Thursday, July 18, 2013

Thursday At Home

Nearly every day when I browse in blogland, I see such beautiful homes and gardens.  Everything nearly always looks like it came straight out of a magazine.  Perfectly staged homes and beautifully manicured lawns and patios.  As I took my camera out with me early this morning, I looked around and sighed.  No perfection to be found anywhere and the yard needs mowing badly.  Here are my random shots in no particular order.  I probably should have called this post "Keeping It Real".  My home and gardens aren't, and will never be, magazine worthy, but it is comfortable and it is real.  It is home. 

 
 My first zinnia shot this year.  We had so much rain earlier this spring that my first planting of flowers and most vegetables had to be replanted.  So these guys are a little late in blooming and are not very big.  It has been so hot lately and we now need some of that rain we had so much of earlier in the season.




I watered all my potted flowers this morning, but so far we haven't started watering the veggie garden.  I usually water flowers in the evenings, but I missed yesterday.   Those are sunflowers you see in the front and in the back is my pitiful looking corn crop.  Squash and cucumbers are just this side of the corn.  I picked a few zucchinis and cukes that were ready.

Veggies have been gathered and the sun is already getting hot, so I head back to the remaining shade on the patio.  It won't be long and this shade will be gone, too, until evening.   I have nearly 50 pots of flowers scattered all around this large patio and on the front porch.  I've only had to replace just a few flowers, in spite of the heat and the kittens.  This is the wall of the walkout basement.  It drives me nuts trying to decide how to make it look better.  Painting might help, but we have red brick above, so what color would I choose?   Any ideas?  I try to pretty it up with all the flowers, but it needs more help!


The kittens are growing by leaps and bounds.  They were snoozing as I sat in my chair after all the watering and veggie gathering.  I'm surprised that I have any flowers left at all on the patio.  They've sure had fun playing in some of the pots.  We're having a hard time finding a home for them.  One person backed out in taking them.  And, no, much as I love these sweet furbabies, we can't keep all of them.  I'm afraid they'll eventually get run over.



The birds have been singing their little hearts out this morning.  I recognized the wren and a cardinal.  This pretty boy landed in the new peach tree we planted last year.  I think it is a Phoebe.  The birds aren't coming around quite so close with all the kittens we have.  Who can blame them?  We have rabbits and squirrels in the back yard and I just want to tell them to Run!  The kittens and their mama will be catching them if they get a chance.  Mama Kitty was chasing a frog on the patio earlier.  She caught a lizard for the young ones the other day.

                    


Back in the house, I walked down the hall and looked into a spare bedroom and saw something was a bit different.  I had just made up the bed with a quilt I had dried on the clothesline.   It doesn't take long for anything to dry in this heat.  Anyway, see that lump under the quilt?  That's my kitty, Stormy.  She loves clean bedding or a pile of clean, folded clothes and just crawls right in and goes to sleep!  See, I told you that this is a Keeping It Real post! 


I'm not sure what I'll get into the rest of the day.  I'm thinking I'll vacuum and scrub floors and dust.  Those are never ending jobs, particularly when you have furbabies in the house.  I also need to do something with all that squash.  I usually peel and dice up any extra zucchinis and put in freezer bags.  They make a great addition to a pot of vegetable soup. 

So there you have it.  Just a normal day at my little cottage.  Hope your day is a good one.  For those of you who are getting too much rain, send some our way.  And, while I'm asking, I'll take some cooler temps, too, please!

Until next time... 

27 comments:

  1. when i need a flower refresher - i have to go to blog land or my parents house. it works - i love your quilt. take time to rest too.

    sure is hot & humid here. i went to the mailbox & to do a bit around the yard & i am having sweat drip down my back. it is nuts! ( :

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  2. ha ha. now i know while you visit my site - nary a garden bloom or a house shot in the bunch. but i have a pond! dang it! :)

    your yard and potted plants put mine all to shame!

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  3. Cheryl, you're in good company. There's no magazine ready anything at our place. Everything's real. Real cluttered, real dusty, and lots of real cat hair. Love that kitty underneath the quilt and those petunias. Beautiful.

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  4. Yes, in very good company. I could do a keeping it real post every day of the week! Just so you'll know. Let's see, all I've managed to do today is get showered and dressed, do a load of laundry, dishes, and write a letter. It's too hot to do anything else!

    Your photos are always so pretty. My advice for your outdoor space is to shop for ideas at Pinterest and then just copy it. That's what I do.

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  5. These pictures ARE Better Homes & Gardens compared to our house!! I LOVE your petunias, and also the Stormy bump! The calico kitty is gorgeous, is she the one you are keeping? The wall is a hard one,all I can think of is to paint it the same color as the bricks, or a mural, or maybe hang a tapestry or pretty cloth.

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  6. Hi Cheryl, I like a more rustic look to the garden anyway......seems the older I get the lazier I get too, :). Your flowers are beautiful and I enjoy your blog.....sweet kitty....Blessings Francine.

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  7. I enjoyed this post so much...sometimes I feel that the places that are picture perfect are not really lived in and enjoyed. Yet I wish my place were better than it is.

