Colorful Coleus...

As we inch our way towards another long weekend...

I thought I would share a very good performer this summer...

This bright orange coleus is doing really well...

I planted in one of my HUGE containers down near our beach deck...

She sits nestled in amongst the tall Miscanthus, so, she gets some protection from the cruel winds we can get off the Lake...

I took these at the same time of day as the previous post...
 
Right when the sun was peeking thru the grasses...






It is recommended to nip off the tiny florets that form, as you will get more leaf growth...








And the leaves is the whole point of this spectacular plant...

This is the other coleus I have in a big pot...

But...

On the other side of the deck, and he gets waaayyy more sun and wind...

A bit differently colored...and I see a floret that needs to be nipped!!

Hope you are all having a great day so far...

Hot and Sunny here...they say rain for the weekend...hope not!!!

Except at night...that is fine with me!!

Expecting all my kids out on Saturday...pray for nice weather!!!

Will have a nice family meal together...gluten-free of course!

And lots of veggies for my son!


                               **************************


A few Labour Day Weekends ago...

My boyfriend and I were in the middle of a "Haboob" of Dragonflies!!!

They were literally banging into us....going wherever they were going!!!

It was really cool!!!

In the morning...this little guy....was on our table...

Guess he didn't make the rest of the trip with his buddies!!!

I wonder who will be visiting us...in the skies...this Labour Day??!!

Sometimes we see the planes from the CNE airshow...stalling over Lake Erie...

Waiting for their grand entrance over Lake Ontario...


Have a great weekend....relax and enjoy!!!!


                            Cheers!  :o)
                               linda

Another Dandy Datura Weekend...

I do find that I am repeating myself a lot lately...

That is why I had toyed with the idea of changing up my blog...

But then...

When I witness things like this...

I remember why I started blogging...

In the first place...

I am a true lover of plants...

Of Nature...

Of birds...

Of family...

And..

Especially..**tee hee hee**

My precious Datura...

This first photo is at the end of the day...

The sun is setting in the background...and the special flower is getting ready to unfurl...In all its beauty...
 






These next few are just as the setting sun was hitting them..

I see the Spiders love them almost as much as I do...

Now...

We can fast-forward to the next morning...

I watered them...as it was pretty darn dry out at the cottage...

Another beautiful thing about the Datura...is...

They are drought tolerant....

And they love full sun!!

And...

They self-sow...

What an absolutely perfect plant....:o)

Isn't this last picture...absolutely...drop dead...GORGEOUS!!!

                                      ********

And...in the second place...

I would miss all you lovely ladies...{and a few gentlemen}...

And I hope that you...in turn...would miss my daily musings... 

SO....

I will continue the blog...{until I figure out what it is that I want to change about it}...

As always...and as long as you continue to visit me...tee hee hee...

Pretty well the same topics...

Gardening...

February In Sunny Florida...

A few crafts...and thrift shopping...

Cooking...

Motherhood....and of course...the best of all...

                              ***GRANDMOTHERHOOD***

                                    *****************

I wanted to welcome a few new followers..thanks for visiting!!

And...thanks for all the compliments on my "TOES" header...

Isn't it fun...taking a favorite photo..

One that defines how you feel about things...

And putting it right up front...

To grab everyone's attention... 

                                     *****************

Hope you are all having a great day...

Hot as H*** here....muggy...damp...rain...sun...CRAZEEEEE!!!


On the menu tonight...

 BBQ'D Cajun Ocean Perch...

         Farm fresh yellow beans...love these!!!

           Herb rice...and probably a few sliced tomatoes and cheese!!!


Enjoy the rest of your day...

LONG weekend is approaching...

Hope to start tomorrow!!! YAY!!!


                               Cheers!  :o)
                                    linda

Weekend Arrangements....

My weekly garden flower arrangement, is getting a wee bit harder to find!

Luckily my Hydrangeas are still going strong...

And the wild Susans are still plentiful...

I had forgotten that I had some Baby's Breath...

Otherwise known as Gypsophlia...

SO...I added some..

But...

I think she had seen better days..


I made several smaller ones as well...

Just to use the Hydrangeas!!!


But...

There are TONS left!! 

For another weekend...

How can you possibly go wrong with Hydrangeas...


I love the way they turn a lime green in the late summer...

Very pretty!!

 Last Friday, was a perfect  day on the lake...

Calm...

No wind...

Awesome!!

Had a lovely refreshing swim, as it was pretty hot, actually!!!

Met another neighbour!

But....no cucumbers to share this week...

I left 2 on the vine...{which is shrivelling up}...as there was no rain there last week..

AT ALL!!!

The tomatoes were plentiful though...

And delicious and sweet...

The beach offered up a few interesting things..

A skeleton of sorts...must be fish bones....and of course a feather!!

This Cicada bug was attached to one of the umbrellas...

I was lucky enough to get one photo, before he took off...


















 The day just got more beautiful as the afternoon approached Sunset...

After a delightful BBQ'd lamb chop meal on the sunporch...

We retired once again to the beach deck...

For a lovely firepit...

As the Geese meandered by...oh boy!!!...that only means one thing...

The dreaded "F" word....I can't even say it out loud...

I am not ready yet...so many more swims to swim...

Sunsets to watch...

Flowers to "OOOOH" and "AAAAH" over...

And of course...more lovely firepits...my very favorite!

For now...I am very content with the heat we are enjoying...

BRING IT ON!!!

 Hope you are all having a great day!

I am posting early...as I am being Gramma today...

Picking Vivian up...hopefully a swim...a nap...dinner...and a sleepover!!!

On the menu tonight...

        Not sure yet!!! Perhaps we will venture out with Vivian..

