October Bulb Planting Time

Welcome October!  I should have a picture of a pumpkin or a Jack-o-Lantern on this post, but I'm thinking about pansies today.  The temps this morning were cold out on the deck and I mentally replaced every pot of geraniums with a pot of pansies.  The picture above was from a few years ago.  I need to get started with my pansy replacing.

I read a blog post last month where the blogger suggested buying a 100 blue hyacinth bulbs to plant now for the delicious smell when they come up in the spring.  DH and I bought 2 bags (20 in all bulbs) of blue hyacinth bulbs from Lowe's.  Now we have to find the time to plant them.  I'm really excited about next spring.   We have over 100, maybe 200, golden daffodils planted in front of the house.  They just get better and better each year.

So much is happening in the world right now.  Spring bulbs seem inconsequential but we have to include beauty in our lives.  What about you?  What thing of beauty are you including in your life?

Love,
Lottie

July Glory - Tiger Lily

In July we have the most beautiful sights from our Tiger Lilies!  Friendly butterflies come to visit.

DH bought the first Tiger Lily for me years ago.  They have multiplied each year and only lasted a couple of weeks this year because of our 100+ temperatures!  They don't require any care at all.  Only concern is that  they are supposed to be toxic to cats, but my cats just eat cat food and never bother them.

So beautiful!  All year I look forward to their blooms which are in full glory around July 4th!

More beautiful July flowers click here


Love,
Lottie 

DYI Curtains for side lights

 Our 1907 house in Alabama has beautiful lead glass side lights in the front door!  We've left them without curtains because the light is gorgeous in the morning coming through the beveled lead glass. 

But someone ringing the doorbell can see right in when I come down the hall in my pajamas.  So we set about making curtains for the side windows.  $5 for two little white rods for the top, $5 for a sheer panel, and $5 for fabric glue.  We cut the single sheer in half, cut the length and used fabric glue to hem it.  Done!

 There it is!

Love,

Lottie

LAZY LADY

Retirement is a funny situation to be in.  It is like you are enjoying life on the one hand and feeling guilty for being so happy on the other. I used to write long lists of what I had to do each day and never stopped working until the list was all checked off.  That made for some late nights.  But this year, my third year of retirement, I've stopped making lists.  And I'm amazed at how happy I have become. 

I let a lot of things go now.  My dear husband will tell you I stopped cooking and buying groceries and planning menus.  I stopped when I had health issues but things are getting better.  My one regret in life is that I stressed out over everything in life ...everything... and didn't enjoy life more when I was younger.

The only problem is that now dear husband is stressing out over the cooking and grocery buying, let alone the planning for meals! Poor man!  He has other things to do on his to-do lists since he is retired.

I spend a lot of time relaxing in the shade on the deck dear husband built for us.  I love the geraniums he planted! Most of all, I love the swing he put together for me for Mother's Day!  That is where I read!  And there goes those lists again...lists of books to read!

I'm spending HOURS each day in this swing reading biographies of famous people I was curious about when I was younger but never had the time to read just for pleasure.  Currently from the library,  I'm reading Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow My Life: Sophia Loren.  I've just finished  Miles Gone By : William F. Buckley, Jr. and Leonard: My Fifty-year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner.  I have Bring On The Empty Horses: David Niven waiting on my desk to start.

Although I am enjoying all this down time and my health issues are improving, I feel rather like a "lazy lady".  I feel like I should be making those lists again and being more active.  Maybe ease back into it!  Maybe take dear husband out to lunch when he takes me back to the library to return all those biographies! 

Do you become a "lazy lady" and read for hours?  Do you read biographies?

Have a wonderful day!
Lottie

Speed of Spring

Spring is coming and going so quickly!  I took a walk around the block this morning and noticed all the buds and blooms have already opened.  It has all happened so quickly!  These beautiful pansies have wilted in today's heat.  I have to remind myself to enjoy life by the minute.

A flowering quince is only blooming for a week!  I'll have to be sure to notice it every day.  Treasure today!

A sleeping cat in the sun! What treasures life is made of!  Treasure every day!

• I get a couple of phone calls a day from friends and family just checking in.  It warms my heart.  Why don't you call someone today just to check in on them?

Spring is wonderful, but the mornings are still a little chilly!  Hard to cook breakfast in a cold kitchen,  I do miss the fire in the wood stove these mornings!

Treasure today,
Lottie