I Like Thursday #116

Welcome to my 116th I Like Thursday post.  Every week a group of bloggers, encouraged by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color share things that we are grateful for, make us laugh, smile, or bring joy.

Remember my picture of the ditch and the daylilies that were growing?

This is what it looked like a few days ago, and now it is a mass of orange. 

The bright orange just makes you happy. 

I saw this red truck and it made me smile. It is solar and lights up.  I love garden ornaments.  No I did not buy it. 

I saw a pug purse and thought of my pugalicious friend Nancy, Mother of Pugs. 

My garden clogs have had a lot of wear and they finally cracked.  I still wear them, but I also made sure I had another pair waiting in the wings.

My porch garden is growing and getting a wee bit out of hand.  I have loads of grape tomatoes.

That are still green.  :D

A couple of weeks ago Sally shared pictures of a water lily and what I was told is called a North American Lotus.  I like my challenge quilt I made years ago where I took a picture of the lotus, I don't know if I ever shared it. 

I pixilated the picture and then sewed a lot of 1 inch blocks together.  I quilted it with circles going out from the lotus. 

I like having a pool, even though it can be a lot of work.  This afternoon I laid on a pool float, just staring at the water glinting off of the underside of the leaves in the trees, the sunshine shining through the leaves making them look like stained glass, listening to the birdsong, and thought whatever is going on outside of my space has been left at the edge of the driveway, and I just feel contented and at peace. 

Earlier, Bobbin and I took a little drive to get a burger.  Bobbin got a couple of fries, I let her break her diet, but just a wee bit.  We then went and I had a frozen custard, she got a little lick, but again I am trying to keep her healthy and on her strict little diet.

I like this artist that I came across, with social media I always don't remember who shared.

Stephen Towns

I like this group called the Lucky Chops.  They have a great backstory too.

Finally my book picks for the week.  I read The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell.  I was intrigued with the book because I visited the Keenewa Peninsula and Calumet, Michigan about 13 years ago.  At one time the area was rich in copper and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States.  The book is a fictional account of Annie Clements (America's Joan of Arc)  and the Copper Country Mine Strike, which culminated in the Italian Hall Disaster in December of 1913. 

I am currently reading The Chicken Culprit by Vikki Walton. 

Anne Fremont has moved to Carolan Springs, Colorado after a devastating divorce.  Her next door neighbor is found dead on his compost heap and another neighbor Kandi Jenkins has been accused of the murder.  Menopause, murder, and a new town make for a great read so far.

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

I Like Thursday #115

Welcome to my 115th post of I Like Thursday.  I took some time this week to chronicle my likes better than the previous weeks.  So lots of pictures! 

I made a trip to the greenhouse a couple of weeks ago.  It was pretty well picked over and there was not a lot left.  I did manage to get some tomato plants.

I planted one in a barrel on the deck.  I think this is the Beefsteak.  I am looking forward to having BLT's this summer with yummy fresh picked tomatoes. 

Tomato plant 2.  This one is a grape tomato plants. 

I bought a flat of Petunias, some planters, and some lobelia. 

I found this planting box in the carriage house.  I planted petunias, geraniums, and lobelia. 

Petunias and coleus in a coca cola bucket Jeff had found in the garbage pit at work.  This bucket has had lots of plants in it over the years.  . 

A planter with Lantana and another flower I am unsure of, while it is a big planter, the least bit of wind knocks it over. 

A planter with a heliotrope made into a tree.  I love heliotrope, the vanilla smell. 

I also planted some seeds. 

A big planter full of lettuce, and weeds.  I actually weeded this planter the other day really well.  The lettuce is quite a bit bigger also. 

This big planting box I planted beets.  Some sprouted, but I am wondering if kitties have dug some of it out. 

The boys helped me move the grow bags and I planted cucumbers.  I was so surprised at how quickly they germinated.  The cucumbers will be for the pigs, they love them. 

I have managed to harvest a couple bowls full of strawberries the past few days.

They were yummy.

Gardening, especially trying to clean up some of the beds, and the old gardens I have run into many plants.  I have tried many different plant identifying apps, and none of them worked very well.  Someone mentioned an app called Picture This, and I will say that so far it is awesome. 

We noticed a lot of this plant in the field we have been allowing to go back to nature.  It is a Cutleaf Teasel.  I also had a lot of this in my garden and it took a lot of work to dig it out.

Wild carrot. 

I grew up on a farm, we always had chickens, but I was not aware of all the stuff about them.  My daughter, continues to read up about them.  I am not a fan of roosters, but I learned they aren't only for breeding, but they keep the girls in line, and they will battle predators to the death.  My daughter felt that they were doing a lot of pecking, and needed more room.  So we built them a new yard. 

The new run encloses the carriage house and  used over 300 feet of fencing.

