August Vibes

It's that time of the year when the flowers are looking worse for wear. 

I think I'm starting to feel that way also. Life is spinning right along at warp speed plus it's been hot. We've had rain, thankfully it's cooled things down. Sad thing is that there has been some flooding. Feast or famine, I tell you!

It's that time of year for back to school. I spent some time helping my very pregnant niece set up her classroom. Then I planned out some "school" for my three year old great-nephew. Early childhood education is my favorite!

Little man is getting so big! He'll be with me until about the first of September before his mom is on maternity leave. 

My garden is producing well. This was all from one morning. 

Chuck made me a stand to dry produce. My potato harvest wasn't very big this year. 

I believe I mentioned that our beloved neighbors were moving. Megan went over with me one evening to watch the babies for a minute. She kept saying, "this place could be cute." 

The next morning I am barely out of the shower when she pops open the door and says she's on the phone with the bank. 

All that to say that our baby is a homeowner!

She'll take possesion as soon as the neighbor can get moved out. They are working on it and hope to be out this weekend. I'm not sure they'll meet that goal. 

Then the real run begins as we will doing a mini flip. I'll take you along as "we are balling on a budget" as Megan says. It could be interesting. *smile*

Just to show you Megan's sense of humor... this is the notice she put on the neighbors door as they were closing on their new house. 

My neighbor called me and said, "tell my landlord she's mean." lol

My already busy schedule will be a little more packed for a while. So, if this little spaces remains quiet you'll know I'm ripping out flooring, cleaning, painting and doing all the other fun things that come with making a house a home.

Wendi 

Making Hay

It's been a making hay while sun shines kind of week. Lots of fresh produce from the garden needed worked.  I started with the cabbage. 

 We had boiled cabbage, creamy cole slaw, shared some, and made Aunt Wanda's freezer slaw.  

Aunt Wanda was the sister of my mother-in-law.  She's been gone 12 years and it brought back such great memories reading her handwriting and thinking about her. She was a wonderful lady and I loved her dearly. 

The canner has been getting a work out. Megan made Salsa Verde using produce from the garden.  

I am officially done with green beans for the year. 

Mom and I have canned 82 quarts this season! Tomorrow morning I will pull up my remaining beans. 

Next week school starts, which means I will be watching my great-nephew once again. I made a large shop and worked on stocking my freezer.

I purchased two large packages of ground beef (they both were on special with $5 off each package), one package of chicken breast, one package of chicken tenders, and a large bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. 

 Out of that I was able to package up 10 packages of hamburger, 2  packages of 3 pattied hamburgers, 3 packages of chicken tenders (about 8 in each package), 8 chicken breast (packaged individually), 4 mini meatloaf (cook and flash frozen for Chuck's lunchbox), 14 meatballs (cooked and flashed frozen) to be used as a quick addition to sauce, and 9, 2 cup portions of mozzarella cheese. I've very happy with the addition to my freezer!

I've also been working on my latest furnitue flip.  I removed the paper this afternoon and will be able to stain it this weekend. 

The never ending fence project continues. One coat of paint is on the back of the gate. This is a tendious project with the rails. 

More pickets have been added! Chuck will have all of the pickets we have available back in place this weekend. 

I keep reminding myself that some projects take time and I need be patient and appreciate any progress. I've very happy with how it's turning out. 

It's been a productive week and I'm happy with the things that have been accomplished. 

Wendi 

A Little Gardening

The weatherman is saying rain is possible all weekend and then we are suppose to be very hot again next week. Armed with this information, I knew I needed to tackle some outside things. The tiger lilies were spent, so I started by removing the stems. 

That, my friends, is quite a job! They'll look limp for a couple of week then the foliage will bounce back and green and lushious again. 

There are two window boxes on the front of the house. The picture doesn't do them justice, they are simply gorgeous!

I use this sweet geranium to block the gas meter. 

As I moved around the house checking out my flowers, I dead headed and removed those pesky weeds!

A peek at my hanging baskets. I have two of these on the back porch. 

I made sure to fertilize everything well. I'm giving my flowers a little boost before the extreme heat hits next week. 

Next I ventured out to the vegetable garden. 

I had tomatoes to tie up, and some produce ready to harvest. 

Thankfully by this time it was late in the evening. The garden was shaded, there was a nice breeze and Chuck joined me to pick green beans. 

I have a shirt that says, "gardening is my therapy." That is a true statement.  It gives me joy to see the beauty.  I hope you enjoyed a peek into my garden space. 

Wendi 

Let's Catch Up

Well, Hello Friends! It's been just a little bit since I've visited my little space on the web. Let's catch up!

I've been spending most of my time painting. 

So far I've painted approximately 140 feet of post and 2x4's along with 115 pickets. We won't even discuss how much more I have to go. 

Megan turned twenty!!

We've had plenty of rain and it turned HOT! Which means the garden has been going crazy. 

