Hot Fun in the Summertime Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. It's officially summer (in the northern hemisphere anyway). Which summer month is best and why?

June. Most definitely June. Because July means going back to work.

2. Can you swim? How did you learn? June 27th is National Sunglasses Day. How many pair do you own?

My mom made sure that we all knew how to swim. We took swim lessons given by the Red Cross at our local pool.

3. What characteristic do you judge most harshly in yourself? How about in others?
Being inconsiderate. I consider myself as being a very considerate person, and I tend to beat myself up when I'm not...when I look back after an instance and realize that I wasn't considerate. It absolutely drives me CRAZY when other people aren't considerate. Case in point: I went to Aldi yesterday to get 1 thing...1.Thing. The lady in front of me had a whole basketful of groceries. The considerate thing would have been for her to have let me go in front of her, but she didn't. Luckily, the cashier was pretty quick so I didn't have to wait very long.

4. Robert Frost wrote the now well known poem entitled The Road Not Taken. What's a road (literal or figurative) you've always wanted to travel, and where do you hope it takes you? 

CH & I have talked about flying to Scotland or Ireland, jumping on a train, and just going all over Europe. We need to do that before we get to old and can't.

5. Popsicles-yay or nay? If you answered yay, what's your favorite flavor? 

Oh, yeah.  Banana popsicles are DA BOMB!

6. Brexit-on a scale of 1-10 how knowledgeable are you on what's involved here? (1=very knowledgeable and 10=what's Brexit) Is this news you'll follow or is it something you think won't impact your life in any way shape or form?
Probably a "5". CH had a discussion with our British friends the other night. It was interesting to hear their perspective on it. I did hear that it might actually be good for our economy and make the U.S. Dollar stronger. From what I'm hearing, I think they jumped the gun...they voted for it, but apparently don't know how or when, or what they're going to do after. 

7. Share a favorite song on your summer play list.

I discovered Lauren Daigle a few months ago. At first, I thought it was Adele. She is just amazing, and I absolutely love this song.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have a group of online SLP friends that I chat with through FB almost daily. We don't just chat about Speech Stuff; our most recent conversation was about our backyards. Everyone shared pictures of their beautiful flower gardens, and they are really gorgeous. If you've been reading my blog very long (or if you know me IRL), you know that I didn't inherit my daddy's green thumb...I got my mom's black thumb. So, while everyone shared flower pictures, I shared this, 1 of the only things in the backyard that has grown from this:

to this:

I've got to remember to cut it back in the fall. CH wants to transplant and move it away from the porch...it's kind of taken over!

The song from where I got the title of my post:

Friday Fragments

  Wow.  Friday already?  Why does time seem to go so fast in the summer?

  I was looking at the butterfly bush next to our porch yesterday.  It has really taken off this year!  I'm going to have to think about transplanting it out in the yard very soon...or whenever it is it's safe to do that without killing it!

I couldn't find a picture of when I first got it, but trust me...waaaay out of hand!

  My little Balloon Plant has really grown, too.

When I first put it in, this is what it looked like:

For some reason, the ground cover to the left of it didn't survive at that spot.  It did, however, thrive at other side of the area.

  This time last year, I was in Germany.  {sigh}  What an amazing trip that was!  I told the German teacher that if he ever needed another adult to go to let me know!  He said he was planning next summer's trip.  I guess I need to work hard at paying off last year's trip before I even seriously consider next year.

  In fact, 06 June was the day we visited Buchenwald, one of the concentration camps.  I just went back and read my post, and felt the feelings I had while I was walking through it.  It's still very emotional, just like I was there yesterday.

  FINALLY:

It's on Netflix TODAY!!!  I thought June would never get here!  Part of the cast was on "Hollywood Game Night" last night.  I'm going to have to limit myself to just 1 episode/day to make it last; and so that I'm not just sitting in front of the tv.

  Have a wonderful weekend!

Productive Day

I had quite a productive day yesterday.  Maybe I should say I had a productive morning instead.  I had 2 of the dogs in the park for a walk around 6:15.  Laika did pretty well for her first "big" walk in the park.  There were a couple of times that she just sat down, but with a little coaxing she was right back with me.
I followed that up with eating breakfast on the porch while reading blog posts.  I love that time of day:  It's not hot yet, and the birds are waking up and getting busy.
Here is what else I did:

I sprayed the weeds (yes, I'm a bit embarrassed that it's as tall as my butterfly bush!):

 Cleaned the hummingbird feeders and filled them up:

 And put some new flowers in the front porch planter:

 Did you notice the spider webs in the above picture?  No?  That's because I knocked all of them down!
The finale of the day was dinner.  Chinese 5-spice Steak, rice, and Asian Veggies:

 CH & I had one of these Monday and Tuesday nights:

If you've never had an Italian Margarita, you're missing out!   I didn't look at the recipe very closely and ended up putting in twice as much limeade as I was suppose to.  So, I ended up making a double batch, then putting the rest of it in the freezer.  Let me just throw this out:  Somebody needs to figure out how to make a freezer bag with a spout.  Wouldn't that be the most perfect thing for leftover drinks?

