Beautiful June

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a 

world where is is always June."

~L. M. Montgomery

If, according to Gladys Taber, May is a magical month then so, too, is June.  It is a beautiful time of year and makes me think of that song from the musical, Carousel...June Is Busting Out All Over.  

The flowers are growing by leaps and bounds.   At least those in the pots are, the newly planted perennials have just begun to look more alert.  Three of the four Salvia that I transplanted are doing well.  Not sure the other one is going to make it.

The skies have been beautiful with white fluffy clouds lately.  I love days like this and it makes me want to hop in the car and take a drive.   

I love all the different colors of flowers from the pale pinks to the vibrant purples and yellows.  

There used to be a woman who lived in this town that would only plant white flowers.  She lived in a white house, drove a white car and wore white clothing.

I love white and one of my favorite shirts is mostly white, but I need more color in my life than just white.  I'd definitely be bored to death with nothing but white flowers.  But to each his own, as they say.

This is also a special month for many as a lot of weddings take place in June.  BG and I were married in June.  Our son has a special birthday coming later this month.  A lot of special days are celebrated this month.

When I was a youngster, school always ended in May and June was the beginning of summer vacation for me.  Three whole glorious months!  I loved summers on the farm.  

There were no tech games or devices in those days and we had to make do with swimming in ponds instead of swimming pools.  We had horses to ride and woods to walk in and roller skates that clipped on our shoes to zoom around the basement when the weather didn't allow outside play.  

Of course, we had chores to do when we were old enough.  I remember bribing my little brother with the promise of a nickel or dime...which would buy a candy bar or soda back in those days!...if he would dry the dishes as I washed them.  

Most times, ornery me wouldn't pay up but he never said a word and would fall for my bribe all over again next time.  ☺  Well, maybe not every time! 

I could reminisce for hours.  It's fun to revisit the past once in awhile, isn't it?  At least, the good times...sweet memories.

I try to put unpleasant memories...and most of us have at least a few...in a box and only open that box on occasion when I want to examine something.  It's not that I'm hiding from them, but those days or moments are in the past and reliving sad or unhappy times is just not that helpful, in my opinion. 

Our sunsets have been gorgeous this spring.  The sun has moved over to the right and isn't setting directly in front of our house as it does in the fall. 

The windows in the kitchen and dining area faced west in the house on the farm I grew up in, and I remember watching many sunsets from them.  

It was where I began my lifelong love affair with sunsets and nature and skies with fluffy white clouds.   

I hope you are enjoying the beauty of this month of June, too!

Happy Wednesday to you!
xo Cheryl

The Weekend and Happy June!

We went to the cemeteries over the weekend to decorate the graves of our loved ones.  The maple tree above was one my dad had planted after my mother was buried in this cemetery nearly 40 years ago.  I remember how small the tree was when it was first planted. 

Our son had just gotten back Friday night from a week's work in California, so he didn't get a very early start home on Saturday.  A big storm was just ahead of him and he followed it out of KC most of the way home.  I was on the computer watching radar and weather warnings.  He had to pull off at 3 different exits to wait until the weather lightened up before going further.  

We got some rain and a little wind here, but nothing like other parts of the state had.  A flash flood in Branson caused the deaths of 2 people and 1 was missing.  I've never heard if they were found.  So tragic.  They were visiting Branson from Nashville, TN.

This photo is one my son snapped today as he was driving back to KC from Wichita.  We learned later that there was a tornado warning in the area and this cloud certainly looks ominous.  Brett said that he was listening to the news on the radio and they didn't say there was anything severe to worry about and thankfully he made it back to the metro area just fine.  

Storms with severe weather and possible tornadoes are something we hear forecast all too frequently here in MO in the spring and summer.  I'm happy we have a basement to go to.  

We went to our daughter's house on Saturday evening for a light supper and card games.  It was just the 4 of us and her friend, Mike. 

Kim's house and flowers are looking so nice.  She found the little Radio cart in the above photo at a flea market.  This was taken a couple of weeks ago and the flowers are much fuller now.

The little table is one I had and didn't use, so she spray painted it and placed it between the garage sale wicker chairs I found for $20.  BG and I like to sit in those chairs when we are visiting and sitting on the deck.

I've been having fun bird watching and trying to get a good shot of the blue birds.  Still haven't seen many goldfinches lately but we have plenty of other birds to watch.

