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!!!!!!

Thursday, July 17, 2025

How I Did with My Monthly Goals for June, 2025

 


 

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....
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
In my last post, I shared my present and past Fairy Gardens....

 

 

 

   Click HERE if you missed that post!!


I am a bit late sharing how I did with my Goals for the month of June on my Spring/2nd Quarterly Goals List.....
 
 

 My Goals are more of a To Do List for each Month and Season of the year....
 


So let's take a look at how I did on my Goals for June!

JUNE

 
Truth be told, I FAILED miserably in June!! 
 
 

In May, I delayed things because of the rain and now we have close to 90 degree temps with tropical humidity!!

I am pretty much stuck in the house as I do not do well in these conditions....

 

Walk at least 5 days a week either outside or after buying a walking pad - NOPE!!   Too unGodly hot to walk outside and I am still debating on the purchase of a walking pad...I am tabling this Goal until the Fall

Straighten, reorganize and clean the storage shed that I rent - NOPE!!    Again, too unGodly hot to consider doing any work inside of it...Tabling this until we have some cooler weather in the Fall....

This is what our weather has been like lately.... 

 

 Take down Christmas ( yes , you are reading that right) in the Sitting Room and in the Craft Room - NOPE!!      Unfortunately, I waited too long to do this and now again, it is too unGodly hot to go up the attic to retrieve the tubs as the attic must be 110 -120 degrees by now!  Since I do not have air conditioners in the windows in those rooms, which are now roughly 85 to 90 degrees daily, I have again made the decision to just leave up Christmas in those 2 rooms for a 2nd year....

 

All of these goals were tabled until cooler weather so maybe in the Fall by way we are going: 

 Reorganize Sitting Room and Craft Room closets 

Clean and re-organize the Craft Room, going through all my supplies, deciding what to save or donate  

Reorganize the Craft Room Closet

Start going through all of Joe's Pittsburgh Sports items with my son Joey and deciding what to keep and what to donate 

 Clean out the flower bed by our mailboxes and put mulch down

Put up the new shades in the bedroom that I ordered last Fall 

Mulch the top flower beds along the slope and under the Living Room windows

 

 Go through the Storage Room again, deciding what I will not be using and reorganize it - Nope!   No excuse....sigh..

 

 Have my son Jim put the air conditioners in the windows - YES!!!!  Thank God!

 

WOW!!

What I failure I was in June with these Goals!!!! 


So what in Heaven's name did I do in June????

I was beginning to wonder myself so I looked back on some of my blog and FB posts ....

 

 I tried out some new recipes....

My son Joey emailed me a recipe that I shared over 4 years ago but I did not have a crock pot at the time....
 
 
 
 So I decided to make it for dinner the other evening.... 
 
 
 
Chicken Spaghetti but I used fettucine noodles....
 
 
 
 
 It is really very good!!! 

 

I actually baked some banana bread too.....

 
I have not baked banana bread in years as I usually make zucchini bread....

I may start making this more often and freeze it.....

 

 

I invited my late friend Anne Marie's husband Tony for a homemade lasagna dinner...

 

 


I am trying to get weeding and some yard work done between rain drops and heat and humidity.....

 I managed to weed on my slope in front of my house along with the next door neighbor's which was no easy feat...

I had fun using my new blower to clean up the parking spaces in front of the slope after weeding it....

 

 
I also trimmed 4 azaleas, a forsythia and a rhododendron using my new hedge trimmer.........
 
 

Before......

 
After.....
 

The rhododenron and more azaleas.....

 

 

 I also cut down this arborvitae that died over the Winter when it split in half from the snow and ice...

 


I could not saw it down to the ground so we will see if any new growth sprouts out....


I did transplant a hosta and some Missouri primrose around it....

 

I did get my car detailed too!!


Not too bad for a 9 year old car with only 52,000 miles on it....

 

I do want to share how I am doing on some of my Possibilities List...

POSSIBILITIES LIST for 2025

This list is more of a year long list...

 

Reconnect with a few old friends and meet for lunch or invite over

YES on this one as I mentioned a dinner with my friend's husband Tony, who was my late husband's hockey friend before I met Anne Marie!! 

And I am also now involved as secretary for a new Senior Social Group that I helped form at my church in June!! 

 

Be in contact more, whether through messages, texts, phone calls or visits with more family members- YES and this is ongoing....

