Mellow Yellow

 My banks roses never fail to show off each April.

I would love to show you lovely curated photos, but honestly 

the yard is a mess and I'm just beginning to clean it all up.

The winds wreak havoc on my breathing,

 and we have had WINDS!!

The weed disposal comes first and I've been hard at it.

This is just one walkway area ( four more like this but longer)  

This took three hours - as I have to sit and scoot and pull by hand.

I won't spray as the yard is Walter's playground,

and can't kneel or stand to do it.  

All the greenery that edges the back yard remains to be trimmed,

and I've started some faux ivy panels in that right back corner.

it can be seen from inside on the porch and I hate the concrete blocks.

Thirty years ago when I bought the house I couldn't afford to stucco. 

Now because of the plants it would be much worse.

 I hope to at least paint that side area sometime in the future.

The chores never end, and aging is not kind 

when it comes to doing them,

 but I'm in there slugging just the same.

I think another week of 3-5 hour days should do it..

and then...

a garage sale as DD comes to town to help. WOOT!

I've been showing items to my email list 

and have sold about a dozen large things so far,

even shipping off some things today to a far flung,

never met, blog friend. 

Z

Always A Little Sunshine And Roses

Each year since I planted my Banks Roses I am rewarded with a

blanket of blooms dripping over the wall on a sunny morning. A few tentative yellow spots appear as they did yesterday, and then

POW! the next day this is what occurs.

Unfortunately just like last year, we are expecting huge winds today and tomorrow so this display will be fleeting.

Always, a little sunshine and roses can lift my spirits,

as did the wonderful response to

 my latest totes from yesterday's post.

I also received some special orders. Yahoo!

Thank you my friends.

Only one pair remain for now,  C 

A

sold

C

though many sets are on my studio table, 

waiting for me to return and finish them. 

Also on the docket for today, a battle with my cable company

over them moving TCM to a channel

 requiring a 12.00 per TV charge...I won my own battle,

and will not be paying the extra charge,

 though still believe it is a stupid move on their part,

especially in order to provide more reality garbage TV.

Enough complaints and maybe they'll reconsider?

At first I was told to simply pay for 2 boxes to get

what I had received for free.. "most people do"

Of course most folks I know already do pay for all those boxes..

but I choose not to, since I carefully edit my TV viewing anyway.

Just like I don't text or use my cell unless forced to,

it's almost always dead and it has

 next to none minutes on it anyway.

I don't like FB ( keep just for spotify) or tweet etc.

No, I'm not techno phobic, c'mon I have 2 blogs, an etsy shop,

(OK it's been on semi-permanent vacation), 

I'm even an occasional pinterest user,

 but yet I often feel I need to defend the fact 

that I don't want an excess of technology in my life.

I  live a small life by choice.

I don't mind that others are techno addicts.

Add a plug in to your behind if you want, 

it won't bother me, but your trousers may fit funny.

I am carefully following the debate over "lean in" 

and the backlash "lean out".

Didn't we already do this when women returned to work,

and the battle between "stay at home" and "working mom"

ensued? Did we learn nothing?

 And Damn! When will a father be referred to as 

a working father, as every working mother is?

When 100 % of men finally share 50%

 of the load outside of work?

When there are 50% of corporate women as leaders?

But if you value staying at home, or working and still

making home the priority instead of clawing up the ladder,

isn't that your right?

Personal choices - no mold to squeeze ourselves into.

uh oh

I need to go smell the roses

and bask in the sunshine.

I'm getting riled up...

bet it was the three cups of Joe this a.m

 I mis-measured.

Note to self:

Use the bucket

wear glasses in the house

pay attention

go sew...

Green and Yellow St Pat's

Supposed to be windy tonight and tomorrow.

Wanted to snap a few before the nasty 

winds empty the branches.

They've already put the rooster askew.

These Banks Roses all burst out in the last two days.

Every year without fail, they put on their best show

just for me.

All so fleeting though... it is sad..

and I am always careful.....

Alas, they vanish quickly but

 they give me such joy for a few days...

I have been out on the porch restringing lights and 

washing all the furniture and shutters down.

Another simple pleasure that 

just brings me joy.

I also popped into the library yesterday after work 

 and grabbed a tote full of novels.