We also have a few feral cats to watch that roam around our neighborhood.  I think I've shown these two before and they just crack me up.  They are both males but are practically joined at the hip.   We'll put out some food for them and I'll see them come running up the path that goes to the pond and they are almost touching as they run together.  They are great buddies and stay together.

We grilled a couple of times over the long weekend.  Brett grilled a pork loin and hamburgers to make sliders and also pork steaks.  We had plenty of sides along with corn on the cob.  Yes, we ate good!  

I started this week off with a day spent just resting and then I had to have my car back at the dealership yesterday to look at my a/c.  It quit again and they had told me that they couldn't figure out what was going on when it was cooling, so off I went for my 9:30 appointment.  Four hours later, I got the word that they still couldn't figure it out because the a/c came on as they drove it into the shop.  Grrr!!

I was so aggravated that I forgot half of what I needed at WalMart before heading home.  Of course it was one of those days where I forgot to make a list.  

The good news is that I got half-way through a book while I waited at the dealership.  I have missed reading.  

I apologize for not getting by to visit as often as I'd like.  It's been such a busy time and at the end of the day I find myself falling asleep over my laptop.  

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl

A Birthday and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

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A favorite author of mine, Gladys Tabor, said in one of her books that May was a magical month.  I can agree with that, but it is also a busy month.  There is a lot to do outside and inside as well.  Errands to run.  Special occasions to celebrate. 

Gardening begins in earnest, especially flower gardening.  I finished up planting my perennials Thursday and transplanted a few May Night salvia.  I hope they do well.  The perennials I planted in the new extended bed included a couple of Cone Flowers, Shasta Daisy, Bee Balm, Coreopsis, and the transplanted Salvia along with the Cat Mint I'd already planted a week or so ago. 

Yesterday was the day to go through the stacks of papers piling up in the kitchen.  Does this happen to you?  Tell me I'm not the only one.  :)  I don't know why I let them accumulate before I go through them.  It took a while to get through it all as magazines I hadn't gotten around to looking at would sidetrack me for awhile.  I get free subscriptions to a couple of magazines and I found about 5 in my stacks that I hadn't looked at yet.  

The rest was mostly junk mail that I need to shred or burn.  We are bombarded with credit card offers and, of all things, hearing aid advertisements as well as other stuff we don't want or need.  I don't need credit cards and though my hearing isn't as good as it used to be, I'm not quite ready for a hearing aid.   

I love river towns and count myself fortunate to live near several.  Above is the Missouri River and it is quite full now.  The weather people are saying we may get some severe weather in the afternoon and evening as I write this.  

They say we may see baseball size hail and 80 mph winds along with possible tornadoes.  I'm praying they are wrong about of this.  To my Missouri friends and others in the path of these storms...please stay safe!  

Our dear daughter had a birthday this week.  Happy Birthday, Kim!  We took her out to eat and Kim and I had the grilled pork chop with a salad and loaded baked potato.  BG had a ribeye and his beloved french fries.

The first photo was a shot of the sky when we came out of the restaurant.  We went back to her house for dessert.  Her assistant at work had made a cake to share with all the teachers and Kim brought the leftovers home.  It was so good!  She had 2 beautiful bouquets of flowers on the table that she had gotten, but I forgot to take a photo.  

Our son will be coming in for the weekend.  Hope he gets here before that bad weather starts.  He just returned yesterday from a week of work in California and was so glad to get back home.  We'll be glad to have our family all together for the holiday weekend and we're planning on grilling, card playing, movie watching and just relaxing.  And if the weather is nice, some patio sitting and enjoying the beautiful outdoors. 

I haven't been to the cemeteries yet, but the flowers are in the car and ready to go.  In our area, we decorate the graves of our loved ones as well as those who gave their all in service of our country.  May we never forget.

God bless each of you this Memorial Day weekend...stay safe!

Love,
Cheryl   

Flower Gardening and Stuff

I have been having fun watching the flowers grow.  Each day I can see a change.  We've had more rain, so I haven't had to water much the past few days.

One of my favorite flowers is called Angelonia which I discovered a few years ago.  It is the purple flower in the back of the pot above.  It is sometimes called Summer Snapdragon and comes in other colors such as pink, white and mauve.  

I like it not only because I think it's pretty, but it has a high tolerance for heat and humidity which we have in abundance during the summer in MO.

That it is low maintenance is another plus.  And deer resistant, too.  It needs sun but will tolerant some shade and it will bloom all summer into fall.  Love that. 

