What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Mornings have been delightfully cool, with temperatures in the low 60s F and even the high 50s yesterday (high teens C). Waking early, there are clear skies most days, but sometimes the humidity will cause fog in the valleys between the ridges of trees. Although the sky is light, the sun has not come over the mountains to the east yet.

It’s a good time to take a photo of the latest dahlia bloom, bright red with intense yellow stamens.

The begonias continue to bloom prolifically as well, masses of white flowers that the bees are loving.

It is ...

Standing at my kitchen sink earlier this week, I noticed movement in the front. Once again, the local black bear was making an attempt to get to the bird feeder. My Sweet Babboo has tie-wrapped it to the pole so the bear cannot shake it down and cannot reach it, but last time the bear bent the pole. So I grabbed the camera and stepped just out the door to the veranda to scare him off by yelling at him. He moved away quickly, and I used the zoom lens on the camera to get his photo as he went ...

I am happy it is September, and I know fall is coming because my toad lily is preparing to bloom. These buds are growing larger, and cascade down the leaf fronds. I have three pots of toad lilies in a three tiered stand.

There are going to be a lot of blooms this year. The leaves are turning brown in a few areas, and I think it is because they got too much sun. This is a shade loving plant, and next year I need to move it to an even shadier area of the veranda. Still, it seems happy ...

I had all good intentions of getting some sewing done this past weekend, but you know what happens sometimes to best laid plans. Friday was spent entirely on Shop Hop, visiting four stores over 90 miles apart, plus lunch with a group from our guild. The promised rainy day on Saturday canceled a car club drive, and I thought maybe I’d be able to spend some time on a new project. But as that day progressed, I got busy cleaning the house, and it just got away from me. I did a deeper clean than my usual, and it ...

This weekend, I finally am getting to my garden planting. Usually I’ve put seeds in peat pots weeks before now, and planted my pots with annuals in early May. Not this year, so I had some catching up to do. My plants that survived the winter in the sunroom were moved to the veranda, but the other pots were still empty, and I didn’t have anything for my hanging baskets. I had swept the flooring of pollen, but it still needed a good wash before filling up the pots. So, after we played pickleball on Saturday morning, we ...

Tomatoes! The garden continues to be the most prolific I’ve ever had. I am amazed at how well the new location is for them, lots of sun means lots of tomatoes.

Clusters of cherry size tomatoes are all over these vines.

The Cherokee Purple vine has three fat ones in the process of getting ripe. I threaded the vine onto the veranda railing to keep it from cascading down the backside of the planter where I can’t reach.

Heirloom variety tomatoes are growing too, these make larger ones with lots of flavor.

Last weekend I talked about how ...

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out

Hot and humid has been the norm this month. Usually July is the hottest month of the year here, but it seems like the heat is lasting longer this year. The plants love it though, with lots of flowers both ornamental and on the veggies. My purple petunias continue to provide colorful displays. I saw a hummingbird stop by them this week, but didn’t get a picture of it.

Petunias are one of the best flowers to attract hummingbirds, and much less expensive than the torenias that I’ve used before. In the hanging pots the pansies gave out ...

Hot days gave way this week to milder temps, which certainly felt better to me. I usually just suffer through August, watching old classic football games to distract me from the heat and looking forward to September. I’m excited about the fair, and a few other things planned for that month. On the veranda, I got three toad lilies from Bullington Gardens, and eagerly await some blooms in September too.

In the garden planter, a pie pumpkin is growing behind some large leaves, suspended off the ground. It is getting close to being ripe enough to pick.

Nearby, another ...

It was a week of flitting from project to project. Somehow my concentration was a bit off. Early mornings were cool, but the days warmed up fast to hot and humid. On the bird feeder this week, a mom cardinal brought her son. You can see he is almost done molting his baby feathers and is coming into his full red color. The tips of his wings are still grey, and a little fluff is still visible at the top of his tail.

A rainy beginning of the week gave me plenty of time to play in the basement. I ...

It is exciting to see what is happening in the vegetable garden now. Many plants are bearing veggies and tomatoes. I still don’t know what this one will be. I thought the shape was closer to a spaghetti squash, but it seems to be growing more orange, so it is likely a pie pumpkin. We’ll see as it gets bigger and more ripe.

I have three acorn squashes, all in different stages. Two are pretty small like this one.

Another one is getting close to harvesting size.

I think this one will be a butternut based on its ...

The floral show continues in June with daylilies and more coming along. I am delighted with these snapdragons, so many pretty colors and such a profusion of blooms.

Medium pink above, and the lighter pink below are side by side. The yellow ones behind are coming into bloom too.

Of course, I love the purity of the white ones.

On the veranda, I need to cut this geranium back and root the cuttings, but it is blooming so well I have been reluctant to do this yet.

In another pot, the purple pansies are still showing their happy faces.

The ...

The Honey Fig tree is doing very well. Next week I will remove more grass and add mulch.

This is a pine tree seedling David got from Lowes. They were giving them away. The tree stump it's sitting atop was a dead pine tree that had to be removed.

The bougainvillea is really doing well. You can't see but there are several bright pink flowers on one stem.

It is hard to believe it is August, this year is going by in a blur of days that mostly look the same.  But there have been a few happenings here, and the flower show keeps going.  Time for a long and picture heavy post!!  Vibrant pink geraniums bloom profusely in just one pot.

In the front flowerbed, the penstemmon phlox is putting on a show.

A fleeting glimpse of the hummingbird in the shadows, lower right.  They are usually gone by the time I can get the camera on and focused.

The hydrangeas are blooming so much that I ...

Languid and hot days alternate with rainy afternoons now that summer is in full swing here.  July is our hottest month of the year and it has been days of above average temperatures for us.  I do not like summer heat, especially when it is humid too, so it is indoor activities for me most of the time.  But in the early morning, or at dusk, we can spend a bit of time on the veranda to enjoy birdsong and fresh air, and the fireflies after sundown.  Taking a short stroll to the flowerbed, there is much to enjoy in ...

On this holiday weekend, I thought it would be nice to spend Sunday in the garden.  As the days blend into each other, it is becoming a challenge to remember what day it is, LOL!!  Today, let’s pause and enjoy the beauty in the world around us, and rejoice in nature’s bounty of spring, counting our blessings and hopefully keeping healthy.  The first of the irises began blooming this week, pretty two tone purple, with the pink redbud blooming in the background.

Covered in pink blossoms, the pollinators are showing up to the redbud in abundance.

The tulips ...