Leona was my grammas name also. Dianne, I am so sorry about your husband’s passing. And also for the loss of Bentley to Alice. Know your blog friends are sending heartfelt thoughts thanks to Mary’s bringing us together. ❤️
Mary I loved your red floral fabric and it’s even better made into a quilt. That pattern was so nice…simple but showcased your red floral print so well.
Nancy, I loved your star projects, wow! I was curious to know if Glenda’s quilt was flannel. I love the plaids. Someone has two beautiful cacti too. Like every one I loved the sunset picture too. Michigan does have some beautiful scenery.
Olivier looks nice! Looked twice to see Keeper on the couch. And Hazel looks like she’s on the scent of something!
I’ve worked long hours in my gardens to put them to bed for the winter. I need one more load of wood chips but then I’ll be done! And into the sewing room I’ll go. Take care everyone.
I love lots of windows!! Would love to have a whole wall of windows, but that just doesn’t work in my house!! But I am lucky enough to have a small sunroom with windows!! My dog got me up at 5 am, I told her look at the clock, it was only 5am, but she insisted that it was more like 6 am & it was time to get up!! The cat was also at the door meowing that it was time for breakfast!!
So sorry to hear of Leona’s passing & Diane’s husband passing! My condolences to Leona’s family & also to Diane & her family. Oliver is precious!! I would love to be his special friend! My first rescue was a little black poodle many years ago. My son & his girlfriend at that time had broken up & I felt he needed something to love. I drove into Cincinnati in a heavy snow storm to adopt a dog! His name was Buddy & he did exactly what I wanted him to do, he brought my son out of his depression & he later met a wonderful girl & they’ve been happily married for 28 yrs. Dogs/cats can be miracle workers! Buddy’s previous owner had passed & family didn’t want him. I can’t imagine that as he was absolutely the sweetest pup. My son had him for almost 6 yrs. Before Buddy I always had AKC registered Cocker Spaniels & I’ve raised puppies. Now I’m just happy to foster & adopt the older ones!
Mary love all you pretty windows! I live in a landomenium & I have 11 windows+ my sunroom where I sew has 6 huge windows+ the door! I love lots of light & this was one of the drawing features when I bought this. Today is a bright sunny day! Tomorrow I’ll be washing windows as well!
I just love your house, so many beautiful windows and the stonework is awesome. I’d love to have a nice enclosed porch but our ten by twelve foot breezeway will have to do. Originally it was just a screened in area but my husband closed it in with walls and windows and it is nice in the summer. In colder weather it makes a great extra fridge. I’m very happy this year, for some reason my husband has been on a tear cleaning windows inside and out! He even took off storm windows that haven’t been removed for years – washed the windows and storms and now it’s so much brighter in here! Next on his list will be raking leaves – so many leaves. I’ll help him with those, it’ll take many trailer loads to get the lawn clean and ready for the winter snow. Oliver is adorable! What a sweet face. So sad to hear that Leona has passed but at 98, what a wonderful long life she had! Keeper looks like a kitty all curled up on the chair. Definitely can relate to the sleep issue, haha. Jan in MA
I would love to be friends with Oliver! What a beautiful, soulful expression on his face! I also love Tim’s beautiful markings! He is so handsome. Your rooms would be great places to sit and read and sew, I would think. You are really lucky that you have someone you can trust to come into your home and help you. I haven’t found that person yet. I hope that I will be able to. I totally identify with the sleeping/not sleeping syndrome. Sometimes I walk around saying to myself “I am sooo sleepy”. I am supposed to have the sleep study but I haven’t been able to make myself make the appointment yet. It doesn’t sound fun at all to me. We haven’t had any rain here for the longest time. Not since the hurricane passing through caused the awful flooding in so many areas. Feast or famine? Thanks for your wonderful posts and the photos from you and your followers. They are so much fun!
Brenda, at a sleep study, you get hooked up to monitors and sleep and the technician and equipment record your sleep, not painful an all. I have done two over the years. I sleep very well now that I have and use my c-pap every night. It made a big difference. I am wide awake, no daytime sleepiness. It is a very gray day here with a little rain. I took a break from sewing so better get back to work. Happy Sunday!
Cindy, thanks for reassuring me, but it isn’t pain that I worry about, but I think if I can’t sleep at home, I don’t think I can relax enough in a strange place hooked up to wires to be able to sleep and it will be a waste of time and money. I will talk myself into it at some point, I guess.
Brenda, yes, it is hard to fall asleep at the sleep lab, apparently I did sleep well enough for them to set my machine! I am thinking they have a way for you to do a sleep study at home. Please ask if it’s possible!
My husband thought the same. He went for his test and in about 5 hours if his sleeping they figured out how many times he stopped breathing in an hour! He sleeps much better and has much more energy! Lucky him!