I have been watching the birds as well as enjoying the flowers when I sit on the patio.  Not sure why, but the goldfinches have become scarce.  I haven't seen many at the feeders in several days now.  The robins, cardinals, bluebirds, blue jays, and many others are still around.  

I was excited to see the first coneflower bloom.  It is one of my very favorite summer flowers.  I hope I do a better job this year in keeping them dead-headed.   Also my Stella de Oros.  

I was reading up on transplanting the Stellas and found that the correct spelling is the above instead of Stella 'D Oro which many use including myself in the past.

The other coneflower bloom looks like a boo boo occurred.  It looks like it was meant to be two instead of the one.  

About transplanting Stellas and also some salvia that are getting choked out by some knockout roses - I read that I could still transplant in May before it gets too hot or wait until fall.  I will try it this week and hope they will take off in their new location.  Some said that the salvia will pout if moved in the spring, but will usually come out of it and do well.  

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My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the terrible bombing in Manchester.  When will this ever end?  

Also, two of my blogging friends have recently lost their fathers.  My heart goes out to them and their families.  It is never easy to lose a parent regardless of their age.

    

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We had a nice, lazy weekend.  Everyone was tired and ready for some down time and we rested for the most part.  BG and I went to my daughter's for supper one evening and played a game of Phase 10.  I always tell them I'm going to win, and I did.  :)

My laptop was taken back to the computer doctor.  I haven't been able to do any photo editing in PicMonkey, it was always telling me that the Adobe Flash plugin wasn't working or crashed and also my mouse would freeze and I'd have to turn the computer off and reboot.  It was driving me crazy.  And that meant I needed to clean off my desk where the desktop is if I wanted to get online.  Well, I do have my iPhone and tablet, but I hate trying to type on those tiny little keypads.  ☺

I talked to the computer doc yesterday and he said I didn't have any viruses on it but my laptop is just getting old and he doesn't know if it will last much longer.  He tried to sell me a restored laptop the last time I was there.  Which was just a short time ago.  I really didn't want to think about laptops right now as I have no clue what kind to get.   

Supper last night was simple.  Goulash and a buttered slice of bread.  A new favorite bread is Sara Lee's Artesano.   We love it.  For those who still eat white bread, have you tried it? 

Happy Tuesday to you!

xo Cheryl

A Busy May

The flowers are mostly planted, the back patio cleaned and the storage shed was cleaned out over the past weekend.  Our daughter helped her dad with the shed while I was planting.  

We had a little scare when BG tripped in the shed and fell out onto the concrete narrowly missing the back of the wagon that was backed up to the door.  He has a nasty bruise and scrapes on his arm and he said his knees hurt, but otherwise he is okay.  He's a tough guy and kept right on working.  He wanted to get the job done.  Such a fall would have sidelined me for a good while, I'm afraid.   

Our son drove in on Sunday for Mother's Day.  He brought me the gorgeous orchids and daughter gave me the vase full of candy with beautiful roses.  I haven't had orchids before so I welcome any advice on how to keep them healthy. 
 

Last year I had 2 tall black pots on each side of the large window on the front patio but ended up giving them to our daughter.  I looked and looked for another pair this spring, but couldn't find a matched set so I ended up buying a couple in light tan and Kim spray painted them black for me.  They turned out nicely.

It hasn't been all work and no play since I was here last.  Kim and I drove to the Big Town one evening for a little shopping and stopped in at the Olive Garden.  We had salad and breadsticks and split an order of Shrimp and Chicken Carbonara.  So good!  

I also had to go to the Big Town this week for another eye injection.  The good news is that the doctor told me my eye was much better but the bad news is that I need to go back in 2 months for another injection.  I have a feeling that one still won't be the end of it.

After the appointment, I drove to the Mall and ate lunch at the Cafe Court and then browsed around in Barnes and Noble while waiting for my dilated eyes to clear up a little better before I started home. 
 

We have had a lot of feral cats come and go at our house.  I snapped a pic of this pair while looking over the retaining wall on the back patio of our walkout basement.  We named them Ginger and Butterscotch even though they are both males.  They are a funny pair, very loving to each other and you rarely see one without the other next to him.  

I see the patio is getting dirty again in this photo.  The wind has really been blowing hard the last two days and the debris ends up on the patio.  Those are a few of the pots I have in the back.  

It's also been very hot lately.  I discovered just how hot the other day when I went to the doctor and the a/c in my car wouldn't come on.  It just blew hot air.  I have an appointment this morning to get it fixed.  Then later in the day I'm getting a much needed haircut.  That's one appointment I'm happy to have.  

