In Honor Of Old Glory

Our Grand Old Flag.

With Flag Day being June 14th,

I wanted to share some flags around the house.

My flag pillow made of strips of fabric on muslin.

Me thinks it looks good with some of my red quilts.

This flag in the lavender.

The eagle shade lamp is a great patriotic one too!

Flag banner underneath the fireplace mantle.

I will change this up for July 4th a bit.

Stay tuned on this one.

Although this pic is a bit dark. It is a paper bag 

with white hydrangeas and two flags on each side. 

Another flag pillow I made.

Finally at the front door is

this proud flag with tiny blue

faux hyacinths.

In other news,

the fish flies and mayflies have arrived in town.

Fish flies look similar to moths.

Mayflies look like gray butterflies 

with somewhat of a caterpillar body.

They come out of the lakes and river to mate,

lay eggs and die.

They are a bit of a nuisance though

as they come out in packs.

The mayflies go towards the light,

and because of this they end up in the road

and cars start to run over them.

So much that the roads can become slick.

Like driving on ice.

The fish flies swarm like gnats.

Also a headache if you are near them.

Even though they are a big nuisance,

having them in swarms means the river and lake

is clean...so we will welcome them...

maybe not with open arms, but they only stay

for a few weeks...

so we will tolerate them as we want clean water.

Today my mom arrives and I will

be taking her to her annual eye appt. tomorrow.

She has this degenerative eye disease,

and may need an eye transplant.

They like to check it yearly...

and so far so good....knock on wood.

Well my friends, its off to work I go.

Have a great Wednesday!

Pre Flag Day Blessings To All!

Janice

Its Alive

The garden that is.

These bellflowers usually bloom in May.

Me thinks because of all of the rain,

our Spring flowers bloomed late this year.

The kiwi vine is turning into its glorious

colors of green pink and white.

Honeysuckle is bursting out now,

and I saw my first hummingbird visit yesterday.

They love this vine!

I finally planted some flowers for Summer.

The orange lantana will bloom in shades

 of orange, pink and yellow.

Blue salvia in the middle.

While I added these osteospermum in the back.

These are white daisies with blue centers.

Planted 2 flats of these three flowers.

My birds nest spruce is turning its lovely

shade of green.

Our little corner of paradise.

The wrens make their nest 

in this small birdhouse each year.  

They trill all day long....

and I never get tired of it.

Our wagon decked out for Summer.

We ate dinner last night on our front porch.

This tree frog joined us.

After dinner I moved him to our tree

so he would be safer.

He is afterall a tree frog.

Today I will be finishing my laundry....

and either hooking or stitching.

Have not decided what to do yet.

What are your plans?

Garden Blessings To All!

Janice

Tis The Season

My favorite time of Spring.
Strawberry season is here.
WOOHOO!!!

When I was a child I would pick them off the vine.
Either at my parents or grandparents homes.
Gramma H, gramma B and my mom
all made strawberry jam.
We would eat them fresh,
with hand churned ice cream,
or jam on toast or even a pie.

When my kids were little we would visit

the strawberry farm.

We would get a hay ride out to the field,

and we always had fun picking our own.

I would freeze them and make pies.

We would also just eat them.

YUM!

Wish I could have taken my grandkids there.
The farmer sold out and now it was turned
into a subdivision called
Strawberry Knolls.

I do not have time for any kind of garden...

and so wish I could have me some fresh 

strawberries again.

The ones in the grocery store 

just don't have that home grown juiciness.

However I have to purchase them  

if I want them.

I add sugar and a bit of water.

Love my enamel colander.

It has seen its days...

but still holds my berries.

Do you like strawberries?

Do you hand pick strawberries?

How do you prepare them?

Strawberry Blessings To All!

Janice

Intricate Trunk

Well we had a doozy of a thunderstorm
on Saturday.

This wall cloud came in first.
Very eerie as the clouds above it
were going in an opposite direction.
My son Matt was outside and said it looked
like a tornado forming right above us. 
Major rain and the river near our store
crested just to the South of us.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!
Mine was spent working on the final
details of my witch.
Did not like the first dress I made,
so it was back to square one yesterday.
This new one is a keeper.
Now have to stain and dress her.
I did this one the old fashion way too.
All my hand...which takes longer.
Will show once complete.