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  8. I enjoyed my visit to your Normal Little Cottage. I felt at home. Our neighbor has kittens and the mother cat prances up here with the three little kittens behind her and then after a while they prance back home. The neighbor is also trying to find homes for these cuties but has had no luck.
    Love,
    Marie

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  9. i love the bird with the green leaf curling over it and your lump under the beautiful quilt. your flowers are beautiful and if blog land saw my house in all its glory they would not believe it. our yard is a total jungle that no magazine would use except to say do not do your yard this way... we could never be in a magazine, but i don't want to live in ahouse like a magazine. i like mine neat not cluttered but it doesn't have to be perfect.

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  10. Everything looks lovely. I think real is better for living in than perfect any day of the week. :)

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  11. I know just what you mean about having furbabies in the house. We have two...and one is a long-haired persian. You can imagine what that is like.

    Your petunia bed is very pretty!!! And I love the quilt. Wishin' I could dry our bedding outdoors on a line...nothing like fresh air and bedding ---our neighborhood has an ordinance that there be no clothelines. Dang.

    Enjoyed your post. And keeping it real was just perfect in my opinion.

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  12. PS...I forgot the wall....
    If the brick is red...then, with all the potted plants, wrought iron in black, a deep rich terra cotta color would be super I'd think.

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  13. your flowers are soooo very pretty. i did not plant one thing this year, NOTHING.

    i do have some pretty flowering perennials blooming right now but no annuals!!

    my house stays neat and pretty clean. no kids and no animals!!

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  14. At least you planted stuff!!! I have done nothing. If I don't work on my productivity, well I just don't know! I think your real stuff is beautiful!

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  15. Cheryl, Don't EVER compare your beautiful home and life with anyone else's.... We are all different --and we all love what we have... SO--please don't apologize... We just choose to put our energies into our flowers... The inside of our home is as ordinary as can be... BUT--that's our choice. And I'm not apologizing for it... I LOVE LOVE LOVE your home --every bit of it...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  16. My Suzette use to have a cat that ALWAYS slept under the bedspread so there was always a "lump" in her bed!!!

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  17. Your so funny! I have three dogs that weigh over 200lbs! And now we have a kitty. My house has fur on the floors every day and I normally vacuum every day. LOL My tile gets moped weekly and no more. Our home is lived in and comfy. :) And if I could leave the house just once without animal fur on me would be so nice, but we love our fur babies. :) They're worth it!

    Your flowers are gorgeous! And that quilt is pretty and it's funny that your kitty will sleep under it.
    Have a great Friday!

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  18. Hey, I think your garden looks grand. Mine is suffering from lack of rain water. City water just doesn't do it. Nature sure keeps us guessing.
    Hadn't thought about how the birds were weathering the extra cats. They look well fed enough that the birds ought to be safe.

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  19. Have to chuckle. My kitties crawl under the covers too.

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  20. I love that you are keeping it real, Cheryl, because we all have real lives. Your flowers are beautiful. My neighbors have zinnias and I love them. I don't have anywhere to plant them unfortunately. Not enough sun. Keep on living your life, sweet friend. xo Laura

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  21. I think your flowers look lovely and a kitty lump in the bed fun! I think we may actually have rain coming our way. I don't want to jinx it for any of us! It's in the forecast for every day!! Surely we have to get something, right?!

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  22. I have a friend who has a perfect home and yard. Her secret: hire helpers. Me? I can't afford to pay anyone for that kind of help. ;)

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  23. I think you have a beautiful patio and your flowers are so colorful and ALIVE!!! Mine are dead for the most part. I think most people cut the bad or messy parts out of their pictures. They stage their pictures for their blogs. I know I take the mess out....or dust....or move something that is out of place. lol And Thrifty Décor Chick, one blog that I have followed for years, has even shown us her mess. It's nice to know that other people aren't perfect, just like me.

    I hope you get some of the rain and cooler weather we were blessed with this past week. It was really out of the ordinary for us. July and in the heart of Texas, to be in the upper 50's for lows and low 80's for highs was just unreal...and 4 1/2 inches of rain in July is just unheard of! Finally a break in our droughts! I'm wishing the same for you. Hugs. Chin up. Your place and your kittens are great!

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  24. Hi Cheryl!

    Oh boy, thanks for making me feel normal! I have a walkout basement too, and I don't think there is anything that makes them more attractive - yours looks great! Your garden looks so green and pretty, and if you are gleaning from it, that's what counts, it's beautiful! Love the quilt, and the kitten! And, I understand about furry friends in the house, I have a 120 pound black lab, who lives in the house, hates the wind, and the dark, and thinks he's a lap dog! Seems like all I do some days is sweep hair. Thanks for keeping it real sweet friend!!

    Hugs,
    Barb

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  25. a very nice, normal day at home. It does not get better.

    Aww, Stormy.

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  26. No one will ever call my gardens magazine worthy....lol! I am constantly weeding but the weeds are winnig the battle.

    Your kitties are so sweet--I loved your note cards in the prior post. I once had an all grey cat named Stormy, too! :)

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  27. Cheryl...I really do enjoy reading your posts! It has been very hot in Texas. But, surprising enough, we've had some rain. I can't remember the last time it rained in July. It did lower the temps for awhile. But, I see it will be over 100 again later this week. The zinnia photo is beautiful....

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