It will take time to get used to the c pap but it is worth it.
i really enjoyed the sleep comment. it is so true. i had such a hard time going to sleep last night, i started counting sheep. mr. ed was snoring in my ear (even tho i had in ear plugs, didn’t help) and the car wanted petted. cat really wanted to eat but that wasn’t happening. i was still awake at 4 am and wuth the time change, they got me up at 9. ugh! i feel a nap coming on already.
i was sorry to hear of leona’s passing. she lived a good long life. condolences to linda in michigan on the loss of her oliver. it’s always so sad.
i am hoping to get into my sewing area today after i go through email. i’ll be so glad when the election is over. they have bombarded my email and my phone with messages. at this point i don’t care, i just want them to leave me alone. i do care but you know what i mean.
yesterday my dd sent me a picture of a beautiful owl in the tree outside her window. beautiful owl, but is a predator. my dd is raising ducks. she has already lost two to bears. on friday a bobcat tried to get the ducks but she went screaming and running toward the cat. it was not afraid of her. it’s wonderful that she gets to live with so much beautiful wildlife but it is life-threatening also. she loves where she lives. i will send photos to mary. hopefully that worked. i know you will have to click on them to enlarge them.
now i really need to attempt to move. must get busy. great day to everyone. patti in florida
I designed our house with the changing sun in mind too so when it’s sunny our living room is always bright. The low winter sun does add some warmth but it can be blinding when it reflects off the snow. The low sun makes it sometimes nearly impossible to see when driving.
Oliver is a sweetie. My special needs dog I names Oliver, he was the sweetest baby and I miss him everyday and always will.
I should get my windows washed. I’ve always done them myself but I’m afraid to risk it now because of my back. I need to have a few screens redone so this would be a good time to hire someone. The look of your clean shiny windows makes me want mine done! I would still need to spot clean the dog and cat noses off the windows, that’s never ending.
I detest the time change. I understand not wanting kids to stand for a bus in the dark but it doesn’t get light her now until 7 and being rural, the busses are on the roads long before then. It takes me forever to adjust and it gets dark so early during our winters I’m ready for bed by 8! At least “gaining” an hour is better than loosing and hour, that takes me forever to adjust.
We had a lovely day yesterday, so did a lot of yard work. Today it is raining and my plan is to finish two quilted wall hangings. I have been awake since 2:30, so shall see how productive I can be.
Like you, Mary, I love natural light. When we built our home, we designed the roof over the living room with a 3 foot overhang on the south. When the sun is high in the sky in the summer, we have light, but the sun doesn’t shine on the floor. In the winter when the sun is low in the sky, the sunshine comes into the living room 11-12 feet. I love it as it heats the house. We have nice natural light year round.
Oliver is precious. Enjoy your day, everyone.
Vicki – you understand the sun movement as I do.
I am happy my grandkids don’t have to go to the bus in the dark! I don’t like the regular time in the evening because I just want to go to sleep when it is dark so early! Guess I better move south for the winter! Ha!
We got a drizzle overnight, we’re hoping for more!
Mary, south windows are the best! They let the sun warm the house free!
Have a good Sunday!
Joy – we already had an inch by yesterday am and I think it rained off and on all night
Washing windows at your home must be quite the undertaking but, the sunshine coming inside is wonderful.
So sorry to hear of Leona’s passing.
It’s raining here today and predicted for a couple more days. We had rain earlier this week and welcome more as it has been a dry fall for us. We even had a dusting of snow yesterday. The first of the season. It’s going to get dark early in the evening with the time change.
I’m hoping to quilt a baby quilt today if my machine cooperates. Fingers crossed .
Connie – the couple who wash my windows are great – to wash both inside and outside didn’t take much more than an hour. It’s not expensive if I can’t do it – and honestly clean windows are a luxury in my opinion – it’s like a mini vacation
Money well spent!!!
I’m so sorry to read of Alice’s loss of Bentley and of Leona and of Diane’s husband. When I lose a pet, my broken heart says I can’t take it anymore as I feel I can’t go on with them and then I read Alice’s courageous comment she’ll be adopting again in the spring and I’m rejoiced to see such strength. She’s giving a loving home to an older pet to live out their life. I admire such determination to give of themselves.
We are suppose to be in another warm up forTuesday and Wednesday so will wash some windows around our house with husbands help. If it’s too much of a struggle, then we’ll know next year to hire out someone to do it.
I’ll be all messed up today with the time change but it’s a busy day for me so I ought to sleep good tonight. Church, fellowship lunch, memorial service for an elderly member who passed, calling hours for a coworker of my husbands, and listening to remaining Bills game while in the car.
Oliver is so cute! Your house looks so nice….I love all the windows. My windows need washed…..especially my kitchen window, sewing room window and my patio door. So sorry to hear about Leona. My condolences to the family.
Love the saying about sleep. Soooo true!
I’ve changed some of my clocks. Will finish the rest tomorrow.