Finished an Elizabeth Berg last night.

What more could a gal want?

johnny depp

ice cream

to be a size 2

to be 3" inches taller

jude law

a new purse

a maid

robert downey jr

a cook

new shoes

johnny depp

ice cream...

ahem

focus z focus

The Beginning-The Middle

Yeah, I've been absent.

Still feeling punky but no complaints,

it is a process one must endure to

 come out the other side.

If you have no beginning, no middle,

there will be no end.

Much is going on in my small world,

some pretty sad and awful, some glorious,

just like your life I suppose.

Again, another process; 

the good, the bad and the ugly.

All part of a day, a week, a life.

The last buds of the year on my sorely neglected bushes

tell the simple story.

They open so quickly, giving great joy,

and then vanish, as if they had never been.

Yet I am sure the root of them 

will return and visit me again.

I have been equating a lot of my memories

to this phenomena.

As each decade goes by, I discover more far flung 

memories have arisen to the surface, 

showing me my journey.

Remembering vividly the love and passion I 

 had for a boy over 40 years ago; 

the vision of a hillside and a summer night, 

is overpowering.

My Mother's voice, my Father's smile,

I close my eyes and they are within reach

of outstretched fingertips.

How often did our elders tell stories of their past, 

as we sighed and listened once more 

to a song of joy or a tale of woe?

Now, I am the elder re-experiencing

what has come before, and wishing to 

retell and relive while still anticipating

new beginnings.

I have been practicing being still,

and when I succeed completely,

 oh, how the memories freely

return in abundance.

Not all are happy, but then

sorrow was part of the process back then also.

The bruised and falling petals are

reminders of past betrayals,

yet they do not lessen the beauty

of the rose in it's glory, in it's middle.

Perhaps it is merely the season

that causes the melancholy,

yet I embrace Fall with arms flung wide.

I nestle in tight, and I ponder and I fret,

and I relish and I remember.

ALL IN THE TIMING

They waited for me.

My never fail to delight Banks Roses.

Draping and dripping down the wall.

I was afraid I would miss their fleeting blooms.

Some years, our Spring winds decimate them within days.

My yard is looking pretty sad, this winter took it's toll,

and days of labor await. 

Today is supposedly our last nippy day,

so I am heading to the studio with my wools instead

 and will try to enjoy the last cool day

 before the misery of the heat engulfs me.

 I did not say warm, warm I like; 

it is the blast furnace, 

melt your mascara, make your bra itch,

 make you snappish inferno I despise.

oh happy day lol 

EVERYTHING'S COMIN' UP ROSES

You can't make just one.

You can't

Honest

Even when you stop 

 even then, they breed when you're not watching

they turn to the light

they gather in groups

and they huddle close

Wools  Felts  Roses LOVE
********
post script:


I have been making roses like this out 
of paper and fabric since my college float days.
Yeah, yeah a LONG time ago.
Similar versions are all over the web and blogs,
so maybe there are tutorials out there.


Anyway, my point is I did not design this method, it's been 
around longer than me... AGAIN a LONG time :D
and I do not plan to take credit for it,

 but because so many asked and I aim to please..

( after a couple hours of searching, I just knew I had seen it somewhere!)

 I came up with this pattern
 from Better Homes and Garden Creative Collection.
Let's give them the credit. It's the winter o9 edition page 94


             

Bet most of you still have it on your bookshelf.
Now my bookshelf is a mess after all this searching
 so I am going to go red up!  Thanks Jeanne( Western PA phrase) 

It's November?

I had not looked over into this corner of my garden

in several days and this morning I finally noticed this.

Roses

It's November

It is not rare to have roses here this time of year, except

I had cut them way back but the warm weather fooled them

and POP they're here!

This little guy gave me a good buzzin' round the head

and then dug way down into these folds and did not come

back out. I could see the large pollen mounds on his legs.

I'd like to believe he was so drunk, he went in and fell asleep.

The perfect pink

So I'm having a great Saturday, taking a coffee break before unloading

another carload of goodies for sale. Another client purging and moving.

You local gals, let me know if you are nearby and come scout it out.

Don't know if I can bear to have another sale, so this is casual,

stop in, and early bird catches the worm.

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend, no matter what your weather.

Suzan