And that's pretty much the story of my exciting ordinary life the past week or so.  A lot has gotten done outside.  We planted 2 raised bed gardens and that is probably all we'll do.  The deer usually devour everything we plant, so we've cut back on the veggies.  I do hope they leave my tomatoes alone, we always look forward to home grown tomatoes. 

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

to all the sweet mother's everywhere!!

And Happy Sunday to everyone!

It's been a busy week and weekend again here

and I will be back visiting next week.  

Comments are closed as I know you are

busy, too.  Enjoy your evening!

Love, Cheryl

It's a Bird...it's a Plane!

Our weather has been nice and sunny since last Friday.  I think rain may move back in tomorrow but we've been making hay while the sun has been shining.  Getting a lot of yard work done, that is.  And planting flowers.

We spent a lot of time at our daughter's house helping plant and mulching around the house and flower gardens.  My own flowers aren't quite finished yet.  

I bought some new perennials for a flower bed I'm extending, but the soil needs to dry out before it can be worked good.

The front of the house is done.  All I did there was put up a few hanging baskets and planted red geraniums in the black pots.  Most of my flowers go on the large patio in back.  

Our son came in for the weekend and we spent a little time sitting on the patio while awaiting the charcoal grill to get going.  I had fun trying to snap the goldfinches in flight fighting over a seat at the feeder.  

I don't remember ever seeing so many goldfinches at once and at one point I counted at least 3 dozen awaiting a turn and several were on the ground looking for dropped seeds.  I'll be buying another feeder when I'm at the store.

My son and I had fun watching the planes overhead and he would ask Siri, "what flight is above us"?  This one was coming from St Louis headed to San Francisco. 

This flight was from Baltimore headed to Las Vegas.  We all agreed that while it is fun to be able to find out this information, that it might not be so wise at this time in our troubled world.  

Back to birdwatching...this goldfinch might be a juvenile.  He sat on the clothesline for the longest time.

   Coming in for a landing...

I'm heading out to Wally World in a few minutes, so I'll be by to visit later in the day or tonight.  I've been meaning to post and visit way before now, but flowers and other chores have had my attention lately.  Hope your day is sunny and bright!

Happy Tuesday to you!
xo Cheryl

Flower Shopping and Rain

We've had so much rain lately and it's back again today.  However, we finally saw some sun yesterday so my daughter got off work early and we headed out around 2:30 pm to get some flowers for planting this coming weekend. 

So many beautiful colors and varieties to choose from!  I saw a few flowers that I don't remember seeing before, but I usually stick to buying those that I know will likely survive our hot and humid Missouri summers.   

One hardy flower I've discovered in recent years and like is called Angelonia.  It comes in various shades, I bought a few in purple.  I also love Calibrachoa, which some call Million Bells.  

Except for the Calibrachoa hanging baskets, most of the flowers in the trunk of my car belong to my daughter.  Mine took up the back seat and we had a good laugh as we were trying to find room for a few new flower pots and a few other needed items.  I wanted a few other flowers but we simply didn't have room.  

I've been looking for lemon grass as I've read it keeps mosquitoes away and I want to get a few nice geraniums for the front pots.  We plan to get some new mulch in the truck this weekend.  Also, I'm debating on a few more perennials to expand a flower bed.  What fun it is to plan flower gardens!  Did I mention recently that I might downsize and not plant so much?  I think I've changed my mind.  ☺

We had a fun afternoon as we enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful flowers.  I was limping badly by the time I got home and worn out, but I am always happy to take a little road trip to shop for flowers.

Happy Wednesday to you!
xo Cheryl  

Flea Market Shopping and Another Test

While we were in Branson, I snuck out the door while BG and our son were watching basketball games and headed downtown.  You can see that we were still getting a little rain that day.  Way down at the bottom of the hill is the Landing which has many shops and eateries and the fountain show by Lake Taneycomo, which looks more like a river to me.  

Before I got to the downtown area, I stopped by a few other spots including the Tanger Outlet mall where I found another pair of Skecher flipflops and a new top at CJ Banks.  

I stopped by a couple of flea markets and browsed not looking for anything in particular.  I found these old quilts and was tempted to buy one but I couldn't think of a place where I would use them so I moved on.  The tags on the top two said they were made by someone's great, great-grandmother.  If I remember right, the quilts were priced at $110.00 and the booth had a 20% off sign.  Is that reasonable or too high?  I'm not up on quilt prices, but I know most I see are fairly expensive.  

