I like Thursdays, June 29, 2017!

I like to listen to the news in the morning and read blogs.  I thought this week I would do a different kind of like post and cite the blogs I enjoy reading.  For more like posts, join LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

I like meeting new friends via the internet.  Here are few of my longtime favorites:

Q is for Quilter
Martha's blog is one of my longtime favorites.  She may be too busy to post often these days but there is a plethora of inspiration and patterns on her website.  I love that she has so many vintage embroidery patterns and her sources of inspiration for her work often makes me view my world in a different way.

Allie-Oops Sweet Happy Life
I love Allie and she is always working on a fun project.  She sells some of her designs but many she posts for free!  I'm also inspired by the colors she chooses for her pieces.  She also posted how she hangs her small quilts on the wall and it was wonderful and simple (see here).

Sandra Sews :)
Sandra has become a good friend and even visited a few times.  I am always excited to see her and her husband Dennis.  I love donation projects and Sandra does a ton of them as well as make lots of gifts.    It always makes me happy to see what she is up to!!!

I also like all the blogs that participate in the I Like Thursdays editions.  Visit LeeAnna to discover the wealth of inspiration you can find there!

Other news:  Scout was to the vet last week and is 20.8 lbs.  I can't believe her brother is already 30 lbs!  She's had a tough week recovering from her vaccines and also has a rash on her belly that is being treated by the vet.  She'll be fine but she sleeps a lot right now.  

On Sunday she was allowed to take her first walk at a public park and she greatly enjoyed it as did we.  Here she is admiring the lovely waterfall at Monocacy Park.

I really love this park.  It is the park my family frequented the most during my childhood.  It just appeared magical to me because of the WPA structures.  The park was completed in 1937.  It's just a lovely place for a walk.

We had unusually fantastic weather this week.  It wasn't too hot and there was no humidity.  Yesterday I actually just spent most of the day reading in the garden.  I even did a little sewing out there and worked on a binding for a short time (still babying the shoulder).  It's rare I have a day that I just take off.  I liked it 😊

We had moved this bird bath to the back yard last week because the birds just weren't using it out front.  Some cheeky little poodle girl gets up on her hind legs to drink from it.  So what are the chances of birds coming to it now with her using it?

I hope you are having a wonderful summer and for my American buddies, have a wonderful Fourth of July!

I like Thursdays; June 22, 2017

Another fun day of things we like!  Be sure to visit LeeAnna for more fun posts!

IT'S SUMMER!

I like Summer solstice.  What's not to like about lots of sunshine, warmth and flowers?

I like the act of gardening.  The hard physical labor of it.  I find it as calming--as soothing as sewing (except my muscles might ache a bit more afterwards).  It finally cooled off on Tuesday after a nice rain Monday night.  I spent 6 + hours working in the garden: weeding, pruning and moving plants.

I still have so much to do but I gravitate between a stuffed cottage garden and then a more minimal look.  I knew that once we got a good rain the tall plants would need to be pruned.  So far I have 8 garbage cans and bags full of cuttings and weeds and am going to continue on.  The weather for the rest of the week is supposed to be low humidity.  Perfect working weather!

I love my baby garden girl.  Here she is pre-haircut:

She loves rock lobster.  It's one of her favorite outdoor toys.

Silly goil.  She likes to look at the world upside down sometimes:

I like--no love--our groomer Jessa.  

I like--no love--that Scout was a perfect angel for her yesterday.

Here is our garden girl now:

THAT FACE!!!

Speaking of gardens, I love hydrangeas. They are my favorite for many reasons, mostly sentimental.  This year all the hydrangeas were blooming white until we got a really good storm on Monday.  Now everything is turning the proper color (except the white hydrangeas and the oak leaf which are supposed to have white flowers. 

At one point, my husband said "don't buy anymore hydrangeas, we have enough."  So imagine my surprise when he brought home this beauty:

I don't often use patterns but I have to say, I've actually bought a few lately from Blue Underground Studios.  Their website is here.  I just like the modern look of some of the patterns.  I'm on this mission to make a lap quilt for everyone I love but I don't want to do anything too complicated (I reserve that for quilts I have to make for programs I give).  I love the conundrum quilt!

Anyway, I have to go run errands and do other things in the garden.  Have a wonderful day!

I like Thursdays

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

--Desmond Tutu

It's "I Like Thursday" and as usual, a number of try to infuse the internet with a bit of positive energy to balance all the chaos that surrounds us.  For more sweet posts, see LeeAnna at "Not Afraid of Color" and the rest of us that share happy thoughts.

I like sleeping puppies:

Scout is a handful but she is learning a little each day.  Most of the time her naughty antics are the fault of whichever parent is in charge. However, I would be lying if I didn't tell you that most of the time the song that is going through my mind is "Memo to My Son" by

Randy Newman.  

What have you done to the mirror?

What have you done to the floor?

Can't I go nowhere without you?

Can't I leave you alone any more?

