Something to think about

Botanical Gardens

I love flowers. Not in the “I’m a great gardener and love to dig in the soil” kind of way. I love to look at them and admire the different ones. I have something special planned for my sister and I when she comes to visit next week. We are going to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens on Monday morning for a watercolor lesson. My sister is artistic even though she’s never watercolored before. But this class if for novices too. I think it will be a great experience for us and a lot of fun!
  It’s a very quiet day here at the Karrasches. Don is working on his boat getting it all ready for fishing and fun when the kids get here. I’ve finished reading the new Harlen Coben novel Six Years which I recommend. I read it in large print. For those of you who don’t know I had some eye surgery some years ago which left me with wonky vision. I can’t read print because it wiggles and waves. But my good eye copes and large print makes it so much easier. 
  Last night we had a huge thunder bolt that woke me up out of a sound sleep. I jumped and said What was that?  It sounded very close by but there have been no reports of damage so I assume everything is ok. It rained during the night and off and on today. It’s good for the flowers!
   Hope you are all enjoying this glorious day. The temps are in the sixties and just right. Have fun.

Just a little Paris dreaming on a Sunday morning

I've been to Paris. If you ever have its something that you never forget. It's a magical place where you sit at an outdoor cafe and watch the world go by. 

Abundance

The Happiness Project is a book by Gretchen Rubin that celebrates happiness. She also has a website where she discusses things that create happiness and challenges you with questions. The hot topic for the week was "do you prefer simplicity or abundance?"  

   I think everyone who knows me would have no trouble saying that I prefer abundance. I think it started in some ways early on when my family was growing up. Because I worked full time I was always trying to find ways to save time. One way was to buy in abundance. That meant shopping for deals and buying multiples...extra soap, detergent, and a freezer full of food. I liked not having to run to the grocery store all the time. In my decorating I definitely did t like to keep it simple.  Everywhere you look there are vignettes. My son says that if there is a flat surface I'll put a decoration on it. Then one day ( as I got much older and wiser). I realized that it can be overdone. Even though things were pretty they could be tot much. I started to eliminate and just try to leave some things out. There is still a lot..but not overwhelming. I have reached a stage in my life where I am finding I want to buy less, enjoy more and simplify. I am more selective about what I bring into the house and each time I clean I eliminate more and more.  I will never be a minimalist but I am leaning to more simplicity.  

 How about you?

Sean and Sara

Sean and Sara playing in their back yard. 

I think we’re just about finished

Today was just a day of relaxation for me. It was another hot day, 82 degrees, and I decided that I wasn’t gardening today. So I stayed inside mostly and took care of house business with occasional sits on the porch swing to enjoy the warm (ok, the hot) breeze coming through the breezeway. Our help came and carried some of the wood up to the burning pile. It needs to dry out so that we can begin to burn it up. It was old cut wood that had been there for a long time and wasn’t good for anything else.
    We have no plans for the weekend and I’m really happy about that. I’ve got to rest up for my onslaught of company coming. Linda will be here Friday night and then Ryan and family are coming on Wednesday. If I’m not blogging as much you will know that I’ll be busy.
  I hope that you all enjoy this lovely weekend and the start to our summer.

A cool place to sit

Did I mention how hot it is? I'm so grateful for our window air conditioner in the sunroom.  Those of you in the south who take central air for granted should know about our crazy temperatures and how during a heat wave we appreciate even one cool room in the house. 

Mrs. Greenthumb

Even though it was hot and muggy today I filled my planters with flowers. I stopped at our local fruit market and picked out dusty miller, zinnias, sweet potato vine, tuberous begonias, and English ivy. I filled three window boxes and six containers. I am partial to blues and pinks for their cooing looks. Out front I filled the window boxes with yellow begonias, orange zinnias, and sweet potato vines. I also planted all the new perennials on the bank by the pond. 

Sketchbook

Trying out a drawing app called sketchbook express. It's really fun and brings out the artist in me. 

Questions

Have you ever watched Inside the Actor's Studio?  It is a tv show where James Lipton interviews one famous actor and at the end he always asks the same questions of each and every one of them.  So I though I'd try answering them too. I'd love for you to play along and answer them too in the comment section of the blog. 

What is your favorite word?  Creative 

What is your least favorite word? Bees

What turns you on?  A gathering of friends or family

What turns you off?  Family feuds   

What sound do you love?  The squeak of a porch swing in motion

What sound do you hate?  Glass breaking

What is your favorite curse word?   Shit

What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?  Watercolor artist

What profession would you not want to do?  Accounting

If Heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you reached the Pearly GAtes?  Honey, you did a good job down there. 

Happy birthday!

My friends and I have a tradition of going out for our birthdays. Today was Linda's birthday and we went to theOlive Garden in Jamestown. Good food and good shopping and great company. 

More wise words

Trying out a new app

I'm trying out an app called Artist's Touch. I still need. Little practice but its fun to use. 

Happiness is free, take all you want

Memorial Day

We covered the flowers and the Japanese Maple again last night we had a hard frost this morning. And the low tonight will be 24. This should be the final night of frost and then we should be able to plant our summer annuals. It seems more like winter than summer this morning. 

Friends

We all have those in our lives. People who put a smile on our face. They are there for you when things aren't going as planned. They boost you up when you need it and are a shoulder to cry on when you are in pain. When you are happy they share your joy. They are encouragers and want you to succeed. They make you want to be a better person. Be thankful for your friends. 

Love this!

Lupines

LIt seems all the flowers this year have been more than generous with their blooms. These lupines spread easily and are so pretty. There are pink as well as blue flowers. 

In this herb bed the little blue wild flowers have taken over. I know they are wild but they're so pretty I couldn't pull them up. 

Good old reliable chives. They always come back year after year. 

 The table is ready, come on over for a visit!

Playing with pictures

I have a few photography apps for my ipad. For this I first took the picture with Procamera. Then used Sketchy and Picshop to finish it. I'm having fun using these quick and easy programs to edit my photos.

C..c..cold

We covered our plants tonight since the temperatures are dropping and it's getting colder.  We didn't cover last week and the frost killed many of the leaves on our Japanese Maple tree. I threw a sheet over the lupine just to be on the safe side. 

  Today Don and I had a play date and went to the "big city" of Erie. We had lunch and I visited my favorite stores. At Lowes I found some flowers but will put off planting till Monday. After tonight our temperatures should go back up. Isn't our weather crazy?  Just a few days ago it was ninety.