I am a Victorian Soul, live in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion, with my Hubby Joe, who is 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 LOVING 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!!!!!!

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Wreaths, Embroidery, Garden Containers, a Moth and Another Amazing Sunset!!!


Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

I been a bit busy with a few projects.....

But first, I want to Thank Jennifer, over at My Flagstaff Home, for featuring my post, A Surgical and a 6 Month One Little Word Update, from last week's Weekend Blog Hop!!
 Thanks so much, Jennifer!!

Please stop by and ink up to this charming party!!

As I mentioned before, I have been busy with a few projects....

2 of my neighbors commissioned me to make wreaths for them....

My neighbor, Debby, wanted me to make her a Patriotic wreath.......

This is what I made for her.....
I made the bow from deco mesh ribbon......
And my neighbor, Maryann, wanted a Summer wreath........

Her front door is painted blue so this is the wreath that I made for her......
I made this bow from burlap ribbon.....
I have also been working on an embroidery item that I have had for many years.....
I finally finished it!!!

You could see by what is stamped on the bottom that I move at lightning speed!!!
Yep!!

I have had this since the early 80's and just finished it!!!
I needed a lighted magnifying glass to see the X's because they were so small!!!
And you also can see that I really have never cared much for cooking!!!
Now I need to find a frame for it and to decide where to put it in the Kitchen.....
 We have a local Home and Garden show that airs every Saturday on our local ABC affilliate.....

On Saturday, they made this succulent creation.....
 It made me laugh because at the end of last Summer, I made this......
 I used a vintage galvanized sifter......
 I used Dollar Tree mini pots and a terra cotta little critter.....

I have it out on the back patio next to a vintage galvanized pail that I planted with a Gerber Daisy!!!
 The other morning, I looked outside in the front of our house and saw this.....
 At first, I thought that maybe it was a bat because it was so big......
It was the biggest moth I ever saw.......
I had posted it on face book and one of my high school class mates identified it as this.....

polyphemus moth - Antheraea polyphemus (Cramer)
 It's wing span is supposedly 6inches wide!!!

It was one big moth!!

And last, I want to share another amazing Sun set that I witnessed while sitting out on our Front Porch......

The evening at first started out cloudy and slowly the Sun came out from the clouds and then the Sun set.......

Enjoy!!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been up to......

And  I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

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:

 MONDAY 
Inspire Me Monday
Dishing It and Digging It Link Party
Busy Monday

 TUESDAY
Tuesdays At Our Home
Inspire Me Tuesdays
Ducks in a Row Wonderful Wednesdays Blog Hop
Sizzle into Summer Party
Talk of the Town Party
Party in Your PJ's
Waste Not Wednesday
Style Showcase
Wall to Wall DIY Wednesday Link Up Party

THURSDAY
Vintage Charm
Home and Garden Party Thursday
Share Your Style Thursday Link Up Party
Inspired Creations Linky Party
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop 
Grace at Home Party
The Homemaking Party

FRIDAY
Friday Features Linky Party
Friday Favorites
Home Matters Linky Party
Flaunt It Fridays
Weekend Blog Hop
 Funtastic Friday

 SATURDAY
Saturday Sparks
Pink Saturday-Anything Goes!!
Best of the Weekend Party
 
SUNDAY
Snickerdoodle Sunday
Silver Pennies Sunday
Happiness is Homemade Linky Party

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

Friday, June 28, 2019

A Flower Bed or Two

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

Can you believe that the 4th of July is only a few days away????

Where has the time gone????

Or is it just me???

 Some time ago, I shared our Summer Front Porch with you......
  Click HERE if you missed that post....

Today, I am going to show you our small flower bed under the Living Room window and the flower bed that I created a few years ago by my Court's Mailboxes..........
But first, I want to Thank Bev, over at Eclectic Red Barn, for choosing my post, My Cottage Garden,
 from last week's Over the Moon Linky Party!!
Thanks so much, Bev!

Please stop by and link up to this great party!!

Before I show you my little flower bed, I want to share how my annuals that I planted in pots on the front porch are doing.....

Bare in mind that I planted these late in the Season, just about 3 weeks ago.....

This is what these 2 pots looked like when first planted......
You can see that they are starting to fill in nicely!!
And these when first planted......
Now looking like this!
And this urn and long planter on the side of the porch....
The urn......
And look at how these begonias are growing in the planter.....
They always grow so well in the front of our house because it does not get the Sun until the evening....
We have a small flower bed under our Living Room window....
Last year, we replaced the old border around the flower bed with the one you see in this photo.....
Which keeps the mulch in nicely.......

