Fall is definitely in the air!  I've even noticed leaves beginning to fall so decided if I wanted some hydrangeas to dry, I'd better get it done.  A friend of mine has beautiful hydrangeas of several different varieties and she's nice enough to let me cut them.  Aren't they gorgeous.....

 

 

They dried enough that I could take some to Leola's.  Love them in this primitive basket.



 Bought this wonderful European wash stand from a friend and took it to the shop also.  Almost kept it!

 



It's supposed to be a cool weekend and I soooooo hope that's true.  The heat makes me so lazy and non-productive and I have so many projects awaiting me in the garage.  My nice neighbor who sometimes helps me is working on a table.  I found a wonderful old table top and then found four great legs.  Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Last weekend my sisters and I went to a big auction in Sarcoxie, MO.  It was the widow of Gene Taylor's auction and he was a U.S. senator from Missouri many years ago.  We lived in LaRussell before he became a senator and my dad bought his Ford pickups from Mr. Taylor.  Anyway, it was a wonderful auction and I found several treasures.  I always concentrate on primitives and was lucky enough to find some crocks, a really nice early beveled mirror, a few silver pieces and a great shelf.  A great sale!

Have 3 grandkids with me tonight and they need to get to bed.  No school tomorrow so they're staying up a little later.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

A quiet evening....

Sometimes when I sit on the porch on a Friday or Saturday evening and it's so quiet, I think everyone is doing something exciting but me.  Not tonight.  The sun has gone behind the clouds and there's a nice breeze blowing and I'm so grateful to be able to sit on the back porch for awhile after the hot days and nights.  All's right with the world!

This isn't my porch but it makes me want to get mine looking like this.....

Worked at Leola's today after hitting an estate sale.  Found some wonderful primitives and thought it would be a good day to take them in.  I also ordered battery candles and this time, I only bought timer candles.  I love these so much.  They come on the same time every afternoon and stay on for 8 hours then are off until the next day same time.  I never have to touch them .  The ones in my g'kids rooms come on at 8:00 every night and they never know when they go off.  It will be so nice this fall & winter to have them in my windows and not have to turn them off and on.  If you've not tried them,  you should.....they're amazing!

These are some of the things I found at the estate sale.  The scale says "war postage scale, 1917.  The wood bowl is a really early one and the wood piece inside the bowl is a nutcracker.  Also found a cutting board that is perfect with the old bread knife I found last weekend.  Another old brush and a great white ironstone bowl that has a little nick out of the side of the rim.....it's wonderful.  I've probably told you that I'm in love with the old metal, rusty milk strainers.  Well found another one & loaded it with my dried hydrangeas.  They're all at Leola's and the bunches of hydrangeas are $8.00 each.

 I bought peaches at the farmer's market so think I'll water everything and then fix some fresh peaches and vanilla bean ice cream for desert.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Stay cool!

Perfect porch night.....

It's a perfect night for setting on the back porch.  We're having one of those wonderful, fragrant summer showers that has cooled the air but no storm with it.  That's one of my fondest childhood memories.....running around outside in a sudden summer shower.  We didn't have air-conditioning and we lived out in the country and if we swam, we went on Sunday's to an aunt's house and swam in the creek.  What a thrill to strip down to your underwear and cool off.  That's what tonight reminds me of.

I worked so hard outside today cutting down vines and cleaning weeds from the garden.  So far this is my green bean harvest.....

Kind of pitiful!  Hopefully, in a couple of days there will be more to add.  They've been slow to produce.  I've had one tomato and one zucchini but luckily, the farmer's mkt. has tons of veggies so I'll just be patient.

Hope everyone got to see the magazine.  We were so fortunate to have some one invite us to be in their magazine and we are so grateful for the wonderful job they did for us and hopefully, we did for them.  It's amazing to be at the age that Linda, Judy, and I are and to be recognized for all the hard work you do.  Seems so seldom that anyone stops to tell another "good job".  I try so hard to remember to be thoughtful of others feelings but I'm certain I haven't always remembered either.  So often it seems that because you're old, people don't think you have feelings.  The most excited person to see it was the girl who checked me out at Walgreens.....felt like hugging her.  Oh, well, I pray often for God to give me the ability to live my life so content that I don't need the loyalty or approval of others.  I'm slowly getting there.

My sweet new neighbors told me I could cut all their oak leaf hydrangeas for drying.  So today I did just that and also, cleaned out their front landscaping.  We both benefited.  Love the way the oak leafs dry.

As soon as they're dry, I'll take them to Leola's.  They're so gorgeous in a basket or white ironstone.

Since it's getting really dark, think it's time to go in and read.  Can't wait to see the garden in the morning after this rain.

Have a great rest of the week!

Drying hydrangeas....

Cutting my hydrangeas came early this year.....as most everything in the yard has.  They started looking burned by the hot sun.  The flowers were so gorgeous and so many of the big blue clusters on the bushes but the extreme heat was getting to them.

My gladiolis are beginning to bloom now and are one of the few flowers in my garden.  They seem to appear in new places every year.  Not certain if it's me or the squirrels who move them



We were lucky to get a nice rain last night and the possibility we could have more today.  We'll say a little prayer and keep out fingers and toes crossed.

I'm working this afternoon at Leola's but hoping to start a lampshade before I go.  I finally ordered supplies so lampshade-making is definitely in my future.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Harvesting hydrangeas.....

It's hydrangea cutting time so yesterday before the heat got unbearable, I cut a bunch of the flowers and let them sit for awhile in a galvanized bucket of cold water.  They seemed very grateful for it and really perked up.  Then I put them in bunches, tied them with twine and hung them on my back porch to drip dry.  Today I'll bring them in & let them dry in the cool house.  They always sell well for me at Leola's.

Usually I work on Mondays but Kelli wanted to switch days with me.  I went early today to pick up some new merchandise.  It included a bunch of vintage suitcases that had been stored for years and they're sooooo smelly.  They're laying all over my driveway right now trying to air out.  Years ago Martha suggested using vodka to get odors out of furniture so I'm thinking I might try it if fresh air alone doesn't work.  And a vodka tonic might help me through the heat of the afternoon -- & make me smell better.  Wish me luck.