Summer Surprises in my Garden

Good morning girls I am up early this morning  peeking at my garden after an evening rainstorm ...I have been so blessed I wanted to share with you all the plants my bird friends have brought to our garden...but before I talk about that I wanted to share some pics of the side garden this year it has changed a bit ...this is a flower I planted last season after my heart surgery from a seed pack my sweetie brought me ....it sure didn't do much LAST year ....but look at it now the rest of these photos are of the side yard we have changed it quite a bit this year I had two Christmas tree trunks we'd saved looking at the space one day I thought they would look good as bird feeders dug down into the garden to secure them ....the birds  love them as you can see the feeder is empty....more seed is on my to do list I suppose the rest of my post will have to wait for next time this one is getting  long thank you all so much for stopping by....BLESSINGS and BIG hugs to you ....Karena

Surprising Sumer Weather......

Good morning girls...WHEW....it's taken me forever this morning to figure out how to get these photos uploaded from my phone to my iPad for this post BUT here they are...this weekend we went to the antique show in our neck of the woods ....

But before I talk to about that I have to say we woke up this morning to COOL weather...it's in the low 70's so far and boy is it a blessing....truly The Lord himself has been smiling on us ALL summer...lots of rain storms late in the afternoon just when dinner is gearing up ...the sound of summer rain falling thunder rolling and let's not forget the lightening too...PURE BLISS...that's what....

Sooo back to the antique show...I know these photos are huge...forgive me but I am not too patient with editing them ...my favorite thing about this show was an aisle they had specially labeled "Vintage Alley" it was down this special part of the show I found my bit of heaven...

This truck was a 1930 produce truck that was lined up with 10 or so antique cars from that same decade...however this one stopped me COLD...the little girl in me was hooked by all the props...

See inside...this chicken wanted to come home with me in the worst way...

She has a pluckie little face don't you think...

There wasn't as much vintage there as I would have liked but my sweetie and I enjoyed meeting the vendors and showing one another the things that caught our eye...one of the things they did have that surprised us was an antiques roadshow sort of section for folks to have their treasures valued by some local experts that was fun to watch... The line was getting longer and fuller as the day wore on...

Well girls that's our weekend festivities...we had a swell Saturday I thank you for popping in to visit...I am so thankful for you I pray blessings on each of you today along with a BIG hug....till next time...Karena

I Am so glad to be BACK......

Well my friends I can't believe it's been almost a year since my last post...I haven't been gone for any health reasons or sadness or for any SERIOUS thing really but a new addition to our family that I would like to introduce you to this minute....this beautiful boy is our "Huckelberry Finn".....adopted in November of last year ...the 14 th to be exact. They had an adoption weekend at our local Pet Smart that our eldest told her momma about on the fly. After work that Saturday I drove over "Just to look" you see I had to ya know puppies all shapes and sizes are my HAPPY PLACE.                                      

So I walked in straight to our boys kennel....the rest as they say is history....so down the road we went towards home HE has been the bulk of my distraction these last few months.  I hope you all are doing well while I've been gone !!!!! Here's another thing I've been trying to figure out... posting with my ipad and adding pictures....today I found an app from blogger for free which is why I am writing you all now but I can't figure out how to ad more pictures or edit them with pretty frames or write what I want underneath them like I could do on my Asus lap top thing is my Asus is over 4 years old now and SO Slow if any of your have any ideas or experience with iPad my ears are wide open.... Blessings and big hugs girls till next time....Karena

   

Country Mouse ....City Mouse....

Good Morning girls...It's Wednesday morning I have the day off it's a BEAUTIFUL FALL DAY here  I thought I'd make a new post about something I've been "pondering" lately...do you remember the book  "COUNTRY MOUSE ...CITY MOUSE" I've been thinking recently that during our time in North Carolina I was living a "country mouse" chapter of my life...certain things I experienced there were unlike anything I've ever lived before.... on the west coast of course life is completely different so I won't include the years I grew up and lived in California...I'm talking about  lifestyle experiences that have shaped me and fed my soul like a storybook...living in the country was slower...the days woke up in a quiet lazy embracing sort of way that set my heart in a "peaceful place" before my feet ever hit the floor...everything seemed OLDER...like time was standing still around me...we had no shopping malls...no chain restaurants...no big box stores...can you imagine...the stores I played in looked like this....

This is one of our favorite stores in Manteo North Carolina...a place that from the outside looks like an old farm house with a slender parking lot beside it instead of a drive way...when you walk inside it takes your breath away with the COUNTRY STORE feeling of it...complete with wood floors and old counter display cases...

Feeling tired from all the walking and shopping...well take a seat on this fabulous antique sofa for a spell...after your rested you can wander into the garden room near the candy counter....

Yes this picture is actually a room in the store filled with huge windows full of sunlight and soft shadows...the sales people don't hover or follow you around...the faint southern drawl of conversation fill the air while the smell of fudge and "Old Time" candy fills your heart with childhood memories...I can't get over the "story book" existence these people live ...where family is everything...sitting and watching the grass grow is a valid way to pass time...our neighbors actually said that to us one day while we were walking by...we asked "what you doin"....their reply "oh ..just sittin here watching the grass grow"...

 It has been weighing on my heart lately what a gift our years there were...my life in the country was like coming across a rock that caught my eye...without thinking about it I bent over to pick it up...putting it in my pocket I went about life...forgetting it was there till the day I went to look at that old rock ....and found to my surprise it had turned into a diamond....this little country mouse is so thankful ...memories really are the gems of life...well girls that's my thought for today...thank you for stopping by...