Scout's social life continues to grow.  There are neighbor children that now come to visit her.

In the evenings we take Scout to play with Greta.  Scout is feeling her oats and she was getting a little mouthy and brazen one night,  so my Mom grabbed a broom and Scout backed off.  This has become a thing.  Nobody hits her but she realizes that folks are armed (I'm the only one that doesn't need to be, she knows bettter).  I was laughing my head off the other night, when I turned around and realized that Carol, Mom, and Kathy were all armed...

I like fresh herbs!  This week hubby decided to build a vertical herb garden.  I garden he builds and that suits me fine.  He picked the colors he liked and even decided on what color hanging plant he wants.  Yeh for fresh herbs!

I like that the legacy of Thunky Ball continues.  What is Thunky ball?  

It was a ball that fell in our yard when the George kids were playing.  Teddy found it and thought it had come from heaven :D  The kids were kind enough to let Ted keep it.

 Ted might not have liked most balls but he LOVED thunky ball.  It has and had very little air in it which is why it sounded like "Thunk" when you threw it.  After he passed, we put it on a special post in the garden as a tribute to him.  It wasn't until this past week when even thought about it.  

We must have had some cats in the backyard and a lot of things were topsy turvy....and Scout found Thunky ball.  She now also thinks it was sent from heaven as her special ball :)

The garden continues to please and hopefully the weather will be a bit cooler so I can weed this weekend.

Have a wonderful day!

McPoodle Pool

We're having a heat wave!  A tropical heat wave!

What to do with a rammy puppy when it is too hot to go for a walk?

You open the pool!

 She loves the water!!!

Finally a place where she is allowed to dig!

She now barks to go outside and jump in the pool. 

Enjoy her antics here as she tries to get her shadow and dig it out:

I like Thursday...

I'm interested in what people like.  I think it is fun (and inspiring) discovering what makes people happy.  This week I am happy with:

Scout and Greta

Greta is my Mom's poodle and Scout was initially terrified of her.  But they have learned to be best pals and now Scout howls at the front door to go over and see here.  They play and play and then both are worn out (always a good thing).  

The thing is that play they do is specific "poodle play."  Some of the dogs Scout sees just don't understand what she is doing but Greta knew right away and once they became pals, it was playtime palooza.

Hide and seek

Dancing poodles...

 It's not as it looks.  This is an elaborate game and I have to give kudos to Greta who never hurts little Scout.  The "Mama" role in these games seems to suit Greta and they both are smiling everytime they take a break.

I like a thing our guild does.  We have a "free table" and I really like to peruse for old magazines and occasionally find fabric I can use.  This past week I found some interesting pieces of fabric:

We've taken to watching "America's Got Talent" because there is absolutely nothing on tv these days.  If you haven't seen Many Harvey's performance, you should.  Made me cry like a baby.  You can see it here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKSWXzAnVe0

I REALLY REALLY REALLY like Sunshine and this morning (for the first time in a long time), it was sunny when we woke up.  

Here's what blooming in the garden:

I hope you have a wonderful day of likes and happiness.  Be sure to stop by LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to visit for more fun likes!

Make Great

"We all share the same responsibility:  make our planet great again." 

                 ---President Emmanuel Macron

'

First day of June and a positive post!

Head on over to LeeAnna's for more posts about positive things this week!  For this week...

I like that here in eastern Pennsylvania, we've had a true spring.  Yes it's often been chilly and rainy but the spring flowers have lingered longer than usual.  For the last 5 years or so, our normal season has been 2 days of spring and then SUMMER!!!  Then the summer heat would burn off my spring perennials.  This week more flowers are blooming and my roses are really happy with the cooler weather.  I like bouquest of flowers in my house!

The elderberry bush is about 10 feet high this year and full of blooms!

 

And the poppies are beginning to bloom!

The great weather has it's down side.  I have to pull out some flowers from this bed, if only to have healthier plants:

More lovelies from the garden:

Scout continues to grow.  This week she graduated to the medium sized harness!  Here she is giving it a scratch :)

She loves the garden and has hidey holes all through out!  You never know where she is going to pop up!

Her favorite retreat are the huge hostas.  We only know when she is in there when the leaves are rustling.  Here she is leaving her hidey hole:

I like mornings with Scout.  She just wants to be held and loved and I adore that time.  Last night was a milestone.  She went into her crate and layed down to sleep without any prompting.  She knows her routine now and it seems to be good for her.

I like the movie "Hidden Figures."  My neighbor and I watched it last night and it was simply wonderful.  I can't recommend it enough!

I love estate sales in my neighborhood!  I picked up these goodies at an old house around the corner:

I like the inspiration I find in other bloggers.  I am having a challenging time with a sore shoulder and can't do much hand sewing or even rotary cutting these days.  I may try to do something small and different.  I find LeeAnna's work very interesting and am hoping to get some sewing done before next Thursday.

Have a wonderful week!