I Like Thursdays: May 25, 2023

Good morning!

Well it's Thursday and time to share a happy post on the blog.  Like many bloggers I participate in "I like Thursdays" hosted by LeeAnna.  What do you like this week?

I like soaker hoses.  They make my job as a gardener so much easier.  The hoses save me money, time, and water the garden efficiently.  We are having a wonky spring here in eastern Pennsylvania.  It was a very dry April, then we got a week of gentle rain and now...two weeks of nothing again.  Speaking of the garden...

Our prompt this week is "if you could go on vacation right now, where would it be?"    I'd be right here in my garden.  I love Italy in the fall and winter.   I love the seashore in Delaware or Jersey in September.  I love Maine in July.  But spring and early summer is my favorite time in the garden and I just like to be here at home.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday!

I Like Thursdays: May 18, 2023

 

Happy Thurday!

As always, many bloggers share what makes them happy on "I like Thursdays" posts.  LeeAnna our hostess has many happy posts so visit her here for more inspiration!

Things I like:

A new baby bunny living in our garden.  I got the best photo I could of the little bambino, who is much smaller than appears in the photo:

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I finished Katie's quilt top!  No photo to share but sewing seems to go by the wayside during gardening season.  Today my husband and I will take it to Terri, my favorite machine quilter.  Katie lives next door and we have known her all her life.  I'm excited to get this done as soon as possible because her wedding is in September!

Now I get to do some "free sewing" and am excited to buzz around my sewing room as we await some much needed rain!

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Our great-niece Remi had her first birthday and...she's walking!

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This week's prompt is "Have you ever had a close encounter with any celebrities?  Seen someone in person, talked to them, etc.  Please tell us the details!"

We live close enough to NYC that we tend to just notice celebrities and keep going (which is what most people in NY do when they see celebrities).  Once I was kissed by a famous poet but for the most part, I just figure folks are folks and leave it at that (sorry, I don't get kissed and tell).

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I like fuchsia.  I went to my local fabric store and on the way home noticed that one of the farms had a sign out for fresh produce.  We had visited the farm before and liked their produce.  I got my husband fresh asparagus and two hanging baskets of fuchsia each for under $15 (so full and mature they  would have cost me $50 for each basket here in town).  Score!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

I Like Thursdays: May 11, 2023

 

Happy Thursday!  

It's time to share what makes us happy as part of "I like Thursdays!"  LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color is our hostess with the mostess as we fill the internet with happy thoughts!  Be sure to visit her blog for more happy posts!

I like coffee!  About a week ago,  I was feeling off and even wondered if I had caught covid.  I couldn't smell the coffee brewing which is how I always start the day.  Turns out my coffee pot was dying.  The coffee that brewed was lukewarm and weak.  Not a good way to start the day at all!  My new coffee pot arrived Sunday afternoon and when I made my first pot on Monday it was delightful to smell the fragrance of coffee fill our home again!  Three cheers for coffee!

This week's prompt is on music.  What kind of music do we like to listen to, sing along to, etc.  Well I like music from the 1960s and tend to keep that radio station blaring when I drive.  I like the happy pop songs of the 60s.  When I travel with my brother we talk about things like where we heard this or that song...at the pool, at a relatives house, etc.  These songs are the soundtrack of our youth!

I love my wonderful neighborhood full of interesting characters.  We are so lucky to have such good neighbors!  Today's feature on folks in our neighborhood is Molly and her menagerie.  She has two dogs that she walks regularly.  

Zorro and Yogi

What makes her memorable in the neighborhood is that one of her cats takes a walk when Molly is walking her dogs!  Ethel follows along and everyone in the neighborhood is amused by Ethel's determination to remain with the pack :)

One day a stray cat started hanging out at Molly's house and then that cat started following Molly, Zorro, and Yogi as well.  That annoyed Ethel but eventually the stray found her way home.

Wishing you a happy and safe day!

I Like Thursdays: May 4, 2023

 

Well it's Thursday and time to post the things we like!  For more inspirational and happy posts, visit our hostess LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

This week's prompt is about singing.  I grew up in an Irish-American family and everyone sang all the time.  I would play the piano and my father and grandfather would sing old Irish folks songs and standards from Tin Pan Alley.

I mostly just sing to babies and dogs.  Each of my pups had their own song I made up for them and they all loved it!  Yes, dogs do respond to singing--especially in high sing-song voices!

Last weekend I received a wonderful package in the mail.  My friend Beth made this lovely cross-stitched picture and I love it!

Beth has been doing a lot of cross stitch while caring for her mother and I was surprised she had the time to do this one for me.  It's a Lori Holt pattern and she knows I love Lori's work.  Thank you Beth!

We've had a rainy week here in Pennsylvania and I've gotten a lot of blocks done for my next quilt.  It's for Katie (next door) who is getting married in the fall.  She used to play with my granddaughter and I watched all the kids next door grow-up and loved them like my own grandkids.

I'm happy that one of my favorite shows is back on tv.  "Restoring Galveston" is one of my favorite shows and I love the young couple and the work they do to restore old homes.

Other than taking care of Mom, it's been a quiet week.  But quiet weeks are good too!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

I like Thursdays: April 26, 2023

 

Happy Thursday friends!

It's time for a weekly round of "I like Thursdays" hosted by LeeAnna.  You can find more happy posts at her website, Not Afraid of Color!

