Happy May everyone. Happy May Day! I remember as a child making paper woven baskets and picking wild violets and dandelions and leaving them on the door for Mom. Supposedly she wouldn't know who left them. LOL
I hope this find you all well and safe.
Here we are at the beginning of a new month - hopefully I will get some planting done this month. MAYBE the weather will get and stay warm!
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Things are growing. I have no idea what this plant is - it gets frail little stalks of blue flowers. It was a gift from a friend's yard. Mint is coming up like crazy and the chives are going to be cut today. The perennial bed is just growing like crazy.
Wednesday we didn't have rain and it was a nice day - boy were the mowers humming! The whole neighborhood seemed to be out and mowing. It sure smelled good! Fresh mown grass is one of my favorite scents.
My week:
- Found some chicken breast in freezer I had forgotten. It had a bit of freezer burn, so I cut that off and added all kinds of goodies to make a batch of Mexican chicken. I even used the crockpot!!! It made 3 meals this week and two more for the freezer
- Mowed and trimmed the entire yard.
- Ran out and had to get gas for the mower. It will last all summer
- While out I stopped in Kroger and got myself a new Kroger card. Mine is so old that I can not use it to get digital coupons. So now I am signed up, and should be able to get some nice deals once in a while! YAY - no groceries bought this week.
- Got to air the house on several days and have the heat down or off
- I did a bit of yard work other than mowing. Pulled, trimmed and cut back a lot of stuff
- Saturday got to have a sibling lunch finally!!!!! We even exchanged Christmas!!!! LOL. It took a while, but we got there.
- Got lots of home canned goods and a couple grocery GC's. Sis made us a great meal.
- I got sent home with leftovers - so another meal will be had.
- Just doing all the normal things we all do
Meals this past week:
Tuna salad sandwich and fresh veggies
Mex. chicken over rice
Quesadilla's
Nacho's
Cabbage and smoked sausage
Stuffed pepper skillet
Dinner at sis's
How was your week? Any good deals? Any gardening or yard work getting done?
We sure had some great conversation this week. You guys are the best. Love how everyone jumps in and adds ideas and thoughts.
I hope you upcoming week is wonderful. May you all stay safe and healthy.
Blessings to you and yours from my humble little home.
Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
Isaiah 12:2
Thank you Lord for all the blessings we receive each and every day. Help us to acknowledge even the smallest things as blessings. We know that You protect us and keep us in Your safe and loving arms. For that we sing praises. AMEN
That plant may be a variation of Lungwort. I have it in my yard too. I would love some warmer temps!! Enjoy your Sunday.
ReplyDeleteBun in PA
Thank you for the identification. An old friend gifted it to me right after G's passing. I know I was told the name - but didn't remember.
DeleteLooks like this week we may level out a bit on temps. No frost warnings!
The plant in the picture is BRUNNERA. https://www.bing.com/search?q=pictures+of+brunnera+plant&cvid=ce80a74fb18b49de9e82b89822722dea&aqs=edge.0.0j69i57.7973j0j1&pglt=171&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=U531 I bought one last year and it survived our Zone 6B winter. Beautiful mounding plant.
DeleteLungwort is also called pulmonaria. It also likes shade and blooms in the early spring. Lungwort blooms in two colors at once and is often called "Boy and Girl," "Soldiers and Sailors," etc. However, it's primarily known for its spotted leaves. I can certainly see the confusion. Brunnera has a more delicate appearance and the blue flowers are more like forget-me-nots.
--Maxine
No groceries purchased this week - but it was an expensive week. Oh well, needs must.
ReplyDeleteWe've had some lovely weather this week and I'm hoping we'll see some green on the trees soon. For now I'll leave things in the garden and lawn be to allow the bugs to wake up. I noticed the robin out in the front ever green this morning. They often nest there so I'm hoping they will again this year.
Nice that you were able to get together with your siblings. Not quite Christmas in July.... :)
Glad to hear spring is coming to your region. We are now green and the birds are back - except hummingbirds. Hopefully gardens will go in, in the next few weeks.
DeleteLOL - not quite July. It was wonderful just being together.
