Putting on my Thinking Cap Tonight

OK......

My Version of the Navy Star Block done in Black, white and red instead Navy, white and golden yellow

Now I've got to think up what to do on Carrolyn's Center - The snowmen - gotta keep it "Winter". AND I have 8 potholders to make before the end of the month - gotta make them special too. I'll mail my center (above) to Anne tonight or tomorrow.

My Vegetable Garden and Dual Dog Walking

OK so the first picture you come to is NOT part of the Vegetable garden but it IS a really COOL mushroom that came up in our back yard. I don't know a thing about identifying edible mushrooms so this one will remaining in the yard to feed the bugs that enjoy it. It's nearly as big as a salad plate.

This next picture is of the little green beans that have sprouted in the garden. I actually planted two rows; one on either side of a row of tomato cages. I am truly hoping to have enough to put some in the freezer for later.

Next up is some amazing yellow squash blooms. I picked our first yellow squash yesterday and it will be part of a stir fry for tonights dinner. I also picked enough salad greens for Scott and I each to have a nice dinner salad for lunch. I even had a small tomato from the garden to slice up and add on top.

The Dragon's Tongue beans have sprouted and are looking quite healthy.

And the Pinto beans have also sprouted and are growing well. I wish that it would rain so that I didn't have to water the garden so much as it will make for a rather high water bill and with Scott unemployed again that could get tricky.

All in all the garden is coming along nicely. We still have one walkway to clean out and mulch with something - I wish we had some more rolled roofing or some shingles that we could lay down to keep the weeds at bay.

The large vine in the raised bed closest to the front of the next photo is the volunteer Butternut Squash and we are going to just let it run where ever it wants to go and mow around anything that comes out into the yard. It all ready has quite a few squash on the vine. It's our favorite squash so we are thrilled to pieces. And there is a TON of mustard greens that came up on their own out there that I plan to just let grow. When I first moved South in 1982 the only "green" I'd ever eaten was Spinach and it took me awhile to learn to enjoy the greens they cook down here but now I LOVE Collards, turnip and mustard greens.

You can't really tell in the pictures but we have two electric wires that run around the vegetable garden to keep the dogs out; ok... Amelia out when she was a puppy as she could empty a raised bed in mere minutes and is still a digger. The new addition (Bernadette) just acts like they are nothing and we truly believe she has springs as she can be in the garden before we even see her approach. When we fuss at her she looks so hurt and dejected... melts my heart. Can you tell Bernadette is well on her way to being a spoiled little wretch?

Here is Scott at the beginning of our walk. I took Bernadette from him as walking her is liking walking a Treble on crack and she wretches his back. She'll get used to the lead eventually; we can tell she hasn't been walked much as she also wants to jump on people we pass. Amelia was just ecstatic to be walking by the river with her "pack". Once I took Bernadette there was no taking pictures as she just wouldn't be still enough for me to focus on anything. Perhaps next time.

Early Morning Light

GOOD MORNING WORLD!

Sitting on my front steps - still in PJ's

Just at Daybreak

Nick on the prowl.

A nice slow morning to welcome the day!

Goodies In My Mailbox

First wonderful squishy envelope was from Carrolyn in Washington State; it was full of wonderful "I Spy" blocks for a quilt I want to put together to have on hand when "Littles" visit.

"I Spy with my Little Eye someone you visit when you are sick?"

"I Spy with my Little Eye something you wear on your feet?"

FUN FUN FUN!!!!

Next came a box that the Postman had to walk to the door as it wouldn't fit inside the mailbox. It was from Diane in Maine and OH DID SHE SPOIL ME!

"Scrap swap"

Scraps that will be used in the "I Spy" quilt

More "I Spy" blocks

I'm in scrap Heaven!

On my Mind - I BETTER GET CRACKING!

I have got to get going on that Navy Star block - I have it started but have had a few machine issue that I believe are sorted out and just in time - Carrolyn's center arrived today! Hers' is to be a "winter theme" - NO CHRISTMAS! Maybe it will make me feel cooler just working on it. I will be adding two rounds for her and as soon as I get them added I will post a picture on here as I know how much fun these things are to watch develop and then it will be sent on to Anne.

 This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY. If you're in another country you should join in when you read this, even if it's still Thursday. Down to Earth

Fullfilled my Hearts Desire

Ever since Scott and my last visit to the Old Mill Antique Mall I have been thinking about a stainless bread box that I saw there and kicking myself for NOT buying it so today I decided to stop and see if it was still there. I walked through a bit of the downstairs first and found a booth that had all their books for 80% off... ah oh... SO how I could I resist that. I got one craft book and 4 cookbooks. The cookbooks were all $2 or less and the craft book was just $4.

 After I picked up these gems I decided to head on upstairs to the booth that hopefully held MY TREASURE... well I get to the top of the stairs turn and IT'S GONE! Then I got to thinking that it looked like they had cleaned their booth up a bit so I started looking and IT WAS STILL THERE! Waiting... JUST FOR ME! AND.... it was 50% off! So all my purchases came to less than the full price of the bread box. SCORE!

To say I'm happy would be an understatement. The top rolls up to open and I just love it's size as it will hold a loaf of bread and some rolls. The red container was a Clearance find yesterday at Hobby Lobby. I've been wanting a separate container for my wooden spoons and this fit the bill perfectly for less than $3.

Tomorrow is Scott's final day at the temp position that he has worked for over a year now. So we are back living TIGHT after this.  The good news is that he has been getting multiple calls daily this week from recruiters so hopefully something will come our way SOON.  We aren't going to sweat what we can't control anymore.

Babies First Hair Cut

Bernadette went to her first "Beauty Appointment today. She looks so much better without all those awful mats and I do believe that she feels a lot better as well. I can now treat her with some flea medication and have it really work.