See the taller glasses on the right side, top shelf?  I had a set just like those in blue and most have been broken over the years and I'm down now to just one.  I've always liked the shape of this glassware, so I bought 4 of these at $3.25 each.  The tag said Fostoria, but I'm pretty sure the blue ones I bought years ago were Libbey. 

   
This cute little booth belongs to a friend who used to go to the same church as us before they moved to Branson.  We saw them last year when we were there.  She is a very talented gal and she and her hubby used to refinish antiques.

  
I just had to snap a pic of this bumper sticker in the parking lot when BG and I went out for dinner Sunday evening.  And yes, I had potatoes!!  

    
 And I also had blackberry cobbler with a scoop of ice cream.  Yum, yum.  Who counts calories when on vacation?  Not this chick!  

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My appointment Wednesday turned out okay.  I had an Endoscopy, which is a tube down the throat that looks at the esophagus, the stomach and the beginning of the small intestine.  

My family doctor wanted me to have this done as I've had heartburn and coughing for a number of years until she put me on a prescription Prilosec.

Remember all the hoopla about Hillary Clinton's coughing during the campaign.  I told BG when I saw her that I'd bet she has what I did because I would cough when I tried to talk...or eat.  

Anyway, the doctor had told me that I couldn't stay on that pill because it thinned your bones and wanted me to have the Endoscopy done to make sure there wasn't anything else going on.  

The esophagus looked fine, but he did find 4 polyps in my stomach which were removed and sent off for a biopsy.  He said he was almost certain they were benign.  

Oh, and he said I could stay on that pill as the studies now say they don't thin your bones.  Yay!  

It wasn't as bad as I had feared.   I thought my throat would be sore afterward, but it wasn't.  I did get a sedative and didn't know a thing during the procedure much like the colonoscopy I had last month.  

Whew!  I'm so glad to have those 2 items crossed off my list.  I feel pretty good, though still tired.  A little of that is because I went with my daughter to the Big Town yesterday after she got off work to get groceries and some other items for her center and it was late when I got back home.

Another reason I want to nap and actually find myself falling asleep over my laptop is because the anesthesiologist told me he was certain I had sleep apnea.  He had looked into my mouth and said he could tell by what he saw there.  Whatever that was.

I do snore some and have a deviated septum and chronic nasal congestion, but even so I was surprised to hear that.  So, I'll have to look into this and see what can be done that doesn't require a wearing a mask.  Don't think I could do that.  People I've known that tried them eventually give it up.   

Okay, enough about me.  But as with the colonoscopy, I tell about these procedures to encourage everyone to not fear having them done. 

Wishing everyone a Happy Friday and weekend, too!

xo Cheryl

A Long Weekend Getaway

This is where we stayed...some of you can already guess where we went as I've shown similar photos before. 

As we headed out the door Friday morning, the weather was nice but cooler than it has been.  

About 2 1/2 or so hours into our 4 hour journey, it started raining.  Would we let a little rain put a damper on our little vacay?  Absolutely not.  

When we arrived at the condo, the first thing I saw on the wall just inside the door was the above sign.  Loved it!  We were looking for some R&R and this was the perfect place to find it.  

The lake as it looked from our covered deck on Friday.  The rain finally lightened up to a drizzle and continued through part of Saturday.
  

Sunday and Monday was gorgeous with sunshine and the hills were alive with the sound of...silence...except for the occasional crow flying overhead and other birds heard but not seen in the trees.   

We had a well stocked kitchen having brought some food with us that was easy to fix.  Our son who had work in Springfield a few days that week drove down to stay a couple of nights with us.  He also brought some yummy food along.  It was good to have him be able to join us and have a few relaxing days, too.  He's a lot of fun to be around and we're just happy that our children still like to hang out with us old folks! 

And if you haven't guessed by now where we went...

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Branson!


 
We had a very nice, relaxing time on our little getaway.  The only complaint I have is that it was too short.  All too soon, it's time to pack everything up and load the car and get back on the highway to home. 

Home...it's always good to be back even though I could have stayed in Branson longer.  I have been hugging kitties and resting up from the drive back.  We went out to dinner last night with our daughter.  Tomorrow, I have an appointment in the Big Town.  So it will be a little while yet before I'm able to get around to visiting everyone.  I'll share a little more of our trip next time.

Happy Wednesday to you!
xo Cheryl