Happy May Day! When I was growing up, we also made paper baskets and filled them with Spirea we had died in food coloring and left them of the doorsteps of friends and neighbors. I loved it! Such a lovely memory. Lynn Ewing
ReplyDeleteThose childhood memories are the best. I wish kids were taught to do sweet little things like that now.
DeleteI often thought there should be a perfume that smells like fresh cut grass & wood mixed with the exhaust of the lawn mower & chain saw! Maybe just a room freshener. It's a rather late spring here. There's still snow in some ditches. I noticed leaf buds on the mountain ash tree. And the grass is slowly greening up. The other morning I looked out the window to see the sun shining off the orange breasts of 6 robins. I got the grader mess cleaned up in one drive way and the lawn tractor is boosted, tires inflated, oil checked and ready to go. Time to change oil and filters in the push mowers. There was time spent with friends last week, a boost to the memorial service of an old friend and the news of the death of another. An end to chapters but not the end of the book; need to keep turning the pages. Spent 2.5 hrs on the phone with a credit card company, 1.5 hrs before the call was even taken. The trick to waiting is to find something else to do so had lunch and cleaned the porch while on hold. Meals: tomato/chickpea/chard simmer on rice, pickle soup, hot dogs. Thinking of baked beans. The week ended with an invite to a friend's 80th birthday celebration.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the loss of friends. That is always sad - but like you said - there are many chapters in our stories.
DeleteSounds like you are ready for spring. Robins always make me know it is close at hand!
I hate those long calls - "we appreciate your business, so please stay on the line" - NO if you appreciated our business, you wouldn't make us wait like that!!! LOL
Sis sent me home with some baked beans. Boy, did they taste good. 80 is a good time to celebrate!!!!
Happy May Day! Today is our 35th Anniversary. We went to the coast yesterday and had dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant. It was very nice dinner and we also got to see the ocean! We have already been planting things, got my lettuces in and a few herbs. Today we are just going to hang out I do have some other things to plant; horseradish and a couple of bushes. Dinner will be a surprise, we ate so much yesterday. Hope your day is good. Christmas is anytime of the year in my book!
ReplyDeleteHAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!! So happy for you. I know yesterday had to be wonderful, as you love the ocean. What a great day it sounds to have been.
DeleteNo planting here yet. Thinking about onions and lettuce this week. Not much else for a few weeks.
I agree - Christmas should be every day!
Have a fantastic balance of your weekend.
Glad you were able to get a new Kroger card. I hope you find a lot of great deals with it. How neat that you got together with your siblings. And home canned goods, how neat.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too. They have a lot of great things with the digital coupons.
DeleteIt was such a neat afternoon. I love home canned goods!
Today I am very grateful but that feels guilty! Friday night brought a tornado outbreak to Kansas and one missed us. Barely. We were in the basement, no power, and the cellphone service was spotty at best. We spent Some time on Saturday in the camping section to buy a crank radio, am/FM, and cell charger combo. Technology has improved since we bought our first set up 20 yrs. ago. Today I will try and connect with a friend that lost her farm. They were out of town and safe, but I'm sure they need something. Lots of somethings.
ReplyDeleteA good week to all!
I am so happy that you are OK and had no problems. How terrible for your friend and all the others. That is the ONE thing I hate about this time of the year - tornados. It is just so scary. We had one come within blocks of us some years back.
DeletePrayers for your friends. Thank God you are safe.
Keep us informed. Blessings
We had rain all day yesterday and the garden enjoyed it. I got 2 loads of stove wood. One was free. A big saving for winter.
ReplyDeleteChurch today and then into see my youngest daughter. I do her shopping for her. Tomorrow is a bank holiday day. Not sure what you call them.
My oldest daughter and her husband stays here on a Friday night. She makes curry and I always have enough for Sunday supper. I do zoom with my son in Scotland on a Sunday.
Good to see you have been busy in the garden and got to see family.
How wonderful that you have gotten to spend time with your children. We have no days that are called bank holidays that I know of - just different holidays that are often celebrated on Monday if the fall on a weekend!
DeleteThank you and the same to you. Being with your children has to be the best. YAY on the free wood.