My daughter also outfitted them with chicken aprons.  The term pecking order refers to where chickens roost.  The bigger and more aggressive chickens sit on higher roosts (where it is safer from predators)

The top hens will peck at the others, and bully, pulling feathers, and sometimes even causing sores. 

It covers where they are bare from pecking.  I get a chuckle out of watching them even more now.  When the bully chickens start on one of the others, the rooster will actually intervene.  At night B Rad the rooster will force them all into the coop, no more roosting outside anymore. 

Speaking of my youngest daughter she loves pigs and so I bought her this little garden statue.

I saw this natural river rock bird bath and had to add it to my outside decor.  The rock reminds me of the rocks around where my great grandparents homestead was.

I also installed a new solar light to help light up the steps a little bit.   It is a pretty light, but it doesn't last all night. 

I love the color of this hose holder.  I purchased it to hold the pool cleaning hose.  It works awesome.

It hangs on the side of the deck within easy reach. 

I actually had 2 days off in a row the other day, and it rained.  Most of the day,  I worked on knitting.

I watched YouTube videos on cake decorating or listened to books. 

I ordered Marionberry pie from Goldbelly.  The company is from Oregon called The Willamette Valley Pie Company.  The pie arrived, a little worse for wear, even though it was packed really well.  I baked it, the house smelled wonderful. 

It was very good though. Oops forgot to take a picture. 

Bobbin has been enjoying my days off too.

Nothing better than the smells of late spring, early summer.  Honeysuckle, and clover.  Bobbin loves rolling in the clover. 

I bought her a sunhat because her little ears were getting sunburned.  I guess she may have needed a larger size. 

My book recommendations for the week. 

A Cop & A Coop.  Leona Davis returns to her hometown of Honeytree, Oregon to rebuild her life.  She thought she had shook off the dust of that town, went to college, got married to a plastic surgeon and was living a good life.  Until the husband trying to get a reality TV show, exposes Leona's body as his before and how he is going to make her beautiful again. 

Leona buys a farm, she has a plan that she is going to raise chickens for eggs.  Until she finds a boot, with a foot, and bones attached to it while building her new coop.  Leona's ex high school sweetheart Eli Ramirez is the Sheriff and he is still as yummy 40 years later.  I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next.  Definitely a laugh out loud read.

Crime and Poetry....Violet Waverly rushes home to be by her ailing grandmother's bedside, only to discover she has been duped. 

Violet is ready to turn tail back to her life,  when her grandmother's "boyfriend" Benedict Raisin is found dead in their driveway.  Violet cannot leave without solving the murder and exonerating her grandmother.

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe.  Anna Kate has came to Wicklow, Alabama to bury her grandmother,

and sort out The Blackbird Cafe', settle the estate and head off to medical school. Secrets abound, and the past and truths are being exposed. 

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

I Like Thursday #114

Welcome to my 114th I Like Thursday post. 

Good weather is here, lots going on at the farm, as well as with work, so not much to really share.  Well really a lot to share, but I haven't taken many pictures. 

I like these solar lights I saw at work.

I eat a lot of salads and you can't have a salad without tomatoes.  My usual package was unavailable so I bought these.  When I got it home  I got to giggling the package was funny.

If you see the little tab on the right it says Lettuce Out!    Tomatoes Raised Right.  Wash me.  Please don't refrigerate.  It's too cold in there! 

The kittens are getting big, but what started out with one with goopy eye turned into FVR which is Feline Upper Respiratory Infection. The kids took over the kittens and moved them into their home to nurse them.  Tangier had it so bad I took her to the vet.  I explained that we had 3 other kittens at home, and his comment was well more than likely the others will come down with it too.  I got enough medicine to treat all of them.  It has taken a week, and finally Tangier is responding a bit.  The goopy eyes are clearing up, she was so stuffed up with a snotty nose she couldn't breath, the oldest boy has been taking her into the shower and creating a steam bath a couple of times a day to help with the stuffy nose.  The only one who hasn't seemed to have caught the bug is Ashes. 

Originally Ashes was very timid, would hide, but she has been coming out of her shell, and came to visit my house.  No surface was safe with this little one.

Ashes is also a kisser.  She likes to get right up into your face, and kiss you on the nose. 

My book recommendation for the week is Deadly Medicine by Joanna Neil.  Sarah inherits the family farm from her grandmother.  The farm is run down- sell or keep it?  Sarah is speaking to an Estate Agent Jenny Carter about selling.  Joanna discovered Jenny passed out, calls an ambulance.  It is discovered she has "accidentally poisoned" herself mistaking digitalis (foxglove) for Comfrey which caused her to have a heart attack.  Jenny dies, but Sarah is not convinced her poisoning was accidental.

I like that my local library is now open.  I can order a book online and when I arrive they bring it out to me.  Curbside service!  I got Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe' by Heather Webber.  I can't wait to jump into it!  I know some people like to browse the shelves, but my library is so small, many times I find books online in our county or state, and order them, so not a huge change for me. 

