Miscellaneous.................

As promised yesterday I took a photo of the lock screen on my cell phone with my Canon camera.  This is the close up photo of one of my Peony blooms.  Before the last update on my phone I didn't see the possibility of using one of my own photos.  Now I can enjoy the Peony year round.

For several years I have been dropping photo Christmas cards, loose photos, folders from funerals, obituaries cut from the newspaper, etc. into the top drawer in the guest room.  I wanted to find my grandparents' obituaries to see how old they were when they passed.  By the time I was done I had everything out of the drawer and sorted on my guest bed.  I have a little more sorting to do plus figuring out a system for this drawer so it won't just be layers and layers, and layers...............

Outside yesterday, I planted my little cucumber plants in a large pot and also one more tomato plant in a pot.  I cut lots of leaves off Burdock plants.  I don't have the energy to dig out their huge roots.  I also cut down the new branches of a Tree of Heaven.  I have to cut it down at least twice in the summer, sometimes 3 times.  I haven't had any luck trying to get rid of it.

I only cut a few more floral squares for the current project.

I checked out a 2 tier box as I was cleaning off a table top and it has 2.5" batik squares in one layer and 2" batik squares in the other layer.  Nice seeds for a new project.

The weather people say we might get rain overnight into this morning.  I'm hoping we get some but I think the bulk of it will go south of us and into Indiana.

Floral progress and nature...............

I did trim 2 of the 3 blocks mentioned yesterday, changing them from 9,5" to 6.5"  squares.  I also cut a few more 3.5" and 6.5" squares from different fabrics.  I think this is about 1/3 of the squares I will need.

I took a close up photo of one of the pink Peony blooms.  When I went to change the lock screen photo on my cellphone, it was one of my options.  It is a rectangular section of the center of the flower and it is beautiful on the phone.  My Canon camera was down in the basement and I didn't go down there yesterday so I couldn't take a photo of my cellphone.  You will just have to wait to see it (and hope I remember to take the photo).

The Garden Heliotrope is starting to bloom now.  The plant dies back after blooming and I can pull it out.  It always comes back the next year.

The Annabelle Hydrangea is starting to set buds.  I didn't get this one cut back last fall and it was already sprouting leaves by the time I checked it this spring so it will be larger this year even though I did some trimming.  Unfortunately that means it will be covering up a lot of other plants.

Several of the tomato plants have blooms on them so I hope I see little tomatoes soon.

The predicted rain looks like  it will all go south of us so I'll have to do some watering soon.

 

Cutting and planting............

The separate column on the left is all of the new squares cut yesterday.  I think I need to cut the 2 light background squares down to 6.5" and then the flower will be more prominent.  Also the red flower with the purple background might need to be cut down.  I'll keep cutting......

I brought my Peony bouquet inside yesterday morning.  I will put it in my bathroom now where it will reflect in the mirror and look twice as large.

I finished potting most of the flowers in the remaining pots.  Now I have 5 pots on the top and 4 on the bottom shelf.  They will look a lot better once they start filling out.  The Geranium suffered a little being inside for a week waiting to go into the largest pot.  I'm sure it will recover too.

It looks better from this view.

I have 2 Cucumber plants to get into a pot in the backyard today.  I'm going to use a tomato cage for its trellis so I hope that works.

I also need to turn on the iron today because there is a pile on the ironing table waiting for me.

Another busy day.....................

I had a nice visit yesterday morning with a cousin.  I had offered her some fabric and she is going to teach a 2 week sewing camp for young people.  The students are bringing fabric for their main project and she will supply the fabric for some fun extra projects. 

After she left I baked a batch of cookies with dough I had made the night before.  They are going with family that is travelling out of state. I delivered the cookies to them and then did grocery shopping on the way home.

This Peony is  behind a tomato plant in a pot, and is nested under the leaves of a volunteer Redbud tree.  I cut a bouquet which I leave in a vase in my garage overnight.  It shouldn't have any ants on it by the time I bring it in today.

Late in the afternoon I was in the basement doing laundry and while down there I went through about 2/3 of my Philip Jacobs florals and pulled some more for the multi-size blocks.  I still have 2 stacks to go through.

I checked on this Columbine in the back garden about a week ago and thought  maybe it had been nipped by frost.  It is looking good now though.  I forgot to check on my Bleeding Heart plant so I need to do that today.

It was supposed to go down to 45 last night and I think it will be close to 50 tonight.  We will be back in the 80s next week and the tomato plants will love that.

 

Comparison.............................

I showed the original squares a few days ago, on the left, the 10" squares from a layer cake stack.  Then I cut a few more squares and showed the photo in the center.  Now I have added some more squares in the photo on the right.  I haven't looked for any fabrics yet to cut 12.5" squares from.  I may decide I'm happy with just the 3", 6", and 9" finished squares.

I started planting the pots for the porch.  I might get more planted today or tomorrow.

I'm trying a new type of pot this year, ones with a reservoir in the bottom with a fat cord that threads down into that part.  They say they will water from the bottom.  There is a little window on the side of the bottom part that shows the water level.

I can fit 2 or 3 more pots on the bottom shelf with plants that don't need direct sun.  The large geranium might end up on the porch in front of the table because I have one more pot to plant in that set of 4 sizes. 

A great day................

My grandson came for a late Mother's Day visit and brought me lunch and this beautiful bouquet.

While he was here he assembled this new porch table for me.  It was pretty simple assembly but took muscles to get the long screws into the wood with an allen wrench.  Now I need to get the rest of the flowers planted and get the pots on the table.  That's my goal for today.

We got an inch of rain yesterday morning with quite gusty wind.  The tomato plants made it through the storm OK.  This plant was in a tiny 4 pack and I replanted them into larger pots about 3 weeks ago.  They grew  nicely in my garage that has lots of windows.  I set them out on some of the nicer days to get them ready for planting.

This plant is just as tall but is blending into the 2 Peonies behind it.  I gave one of the Peonies to a friend a few years ago but didn't get the whole root and now it is a big plant again.  I will need to tie it up so the blooms don't lean on the big pot.

When I was filling the bird feeders, I saw more Peony blooms.  This is the first medium rose bloom, and there is another on a different plant too.

I had forgotten there was another plant with the burgundy color blooms behind the one with the single flowers.  I think this one is prettier with more petals but the plant isn't as large.  After those 80 degree days and then 1" of rain, I'm sure more buds will be popping open this week.  We have a couple cool days coming in the middle of the week but I don't think that will slow them down.

My youngest grandchild turned 30 yesterday.  It has been watching the grandchildren become responsible adults.

My cable provider notified me that internet would be down most of the day yesterday while they upgrade the system.  I thought it would be a one day event, but late in the afternoon they said it would be down today too.

Cutting started..............

Finally I found my 9.5" square to add to the 6.5" and 3.5" squares.  Since I'm beginning my cutting from 10" squares, I won't need the 12.5" square yet.

I'm just placing them on the design wall as I cut them and there are duplicates of some of them.  I'm realizing I could just come up with my own layout instead of following one in a Kaffe book.  I'll start looking through the pieces in the Kaffe large scrap box next.  Lastly I'll go to yardage to find more.

There are lots of scraps from the 10" squares.  I'll probably cut them down into usable shapes later.

When I was planting the tomato plants on Saturday, there weren't any Peony blooms yet.  When I got up yesterday morning, this is what I saw from the kitchen window.

I was outside in the afternoon to get a closer look at the blooms.

The lilacs have been scenting the backyard for the past week.  I think they are starting to dry up now and the Garden Heliotrope will take over as the new scent...which is quite a bit like a lilac scent.