Don't expect today to be quite so productive.  I just have a couple of things on my "to do" list today:  I'm going to Curves for the first time since my sciatica, so keep your fingers crossed that I don't end up at the chiropractor this afternoon!  MS' car's "check engine" light is on, so I need to take it to get the code read and reset.  Because regardless of what he says, it's NOT okay to ride around with that light on.  Oh, and it needs gas, too.  (Of course!)  And, that's pretty much it.  I'm sure an afternoon nap will be in there!

Signs

As I was walking the past few mornings, I realized that there are signs all around us.

 Signs of past races:

Signs of past storms:

Signs that there may be wildlife where we least expect it:

(And, no, I didn't stick my head in there to check...especially after reading this post from Southlakes Mom!)
Signs of  remembrance:

 (This plaque is in memory of the high school art teacher)

 Signs that although there are some people who don't care:

There are still some that do:

Signs that it's too hot for picnics:

 Signs that we need rain:

Signs that we still need prayer:

(This is a prayer request box that is in the park.  It is located across the street from the Methodist Church.  Surprisingly, there are pieces of paper and pencils that appear to be undisturbed.)

 

 And, once I got back in my yard, signs that I still can't keep things alive:

But, there may be a tad bit of hope for me yet:

(These are 2 plants that I bought last summer...they're barely hanging on!)

 

What kind of signs do you see as you're going on your daily walk, or going through your daily activities?

Here's a sign that I saw in Moes' bathroom the other day.  What a great reminder!

Friday's Favorite Five

I've not been doing a very good job keeping up with FFF lately.  Susanne has a great way to look back over the past week and to share 5 things from the past week.  Visit Living to Tell the Story to link up and share your Fave Five!

1.  Replanting the back space between the sidewalk and the house.  OS inadvertently scraped up a few of my plants from last year.  There are signs that they were there, but I'm not sure if they're going to make it or not, and, being the impatient person that I am, I want there to be more than there already is.

Maybe this is the summer I'll actually get some mulch in there!

2.  Plants that not only came back, but are thriving!  I'm amazed at how my butterfly bushes are growing:

And, they're starting to bloom:

My balloon plants came back, and some of them are doing exceptionally well:

3.  My favorite reading spot in the evenings:

The girls aren't so crazy about it, though!

4.  The opportunity to go to Daily Mass now that school is out.  I loved this time last summer.  My parents attend Daily Mass all through the year, so it's really special to be able to spend that time with them.  Plus, it's a great way to start the day and to get the day going!

5.   Three new recipes in 3 days that are keepers!  They were all exceptionally good!  I didn't take any pictures...I completely forgot about it before we dug in.
Baked Teriyaki Chicken
Garlic Cheddar Chicken (I used Panko crumbs and it worked very well.)
Manicotti Alla Romana
The only thing I would do differently in any of these recipes was the manicotti:  I don't think I'll use as much spinach next time.

** Bonus:  Look what I found in the freezer:

Suuu-weeeet!  I had completely forgotten that CH bought those thin mints for me, and I put them in the freezer a couple of months ago!  HA!

Link up with Susanne or Java today!




S

A Dilemma & A Disappointment

Can anyone out there help me?  My sister brought a cactus to me when we moved into our house 6 years ago.  That seems to be the one thing I can grow.  Anyway, I have this cactus that just keeps growing and adding some little "extensions" (I have no idea what you call it).  It's just about a foot tall, and, unless it's leaning against the window, won't stay up straight.  A few months ago, I was overjoyed...I thought it was growing a bloom.  Soon though, my joy turned to misery as it was just another "extension" growing.  Guess what?  I looked closely at it yesterday, and here's what I saw:

 

See what I mean?  Doesn't that look like it's going to bloom?  Betcha it's going to be another extension. 

Here's where I need help:  Can I snip off one of the extensions and plant it?  How do I keep the thing from falling over?

I hope someone out there can empathize with my dilemma and give me some help!

Now, on to a disappointment.  My bloggy friend, Karen, is in my area.  We had made plans to meet on Tuesday night for dessert, but her RL friends had made plans for them.  It was cool to hear her voice; she doesn't really sound like I thought she would.  Isn't it strange how we imagine a person to sound?  Oh well, Karen, you missed out on this:

And just as soon as I get through my frozen ones from last year, I'm gonna bust this one open!  Karen:  I'll think of you with every little bite!  :D

Hope everybody has a Happy Little Friday!

Friday's Fave Five & Follow Friday Over 40

Woo-Hoo!  Another week down!  Here are my FFF for the week:
1.  Capturing butterflies on the plants, and having the pictures (taken with my cheapo $70 camera!) turn out:

(Why yes, those are the plants I planted last Memorial Day weekend!  Thank you for asking and noticing!)
2.  Winning a basket from SportsClips last Saturday during the Office Depot Teacher Appreciation morning: 

 (Actually, Youngest Son was more excited with the products than I was...he ended up  confiscating them!)

3.  Finding an HP All-In-One (Printer, Copier,  Scanner) on sale for Middle Son, then getting $10 off with my Star Teacher Discount, PLUS getting  no tax during Tax-Free Weekend!  (Total cost:  $89!)

4.   Watching my Princess taking full advantage of the couch:

5.  The edit feature on Picasaweb.  Look what it did with Pepper's picture:

From spooky eyes 

To sweet eyes

I hit the "red-eye" feature, then specified "fur", and voila!  Amazing!