Between my garden and my moms' we ended up with a little over three, five gallon buckets of SNAPPED green beans. That resulted 60 quarts canned. 

I don't know if I mentioned that my great-nephew, Ben, is going to be a big brother. His little brother will be here in about two months. We hosted a small sprinkle for my niece on the 4th. 

My oldest niece made the banner. We're encouraging her to start a side hustle. 

And if I don't have enough going on I'm working on some furniture flips. Let me tell you that removing black paint is the pits! It took a bit, but I got it done. 

Our annual 4th of July picture. 

Excuse my awful hair. I'm growing out a cut that I dislike.  Ugh. 

I hope everyone is doing well! 

Wendi 

Joy in the Ordinary

 Some ordinary, yet joyful moments from my week. 

Hello friends, after a cool start to spring, it's starting to warm up. This summer loving girl is ready for some warmth. 

Although short lived, peonys are sooo beautiful. And the fragrance is devine!

I love being able to get outside before lunch. While Mr. Ben plays I'm able to spend time in the Word. 

Just because I never get tired of seeing fresh eggs in my kitchen. *smile*

Mother's Day was delightful. Chuck and I took my parents out for lunch. (Megan was working.) I received a lovely homemade card from Megan. She drew the chicken. I also received gifts for my garden. 

Speaking of gardening... here I am ready to go to my happy place. 

Posing with the flowers for my window boxes and the veggies I grew myself. All of my flowers are planted and the plan is the have the planting of the garden completed by the weekend. I hope Mother Nature got the memo that's the plan!

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in thee every day, joy in the ordinary. 

Wendi 

100 Miles An Hour

Things have been busy around here. 100 miles an hour feels like an understatement most days. Let's start off with today... Chuck and I celebrated our 25th anniversary! Nothing fancy happened. We had thought about a get away, but with an upcoming beach vacation we opted to stay home.  Chuck took the day off, we did some projects, ran a few errands, and ended the night at our favorite pizza restaurant. 

Lots of outside work has been happening. 

The garden has been tilled and broccoli and cabbage plants have been planted. 

There is kale in the gutter garden. I have also planted lettuce and spinach. Those are making a slower appearance. 

Potatoes are growing well, and so is the lettuce that I started indoors. The lettuce had been under a frost cover until today. 

I've looked at the long range forecast and I should be able to plant my garden in the next two weeks. That means it's time to harden off my seedlings. 

They are more than ready to go in the ground. 

The pressure washer has been pulled out and the porch received it's yearly cleaning. 

While everything was off of the porch I wiped things down and any maintenance was preformed. The first thing completed was a fresh coat of paint on the planters. 

I've wanted to paint the stand for this swing for years. This was the year! Chuck washed, sanded, and painted the frame. I had him use the same color as the planters. 

Once that was complete I knew the swing was getting a coat of paint also. 

I have loved a white swing since I was a little girl. I remember going to visit a relative we called Cousin Edna. She had a white swing with a green cushion on her front porch. I found it so charming!

While I was in the painting mode I touched up some furniture. 

Fresh mulch was placed in all of the flower beds. 

Megan gave me a watering can and twinkle lights for Mother's Day last year. I had a plan for it, but I needed a shepherds hook. I finally found one tall enough. 

It turned out so cute!!

The swing set was pressure washed. This swing set was built by my father-in-law in 1990 for his first grandchild. She was grown by the time we purchased this house and they gave the swing set to us. 

Over the years we've had to replace the tarp and swings. The wood is still in great shape and it looks brand new after being cleaned. 

Beside our already scheduled trip to the beach we have no plans for travel this summer. With the state of things we will be staying home. I am completely fine with that, as I am a homebody.  The plan is to maintain the things we have. 

We are still working on the kitchen remodel with our neighbors. The countertop was slightly delayed. Once that is installed we need to help with the back splash and then we are done. Yeah! The plan was to help them with this remodel and then they would do a few more upgrades and put their house on the market in a couple of years.

Well, that has changed and it is going on the market as soon as the kitchen is complete. We are sad, yet we understand. That has lead us to a project that we had hoped to put off... our fence.  It needs some maintenance. Some of the pickets need replaced and it needs painted. Since our beloved neighbors are moving we have decided to add a few more privacey panels. 

You never know what kind of neighbor you will get. So, we thought it best to go ahead and do the maintenance on that side of the fence and to extend some privacy for our back porch and pool. I guess you could say we are planning for the worse and praying for the best when it comes to new neighbors!

Here is my girl going on her first interview for what I am calling a big girl job. 

She has applied at several banks. So far she's had three interviews and no offers.  As I was texting with her after an interview today... I told her I am praying for God's will when it comes to a job offer. So, if they aren't coming it's not God's will. She replied you're right. Trusing God for his plan and timing isn't always easy. *smile*

Besides everything I've shared our calendar is full for the month.  There are many nights I'm not sitting down until after 8. I know this pace is end in three weeks. I might be counting down the day!

Wendi