It really has been a splendid even with the COVID 19 going on around me. I had the privilege of having my husband home with me & after a 35 year relationship, it was the first time of being with just 'us'. I enjoyed our time together but like everything else...this too must pass & he was off to work at the factory.
Life as we all knew it will be no more until a vaccine has been discovered to rid this invisible army.
I keep making different face masks with different inner filters to help create more comfort for those that must wear a mask all day at work & on the airplane getting to work.
Here's Bill on the airplane wearing the New Brunswick plaid mask that I made him & the kids for New Brunswick Day next month. Bridget & Baxter will have their plaid neck scarves made for the day.
Strawberries in our province had weird weather for their growth but the Novia Scotia strawberries did better & were a good price at the Sobey's. I purchased a flat & 1/2 of them with my girlfriend Dorice loaded the car up with many flats for her family orders & off we went. lol
I use lemon juice to wash them before drying & freezing them.
I dried them on paper towels, measured them in 4 cup increments, bagged, & froze them.
Summertime & strawberries It doesn't get much better than that, well maybe some watermelon too!
Morning naps in the foyer sunshine...
And afternoon naps in the sunporch. A day in these dogs' summer life. :-)
The rose bush had beautiful blooms this summer & I brought some indoors to enjoy.
Our neighbour to the east is installing a wooden fence to create a 'country & western' look to his yard.
They entertain with 10+ trailers/motorhomes for a few weekends every year & now are corralled within the fence line.
I'm enjoying how the solid wood enhances the detailing on the cement urn & birdbath creating a more enclosed rich vignette.
Our yard now looks huge with the lot line fence & we've already started thinking of what to place next to the fence, limelight hydrangeas & lilies from the overcrowded gardens are going to find a new location, just to name a few.
Around the gardens, we'll add solar-powered lights for evening enjoyment from our back deck.
With the excitement of thinking of the kids coming for a visit, I made summer flags for the back deck. The kids won't be coming as our border is still closed & they wanted to go to their New Brunswick properties & visit us, not self-isolate. Oh, the times sure have changed with C-19.
Doing this though gave me the idea of doing more in the New Brunswick plaid for next month for New Brunswick Day on the 3rd...I need to get busy with that to happen!
That is the one thing I love about fabric, it doesn't go bad with time, not like the lettuce or veggies I purchased & never ate in time!
Bill installed the feral cat house up on a tree for a few pigeons to have a place to winter or the squirrels may take it over, time will tell who lives there.
Thank you, Bill! I added dried hydrangeas to an old grapevine wreath that I made years ago, it adds a soft look to the woods, don't you just love the birch texture as a backdrop?!
I love the look of the outdoors here but to be outdoors is miserable right now with the mosquitoes!
Bill found the old Hobby Lobby flag I made back in the '90s. You could get a flag kit with the pattern & nylon fabric for just $4.99USD & I would purchase poly thread 3@.99 cents! I feel old...
It is old & is tearing vertically, so I'm just going to enjoy it right now.
And the bunting flags that I made for the front porch! These will be moved to go on the back deck when I make the NB plaid ones. The limelight hydrangeas are all budding & will be showing their blooms soon!
Christmas Carol Mystery Quilt
The center of the twelve blocks is finally done! Not showing is the 86 pinwheels that were also made to go around the thirteen blocks! Now the task of bringing them all together, I'm going to do my own Christmas workshop this weekend & finish this quilt! This 20" x 20" was not an easy one to do as a 'quilt as you go' with all the hand embroidery through 3 layers. It will be a joy to bring it all together as a quilt as you go but oh, so heavy with all the fabric & wool!
Potting Shed
The potting shed has really taken hold of its new area & I'm enjoying having it there!
The garden boxes are doing well & still have about 8 weeks before 1st frost in September. It's nice to see that the neighbours to the west are working on their place as we've been here since 2012 & it is the first time to see people there other than to have a new roof put on several years ago.
The gardens are so lush right now & I enjoy walking through them & hearing the bees singing away.
The hummingbirds are around to making their own kind of noise & our new neighbours a few doors east have a rooster that makes me smile & laugh every time I hear it! lol I really enjoy roosters & that is the Chinese year I was born in. I am a morning person & a good thing too...my neighbour Heather stopped by this morning at 7 AM to drop off fresh zucchini & cucumber from her garden, yum!!
Then she left to go pick her blueberries, she is the one that taught me so much about gardening & still does!
Bill created the seating under the trees but you must not sit there do to mosquitoes, right Sandy!! lol
A couple years back my girlfriend Sandy was visiting & saw that spot & thought to herself what a nice shaded area to have a sit-down, she ran away as she's allergic to mosquito bits & was swollen & marked for the rest of her visit. The upside is I never knew of Benadryl spray as that was her daily routine after that 'sit-down', I suffer from hives & now use the spray for relief!
Bill's shop is a beautiful sight right now with the wrap-around bloom garden.
The delphiniums are just gorgeous!
I love, love their colours!
These Dollarstore lilies have such a pretty colour to them.
As do these sunny yellow little lilies.
Doggie Cabana
I was telling Bill how I wanted to use the curtains from his 9ft apartment windows to shade the dogs from the morning & mid-afternoon sun so he brought them home with him & installed them for Bridget & Baxter. I think it looks great open & closed, I made NB plaid tiebacks for all four.
This is a southeast exposure & the sun is very intense in that area.
I can still hang laundry out with no issues at all!
The orange daylilies will be showing their colours soon too. See the clothesline coming out from the IKEA drapes? The drapes have a blackout woven into them & shading the small porch quite well.
The other thing that needs shade is the lettuce boxes that I am still picking from every other day.
On the weekend we took a drive to Mr. Tomato in Richibucto & picked up a few plants for the deck planter & a Virginia Creeper for the end of the potting shed.
Thank you for stopping in for a visit on this beautiful summer day. Each season holds its own beauty & I find this summer season to be very short-lived, so I savour the summer days.
A saying that made me smile then realize that I had made that best decision 33 years ago!
Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
H. Jackson Brown Jr. (writer)
Stay safe & healthy.
Cynthia
