May news #5 - to do list and more plants

Good morning ☀️ 

This week’s to do list- I’ve already done the grocery pickup and went in to Walmart to buy a gift card that we use for our gas purchases.  

I replanted the zinnia patch from last year, with seeds saved from last year’s zinnias.  

Look at all the new baby zinnias- zinnias are so easy to grow from seed and once they start blooming,  they bloom all summer 🌸 

Our breakfast on Sunday- just frozen biscuits with scrambled eggs but it was delicious 😋 

I’m hoping to get lots done today and go for a walk if the rain cooperates with my plans.  

Have a great Monday everyone

May News #4 - flowers and masks

Hello everyone 

If you want to make the simplest mask I’ve seen,  watch this video 

https://youtu.be/0JGQv1hnuH0

Below are small child size ones 

Some very lawyer-ish masks for my son.  He wanted them all solid navy so I added a tiny tag of twill tape to the inside so he can tell which side has been facing out and which side goes on his face.  

Our home so looks so happy with all the spring flowers blooming.  Many of them are perennials my husband bought on clearance at Lowe’s in recent years.  

The bushes with white flowers are Mock Orange and I think they’re so pretty.  

The dianthus came back so big and full this spring -they are the big pink and red clumps.  

Below is a peony that only had one bloom last year.  This year it had more than a dozen buds.  

 

Right by our front door - did  you notice in these photos all our windows were open?  It was breezy and mid-60s yesterday so I opened all our windows and gave the house a good airing out.  

We had a redwood picnic table that was looking so weathered and not in a good way.  

So my husband turned it into a 12 foot planter that fits perfectly where the patio ends and before the fence.  

Then he planted it with more assorted plants from Lowe’s 

And a little funny thing

3 of our grandchildren were here yesterday while their mom had a doctor appointment. 

They were so happy to be here and acted so nice. 

Toward the end of the visit, Elizabeth and JJ were crafting but Elizabeth wasn’t happy that JJ was kind of copying her.  

I told her she was being kind of grouchy.

JJ said "maybe she needs a nap”

Hope you are all well

❤️Rhonda 

May News #3 - weekend painting, more masks 😱 and a new to do list

Hope you all have had a good weekend.  We had a nice one,  quiet one of course.  Are there any other kind during quarantine?  

This is my cactus painting from the free Friday night Facebook class.  It was fun

I keep hearing about people that need masks so I cut out a bunch more 

And my weekly to do list that I already started on today 

Chat with you all soon

❤️ Rhonda 

May News #2 the edible plants

My husband has taken over the outdoor gardening.  His big project this year is putting pavers between the raised beds to cut down on weeding and mowing.  He’s doing it slowly as he has a bad back, bad knees, etc- but considering all that,  I think he made lots of progress doing it all on his own.  

Somehow that silly gnome birdbath came home with is from Lowe’s.  

Some of the tomatoes are just starting to form 

We’ve been eating our lettuce and spinach for several weeks.  We are hoping the heads will grow back and keep replenishing, but who knows?  At least one of them looks very hopeful.  


also in the beds are assorted peppers and onions 

And Potato Land looks be growing so good! 

In the wildest corner of the back yard is a rose Bush we bought at Aldi years ago

We had to get rid of all our knockout roses as they all had that awful rosette disease 

 

And on the picnic table is this year’s fairy garden.  Grands and adults all enjoy rearranging the figures.  

❤️ Rhonda 

May news #1 May Day plants

Good evening everyone 

I’ve been filling pots with plants with a few bought ones and some brought outside from inside our house and some are from our son. 

These are on the patio near the door 

These are also on the patio,  some are succulents that I put in bigger pots and the petunias are from an 8 pack I found on clearance at Lowe’s for $1

All these pots look empty but they are all planted with caladium bulbs.  Our son ordered 35 pounds of caladium bulbs.  He’s planted a lot of them in his yard but 35 pounds is really a lot.  So he’s been sharing them.  

Caladiums are really fun as they all come up with different colors and patterns.  

And a few more pots of succulents and some ground cover I bought and planted last year and it survived all winter.  

In the yard is the berry patch.  The 2 mature blackberry bushes are loaded with new berries and my husband has been rigging up a protection cover to keep birds from eating the blackberries before we do.  

In the ground are strawberries and a few onions 

On the other side of the backyard are the raised beds and containers holding vegetables.  I’ll show those tomorrow.  

And my husband has put in all the work on them, not me.  I pull weeds but other than that,  the food plants are all his effort.  

Tonight I’m doing the Facebook painting party I posted about earlier.  

I see on the news that different areas are having different restrictions and different levels of restrictions being lifted. 

I know everyone wants to get back to normal but that virus is still out there. 

Hope you all are being careful and staying as safe as possible.  

❤️ Rhonda