How Does Your Garden Grow?

"Do you like butter?", ask the buttercups.

Wild strawberries and tiny oak trees. Sadly the buttercups, strawberries, and tiny oak trees will be gone as soon as the lawn guy mows the lawn.

The orange spot in the middle of the picture is the Mama bird's beak. I think she's a cardinal. I can't get closer to the window to take a picture without scaring her and sending her flying out of the nest.

The daughter peace lily bloom looks like a swan

Petunias in the boxes on the rails

The snowball bushes have avalanched

Blurry photo of Alpine bells

Petunias and

morning glories

The garden flag that will take me from Memorial Day to July Fourth

The Japanese maple unfurled its leaves

We heard grumblings about growing your own food. Gardening is difficult for Himself and here in New England we have such a short growing season, so Himself got this Aerogarden unit called The Farm. It will grow 24 plants.

Another type of hydroponic unit. I like the little leaf caps that cover the empty holes. This model can use any kind of seed where you have to buy the Aerogarden seed pods

A tomato plant in this Aerogarden unit

🎵Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,

Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,

Do you or I or anyone know,

How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?🎶

The Salad Bar: Tomatoes, green peppers, and lettuce

Cucumbers and other green thing

Morning glories

More morning glories. That's all for this week.

How does your garden grow?

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:

Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:me favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:

The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) Anthony Quinn, Oskar Werner

If you haven't seen this movies, you can find it to rent on Amazon Prime and YouTube. You may also find a free version on YouTube.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Beautiful weather so worked in the garden

2. Made fried dough (aka. elephant ears)

3. A Mama cardinal built a nest in the honeysuckle vine.

4. Himself had a coupon so ordered take out lobster rolls, and deep dish pizzas from Uno's.

5. Skyped with Nan

How was your week?

The Weather Station

I thought I was a news junkie but turns out I'm a weather junkie. I love watching the weather.

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the weather man, Don Kent, and his hand drawn isobars with the H and L for highs and lows on his sliding blackboards. No swanky computer graphics. I also loved playing with Miss Weather. a play set with a coated board of a little girl and plastic clothes and accessories to dress her in according to the weather.

For Mother's Day, Himself gave me a new weather station. I've had a few before but this one is in color and has a few features my other weather stations didn't have. Besides showing the weather outside, this one also shows the season. On the left, in the middle, there's a landscape scene with a tree. Right now, the tree is pink indicating Spring. At the Summer solstice it will change to green. At the Autumnal Equinox, it will be orange, and then just bare branches for Winter.  

The other thing this weather station has that the others didn't is an anemometer, an instrument that measures wind speed.

Isn't that cool? Fun to watch the cups spin from the sun room and then watch the gauge change on the weather station. Also fun to watch the bird sometimes sit on the hub and ride around like a merry-go-round, when the wind barely registers. 

Wordy Wednesday

T Stands for Incredible Cake

An incredible video of cake. You'll see a teapot and other beverages which qualify as my tea ticket as Anne's friend, Teddy, says.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page

Greeting Cards

I needed to send a few greeting cards and with the stationery stores closed needed to make them myself with the help of the Brother Scan n Cut machine. Each month Brother adds to their Canvas Workspace (online cloud site) free ideas and cut files to use. It's also easy to mix and match items to create custom cards.

This was to be used as a Mother's Day card.  I needed a thank you card so instead of cutting out Happy Mother's Day for the frame, I just wrote out "thank you" instead.

I sent this birthday bouquet to Nan for her birthday, but instead of cutting out the birthday greeting, I wrote it out.

My grand-niece turned 2 years old. This card was perfect as is. A candle for each year and one to grow on.

My tablemate from the Reggie class had sent me a Valentine and I wanted to send her a thank you. I found this interesting wrap card with this lacy outer

and then the inner wrap cut from printed paper

L is fond of sheep and all her artwork has sheep or lambs on it. So I borrowed items from other cards to make this scene for the inner part of the card. The lamb shape was from a bookmark. I cut two. On the second one, I cut off the feet and turned it upside down for the cloud. An Easter card gave me the fence, wavy grass, and flowers. I wrote "thank ewe" in the lambie cloud.

I needed a birthday card for Himself. Scan n Cut comes with built-in text like this Happy Birthday. I didn't need to cut out a card front as I had blank cards that would fit the 

blue, inside pop up. I chose the balloon card to coordinate with a gift bag that had balloons on it. I used the built-in text to cut "love" and used the cut out heart to cover over the blue dot in birthday on the front.

Alphabet Sunday

Z, the last letter in the alphabet and the last letter in my Enders Island series

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:me favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:

Shenandoah (1965) James Stewart, Doug McClure

If you haven’t seen this movie, you can find it for rent on YouTube.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. For Himself's birthday we took my car out for a spin to get gas and stopped at The 99 Restaurant to pick up lobster rolls for his birthday lunch.

2. Saw a Baltimore Oriole in the yard

3. Baked cinnamon buns

4. Planted morning glory seeds in Ink's garden

5. Spent another afternoon in the garden. Planted petunias, sunflower seeds, and more morning glories.

How was your week?

Enders Island Drone's Eye View

This Fall, I'm hoping I can get back to the island and classes at the Sacred Art Institute. Until then, I can get my fix of the island from this drone's eye view.

Wordy Wednesday

T Stands For I Know What It Is

On a How Does Your Garden Grow post, I had a picture of some white violets and whatever these little purple flowers are.