This week's prompt is about language.  Have we learned/speak another language?  What was it like to learn and are there any words that make us happy?  

I took 2 years of Spanish in high school.  I was sure I had forgotten most of it.  But then in college, I studied Russian.  It was difficult but when we got to the part where our teacher would verbally communicate with us and expect a response...the teacher would hesitate for a moment and then tell me, "You're speaking Spanish."  I can still read some Russian but it's been so many years since I used it, I've lost most of it.

I love language and there are lots of words I love but today I'm just thinking about words that are rarely used anymore...simple words like "scram."   Then there are those Pennsylvania Dutch words...

The old man that used to live behind me said to me one day, he would do such and such but he "dersent".  Meaning he dare not.  That's a childhood phrase to me.  I live in Pennsylvania Dutch country and we grew up using a lot of phrases and words from that language.

Other things I like:

I've been doing most of my work outdoors in the garden.  My husband and I were amused by this little fellow who had come to visit and watch us work.  We let him be and he seemed to enjoy himself in the garden...

In the wintertime, the kids look forward to snow days.  This spring, I look forward to rain days.  I haven't sewn in a few weeks and we are expecting a rainy weekend, just perfect for sewing!

My husband and I are enjoying our Phillies and they seem to be getting their groove back as the season progresses!  Go Phils!

Whatever you are doing this weekend, have a safe and happy time!

I Like Thursdays: April 20, 2023

 

Well it's "I like Thursday" and time to celebrate the good in life.  Be sure to visit other participating bloggers by visiting our hostess, LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

This week's prompt is:  "make a list of some of your favorite smells.... scents...what do these make you think about? was there a special memory associated with one of them?"

I have always loved the scent of coffee.

The aroma reminds me of Nana Betty's home.  She always had a percolator on the stove, her preferred brewing method.  When I was very little, I would hug her and tell her that I loved her and I loved her 'coffee breath' which made her laugh.  She would make me a beverage she referred to as "coffee-tea" and I loved it.  The cup would be half full of coffee/half of milk with lots of sugar in it.  My father was pretty tolerant but drew the line at "coffee-tea".  "Children shouldn't be drinking coffee," he'd reprimand her.  Nana Betty gave me my mugs when he wasn't around or looking 😊😋

I'm allergic to perfumes and the scent of some flowers--like hyacinth and viburnum can make me ill.  My favorite natural scent is lavender. I grow lavender in my garden and harvest it into sachets each year.  I like lavender scented soaps but I have to sniff the soap before purchasing it (some have other scents mixed in and some don't smell like lavender at all).

Despite my love of lavender, I have never wanted to bake or cook with it.  I've seen that done on the British Baking Show but that's totally uninteresting to me.

Other good things going on here:  

💖A nice get together with our former neighbors.  Their dog tried to come home with me which I adored!  

💖Retiring my business as quilt lecturer.  Last program was Wednesday.  In a way it was sad.  The caregiving part of my life felt relief.

💖Only about 6 more weeks of tree pollen!  I'll be wearing a mask some days when I get back to the garden.

Wishing you a bright and fun weekend!

I Like Thursdays: April 13, 2023

 

I hope all of you had a happy holiday!

Ours was rather low-key, just my mom, hubby, and I shared a meal.  It's been a rather hectic couple of weeks which will slow down after next week so we were grateful for a slower paced day.

This week I'm grateful that my mom's latest hospital visit turned out well.  Her anemia is starting to subside and now I have to take her for vitamin B shots.  Hopefully the B shots will make her more energetic.  It's been a couple of crazy weeks with just her health challenges.

Other than that, I've not got much done.  I'm hoping to get more work completed on the garden.  My neighbor, a wonderful young man named Andy, has been asking me when I want him to mulch the garden and I want to get that done soon.

The prompt this week is whether we are night or morning people.  We are morning folks, usually in bed by 9 or 10 pm and up around 5 am or 6 am.  I get most of my work done in the morning.  By 6 or 7 pm, we are spent and usually settle down to watch tv.

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Happy Easter!

 

Have a safe and happy holiday!

I Like Thursdays: April 6, 2023

 

Happy Passover!

Happy Easter!

Happy Thursday!

Today is the day that we share what makes us happy as part of "I like Thursdays."  Bloggers participate and you can read more posts via our hostess LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

There is a cardinal that makes me laugh every single morning at daybreak.  It must have a nest down the street but as soon as a little light breaks on the horizon, this bird starts calling and she is LOUD!  The song makes me step outside my front door every morning to listen.  Perhaps because the street is so quiet, the sound travels clearly.  I asked a neighbor if the bird woke her up every morning.  Yes she said, but it beats the sounds of the crows she heard this winter.  

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Our prompt this week is about Easter and Easter memories.  What I remember the most is the days leading up to the holiday.  Tomorrow is Good Friday.  As a child, I remember our grandmother hushing us because it was a solemn day and we weren't allowed to make a lot of noise.  We (the kids) were fed light meals while the adults fasted.  On Saturday we decorated eggs and eagerly awaited the arrival of the Easter Bunny and the Resurrection.  I never attended an egg hunt.  For many Christians, this is the holiest of all holidays and what I remember most is the religious aspect of the weekend.

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One thing I do remember about Easter is my aunt and uncles getting chicks at Easter.  My aunt and uncles were my age and we were all fascinated by the little peeps of the chicks!  Did you ever get a chick for Easter?

However you celebrate the holiday, I wish you a weekend of peace and joy!