Testing 1-2-3. Posted earlier and it has disappeared. Same thing happened last week.
ReplyDeleteI see you!!!!!!!!
DeleteSounds like you had a good week!
ReplyDeleteWe did a lot of outside work but still have tons to get done. We did get our pepper and tomato plants in the pots and our green bean seed planted in the square planter boxes. Hubby made chicken wire covers for the boxes to keep those doggone squirrels out. The goal this week is to get the screen porch and furniture cleaned so we can eat outside which is our favorite thing about summer.
We made a stop at the discount grocery and found the best flour tortillas we have ever eaten 5 packs for $1, more Pepperidge Farm bread $1 each, we got sandwich buns and Italian bread, tubs of Mexican chicken dip for 50 cents each, first ingredient is chicken and it is delicious, wish I had bought more but I will next time they have it. I think it can be frozen.
We have been looking for a larger frost free freezer for months and found one in stock at Home Depot last week. It is scheduled for delivery on Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers that it is actually delivered and we do not get a message that it went out of stock, etc. We will sell the old one before we are tempted to fill it up!
YAY on getting some plants out. I bet the screened porch is lovely - no bugs!
DeleteYou find the best items at that discount grocery. Gosh, I wish we had one or that we lived closer together!
Fingers crossed you get the new freezer delivered this week. I sure hope so. Let us know.
Happy May Day, Cheryl. Beautiful pictures! What a happy post today. Thank you for always bringing light into the week. --Elise
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Hope your week goes well and you see much progress!!!!
DeleteFrom your lips (or fingers, as the case may be) to God's ears!
DeleteSo happy you got to visit with family! Isn't that just the best?
ReplyDeleteWe need to be aware of all small blessings...they all add up! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
We have potatoes up! The snap peas are vining and we are pulling little green onions. Strawberries are blooming like mad and the rhubarb plants look great. The Urban Farmer said we got 1 1/2 inches of rain last night. Quite a storm!
It is lovely to be with family. WOW you have much growing. My rhubarb is doing great, but that is about all I have at the moment. The storms weren't too bad here.
DeleteI spent 25% of my usual monthly on food. Ate a lot from the freezer/pantry. But oh my goodness do I need some fresh fruit again! Tomorrow :-) CSA spring segment begins May 12!!!!! Wohoo!!! (paid in January for May-October CSA).
ReplyDeleteFresh fruit tastes so good. I have never done a CSA - I love that so many do.
DeleteGood morning, Cheryl and others. We had a wet weekend and are expecting rains off and on throughout the week. I'm so ready for drier weather and some sunshine. It was an expensive week, one that started with a trip out of town for a wedding, a couple of outings during the week with a widows group, and what turned into a costly trip to the grocery store (dog food, treats, and toys to replace some that have been ripped to shreds and mended one to many times). I'm hoping to be able to get out into the front garden area that the Association is supposed to maintain but hasn't. Grrrrrr ... I've got humongous dandelions in there, some lemon balm spreading like wildfire and some other flowering weed that is in huge clumps. And, they never topped or trimmed back the hydrangeas last Fall. At least with the oil so moist, pulling/digging the weeds out should be easier. At some point this week, I need to get my deck set up and the planter boxes back on the deck rails. And I need to determine what I'm going to put in them, as well as my deck pots for tomatoes, peppers, etc. I usually do flowers on the exterior side of the deck rail boxes and herbs on the inside. Just need to inventory my basil, oregano, and parsley to see what I need, as well as other herbs. Maybe I'll throw in some radishes, lettuces, and carrots this year. Time to start planning! And, thank you for the reminder about the chives. My pot winters in a corner on my deck and I haven't even looked at it this spring. Perhaps it needs a haircut????
ReplyDeleteSorry they haven't maintained the beds. It does make weeds easy to pull after all the rains. I am ready for drier and warmer as well.
DeleteI am in planning stage as well - still too cool to plant (soil temp). I will plant in a few weeks.
Chives sure do grow fast - haircut indeed!
Such a pretty view.
ReplyDeleteThe tree is just so pretty - I wish it would look like that all year!
