Starting another new month...

Here we are into October already. Seems like we just changed the calendars for September and where did it go? The days just fly by so fast. Why is that? My mother used to tell me when I was young that "the older you get, the faster the time goes". I remember her saying that many times and wondering how that could be. Well, here I am and I find it's true. I'm pretty old and yes, the time does go by very fast. That's life, I guess.

I wanted to show you my Halloween Spice Rack that I made last year. I did not think this up, I saw it in a magazine (Somerset, I believe), and I used what I had on hand to make it. I love it and can't wait to set it up when I decorate for Halloween next week. My grand kids all loved it and I think I will make one for them this year. I've been saving some jars and bottles all year so that I can do this. So here are some pics of the project:

The Halloween Spice Rack with ingredients to create and potions and spells......


Beast Heart, Evil Dust and Belladonna. The little basket has snake eggs in it.....
Ground Chicken Claws, Powdered Snake, and Crow Feathers.....
Powdered Bat Heart, Scales of Dragon.....

Dried Lark Eyes, Salted Owl and Things that go bump in the night..... I actually took the pics before I put it away in the attic last year, which doesn't seem so long ago. Haha. I had a lot of fun with this, if you want further instruction on this project, let me know and I will be happy to give further information on how I did some of the jars and what is in them. 'Til next time, Love ya, Jean

It's been raining, raining, & raining some more....

While I've been cooped up in the house, I practiced my cake decorating. I had some 6" cakes in the freezer and I wanted to try a new marshmallow fondant recipe, so I made this little cake. These little ribbon roses are the same as the ones that are on the bottom of the cake stand. You can't see it because I accidentally deleted the pic that shows the bottom of the plate.
This was a sort of topsy-turvy cake but didn't work too well because all the cakes were more or less the same size. It was a fun one to do and I learned some things from it, so it was a good lesson. It was also delicious and my family was very impressed. (ahem).

I wanted to show you some of my flowers and how they have matured from my last post. The Rudbeckia is still sending out new flowers.

The Autumn Joy Sedum is in its full glory:

The ferns are starting to decline somewhat, but still have some life left in them. I love how they change color, just like the leaves on the trees.
I have not been able to garden since last week, as we have had 5 days of rain. Things are pretty soggy around here. My next day off is Friday and I hope by then things will dry out some.

I also wanted to let you know about a free giveaway!! It is of a Beach theme.

Joanne over at "my little cottage in the making", is having a drawing on Oct. 6 for *a cute Salt & Pepper shaker set that looks like seashells *a pale blue dish towel with shells on it *a pretty blue Yankee Candle called Willow Breeze *a tiny little ceramic box covered with seashells and has a small dainty blue flower on top *a pencil starfish *a beautiful floral tray. She has a very beautiful and interesting blog, so hop on over to Joanne's blog and enter her giveaway.

'Til next time, Love ya, Jean

Checkin' In

I just thought I'd check in, I haven't posted in quite a while. I am an avid gardener and I have to use every available bit of time that I have to work outside. So, that doesn't leave much time for other things. I am going to add some pics of my garden. This is my little pond with the water hyacinth blossoms.

This is the end of the front yard. There is a little stream under that bridge that you see on the right side of the pic. The stream connects to the pond.

The middle of the front border. Eventually, I will put some smaller bushes of some sort the rest of the way down the front of the house. (Or make these smaller.)

My project completed. There were 4 50 yr old yews in front of that window. They were 7! ft wide and halfway up in front of the window.

Work in progress......

Rudbeckias.....

Purple Cone Flowers.......


One side yard border, you can see my zucchini plants among the flowers.....

Another shot of the pond flowers:

If you look close you can see my tomato plants behind the Autuum Joy Sedum. There are also some Bell Peppers, Rosemary, Tarragon, Cilantro, Sage and Garlic Chives in there.

I love to garden and will show more in my next post. Love ya, Jean

A Trip to Disney

I just got back from Disney! It is the most wonderful place on the planet! It was my first time there. I was there for 5 days and I was with my Mom, 5 sisters, 3 nephews and a friend of one of them, and my niece who works at Disney. What a great time we had. My favorite ride is Soarin' at Epcot. It is so much fun and I went on it 3 times.

This is a shot of the fireworks at the "Magic Kingdom" our first night there.

Another shot of the fireworks. It truly is "Magic". I loved it and I plan to go back real soon.

A New Family Member!

I can't believe March is over! Where does the time go? I guess it gets swallowed up in life. I had been so busy with Easter that the time just flew by. Lots of work to do when you have a candy store and Easter is looming over you. We made lots and lots of chocolate everythings (eggs, bunnies, lollipops, dipped in chocolate peeps and bunnies) . We worked very hard and I hope Easter is not so early next year!

In the meantime, we have added a new member to our family. This is not a great picture (I chased him all over the house and finally cornered him here) and DUSTY needs a good grooming, but he is a joy to us. I don't think that he likes his picture taken too much though. It is so much fun having a pet again. It has been many years since we've had a dog and I had forgotten how much fun they are. So, I'm learning about all the new products that are available now (for dogs) and having a good time while I'm learning. He is three yrs. old, loves to play ball, a very friendly little guy and very affectionate. He also loves the grandchildren, which is a very good thing!


DUSTY

'Til the next time, Love ya, Jean

Bridging the gap 'til Spring.....

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful! It is breathtakingly beautiful and the pic certainly does not do it justice.

I have two large Amaryllis plants. This one is about 15 years old. I bought it at the Flower Show in Boston and I paid $5 for it. That shows you how old it is! lol I have been getting these beautiful blooms each year. This scape has 3 flowers on it. The flower is totally red, the yellow that you see is from the sun shining through the petals.

There are 3 flowers on this scape. The third is behind this large one. It is not quite fully open yet.

You can see how large the flower is. (and my old hand)

This is the other plant. It is about 5 years old. It's scape is a lot later than the first, even though I started them both up at the same time.


This is the first plant and it has a second scape emerging on the other side of the bulb.

Another shot of the first one.

I pollinated this one two years ago and I now have 3 two year old bulbs and I pollinated it again last year and have 9 (!) one year old bulbs. I want to pollinate the second one this year and eventually I'll get to see the results. My daughter also gave me a pink one for Christmas, but I don't think it'll flower this year. It has large leaves but no sign of a flower scape. I'll have to baby it this year and then hopefully next year, I'll get a flower. (or two). If anyone wants the particulars of growing and getting the amaryllis to flower, email me and I will be glad to give you the instructions on how to do that. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy this beautiful sight!!! Til next time, Jean

Flower Show

Today is a great day! I got the scent of 100's of sweet spring flowers! Two friends, daughter and granddaughter and I went to the Central MA Flower and Patio Show in Worcester, MA., held at the DCU Center. Here is a little peek at what we saw............

These beautiful tulips are "pretty in pink".


I loved the way they placed this Adirondac chair in front of the pink azalea and the stone wall.

These would look gorgeous in my living room.

And this is a cute little set for the patio.

The DCU logo that was out front.

It was soooooo good to see the flowers and the beautiful landscapes. I always marvel at how they get these spring flowers to bloom at exactly the right time for the show. I am totally looking forward to Spring now.