 I wish you blessings and big hugs....Karena

P.S. Aren't you glad fall is almost here ....

It's Time.....

It's official....TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO SUMMER....still can't believe it's over...we didn't do anything really fun this summer except our trip to Nags Head...we enjoyed being in the garden... looking for surprises here and there...we did discover a great big surprise a few weeks ago hiding under our fern stand on the front porch...a cat...we thought was from the neighborhood turned out to be an abandon kitten someone left ...we started to make friends so we could get close enough to check him out and see if he was okay...aside from being thin and a bit dirty he was in great shape...poor little guy he was scared and lonely but seemed to happy we were around...after a bath...some good food...and some long stretches of kisses and cuddles we decided to keep him...we named him TYLER....Frankie our tuxedo kitty was so sweet to him...he was welcoming...Tyler is a bit too playful with Frankie so he lives part time outside...he seems to love it...

Here he is trying to look like he ISN'T POSING for me...he's really good at seeming uninvolved...

His time outside is spent playing  ...chasing butterflies....looking up at the bird feeders ...and jumping into our dogwood tree...something Frankie has never experienced...he has been an indoor kitty ALWAYS...you might be wondering how they get along ....Frankie and Tyler....they're still pensive of one another...it would have been better if Tyler could have been a girl...but my sweetie says as the kitty ages and we get him fixed they'll be better friends...he calls them the kids...

The birds have been my favorite this summer swooping and chirping ...entertaining me every morning as I wake up with their antics...the Safflower they are eating makes them come in droves...they line up all over the yard ...in the trees on the roof tops...over the porch...everywhere eying the perfect spot to get their first meal of the day...well girls I hope your all enjoying this holiday weekend I work tomorrow ....thinking it's going to be a busy day...till next time blessings and big hugs....Karena

A Welcome Escape....

Good Morning girls...happy Monday to you...I wanted to share a wonderful surprise we received last week my sweetie has a friend at work that was vacationing in Nags Head last week before she left with her family she asked if we would like to have the second half of the week at their time share as she was expecting her daughters from other states to visit and they were all going to be at home not at the beach...SO SWEET ...we were able to get the details ironed out for our ESCAPE which began early Wed morning....

We left by 10 am on Wednesday to drive to Kitty Hawk it only took us a couple of hours and we were there...this time share is set in the forest off the ocean of North Carolina...so beautiful...lush with birds ...butterflies...and lots of green trees...

After spending some time in antique stores...driving the main strip and grabbing some lunch at a quaint restaurant on the water we checked in...we were SO SURPRISED to find this "CABIN" like setting complete with a screened in porch with table and chairs for relaxing...as we found our room # we smiled at one another feeling so thankful for this GIFT...

Imagine our surprise when we entered our rooms to find we had the WHOLE bottom section of this building...our entry was to the right as the first photo shows this is the left section which had a kitchen...bedroom...bath...and eating area...our side had the same but the kitchen was full size...a master sweet...jacuzzi tub and the screened porch...it was built in the 90's and felt a bit dated but overall the rooms were lovely

From our rooms we could look across the parking lot to this gazebo which had the most wonderful vine growing over it sort of like a grape ivy...as you entered it had a bench on the left...then a swing on the right that looked out over a lake...

Like this...it was such a relaxing experience we were there Wed - Saturday morning check out was at 10:00 am...We had a private road to the beach with private parking I couldn't get a picture of the beach (darn) cuz I took too many pictures and used up my battery on the camera...suffice it to say it was BEAUTIFUL..we had our youngest daughter and her boyfriend with us for some of the time ...it was fun...I have some pictures of other things we did that I'll share later for now I hope you all have a wonderful day...till next time thank you for stopping by BLESSINGS AND BIG HUGS....Karena

Hello Again....HELLO

WOW....I had no idea SO much time had gone by since my last post....over a month... almost the whole summer... I am happy to be here and happier to say I missed you all....I have been experiencing some technical difficulties with my modem these last weeks it is randomly turning itself off or dropping my wifi connection....urgggg ....I have been so frustrated....that on top of getting used to working again along with LIFE has kept me oblivious to the passing of time....

I haven't been doing much since I spoke to you last...staying at home mostly when I'm not at work ...being a good girl not to go out and about wasting gas in my little "RAVIOILI" my rav4...it is SO unfair to have the gas prices dictate my FUN....oh well I know I'm not the only one...I have been spending time in the garden picking cucumbers...I have harvested 4 so far and they are delicious but I do notice the difference between the home grown flavor and texture as compared to the store bought...much crunchier I think and lighter in color inside ...also less seeds...I have had fun growing the cucumber and the tomatoes....not have much luck with my tomatoes yet....have only picked 1.....SAD...still I will persevere ...looking forward to at least ONE MORE FINE RIPE TOMATO before summer is over

I have been bird watching in my garden as well....our bird friends have been SO entertaining this season....I will share some photos later of some changes I made in the back yard this year that have been stunning opportunities to invite our new feathered friends into our space....they are so much fun...It has taken me hours to get this far in my post as I have to get up....turn the modem off then on...start my computer all over again...on and on....still trying to get an answer from Verizon about a solution to this....so till next time girls ....which I promise will NOT BE A MONTH FROM NOW....blessings and big hugs to you....Theresa if your reading this a big hug to you friend...thanks for your sweet message...your an angel....have a wonderful Sunday...Karena