Had my niece and great nieces over in the beginning of July and also visited with my DIL Danielle's Mom and her brother and his family when they came in from Ohio to see my Twin Granddaughters for the first time in person.... 

 

Being more Mindful of how I am spending my time and doing things with Intention...YES, as I have had to move different Goals around and even made a few more Goals...I think about what I want to do each day trying not to spend time doing nothing...

 

So there you have it....

I had to give myself some Grace in June because the heat and humidity is doing a number on my physically...

 I do hope to do better in July and so far, so good...

Even in this awful heat and humidity.... 

 

 I hope you will stop by to visit again on SATURDAY for my next post..    
 
 
 Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

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......


I am linking up to these parties:
 


  THURSDAY
    Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
 



Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Present and Past Fairy and Gnome Gardens....

 

 

 

 

  

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....
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
In my last post, I shared what I have bought lately....

 

  

 

 

 

 

  Click HERE if you missed that post!!


 And now for a few Personal Notes...
 

Yesterday, on Monday, we had torrential rain that started during the night.....

The Sun came out for awhile and I was able to work on my Fairy Garden Tub......

And then the Heavens opened up again with poring rain for over 3 hours....




This is the total rain fall from yesterday.....

4 inches of rain!!!

Looks like I will not have to water for a day or so!!!


In my last post, I shared that I bought these 6 Fairy Houses in Dollar Tree.....

I usually have done something with the galvanized tub that I have used for a Fairy or Gnome Garden a long time ago, usually in the Spring....

Seeing those Fairy Houses inspired me to get moving and do something with it....

The tub was filled with dried needles that fell over the Winter from the Alberta Spruce tree that I originally had the tub right by......

So I moved it over in front of the table.... 

I had to take out all the red landscaping rocks, river rocks and green crystals and clean them....

What a mess that was because of the rain that had fallen the night before.....

Once I cleaned the tub out and the rocks and crystals off, I then replaced them all and set up a Gnome Village....

I used some things that I already had and the new houses....

It really is not as "fancy" as I have done in the past.....


And who knows, I may still play around with it a bit but I needed to finish it because the thunder and lightning had started......


The gnomes I already had, having bought them in Dollar General a few years back....
 

I used the river rocks from Dollar Tree around the edges of the tub......

I then added the red landscaping rocks....


And then sprinkled the green crystals over it all......

 
When the Sun is shining the green crystals sparkle.....
 



I added a Fire Fly solar light to the tub to light it up at night......

On the table above the tub......

I sort of carried the Fairy/Gnome Garden theme up onto the table....

I placed this large Gnome on the side of the tub....



At least now it is finally cleaned up......
 
 
I thought I would share some of my Fairy/Gnome Gardens over the years..... 

This was my very first attempt way back in 2013.....

 

First Fairy Garden in 2013

 

Between 2013 and 2016, I bought a few things at Joann's.....

My Blog was hacked and those posts were not copied by me when I had to create a whole new blog....

I bought these in Big Lot's....

 

 In 2016, I bought the large galvanized tub....

Fairy Garden in 2016

Gnome Garden in 2016

Stayed this way through 2017

 

In 2018, I decided to set up a Fairy Garden on the mantel of my faux fire place in the Sitting Room....

Fairy Garden on my Mantel 2018

  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 I bought some larger Gnome items...
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
I also decorated the "hearth" area of the fire place....
  
 
 
 
  
 
 

 I added some items to the pots that I have the Alberta Spruce trees planted in....

  

 


 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 

 That year, I decided to put some of the larger Gnome items in the galvanized tub...

 

  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 I placed some items on top of the table for the first time....
 
 
 
 
 
 So there you have it!!!
 
I hope you enjoyed seeing my Fairy/Gnome Gardens over the years.....
 
I decided to leave up the Christmas decorations in the upstairs Sitting Room because I missed my window of opportunity to pack it away and decorate the Sitting Room in a Garden theme like I did in the past...
 
It is just too hot upstairs as I do not have an air conditioner in that room and it must be at least 120 degrees up in the attic where the tubs are stored....
 
So I am keeping Christmas up in the Sitting Room and the Craft Room for another year....
 
At least it will save me some time in October when I usually decorate the upstairs for Christmas.... 
 
  
 I hope you will stop by to visit again on THURSDAY for my next post.....   
 
 
 Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

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......


I am linking up to these parties:
 


  THURSDAY
 

    Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
 



 

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