The FSG from Trout Talkin Tabbies had commented: "we have that purple plant all over the place; here at work its taking over the one corner. I've got some in the grass and in one of the back garden sections ??? where it carried from or what it is ....good guess !!!"

Lately, I get the feeling that someone is listening to what is said in the house. Mention looking for something and an ad will appear on Facebook. It's happening on my blog, too.

There are 3 different varieties of this tiny, purple flower, a member of the mint family. This particular one is called Creeping Charlie, Robin Runaway, or Catsfoot. As you can read on the website, it's edible and medicinal.

You can read all about it at: Differential Morphology of Purple Deadnettle, Henbit, & Ground Ivy I read all about them while sipping my tea from my Grinch mug.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Happy Mail

Happy mail is always fun to get, but especially in this time when we are confined to our homes.  The Mailman (yes, that's his primary occupation), one of my classmates from the year long Reggie class, sent this wonderful card.

Alphabet Sunday

The letter, Y, Enders Island

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:me favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949) John Wayne, Ben Johnson

If you haven't seen this movie, it's available for rent at YouTube

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1.For Mother's Day, Himself gave me a buoy bell windchime, with a black bear on the clapper, grilled Little Princess steaks (filet mignon wrapped in bacon), and baked brownies for dessert.

2. I also Skyped with the Eldest

3. I had fun playing with the Scan n Cut machine (to be seen in future blogposts)

4.  Himself also gave me a weather station as a very, early birthday present

5. With the weather finally warming up, we moved the television into the sun room.

How was your week?

Nib Cleaner

A common item on a calligrapher's desk is a small container of water. You swish your nib (the business end of a dip pen) in the water to clean it in between working or leaving the desk so ink doesn't dry in the pen.

My friend, MB, who I met at Coloring Camp (a.k.a. Enders Island) had posted on Facebook a nifty, nib cleaning set-up. It was a very simple and clever design. A toothbrush head was snapped off and the head was hot-glued to the bottom of a plastic container filled with water. To clean your nib, you gently rake it over the brush. Sadly, I forgot to write down the name of the calligrapher who had originally thought of this tool, and couldn't find the MB's post.

Edited: Comment from my colleague and "cousin", Alesia.  "I believe it's Carrie Imai who is the genius who did this first. I got one of these in a workshop she taught."

I was hunting around for a small container and telling Himself about this gadget. He had an empty pill bottle and a suggestion.

"Instead of gluing the brush to the bottom of the container, why don't you glue the brush to the side of the container? Then just dip in and out down the side with the brush."

Brilliant! But there's a reason Ma didn't name me Grace. I thought the tall and narrow,  pill bottle was too narrow. I know I'd end up tipping it and would have water flooding my desk.

I needed a more stable vessel. I had a 1/4 cup Ziplock container, snapped a toothbrush head off the handle, and hot glued it to the side of the container. I thought the lid with a small hole cut in it would minimize spillage.

After using the setup for a bit, I decided the lid was more a hindrance than a help. There are times when you know you have plenty of ink in the reservoir, but the ink just doesn't flow through the pen. If you dip the nib in water, just barely break the surface tension of the water, that will get things flowing through the pen. This wasn't easily done with the lid on, at least not for me.

Wordy Wednesday

T Stands for New Mug

A Mother's Day gift from me to me.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Cheeky Bread

I baked a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. When I cut into it, the bread smiled back.

Alphabet Sunday

X marks the spot, Enders Island

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:me favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:

Shane (1953) Alan Ladd, Van Heflin

If you haven't seen this movie, it's available for rent on YouTube

The Friday Five Good Things

image from the National Audubon Society

Five good things that happened this week.

1. We cleaned the sun room.

2.  I had breakfast in the sun room with the space heater on with a catbird for company

3. D, from the Moms Breakfast Club left me a surprise package of yeast in the front porch

4. An expected Amazon package arrived a day early

5. The Eldest sent me a Mother's Day card.

How was your week?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It was a chilly, wet April with 18 days of rain and below normal temperatures.

13. April

On one of the few sunny days, one of the bunnies came out to nibble the new grass

18. April

It got cold enough to snow, but that didn't stop the birds from visiting the feeder.

19. April

The snow was gone by the following day and a turkey hen came to snack at the birdfeeder

28. April

 The daffodils were in bloom

and one tulip

The town highway department began filling in the ditch that runs down my side of the street with cobblestone. Perhaps for better drainage.

Some green leaves on the hydrangea

Buds on the snowball bushes

There were a couple of big storms with heavy winds and rain that knocked trees and branches and power lines down 

The wind blew a smiley balloon into the yard to say hello and blew it away. Most likely a remnant from one of the Birthday Parades happening around town. Because we are still under a stay at home advisory, people can't celebrate birthdays in the traditional way with a party. The police department organizes a parade with a few squad cars with lights and sirens driving past the birthday person's home. The balloon must have come from the birthday parade for the little girl across the street.

The forsythia bushes up near the woods have started to bloom

The winds sent all of the garden kites accept the Pi Day kite on a whirlwind tour

A glorious sunset made the woods look like they were on fire.

2. May

Hard to see, but a bumblebee stopped by to enjoy the dandelions

and violets, and whatever those tiny purple flowers are, too.

6. May

 With a few sunny days, the maple

and other trees in the woods have started to leaf.  The pollen counts have been through the roof.

How does your garden grow?