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, July 18, 2026

More Garden Paint Projects & America 250 Celebrations, 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 how I reorganized my storage room, deciding what to keep and what to pass on...

Click HERE if you missed that post!!

I want to Thank Cecilia, over at My Thrift Store Addiction, for choosing my blog post, Back Yard Cottage Garden Update, as her featured post from last week's Vintage Charm Link Party!!

Thanks so much, Cecilia!!

I want to Thank Barb, over at French Ethereal, for choosing my blog post, Patriotic Nelson Crest & a Michael's Online Haul, as one of her features from last week's Share Your Style Link Party!!

Thanks again, Barb!!

I also want to Thank Melynda, over at Scratch Made Food & DIY Homemade Household, for choosing my blog post, Back Yard Cottage Garden Update, as one of her features from last week's Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, Link Party!

Thanks so much, Melynda!!

And Thanks to Andrea, over at The Cottage Market, for choosing my blog post, June Goals Update and July Goals, 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...

Since today is Saturday, I want to share a wonderful event that I attended and helped host this past Wednesday...

The Young at Heart Senior Social Club that I belong to and am President of, held an America 250 Celebration party....

Many of our members chipped in and brought food for the party....

This is my good friend Rose Marie, who is treasurer., checking people in.....

She is 84 years old and is only 5 weeks post op Knee Replacement surgery along with the removal of a Baker's Cyst from the back of the same leg....

She is walking without a cane and doing so well!!

She is such an inspiration to so many including me....

So let's get to all the food....

A fruit salad and a veggie tray....

I filled tin foil pans with ice to keep everything cold and placed the container in them...

A Broccoli and Bacon Salad....

Pasta Salad and cole slaw....

Macaroni salad and Loaded baked potato salad....

Chicken Salad and more cole slaw....

Italian, turkey and cheese and ham and cheese hoagies from a local place, Malacari's....

Buns, mustard, ketchup, mayo and chopped onions....

Hot dogs on the church's griller....

On the heating table....

Chili Sauce for the hot dogs....

Another type of hot dog sauce and "Funeral' potatoes....

These were delicious!!

I have to get the recipe for these!!

And baked beans...

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take photos of our Ice Cream Sundae Bar...

We had vanilla ice cream, nuts, sprinkles, chocolate syrup and whipped cream....

Another member made brownies in cupcake papers to go with the ice cream...

We had over 35 members in attendance....

Many wore red, white and blue....

This is Lucy, our secretary, reading the minutes from last month's meeting...

Love her dress and red sneakers....

After the meeting, we played 5 games of Bingo for $1.00 a card per game and we split the pot with the winners and the club...

A good time was had by all ...

So much so that everyone agreed we should do something like this again....

I also want to mention that I hosted my niece Renae and my great nieces Carly and Caitlin over for pizza and ice cream on Sunday...

A very simple tablescape....

My son Joey and I enjoyed visiting and catching up with family....

We had another few days of near 90 degree temps. so I wanted to find something I can do inside the house....

Also here in NEPA, we were getting the smoke from the Wild Fires in Canada like so much of our country was....

I could not even see the Veteran's Administration from my front porch.....

It looked like it was foggy but it was smoke....

So I rounded up a bunch of my garden statues and brought them into the house to brighten them up a bit with a fresh coat of paint....

This piece was my late neighbor Elly's....

It was really looking a bit worn and weathered....

Now I am no artist, that is for sure ...

So I went with more of a whimsical look......

I did not want to paint his entire outfit so I just painted the pockets and lines on his shirt and pants blue...

I also painted the catcher's mitt....

I used to have him in the back corner of the yard but now, I wanted him to be seen.....

I do like the way he came out.....

Much better, don't you think???

Next up was my Gnome garden figures that my late husband Joe bought for me at Lowe's, I think.........

I painted them a few years ago....

But the elements had taken a toll on them.....

Before.......

I forgot to take before pictures of the rest of the Gnomes.....

I also wanted to paint this Gnome that was my late neighbor Elly's.....

And here they are all now with a fresh new look......

I did go a bit brighter and more whimsical......

And here they are now out in the yard.....

I did not paint these 2 toad stools as they looked pretty good so I just sprayed them with the same clear gloss Rust- Oleum Sealant that I sprayed everything else with......

This one was bought at Big Lot's.....

And this one came from Lowe's....

They all really stand out now, don't they???

Elly's Gnome went over here by the Gnome garden tub.....

Now I realize that I also need to paint that tree stump too....

I also sprayed a fresh coat of sealant on the Angel that Joe bought for me at Wegman's.....

She did not need a fresh coat of paint....

I also painted the little frog that is sitting on the chair yard stake behind the Angel.....

This is another sad looking piece, isn't it????

Much better.....

It definitely adds a bit of color to this area of the yard....

What a difference from before....

I don't have a before picture of this stepping stone but it was as bad as the garden stone......

Not sure where I am exactly going to put it so for now, I placed it under this chair.....

I also want to share how one of my fur baby memory stones looked.....

I scrubbed it with a water and soap.....

And I also did the same to my other one.....

My Fur Baby Memory Garden is now looking a lot better......

I also want to share that the coleus I planted in pots out front are growing nicely so I was able to cut some pieces off and I placed them in cups of water to propagate them and when they root, I will add them to some pots out in the back yard......

I did this last Summer and it worked out beautifully.....

I have been having all my asters in the back yard gnawed right down to almost nothing.....

In 2 different places in the yard.....

I originally thought it was slugs until I was sitting out in the patio one morning having my morning cuppa brew and out of the corner of my eye , I saw a tail!!

I thought it was a squirrel but as he slowly lumbered to the back of the yard, I realized it was a baby ground hog or a wood chuck, whatever name you prefer to use!!!

This is a stock picture as I did not get a pic of him....

So I watched where he was going to get out of the yard and realized that he was going in and out through a space between the gate and the fence post.....

So I moved some of the lattice around and blocked the opening with it, holding it in place with rocks.....

I was so proud of myself until 2 days later....

And there he was again, looking at me!!!

In the back yard....

So again I watched as he made a hasty escape and this time, he was able to crawl under the gate and the step.....

There now is chicken wire held in place by rocks against the lattice so I hope that will deter him from getting into my yard to feast on my asters!!!

I did buy Sluggo Plus just in case and also used it out front because the slugs were gnawing my marigolds down to nothing!!!

Ugh!!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my whimsical paint projects for the garden today!!

And 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......