Today I wanted to show you my
intricate trunk.

The entire front is metal,
with these punched diamonds.

The sides and top are wood.

It is big enough and sturdy enough
to have my crocks sit on top.
It is an early one on wooden wheels,
however I cannot date this one.
It has stumped me...so if any of you have any
ideas, would love to hear  them.

Of course I had to add a bunny.
The portrait for those new  to my blog
are my paternal gramma H's parents.
Effie and Robert Wagner.  

The entire display is on a small table
by our front door.

It will be a perfect addition 
for another patriotic display.

Intricate Trunk Blessings To All!
Janice

Friends Forever

It's Friday friends.
YAH

Today's post is about two friends.
One who travelled to Florida,
while one stayed in Michigan.

She moved to Florida to be with her other BFF. 

She will be missed by her friend here.

However her new mama will take good care of her.

Thank you again Winnie for asking me to create her.
I thoroughly enjoyed sewing this dollie 
entirely by hand the old fashion way.
There are stitches made to look raggedy.
A rusty pin attached where her dress was not sewn.
Antique buttons for eyes.

Her necklace is wooly strips 
that came from my antique rug shown above.
The vendor gave them to me.
I tried to hook back into the rug,
however it was so old and fragile
I gave up.
So repurpose I did.

I enjoyed making the first one so much,

had to make one for myself.

This is my gal. [dollie]

She will remain in Michigan.

Maybe someday 

she might visit her friend in Florida?

She is from the same pattern I drew for
Winnie's dollie... just sewn a bit different
Once again by hand.
Her frock is ripped at the top,
and I added a few buttons.
Rusty safety pin also attached to her frock
where it was not sewn on the left.
She is now residing as one of my
July 4th displays....which I will show soon.

This weekend will find me finishing up a witch.
Yes you heard me right.
I have to be a step ahead.  

What will your weekend be?
Will you find yourself relaxing or partying?
Stitching or hooking?
BBQ or eating out?

Whatever you do...have fun!

Friends Forever Blessings To All!
Janice

Natural Repellant

Good morning everyone.

Hope at some point you took the time
to remember why we have this holiday.
Freedom should not be taken for granted.  

I did decorate some patriotic displays....
and of course had some bbq's.
Although it rained each day, 
it stopped long enough for me to grill outside.

Did you know that eucalyptus 
is a natural spider repellant?
[green plant]

They hate the smell of it.

Although mine in this display
are faux and not real....
when Autumn comes, 
I lay sprigs of the real stuff near my windows.
I don't want them back inside.

Today just a sneak peek of
my blue and white bedroom.
Being of French descent on my father's side,
I fell in love with this French Enamel Pitcher.

This display is on the side
 where our closets are.

Well looking outside it looks like
I will have a rainy commute today.
I am fortunate though...
no devastating tornadoes like
in the midsection of our country.
I heard there were 231 tornadoes
in just ten days.

Crazy weather.

What did you do over the weekend?

Natural Repellant Blessings To All!
Janice

Memorial Day Blessings

In my 60 years I have

 NEVER

encountered this...but now I did.

I started out my commute to work

 the other morning

 driving in fog.

The next town up I could see

 lightning in the fog.

10 more minutes of driving 

in fog and lightning now,

the sky got this eerie color.

I cannot explain it, but it was 

a thunderstorm with fog.

Can you imagine driving in pouring rain,

lightning with fog...well I did.

It was a crazy morning that I will never forget.

So this weekend my plans will be 

getting down my patriotic decor from the attic.

Finish up my dollie.

Hopefully get in some bbq's.

Bob grilled some t-bone steaks for us last night.

We had baked potato also on the grill,

and cheesy crab stuffed mushrooms.

We don't eat fancy around here much,

but the holidays are an exception. 

Now they are talking severe weather

here all weekend.

So the barbie might be on hold.

UGH

I also need to do laundry, clean house and decorate

our humble abode in patriotic

for the Summer months.

Cannot wait to show you what 

I have planned for this year.

I also will be going to lunch

 with my friend one day

who lost her husband last month.

[Some girl time]

Do you have any plans for the Holiday weekend?

Do you make special meals for the holiday?

Please do take a moment and remember 
why we have this holiday.
Many died for the Freedom we have today.

Memorial Day Blessings To All!

Janice