            Treat her to Swiss Chalet....she loves the fries!! hahaha!!

Enjoy the rest of your day....What are you up to???

                                   Cheers! :o)
                                        linda

The Dapper.....Dazzling...Decadent......Dramatic.....Deluxe.... Disco Belle Hibiscus....

Remember the Discobelle Hibiscus my friend gave me a few weeks ago??


Well....

She is looking Delightful!!

And...

I know exactly...

Where...

To plant her...

Once the ground...

Is not like concrete!


I am Delirious with happiness over her Dashing blooms...

Hope you all had a great weekend....

Some thunder and rain here today...

Enjoy the rest of your day...


                                   Cheers! :o)
                                     linda

I Forgot...One More Thrifty Purchase...

OOOPPS!!!

I forgot to add this!

I bought sweet cheeks this adorable little gingham dress for $1!!!

Not exactly "todays" style...

But certainly mine!

And...

I think she looks adorable!!!

She is playing with a very old cell phone we found in a drawer...

She pretends to push the buttons and talk to people!

She loves playing with my very old tupper-ware measuring cups!!!

Learning to stack them inside each other!

SOOOOO smart!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday...

Anything planned??

Supposed to be beautiful weather...hope you get to enjoy the outdoors!!

We are off to the cottage shortly...

Wonder how many cucumbers are ready in the garden???!!!

                          **** HA HA HA ****

                             Cheers!  :o)
                                  linda

Thrifty Thursday....

It has been a while since I posted a Thrifty Thursday...

Not that I haven't been thrift shopping...EGAD!!!!

Just...no time to put the pictures together, and do a little research into the different items...

Well...

I took the time today...

While Sweet Cheeks was napping...

We watched her today, as she has been having an upset tummy while cutting her teeth...SO much better to be here with Gramma and Grampa...:o)

So let's get started...this will be a long one!!!

Grab a beverage of your choice...sit back...and enjoy!! hahaha!

That first funny thing is for our tiny bar at the cottage...3 Monkeys...bottle opener, corkscrew and small knife...and I found the Viking guy who is also a bottle opener! How funny are they?

 



 Do you remember last weekend, when I was the Mad Cucumber Lady??? And I met Jane across and down the street???
Well...she was having a garage sale...

I bought 3 things from her...

Spent $5...

This very charming 3 candle candelabra...

LOVE THIS!!!

A sweet milk jug...
Marked "Lord Stanley Pottery"...
Found this on E-Bay for $30!!!

Love the delicate gold pattern...and the fresh flowers...Perfect!!!

What I buy at the cottage...

Stays at the cottage!!!








Found this delicate corn-flower pitcher ...a while back...and immediately knew it was perfect for this Summers beach glass collection...

I also bought this wee wheelbarrow at the garage sale...

Cute,eh?

Will plant it up next Summer...

So...I got the candelabra, pitcher and wheelbarrow for $5...and the sweet cornsilk pitcher for 50 cents!!

So far....

Pretty darn thrifty!!!

Are you still with me???

Now....onto Value Village...for some extra special deals!!!

I had my son in mind when I spotted this 2 piece set of R&B pottery...

I looked on the internet...

Found a pair of coffee mugs...same colour and pattern...same markings on the bottom...going for $33!!!

I paid $3 for this combo...

I know he will love it...I'm thinking stocking stuffer!!!

The R&B stands for Ritzenhoff & Breker...

Very collectable...form the late 50's...AWESOME!!! 




This particular pattern is from the "Flirt" series...

I can see something like this on "Mad Men"...

Up next...

These 4 small china bowls...

I thought the pattern was very interesting...

Found the Myott Pottery on line..

But not this particular pattern...

Some of the items were pretty pricey...

I paid $2 for 4 bowls...

They would be lovely as small fruit nappies... 

"And this little piggy went to market"...

Ha ha ha!!!

These are not vintage or anything...

I just love different S&P shakers... 


"Are you lookin' at me?"...

$1...:o)

Who could resist??

This little floral planter from the '50's caught my eye...

Vivian loves "Thomas The Train"...and I thought this would be so cute in her room... :o)....$1...

 Now...this fancy divided server is for ME!!!!

I love this vintage stuff!!!

Again...very collectable....

On line...lots of pieces..but not this divided oval bowl...

The plain oval "vegetable server" goes for around $40....I paid $3...

 I can see it with Salsa and chips...

Or hummus and crackers...

Or shrimp and cocktail sauce...

Or...

I think you get it!!

I LOVE this serving bowl...

Well...I hope you made it all the way to the end...

As I said...I had not posted a thrifty post for quite a while...

I am sure I missed a lot of little fiddley things...I always manage to find something whenever we stop at a thrift store...

I really enjoy the hunt...and finding great things, and giving them a new life...

                                                        *********************


I hope you all had a great day...

No rain here...we are shrivelling as I write this...

Guess I better get the old hose out, and feed my thirsty friends..:o)

We will be off to the cottage tomorrow...

Wonder what is going on out there???

Shrivelled....or not shrivelled...I will let you know!

                                                      *************************

I want to thank you all for your kind comments on yesterdays post...

When I said I wanted to change up my blog...I got a lot of good feedback...

I am glad you all enjoy my photos and my stories...:o)

And a special thanks to Linda at "The Crafty Gardener"{no, I can't cut and paste...I am pathetic...I really should learn...}...for really trying to help me get my Picasa editing working... still a no go....:o(


On the menu tonight...

"Laziness"...hahaha!
                    Spaghetti sauce from the freezer!!!
                              Ceasar salad and garlic bread...


Enjoy your evening...

                          Cheers!  :o)
                            linda