Good Morning - the last Monday of the month. A reminder that this Wednesday is the final link in for 2020's Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt.
During the month of September my good blogging friend, Ruth at: This West London Life reminded us that it's traditionally the month of Shimele's Learn Something New Everyday. While I did not take note of something for every day, I did learn a couple of new to me things, such as: F12 - Save as in WORD, saves me several steps. Mahjong & I am winning at it. Mr Man has longed played but I never gave it much thought until one day out of utter boredom, I gave it a try. I like it. Online scrapping retreat - I made this two page layout about cooking in the COVID era.
My friend that I house/pool/cat sit for, gave me a bag of books to read. It's like a treasure chest of delights. A few of the titles are; The Lost Girls, which I really enjoyed & would recommend; also read All The Light We Cannot See (I think I've read before); The Wives War.
Autumn arrived last week & I was in the garden to greet her. I have already started to empty the annual flower pots. Taking an idea from Eileen at A Bracelet of Days, I have planted up two pots of spring bulbs. I just did not/do not have the energy to dig holes in the garden, with no rain, the ground is like cement & only to have the squirrels and/or skunks dig up & eat. Having the bulbs in the pots, I can store all winter in the part of the garage that shares a wall with the (warmer) house. I planted white & pink daffodils.
On the weekend, the soy crop growing behind us was harvested. It has been several weeks without rain, so the soy was extremely dry & made for a lot of dust. Next to be grown, Winter Wheat.
In the shopping basket - a new Autumn/Thanksgiving stamp & die set.
"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than one seeks." ...John Muir
We have some kind of critter that has been emptying our flower pots for us this past week; hubby finished the job yesterday. I considered that stamp set but opted for the Beautiful Autumn set instead - as I like the little leaf punches that came with it. I hope you'll share some creations with us. That looks like a lovely place for walking. I guess I need to get out tomorrow and hunt down the rest of the scavenger list - I am woefully behind. Where did the summer go, anyway?
ReplyDeleteOh I like Beautiful Autumn too & I've seen some really beautiful cards made with it. I'm working on Thankful cards for members of our church along with some Thankful/Grateful cards for my 31 Days of Thankful. I have the squirrels & chipmunks hiding things in my flower pots, little do they realize there is no plan to keep the pots full of dirt & outside for the winter.
DeleteTracy has just finished moving all our peonies to a new spot where we hope they will thrive with additional sunshine. In their previous spot near the patio we've transplanted some hydrangeas and added several new ones. I have an order for coral bells coming---some this fall and one variety coming in the spring. I'll be anxious to see how it all comes together next summer. I'm guessing we'll still be spending a lot of time on our own properties next summer as well. (But I hope I'm wrong!) Hope to see some cards with your new goodies!
ReplyDeleteOh Peonies can sulk - fingers crossed it's a thank you for moving us to sunshine. I am discovering the joys of Coral Bells. I have two which did quite well this year so I would like to add a few more & there is now such colour variations.
DeleteI ned to organise myself and decide on those final photos! The clock is ticking ...
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely colours in those trees, yes autumn has definitely arrived.
This year I think Mother Nature said OK OK you've been through so much, how about a great leaf colour show!? Thanks Mother Nature, this is certainly a better offering than your killer hornets ...
DeleteThose are some good lessons. Looks like the online retreat went well - great layout. We've had lots of rain (more than usual) the past month, so it's still nice & green around here. A bit of cool weather arrived this morning.
ReplyDeleteI recorded lessons the first half of this month, then dropped off. Thinking I'll post about those lessons soon.
The online scrapping was the best alternative, since no one can gather in person; I created a few other layouts but all with too much personal stuff to post. I look forward to reading about your lessons - I don't think there is a rule that it has to be one a day (col).
DeleteI have a Mahjong set but have never learned to play. I think I need a teacher lol I've never seen pink daffodils. That lake view with the Autumn tree color makes a lovely scene.
ReplyDeleteI think online Mahjong is a lot easier than the actual in hand tile version. There has been so many pink versions of daffodils introduced in the last 5 years, I find it harder to now find yellow ones.
DeleteI love pots filled with spring bulbs. Mine have violas on the top for some winter colour and the daffodils will grow up through them.
ReplyDeleteI've tried once before with pots of spring bulbs & had good success so I thought let's try it again this year. My very disappointing lack of spring blooms this year is what pushed me to the pot direction.
DeleteI tried Mahjong but found there were too many rules! I couldn't keep the tiles straight in my head. Good idea to plant bulbs in pots. I have a bag of grape hyacinths to plant soon as well as my over-winter garlic. That will go deep in the ground so hopefully the squirrels won't find it!
ReplyDeleteEven though the squirrels don't eat some bulbs, they dig them up & re-locate; I've had some expensive tulip bulbs be re-located in a neighbour's garden! Chris try online Mahjong, not so many rules ...
DeleteHope your bulbs come up! White and pink daffodils sound interesting. I have been unable to photograph a John Deere tractor ... only found one and it was driving in the opposite direction to me, on the road. Yours looks brand new! Looks as though you have made a good start on the rambling locations. The beginning of some autumn colour already.
ReplyDeleteThe big green machines are plentiful at this time of year in all the fields, although there are a few red ones (not sure of the maker). This big combine had a lovely young lady at the wheel - it's a first for our field, glad to see more ladies choosing this (farming) as a career option. One of the local dairy farms is now run by the granddaughter of the original owner.
DeleteLovely scrapbooking pages. Enjoy your autumn walks. Our temperatures are still too high for autumn to arrive. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Bless. We get such a mix of hot humid then quickly to chill & windy during the first days of Autumn, it's hard to know what to wear!
DeleteThat's a great idea for your pots - I'm going to store mine out of the way of the squirrels until closer to Spring, and put wire mesh and chilli flakes on top as an added deterrent as last year they dug up and ate all my bulbs despite being well provided with nuts. I like your documentation of the food you're eating right now; it's the little details like this we can forget when we look back. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the stamps :).
ReplyDeleteThank you Alexa. I try not to feed the squirrels but unfortunately my little chipmunks don't get to the peanuts first all the time. Oh Alexa please don't put chili flakes in your garden, it wouldn't be just the squirrels - the chili burns the little creatures & it's so painful they would scratch their little faces & paws raw. Blood or blood/bone meal keep all creatures away & feeds your bulbs.
DeleteI usually plant bulbs in containers and in the ground. My garden is still flowering too much to think about bulb planting yet. Sometimes when a pot of say tete a tete finish flowering I plant them as one clump while still green in the spring. They then die back and regenerate for the next year and you already have the beginnings of a clump.
ReplyDeleteI need to get my act together on the SPSH