The last of November

I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of December. Is that incredible or what? The last few days here have been semi-warm, very foggy, rainy and gloomy looking. Today we saw a little of Mr. Sunshine but not much; Mr. Windy sure showed himself today. Tonight there is a possibility of snow. Crazy weather!

I was able to walk outside a take a few pictures of what is left of the garden. This is what I saw.

The pincushion flower is still showing off a little. This plant bloomed for me almost all winter last year. I am hopeful it will again this year. I love the fact that it is an evergreen.

The three upright evergreens I planted this past June are doing great. I think Gloria is enjoying her home here.
These are the sweetspires I blogged about several weeks ago. I wanted you to see the beautiful orange/red color of the foliage. With this rainy, foggy weather they had really stood out. They almost look like they are glowing.
The Arkansas Blue grass is still pretty with it's golden glow. But as hard as it is trying, it can't wake up the sleeping butterfly weed beside it.
Then I discovered my rosemary blooming. This is a nice surprise. My rosemary I had in GA was 4't and 4'w and never bloomed. This little one is tiny compared to that but its smiling at me big time.

Well that is about it from my garden for now. Hope you enjoyed the tour. I do have a current project going on but it has been too wet to work on. I will blog on it when finished. Of course that could take til spring(lets hope not, but I don't like cold weather).

Do ya'll remember my post about the butterfly patches my grandmother made? If not, or you are new to my blog, that post is dated Oct. 27, 2008. Any way this is what I came up with. Many of you gave me great ideas and I thank you for them.

I originally thought I would hang it in one of the spare bedrooms but since I never go in those rooms(much) I decided to hang it in the hallway. Yes, I know that is a pretty bland wall; another paint project, waiting to happen.

And the winner is........

Congratulations Jacquie you are the lucky winner!!! For those who are not familiar with Jacquie's blog she is the middle of eleven kids, hence the name. For a fun read go to her blog here. I noticed you have your e-mail address listed on your profile so I will contact you for the mailing address. Once again congrats!!!

I have to say I enjoyed doing this giveaway a lot. I want to thank each and every one who entered. A lot of you guys left some very sweet comments and I appreciate each and every one. If I don't have another chance to tell you I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks again for entering ya'll.

It's a Giveaway!!!

Decorative paper, shiny bows
All wrapped up, ready to go.
A little package, nothing great,
just to say I appreciate
Your stories, pictures, comments too,
little happies, just for you.

With the holiday season upon us I decided I wanted to help spread a little early Christmas cheer. So, as you can see from the picture everything will be a little surprise. I will give only this one little hint. There are a couple of things that are sure to please the gardener but I think anyone will like these surprises.

To be eligible for the drawing just leave a comment, nothing more. No links to my blog are necessary. The drawing is open until Sunday the 23, 10:00 p.m. I will have my hubbie draw the winning name. The winner will be announced Monday evening. Good luck everyone!

Turkey day apparel.......

With Thanksgiving fast approaching I thought it appropriate to show you a couple of my favorite aprons. As a matter of fact they are my only aprons. This first one was made by my wonderful Aunt Lucy. It's a little blue check with jars of jellys and jars of peaches. She gave this to me while we lived in Georgia. She thought it appropriate since Georgia is the Peach state. Aunt Lucy is always thoughtful like that.This next one was made by my grandmother many years ago. It actually belonged to her and my mother gave it to me after grandma passed on. You can tell how old it is because the material is very soft and faded.

I love both these aprons much because they were both made by exceptional, loving women. Which one will I wear while cooking for turkey day?Not sure but which ever it is I will definitely feel I'm wrapped up in love.

Do you have a favorite you wear for the holidays?

How about a facelift?

Recently I had a little down time so I decided my director chair bar stools needed a little face lift. I know what you are thinking. Director chairs are a little old fashion so yes I have had them for many, many years. At our last house we didn't need them so they stayed in the attic. Here we have a small eat-at bar and so I drug them back out. Okay I hear your moans all the way down here! The pink canvas screams "girlie". I told you I have had these for a long time. These were mine from my single days. So anyway, I purchased two cans of black spray paint and taadaaah!!
They really turned out great! The hardest part was taping up those brackets. Not much fun there. Now my biggest problem is trying to find canvas. I can't find these things anywhere except on the internet which I'm not a big fan of ordering off of but I may have to. If anybody has seen these in stores anywhere please let me know.

