If One Is Going To Have A Flat Tire...

I had a flat tire the other day.

Normally that is not a good thing.

But sometimes life's challenges can actually be blessings.

Lucky me,  I was near a food truck.  

And a shade tree.

There was a breeze blowing.

And the ditch next to my car was overflowing with hundreds of daylilies.

So I sat in the shade and ate a delicious lunch and admired the flowers til help arrived. 

The food was so good, I bought the nice AAA mechanic some lunch, too.

IF one is going to have a flat, this isn't a bad way to do it.

(Two of the pictures are of the daylilies in the ditch. The third one is from my own garden.)

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I've started to use threaded comments. 

I can reply to your questions about my post right here in the comment section.

You can join in the conversations and leave replies, too.  So feel free.

Urban Farm And Garden Tour

This past weekend, my niece and I went on the Urban Farm and Garden Tour.

I was so inspired by what various people were doing in their backyards.

And Brooke of Urbavore Farm (Bad Seed) completely knocked my socks off

with everything she and her husband are doing on their small organic farm,

right in the heart of KC. 

Hearing her talk about "no till"  and "no irrigation" and "soil friendly"

 really made me think about the way we grow things.  

I have so much to learn.  

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Don't forget to check back.
With "threaded comments" I can reply to your questions right here.
All of you have the option to join in on the replies, too.
Give it a try.

Empty Spaces

Things were so busy this spring I got really far behind

  on the decluttering goal I set for myself:  Sort through 100 spaces by Thanksgiving.

But we scheduled a garage sale for June, so I had to kick things into high gear.

So much for clearing things out a little bit at a time.

In the past three/four weeks I sorted through:

10 shelves in the kitchen (still more to go in there)

15 drawers in my craft room/office  (still more to go in there)

7 shelves in the china cabinet and buffet in the dining room

7 storage bins and shelves in the basement

4 storage boxes from son's college house

20 shelves, drawers and storage  boxes in my daughter's room 

(still more to go in there, too, but she promised to do some of it herself 

when she comes home in a couple of weeks.)

Whew!  

That's 63 spaces!

Add the 4 from before and I've reached 67!

I like seeing some empty spaces!

We sent sports equipment, small appliances, books,

bedding and curtains, glassware and dishes, holiday decor,

crafting and quilting supplies, and tons more 

off to new homes, where they will be appreciated and used.

Things that didn't sell are already packed in my van, ready to donate.

(No, they may not come back into our house.)

Just as our sale was ending, the skies opened up and it rained.

We felt it was a rather symbolic way to end our day of letting things go.

So, how is the decluttering coming along at your house?


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PS- I'm going to give threaded comments a try.
I think it might help the flow of conversation to keep replies with the comments.
Have any of you already started using it?
(Be sure to check back here for answers to any questions in your comments.)

Corn King

My small Corn King collection.  (Three is a collection, right?)

Aren't these fun?

Dinnerware shaped like an ear of corn

was made by the Shawnee Pottery of Zanesville, OH from 1941-1961.

The first corn-ware was white.  (White Corn)

In 1946 the company changed to a more realistic yellow colored corn. (Corn King)

And in 1954 they switched again, to palest yellow with darker green husks. (Corn Queen)

Are you a corn collector, too?

I'd love to see a picture of your pieces. 

Recently a lot of reproduction pieces (fakes) have been made,

so it's important to learn about the glaze, the backstamps, etc...

Visit Doug's Corner  for lots of information on real vs fake.

First Tomato!

Whooo Hooo!

Look at that!

My first tomato!

I have very little no experience growing vegetables, so this is a BIG DEAL!

For several years I've wished that I could have a vegetable garden,

but it's complicated because most of our backyard is on a slope.

I found a small tomato plant that supposedly does well growing in a pot on a patio

and I decided to give that a try.

Here is the first little green tomato!

Now let's just hope that I can get it to ripen up 

and that the squirrels don't eat it before I do.

The Small Things

Relaxing out on the deck with my kitty cats and my flowers. 

Taking time to enjoy the small things.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle vine (Lonicera), 

twining itself like crazy along my fence.

Blooms of creamy white fading to buttery yellow.

Mmmmm.  Breathe in the enchantingly sweet fragrance.

The scent of summer in the midwest.