Black As A Pirate's Heart

 

Black as a Pirate's heart----that's what Erin said about the water.  We uncovered our pool to find black water. The reflection looks nice, but not the water.  Our work is cut out for us.

 

 

 

Here's hubby setting up the pump and salt-water system.

 

The skimmer is put in place. It's a family project.

 

Where would we be without Erin's help---Thank-you daughter dear.  She is her daddy's right arm.

 

 

Now it's the filters job to clean things up.  As you can see it's doing its job.  Soon I'll be able to jump in and get all the leaves off of the bottom and scrub the walls.  We could use the pool vacuum, but I work much faster.



"Thimble, Thimble, Who's Got The Thimble?"

If you're an old person, like me, you may remember that game.  We used to play it as kids--our Mom taught us how, and I think she enjoyed it as much as we did.

 

Well, I have a new purchase.......A Thimble I've been wanting for a while.  I started quilting on my red bag again, and I like how the new thimble works.  It's easier, although it is taking a little time to get used to quilting from a different angle.  It's also faster---yeah! 

 

 

I also finished tea towel #6, and...........

 

tea towel #7 in the tree series.

Two more to go.

 



Tea Towels and Flowers

 

I've finished another tea towel--this one was easier than the last one.

 

Tuesday I think I tried to kill myself.  I planted the bed of elephant ear bulbs below---by myself.  Usually I get my hubby to help me.  In the future I must remember to do it in stages.  It was hot Tuesday--a big no-no for me.  Next year I must remember to first peel all the skins off the bulbs, next prepare the bed, then lay the bulbs on top, and then plant them.  It's easier to space them if you lay them on top of the prepared soil first.  There were a lot of tree roots in that bed, and I worked in composted manure and ground up pampas grass my hubby made for me.  Hard work for a hot day. 

I still have about 10 small bulbs left, I guess I'll pot them up then give them away.

 

 

Here's what is blooming right now--chives above, and sweet rocket below.

 

 

My clematis is just starting to bloom.  The columbine on the left still aren't blooming--very late this year.

 

Honesty.

 

Lastly, my roses are just starting to bloom--I have red, pink, and white, but the pink ones are my favorite---Queen Elizabeth Grandiflora.

 

I hope that is all the hard garden work; I think it is........maybe.

 

 

 

 



Wonderful Mother's Day

 

We had a nice Mother's Day.  Erin had us (Hubby, Celeste and family, and I) all over for dinner, and daughter (Jennifer) in Iowa called---(God bless our children!)---they are so good to us.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal, the grand kids are such fun to be around, too.  Later, Erin treated hubby and I to a couple of movies.  Mac enjoyed all the attention.

 

 

 

On another note, I finished my Juniper tea towel.  I think this one is a little too busy.

 

 

 

The birds at our house are whacked out this year.  We have a robin still banging on our back door;  it has been trying to fly through the glass for a month now.  The cow bird robbed the finch nest and Momma finch abandoned her almost empty nest.  One of the two remaining eggs is dented.  What is going on here?

I guess birds at our house are out of luck.  I watered the fern this morning and got the nest soggy--doesn't matter--momma's gone.

 

 

 



Tree Tea Towels

 

 

I'm doing needlework again.  The majority of the yard and garden work is done, and it's been raining all morning.  I'm working on my fourth tea towel in the Once Upon A Tree series.

As soon as I finish the juniper tree I will have five trees left to embroider.  The juniper is quite detailed and testing my skills with those tiny curves.  With each new towel I load the binder ring with bobbins of the colors I need so I don't have to remember which colors I've been using.  I'm using two strands with the stem stitch and the back stitch for most of the work.  Sometimes I use one strand each of two different colors to get the color I want.

I love a fresh tea towel hanging by the sink; it makes my kitchen time more enjoyable.

My mother-in-law gave me a set of embroidered tea towels at my bridal shower over 43 years ago, and those wore out many years ago.  They were days of the week kittens doing chores--fun.  My Mother-in-law had housekeeping down to a fine art--she was a good cook, too. She's been gone for 11 months tomorrow.  She had a hard time her last few years here on earth.  It was pretty hard for us, too, but I miss her good days.



Weird Spring Snow

 

Wow! It's snowing in May.  I took these pics this morning--I can't believe it.  I covered up the annuals because I thought it would get cold.

 

 

I had to cover up my flower pots, too.

 

 It looks like tent central in my back yard.

 

 The temp is barely above freezing.

 Hubby had to drag out the ice scraper this morning.

 

We've had some pretty big snow flakes, but mostly they're melting as soon as they hit the ground.  I may have to replant all my flowers; I sure hope not.  Some flower pots are in the garage, and hubby brought in the ferns that were in the back yard.  I left the fern on the front porch because of the finch nest, but it looks like it's gonna be fine.

Strange weather.



I Love Gardening!

 

Our side yard here.  I had a bunch of columbine die last year in the drought (because I forgot to water them), but I have 5 plants left.  Once I trim the ivy it will give them a better chance.  The ivy is a bit invasive.

 

 

Our dogwood is blooming well, because I watered it last year.  Our neighbor didn't water his and it has very few blooms on it even though it's a bigger tree.

 

 

The honesty is doing very well.

 

 

I moved two huge rocks yesterday with the help of a dolly.  I could barely scoot them on and off of the dolly---HEAVY.  They were covered by greenery where they were, so I moved them here.

I also got all my plants in the ground and in pots, and guess what....It's suppose to snow tonight and tomorrow.  Yikesees!

 

 

The finch nest has five eggs now, with one looking bigger than the others.

 

Our rockin' robin is still banging at the back door.  The term bird brain comes to mind.