I added the black fencing a few years ago....

I have my Patriotic flags and mini flags still out, celebrating the 4th of July!!

Joe bought some new Patriotic mini flags recently.....
I have trimmed the shrubs like this because if I did not, they would fill up this entire flower bed which is what I didn't want.....
Instead of planting flowers in the flower bed itself, I planted annuals in these 2 pots.....
We bought these deep orange ceramic pots on Clearance at Lowe's last year and I planted red impatiens in both of them, sticking to my yellow, orange and red color theme for the front of the house.....
 I elevated the pots on some small plant stands....

 Since we have been getting so much rain for the past year, Joe extended the down spout of the rain gutter so it drains out to the side walk because it was flooding this flower bed when it would rain....

I replaced the solar lights that I had here with new ones this year since the other ones died and yes, I could replace the batteries but I have found that it is actually cheaper to just by new lights then replacing the batteries weekly.........

I like to elevate my solar lights.....

If you want to see the post showing how I did so, New Heights for Solar Lights,  please click HERE.....
 In the center of the flower bed is a solar lit stained glass bird bath with a bird house hanging from a shepherd's hook above it.....
 We bought the bird bath a few years ago at Big Lot's.....
 There is a Hosta planted here....
We also bought 2 sets of those new flat solar lights which you can see next to the taller solar light..........
And the other new Patriotic mini flag.....
Our townhouse is the 3rd one in from the end in a row of 10 townhouses......
There is a set of 3 steps that lead down to the 2 townhouses on the end of our row since they are built lower than mine.....

I have a small retaining wall on this end of the flower bed ....
Several years ago, our church was throwing these large urns out and I rescued them from the garbage with permission , of course!!

They are still holding up with our harsh Winters even though they are starting to chip a bit but I think it only adds to their charm!!!
Once again, I planted red New Guinea Impatiens in these urns since they did really well planted here last year....
Between the urns is another long planter which is planted with begonias.....
There are 4 begonias planted here as I have learned from past experience not to over plant my pots and planters!!
You can see how nice they are filling in already!!
I will keep you posted through out the Season as to how everything is growing....
I also want to share another flower bed with you today.....
By the road at the end of our Court, is the large mail box for all our townhouses.....

A few years ago, I decided to create a flower bed here to add a bit of Curb Appeal.....
I finally got a chance to clean it up a bit ........
I pulled out the rocks I used for a border.....
Dug out the edges a bit and put the rocks back in......
I weeded and picked out dead leaves from the Winter......
And Joe put down a fresh topping of mulch.....

I planted Hostas, 2 different types of Asters which will bloom in the Fall, Missouri Primrose ( the yellow flowers) which is just about done blooming and Lamb's Ear......
We also added several solar lights bought at Dollar Tree.....
In the Fall when it is cooler, I plan on extending the flower bed over to the retaining wall and to include the larger arborvitae planted here.....
It seems silly to just have that little strip of grass there....
I think that will look better, don't you???
I hope you enjoyed seeing these 2 little flower beds......
Soon, I will be sharing the flower bed in front of our townhouse.....
 I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

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:

Celebrate Summer Link Party

 SATURDAY
Saturday Sparks
Pink Saturday-Anything Goes!!
Best of the Weekend Party

SUNDAY
Snickerdoodle Sunday
Silver Pennies Sunday
Happiness is Homemade Linky Party

 MONDAY 
Inspire Me Monday
Dishing It and Digging It Link Party
Busy Monday

 TUESDAY
Tuesdays At Our Home
Inspire Me Tuesdays
Ducks in a Row Wonderful Wednesdays Blog Hop
Sizzle into Summer Party
Talk of the Town Party
Party in Your PJ's
Waste Not Wednesday
Style Showcase
Wall to Wall DIY Wednesday Link Up Party

THURSDAY
Vintage Charm
Home and Garden Party Thursday
Share Your Style Thursday Link Up Party
Inspired Creations Linky Party
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop 
Grace at Home Party
The Homemaking Party

FRIDAY
Friday Features Linky Party
Friday Favorites
Home Matters Linky Party
Flaunt It Fridays
Weekend Blog Hop
 Funtastic Friday

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