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

I Like Thursday #113

Welcome to my 113th I Like Thursday post.

I like that I had a day off and it was pretty full of yard work, and getting the pool going.  I dug out all the tall weeds from a flower bed and spied these. 

It is a fungus called Dead Man's Fingers or Xylaria polymorpha.  It is a little disheartening that in 2 hours pulling weeds I only managed to get about a 25 square foot area kind of cleaned out.  I did manage to get some flowers planted in pots, a couple of tomatoes planted, some beets, and lettuce though, and everything got watered well.  I am fighting a lot of thistle, and catnip, not including the grasses.  Unfortunately no pictures, and even after I thought about it tonight we had severe weather blowing through. 

I am excited to see my strawberry plants looking pretty healthy, and the strawberries are growing.

This picture is from a couple of days ago, and the berries are 3 X larger already.  I probably need to get some bird mesh over them so perhaps I can enjoy them this year. 

I like that I have managed to get some sewing time in after work and chores and have all the blocks finished for my 2019 Tuesday Sewing Group BOM.  I tried an alternating block and then decided to add some sashing and corner stones.  I think it fit the bill.

These were only part of the blocks.  I was trying to get a feel for the layout to see if it was going to work.  I have managed to actually get one row sewn together so far. 

I heard this song and it touched a chord with me recently.

I love my new shirt and I feel that it is most appropriate in these times. 

Pay no attention to the thread on it, um I had been sewing. 

I did manage to read a couple of books this week, one I am still sorting through in my mind.  The other though was the 3rd installment of the Highland Bookshop Mysteries by Molly MacRae titled Thistles and Thieves.

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

I Like Thursday #112

Welcome to my 112th installment of I Like Thursday.  I was tempted to not make a post this week.  Here is why.

Do you ever feel like you have lived a lifetime in a week or just a few days?  I will say that this past week has been that way.  It started last week with Lucy not being herself.  But then she would perk up and be alright.  Over the weekend she declined greatly to the point where she wasn't eating, drinking, she was barely able to walk, and just wanted to lay near me on the floor.  Monday I tried to get her into the vet, but couldn't get her in until Tuesday at 4 pm.  She was diagnosed with renal failure to the point that it was causing neurological problems too.  The decision was made to send her over the rainbow bridge to be with her mom and dad once more.

Lucy and her death glare, stomping up and down the stairs in the middle of the night, demanding to eat at 3 am and on demand puking will be missed.   The house is a little quieter, and Bobbin is missing her frienemy.

With everything going on it saddens my heart in so many ways.  Being Native American I have learned to deal with racism on a different level. I know that I have heard of several Native Americans being detained by ICE because they thought they were Hispanic, so being a different race is still scary now, not to the extent of being black, but frightening.   I thought this Race IAT created by Harvard  was interesting.  The test helps you see where your biases are.

RACE IAT

I read a short mention about the Choctaw Indian Nation in 1847 sending $170 to aid the Irish during the potato famine.  I recently saw an article through Atlas Obscura a little more in depth.   You can read more about it here.

A monument was created to tribute the tribes generosity during that time.

Wednesday was my day off.  While things are opening back up, many people are not returning to work, so we are still short handed.  Add that people are starting to take vacation and many days I am working 9-10 hours I have to pack a bunch of chores into my day off.

I was up at 5, and out the door before 8 to go to the local nursery.  I had a list of what I was looking for.  Um I wasn't very successful.  I did buy a couple of tomato plants, a flat of petunias.  The only way I could get lantana or heliotrope was to buy a planter.  I came home, started cleaning up planters, and decided I needed some potting mix.  Everyone was out.

I like that Home Depot has curbside service.  I ordered what I wanted online, and in a couple of hours I got a text to go pick up my order.  I park in a space and call a number and they bring it out and load it into my car.

I got my planter boxes prepped and made a tour of my flower beds that are in need of desperate weeding.  I had filled the wagon 2 times today full of weeds and just don't think I got too far.

I Like my Heurchera, also known as coral bells.  The dark leaves fascinate me.  What is really interesting though, is that Heurchera grows wild in Northern California near where I buried Jeff.  So I chuckle when I see the plants for $17 in a gallon pot.

 I had to run to the feed store today and saw this metal garden sculpture.  I will call it a Heron.  I just loved the colors. 

 My roses are blooming already.  They make my heart smile. I call them my conceit or ego rose because the rose is named Colette. 

The bleeding heart is hanging in there and up behind it is a columbine.  The thistle is insane this year which is why it is so hard to get the garden beds cleaned out.  There is just so much!

 The lamium is blooming I just love this plant. 

The poppies are blooming and the holly hocks are getting big.  I love seeing the poppies, every year I have more and more and their big bright flowers bring a smile.

My book for the week was A Killer in King's Cove.  Lane Winslow has moved from Great Britain to a small town in British Columbia.  An interesting post war mystery. 

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Thursday posts.