How about a little gold?

I couldn't help but notice how the sun was lighting up this Arkansas Blue Star the other day so I snapped a picture. I brought this plant home from the nursery last fall and planted it here in the bird bath garden. I really wasn't sure what I had here but I thought free plant, hey why not. Well it has turned out to be a great plant for all seasons. This spring it was a beautiful springy green color with a nice and airy texture. Then it bloomed little pale blue blooms. And now it is a little mass of gold. So I thought it was blog-worthy. Here's some facts on it:

Botanical name-Amsonia hubrichtii
Full sun to partial sun
2.5' T
2.5' W
Blooms late spring-no fragrance
Prefers well draining soil but it has adapted to my wetter than wet bed
If it gets leggy after blooming just trim back to keep bushy

I like it so well I think I may need to get another or two.

The UBER Award

I've just received a new award. It is from Linda at Meadowview Thymes. Check out her blog and see all the fun things she has. She has beautiful pictures, wonderful quotes, lovely flowers and beds and a gorgeous backyard pond. She is one of the first blogging friends I met after I started my blog and I feel like I have known her a lifetime.

This 'UBER" is an acronym for U've been excellently rewarded. This award is given to sites that:
1. inspire you
2. make you laugh and smile
3. or maybe give amazing information
4. a great read
5. has an amazing design
6. and any other reasons that you can think of that makes them UBER amazing!

I can nominate anyone I choose so I send this award out to anyone who wants it. All my blogging friends have fantastic blogs. If I chose any I would highlight my whole blog roll and paste it here. Everyone is deserving.

What's a girl to do?

It's raining outside and I'm loving it! Yes, you heard me right!!! Loving it!! Why you ask? Because just as I was pulling into Mickie D's this a.m. to grab a coffee, work called and said I didn't have to work today. Hoorah!! So after grabbing my cup of joe back home I flew(not really) but it sounded good.

Now here's the bad part. I am the type of person that always has to have something to do. This drives my hubbie crazy but I just can't help myself. He'll say something like, "Don't you want to take a rest or maybe a nap"? My usual reply? "I can rest when I'm dead." Don't get me wrong a nap is a great thing and I do occasionally nap. But usually it is in front of the t.v. right before bedtime. So what have I been up to this a.m.?Well, it just so happens I brought home some artificial greenery from work yesterday. Yes, it was headed for the trash bin too. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but I knew to take it. This is my bathroom mirror which as you can see looks pretty drab. So here's where some of the greenery went.Now I realize this isn't going to get me a full page spread in Home Decor(if there is such a magazine) but it helps. Yes, I know I need to paint this room as well but that is a project for another rainy day.

So what am I going to do now? Well I also hung a little greenery above my kitchen cabinets and noticed while I was on the ladder how dusty everything is so look out Mr. Dusty here I come.

Changing out some shrubs

Earlier I posted a photo and info about plants in my bird bath garden. It seems they were all drowning. So I elected to remove some of them and hopefully plant only water loving plants there. Trust me, this will be a slow process. But I did get my sweetspires moved.

I have six of them and moved them closed to my Keepsake garden. This is on a small slope so hopefully they won't drown here. I don't know how they have survived. When I dug them up puddles of water were left in their holes. Right now their foliage is turning a red color which is really pretty.(picture courtesy of the internet)

This is what they look like in bloom. Here's some more interesting facts.
Botanical- Itea virginica "Little Henry"
2-3' T
2-3' W
Prefer full sun-partial shade
Blooms in spring
Hardy in zones 5-9
Has a mounding growth habit

New Award Given

I've been given an award from Daisy at Dancing with Daisy. If you get a chance check out her blog. She has neat videos you can dance to as well as wonderful poetry and photos. Thanks Daisy. Since I love all my blogger friends I pass this award on to anyone who wants it.