DeleteHi Cheryl, It is so amazing to me that the abundance of recipes you have (Would like you to write cookbook). We have again 2 kitties. our big male Sam (26# and not fat) passed, so we acquired another kitty named Sif (Son named her). She is quite entertainer and has a fascination with Qtips. Anway, we are having a very wet spring here in Michigan with more to come. The temps will be in the high 50's, so Spring planting is awaiting some dry soil.
ReplyDeleteWell thank you so much. I have thought about a recipe book and have had others mention it. It is on my "bucket" list!!!!
DeleteSo sorry to hear about Sam. It is so very hard to lose our babies. Glad you have a new love - cute name. There sure do give us a lot of entertainment.
It is lovely here today - and dry for the moment . Rain again tonight and tomorrow. It will be awhile before planting here as well.
Yesterday we went fishing on Lake Huron Shore. It was a little bit chilly but the grand kids had a ball. Family is so important and I'm so glad that you had a great time with them!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful time. So happy you do so much with them - they will remember always.
DeleteGot out today. Just had the car in to replace the battery and the darn thing would not start. I put it in the garage last night as there was a possibility of a storm with hail, got the storm, but no hail. I needed to go to the hardware store and pharmacy. I decided to just walk and get what I needed. Not far, just a mile round trip. It was pleasant, warm and humid but the wind kept me cool. I grabbed some seeds at Ace, squash and lettuce. We shall see how it goes. I am going to plant those both in the front flower bed and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got the car fixed last week, I ran by Walmart just to grab a couple of things, they had a manager's special, corned beef for $2.00 lb. I got three, two for the freezer and one to cook. I have been enjoying Rueben sandwiches this week. Other than that, I have not been out. Was going to go for loss leaders today but the car problem stopped that. I guess I will walk tomorrow back to the pharmacy to get my fourth covid shot. Are you going to get another booster?
So sorry for the car problems. I always try to think of it as God keeping from something worse!
DeleteI hope you have great success with your veggies growing. What a deal on the corned beef. You have my mouth watering - I just love Rueben sandwiches. Take care and hope you get the car problem resolved.
I love your story of making flower baskets for your mum! It made me smile—what a lovely memory.
ReplyDeleteWith love from,
Kelly (Mrs. Kiwi)
Thanks Kelly. I remember we made them at school and went to the playground area to pick flowers. I walked to school - so I always picked extra along the way. Sweet momma was always so surprised! LOL
DeleteMy daughter went shopping today and told me eggs at Aldi's are a dollar more than at Easter. She found a gift card that had been misplaced and was very happy to use it against her groceries today. (She lost 2 jobs due to the pandemic so every penny is appreciated in her house). Tomorrow I hope to go shopping and do a little stocking up and find some bargains....
ReplyDeleteLast week I visited my brother and we made a cake my mom used to make and was our favorite. We haven't had it in over 40 years! So good. And we had fun making it.
My seedlings are doing so-so. Will start more this week.
~margaret
It has been a while again, since I have been to Aldi. Not sure how things are here. I am so happy I don't have to shop every week. Hopefully prices hit a place where they start going back down soon!!
DeletePrayers for your daughter - hoping things start looking up for her.
What a fun sounding visit with your brother. That sounds so neat. I bet every bite of that cake was the best!
And since I wrote that yesterday my daughter heard through the grapevine that her original job might come back. So we shall see.
ReplyDeleteI did some bargain hunting today. 20 lbs of rice for $4.99, salad bags for 49 cents (I can eat one bag for a meal with some add-ins) I got 5 and told my daughter she can have some too.. Jiffy cake mix boxes for 19 cents (makes one layer or 12 cupcakes--just enough when family comes over but none left over to haunt me!). Random cans of La Croix 19 cents (I don't drink it but my family that comes over likes it. Usually I don't buy it -- an extra cost when they can have tea or water! lol)
2 jars of peanut butter for 89 cents each. Mayo for 99 cents (I do hope it keeps for awhile I already have 1 in my pantry).
I had a cart full but spent very little.
Made me happy. Today's weather is so dreary it was nice to find bargains and make the day seem better!
~margaret