DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG

I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot

George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Blooming Azaleas and Spring Fling, 2026

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

Blogging has always been a stress reliever for me along with an avenue to share my passions which are my home and my garden.....

I feel it is a personal Journal that, hopefully, someday, my Twin Granddaughters will be able to look back on to learn about who I was....

I will be posting 3 times a week on MONDAYS, THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS....

As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....

PINTEREST

If you would like to Pin my pictures, please click on them to enlarge them to do so....

A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS

I enjoy reading your comments and will return the favor by visiting and commenting on your blog or reply to you directly here if you do not have a blog but I do have my comment section set to Moderation due to spammers and hackers so your comment will not appear immediately...

And since I have a very busy life, like most of us do, it may take me awhile to return your comments but I promise I will....

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In my last post, I shared my family Parent's Day Celebration...

and this beautiful Mother's Day gift that I received.....

Click HERE if you missed that post!!

I want to Thank Marsha, over at Marsha in the Middle, for choosing my Blog Post, And Yet, Another Landscaping Project, as one of her features from last week's Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Party!!

Thanks so much, Marsha!!

I also want to Thank Andrea, over at The Cottage Market, for also choosing my Blog Post, And Yet, Another Landscaping Project, as one of her features from last week's A Morning Cup of Joe Link Party!!

Thanks again, Andrea!!

Please stop by and link up to these great parties!!

And now for a few Personal Notes...

For the New Year, I am trying something different with my 3 times weekly posts....

On THURSDAYS, I will feature what I cooked and ate during the week, showcasing local cuisine and a few recipes for things that I actually made...

I decided that on SATURDAYS, I will showcase What I Have Been Up To in the past week, sharing events and places I went to, if any....

On MONDAYS, I will be featuring What I Have Bought or Been Gifted Recently, if anything...

Before I go any further, I forgot to put this in my last post about my family's Parent Day celebration....

On Mother's Day morning, my son Jim posted this on Facebook....

"Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Happy Mother’s Day to my mom who raised me to be the man I am today. Only the good qualities, I’ll own up and take responsibility for any bad qualities. I love you mom! Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful wife for giving birth to our lovely twin girls and for being there with me for every wonderful moment. You are the glue that holds us all together. We love you! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there in happy relationships. Keep on being happy, you all deserve it. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in unhappy relationships. Just know you’re all still very appreciated and respected no matter how you may feel at times. Happy Mother’s Day to all the single moms out there. I can’t even imagine raising a kid(s) by myself, yet there are many women out there who are and did. You are superheroes. Happy Mother’s Day to all the women out there pregnant and expecting children. You’re all in for an amazing experience and will do awesome. Happy Mother’s Day to any moms who may have lost children, my heart deeply goes out to you. You will still always and forever be a mom. And Happy Mother’s Day to all the dog and cat moms out there. You’re still moms and have a big responsibility taking care of your little fur babies. Moms are single handedly the greatest group of people on this planet. They do so much and have endured so much to help bring everyone into this world. Every day should be Mother’s Day"

Needless to say, this made my day, along with making me cry!!!

Today is SATURDAY, when I share what have I been up to , sharing events and places that I have been to...

On Wednesday, The Young at Heart Senior Social club that I helped start and am the President of at my church, held it's 1st Spring Fling....

I made up 5 centerpieces for the tables.....

Garden pots!!

A purple pot filled with a bouquet of faux flowers, a flower solar light, a bumble bee pot hugger on the pot along with a small gardener's straw hat, a children's garden tool and tomato and marigold seed packets...

I read this.......

"Planting marigolds with tomatoes is a popular, effective companion planting strategy that helps repel pests like nematodes, whiteflies, and aphids. Marigolds act as a "trap crop," attracting beneficial insects, while their scent masks tomatoes from harmful bugs."

The gentlemen in our group enjoyed learning that....

Green tablecloths to look like grass, placed the garden pots in the center and used bright yellow napkins on the tables....

Yes, there is a dish of Bingo markers on each table....

My friend and Treasurer Rosemary and Vice President and my former Nursing Supervisor, Rita, manned the sign in table and also gave everyone a ticket when they checked in....

That is our waitress Michelle that they are talking to....

We always have a table with things to sign up for and also for any printed information for members to take....

Lucy, our secretary, does a great job with all of that.....

I bought a Bingo game on Amazon as several members expressed an interest in playing Bingo after our meetings....

Hence, the bowl of Bingo markers on the tables...

Everyone was mingling and visiting with each other before the meal......

We had 34 people in attendance....

The event was catered by Anthracite Cafe, whose owner is a parishioner of our parish...

Tossed Garden Salad with 2 Dressings

Rolls and Butter

Chicken Francaise

Baked Ham with Sweet Glaze

Baked Penne with Mini Meatballs

Roasted Red Potatoes

Green Beans Almondine

Ice Cream Cake and Cookie Tray

Our waitress, Michelle, cut the ice cream cake, plated it and then served it to he tables....

Everyone enjoyed the dinner, as the food was delicious....

We then held our monthly meeting.....

We chanced off the Garden Pots by pulling 5 tickets ( the ones we gave everyone when they came in) out of a basket...

And afterward, for fun and laughs, several games of Bingo were played for the cost of $1.00 a card per game.

I was the caller!!

LOL!

A good time was had by all and we will be doing something similar again in September for a Fall Frolic....

I wanted to give an update on my front yard in this post.....

The azaleas are blooming.....

The pink one...

I will be going for annuals to plant in my pots tomorrow, on Sunday....

The white one....

I gave these 2 red azaleas a good trimming so they did not bloom as much as usual.....

Especially the one on the left but this one exploded all of a sudden....

Unfortunately, the azaleas only bloom for a little over a week...

The perennials that I planted in my next door neighbor's yard a few years ago are starting to pop up and grow...

My rhododendron is starting to bloom.....

And the hostas, that I planted last year, are growing nicely in these pots in the flower bed under the Living Room window.....

I also wanted to share how everything is growing on the slope in front of my house and my neighbor's......

We have been having rain here for several days with 1 and 1/2 inches from just one storm....

The bonfire spurge is in full bloom with it's yellow flowers.....

And the hostas in my neighbor's yard are growing nicely....

You can see the azaleas in bloom from the parking lot....

The mulch held up , even in heavy rain downpours...

Can you believe that Memorial Day weekend is next weekend????

It is early this year....

I have finished all my Patriotic decorating for the Summer Holidays in my Living Room and even did a bit of Patriotic decorating in the Dining Room this year, which I never did before...

I will be sharing all of that in the coming weeks...

This week, I will be finishing my tour of the Den, decorated in English Cottage style with a bit of Americana...

I will be sharing how I used my red and blue transferware in the china cupboard this Season....

And next weekend, I hope to share my Memorial Day Front Porch with all my annuals planted in the pots out in the front yard...

So I hope you will stop by to visit again on MONDAY for my next post...

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

And try to find JOY in every single day!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......