Color on the Natchez Trace Parkway.....

Yesterday morning we decided to get up early and go down to the Ross Barnett Reservoir and take in some Fall color.
So with coffee in hand out the door we went at 6:40. It was a beautiful sunny morning with a temperature in the high 40's.The reservoir runs along side the Natchez Trace Parkway which is about 5 minutes from our house. On some mornings I take this route to work. It allows for such a great start to my day.
The trees are showing lots of color now. It's almost like this happened overnight.I had really hoped to just park and observe but instead we drove on down the road to check things out.It's a good thing there were no other cars around. We would drive a mile or so and then I'd ask him to stop so I could snap a pic.If anyone had been around they would have wondered what that crazy lady was doing running back and forth across the road. Actually, my hubbie probably thought I was crazy but I was having such a great time!This was the last place we parked before heading back home. Sometimes you can see wildlife such as deer, eagles, hawks and wild turkeys. We didn't see any yesterday but we did see some herons.

In the summer there is lots of boating and fishing that goes on. It's nice that you can just pull up to the side of the reservoir in your vehicle.

We had a really nice morning yesterday, hope you enjoyed the visit.

Iochroma is finally blooming!

I've done some posts where I mentioned my Iochroma but had not posted on it. I saw this plant for the first time last year and just had to have one. We were tossing it at work so I brought it on home. I didn't get it planted until late summer but it bloomed until frost. The hummingbirds really enjoyed it.

I was really excited to see it coming back this spring. It grew and grew but no blooms. (It's about 5 feet tall.) I tried everything to boost blooming but it refused. The other day I was looking at it and noticed buds. Then we had a couple of frosts and I figured that was it but low and behold it is now blooming. In the background you can see some frost damage.
I love the long tubular blooms and how they hang in clusters. I also bought a rose colored one this year but it didn't perform as well. Plus, Mr. big green caterpillar loves these plants.

Here's some facts:
Botanical name-Iochroma cyaneum
Native of South America and relative of the Angel trumpet
Full sun to light shade
8' Tall and 8' Wide
Hardy to 20
Shrub like in zones 9B-11
Perennial in zones 8-9
Annual in all other zones

Are you listening?

This story has nothing to do with gardening but I feel very compelled to write it. With everything that is going on in this world I feel it won't be long until Jesus returns. I've been reading different books, watching different shows and really feel this in my heart. I have discussed these things with family and some friends and many are in agreement with me.

I've been reading a book titled, "One Month to Live" by Kerry and Chris Shook. It is based on what would you do if you found out you had 30 days to live. For instance, would you change your lifestyle? Would you change the way you think? These are just a few of the questions that it makes you consider.

I guess I have really taken this to heart because the other night I had the most unusual dream. Oh sorry but one little detour. Sometimes when we are talking there are times when my husband and I tell each other that when Jesus does come we are ready to go. Life has been great here but in Heaven it will be oh so much better. Okay, on with my story, sorry.

Back to the dream. I dreamed I found out I had a terminal illness. In my dream I was so sad to tell my mom. Then when I was telling my husband I was even more sad. I told him that even though I knew things were going to be okay I didn't really want to leave him and my life on earth. I told him there were still some things I wanted to do. Then after that I woke up and thought that was some kind of dream.

Most of you don't know but I have daily devotion and quiet time with my morning coffee. So that morning as I opened my Bible this is the first verse I read - The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. Romans 13: 11-12.

Now I don't know if you are like me or what but some people say they hear God talking to them. Honestly, most of the time I don't hear him. But if this verse doesn't speak loudly then I don't know what does. As Crystal Lewis sings in her song, People get ready Jesus is coming, soon we'll be going home. People get ready, Jesus is coming, to take from the world his own. I really believe this! Question is, "Do you?"

There's a giveaway going on at Thistledew Farm

Thistledew Farm has got a cute giveaway going on. She is a creative person who makes/crochets caps. She is asking for suggestions and you can win your suggestion. She has lots of other things going on over there as well. This is a demo of the one I suggested. So cute! Go over and check it out!