Hummingbird Food....

   About  3- 4 years ago at the Earth Fest , in a town south of here, I bought this cookbook. I liked that it had unusual recipes .

    This Hummingbird food recipe  is one of them.  I thought I would give it a try.

  The hummers seem to like it better than the last two store bought nectars. So from now on, I am only going to make this. I am not a good hummingbird photographer. I can be sitting on the porch watching them and they will be all over the feeders, even fighting for them. As soon as I get the camera, they seem to know. :):)   There's one sitting eating in this shot, but before I could zoom in, she was gone. I do love to watch them.
  By the way there's a recipe in this cookbook that makes me laugh. It's called crock pot chicken.  Here's the recipe like it is written.  1 Box stove top stuffing , 4 boneless chicken breasts, thawed/uncooked., 1 can of cream of chicken soup.   Prepare stuffing mix. Layer in crockpot as follows: 2 chicken breasts, 1/2 the stuffing, 1/2 the soup(spread over stuffing) Repeat  layers.  Cook on low,  all day while at work ( this was what made me laugh).....These recipes are from a group of people who work in a factory near Indy.  So I could see they would be at work all day. God bless the working men and women.
   Wishing everyone a good day.  As you slide down the banister of life, don't get a splinter in your career.  (from my quotes for the day calendar).  XO

Why Decks Need Stained....

  Tracked on sand , from when we put sand in the brick walkway.

  Winter bringing down the leaves , in fall.

 This little fellow chewing the boards, from salt being put down to melt ice or frost.

  Watering plants and plenty of hot sunshine.

 Moving things around on the deck, scratching the boards.

 We can't forget this...I mean so much of it at times too. All these things take their toll on the boards...and it should have been done last year....but here it is now , a year later. It rained again this morning. So those proverbial best laid plans...LOL.  It will get done this year, for sure...just not when we thought we would have it completed.
   I know all of you have  gone through the same thing a time or two.  I am certainly not going to worry about it. I'll just be very happy when we can finish it. Remember this spring...well it was late spring. I bought a new rug and umbrella. I have yet to use the umbrella and the rug is now rolled up since it dried from the rains. . It is always something when you own a home.
   I hope all of you are keeping cool.   I know some are having very hot days.  Like our friends  in Texas.  I am just going with the flow, so I can enjoy life.  Hope you are enjoying your lives too. XO

Sweet Days....

  We have had some wonderful blue skies and sunshine this week. It rained once in the wee hours Thursday morning.
 
  The soy beans are so pretty right now. They wave in the breeze and look like a sea of green.

   There's been gentle breezes. Not really harsh winds.  When it's warm , it's so nice to have a breeze blowing .

 The 4-H grounds was having an old fashioned farm machinery show. I caught this shot driving by.  They had perfect weather for it.
  Today I tried to stain the deck by myself. Wowwee...it's too hot at this time and I am wore out.  I have the posts and rails done..not the banisters though.  Then there the skirting and flooring. This might be a week long project. LOL.
   It has been more like summer for about ten days now. Hope all of you are enjoying this weekend. XO

Over At Lizzy's.......

   My daughter Lizzy's husband loves to can stuff. These are his green beans he canned last weekend. I took this picture on Monday, when we took  a cross that Ted had made for Liz to hang on her living room wall.  I saw Matt had all the green beans canned and sitting on the family room coffee table. I think he was going to write the dates on them.

  He also had a bunch of cucumbers , he is going to make into pickles. He had just picked them from his garden.  He grows lots of things himself. I know that Liz and Emma help him too. But Matt is the one that loves canning.

  Here's Emma and her mommy, Lizzy. They are getting ready to go to school for orientation for Emma. She had her orientation on Monday evening and then her first day of school is today. Our Emma is growing up. She and her cousins , Savannah and Skylar are the last of the grandkids still in school. The years flew by....faster each year. Hug your little ones today , all too soon they will be grown.
  We bought the stain for the deck floor, but it had rained on the deck, and now it must dry out again. We got a nice rain and even after the past two month of soooo much rain, we needed this one.
   Hope all of you are heading into a weekend filled with summer fun.  XO

Brunch With Friends....

  Here's some of the classmate brunch bunch  meeting again.  The lady in white, Shelia,  is here from Florida. She came home to bury her husband's ashes and be with her sister.  She was my neighbor growing up.  The lady in the red top, Patty, beside her is the one who gets us all together.  Standing is Patty, Shelia, me, Linda, Phyllis, & Nancy. The two seated are Vickie and Patti. I look tall...LOL..I am only 5'4''.
  It was so nice to be with Shelia , as she isn't at most of our gathering. Her husband had been ill a few years. She is going back to Florida to take a year to think over , if she wants to move back to Tipton to be with her family. That would be a hard choice, since she has lived in Florida so long.

  The fire fighters and emergency squad were at the restaurant  too. I am not sure if they had been on  runs or practicing..

 While I am mentioning fire fighters...please take time today to pray for the fire fighters out west, that are fighting the forest fires. They are so brave, putting their lives in danger, and working in so many hours.
 After the brunch, Ted and I got the deck power washed. It's drying thoroughly now...so we can stain it come Thursday.
   Wishing all of you a beautiful day. XO

Fabric.....

  I went to Jo-Ann's fabric and craft store early Saturday morning.  I bought some fabrics to make scarves.

  This is one piece, it goes from the darks of midnight blue/black to yellow.  I think it's a poly material.   I liked the bright colors .

  This piece feels like a stretchy t-shirt material. I may not even make a hem in the sides...may just cut some fringe at the ends and let it roll at the sides. I like that effect. It's sporty looking.

 Another piece is like an oil painting watery poly.  More winter looking. This piece with the gray, purple and ice blue is the one I really like. It's more like an old fashioned nylon scarf material.  I like the gray in it.  I'll make a rolled hem on it.  Or who knows, I may just be ever so lazy and wear them as is. LOL. I'll show all of you...that will make me be more responsible.
  We had a thunder storm last night. I's cloudy today.  May take my Teddy Bear to lunch.  Good wishes for all of you, XO.

What Is Hanging On Here....

   The hydrangea is doing well.  Not as well as I would like, but it did bloom.  I will save the flower head when they dry.

  Hostas are still doing well. I need to separate them to make more plants.

  The black eyed susans are fine.  I brought a plant from when we lived in town.

 I will say these and the pachysandra  that I brought from our place in town , have done well here.  I miss all the tulips I had in town. Of course they are not blooming for the people who bought the house either. :(  I don't think they do much gardening ....as some things are over grown in some of the beds there.  Well, I know , I should not talk...LOL... Some of my mums are over grown also.
   I actually sat on the porch yesterday and wrote my sister a letter. It was nice out, low humidity and I had the fan going, so no bugs. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday. XO