The Fruits of Our Labors

 Unbolt all of the seats, rip off all of the layers of old vinyl so

 that you could cover the seats with new bright blue vinyl,

 and end up with clean new seats....

 for the golf cart!

 So we could take rides and find beautiful wild life like this box turtle,

who held still for our photos.

 Even the gopher tortoise peeked out at us!

 The sandhills were looking for frogs.

And we tried to count the bananas on the trees!

Yup, the golf cart is an essential vehicle for our numerous adventures each day!

Anticipation!

 While Bill and I worked on the golf cart,

I was distracted by the beauty all around me;

see the three blooms on the little hibiscus bush, 

to the right of the bush is a red banana plant, too. 

 In the pool area, the first of my tiger lilies is blooming!

Soon the orange ones will join the bouquet.

 And look what I have on the set--boys!

Oh, it is about time to enjoy some extended family time!

Oh, sweet hugs-there's nothing like it!

Stars and Rows

 Sometimes you just know when you need to add a bit more ; 

 the sashing and cornerstones are just what this star quilt needed!

Now to stitch it all together!

 Lena is a little bent out of shape.....she is not liking our afternoon thunderstorms!

 I made another cake tier server!  See how much more casual it can be?!

And if I want to rearrange the plates, it is easy to unscrew the supports and mix 'n match! lol

(I broke the one that was supposed to go on top so I had to try something else-as soon as I can,

I will be scavenging the thrift store for some plates in the three different sizes!)

 And when you knit too late in the evening you get this for a corner....

it as supposed to be a simple square but I forgot what I was doing and made it a rectangle!

 See the top--I did it right and that was the last square, too!

Now I am adding the edging, using up all of the little balls and knitting in the ends as I go so there will not be a ton of weaving in when I yell, "Voila!"

Stand for Something!

 I tried something new to me today; 

I picked out from my pile of mismatched china (I use them for mosaic work)

so I could make a 3 tiered cake stand!

 I gathered some tools, used my rotary ruler to find the center of the plates and began drilling!

Porcelain (and pottery,china and glass) needs water to keep the temperature down because friction

will build up and ruin your diamond tipped drill bits and can blacken your plates-patience is required!

 In no time, I had all three plates drilled and the hardware screwed into place!  

I think this is a great way to use that odd piece or three 

you have from a beloved relative or friend so that it will have a new life!

This tiered cake plate happens to be from a single set of dinner plate,

dessert plate and saucer from Lenox.

The next ones I make are all odd plates and they still look great just less formal!

Purchased from a yard sale for $2 these cake plates sell for $15-20 if you are wondering!

(the hardware is from Amazon, set of 10 for $7)

Now all I need to do is make some cupcakes!

Stars and Flowers

 I finished this grouping of stars but I haven't sewn them together

 because I am not sure if I am going to add sashing strips and cornerstones.  

I will play more with the design today.

I wanted to off-set the blocks but that meant I couldn't use all of the blocks

or

it meant I didn't have enough!

Back to the drawing board!

Outside of the patio door of my sewing room, there are two gorgeous plants;

the Tree Crinum, which is doing its thing again--this plant stands 5' tall-and the aroma is heavenly!

See how the old bloom grows into bulbs?

Yup, those drop off to form more plants!

 This grouping of blooms is 12" across and absolutely marvelous to inhale!

This sprawling plant is what I was told was a ground orchid but with further reading,

that is another plant and this one is called ground-rooting orchids!

Okay, then.

This plant is a grouping of stalks, not just one plant, 6' across and about 4' high.

With our milder winter, it never stopped blooming!

And each stalk has a grouping of flowers-I love the pop of orange in the yard!

Unlike its neighbor, these seeds are minuscule and it is easier to break off a stalk

and stick it in the ground and it grows!

(and on a side-note, I am hoping to catch a glimpse 

of the manned rocket heading into orbit this afternoon!

I hope to have pictures to share with you!

I had my heart set on a view from the beach but it isn't gong to happen.

Such is life.)

A Little of This and That

 I added the sparkle to the bowling/gazing balls--

but it drizzled all day and I didn't want it in the yard yet!  

 I not only cut out the last 5 blocks from the charm pack so they will be easy to grab and stitch.

 I put together a few more blocks! 

I am not going to want to finish this one!

The boys lap quilt is off the frame and ready for binding.

On the Ball

 Lena has developed a manic need to be brushed.  Often.  Every time we move, it must be to go to this table (who is the dummy that started brushing her here?!) to brush her!

So when I put the bowling ball here, she was not happy-it was right on her place!

And I had a brush in my hand, but it wasn't HER brush.  

Anyway, I have had these bowling balls in my flower beds in our last home (NY-13+ years ago)

and now in FL and they certainly needed a bit of spiffing up!

 I couldn't believe the acrylic paint lasted so long!

This time, I am going to make them all blue with a sparkle finish-just like the fancy bowling balls!

And they will be in the newly renovated gardens in front of the house!

Yup, they will be very pretty against the terracotta of the wood chips!

Only a few more coats to go!

(I did brush Lena-on the floor so any hairs didn't stick to the wet paint--between coats!

Work and Rest

 I took one of the quilts off the design wall so I could get it on the frame,

 using a simple meander for this one--roads for all of the vehicles and such--the back is flannel in license plates!

 I needed room to put up blocks for a new quilt!  I am going to offset these blocks so that
I will get a zig zag secondary design between the vertical rows!
I am using a  combination of charm blocks and fat quarters to make these blocks!

 Bill and I finished the end of the porch border garden.

 Isn't the frog very cute sitting with the caladium?!
 The soil doesn't hold water so many of the plants we've found do better when they sit in pots.
I like the look.

However, the cactus and the bromeliads do fine in the soil!

These were the last two areas we needed mulch for finishing the front of the house!

Today is our last 'virtual' church service--

I will be attending in person next week!

What a gift.

Rambling Rows

 I don't need to wonder what to stock in my new kitchen island...

it contains a very satisfied cat already!

(this is what I saw when I came out to the kitchen in the morning!)

The Rambling Rows sock scrap blanket is progressing nicely--I had a lot of knitting time in the car yesterday!

Today, I hope to cut out another quilt or two!

Bill is cutting down some more tree tops with a new friend so I am going to stay cool in the housse (we've hit mid 90's again!)

Flowers and Islands

 For the last two days, Bill and I weeded the area in front of our porch-all 80' of it!

 It hasn't seen such a cleaning for 3 years or maybe 4 years!

(first the boys were with us, then Bill messed up his elbow for 10 months and 

then I complicated the last few months!)

But after removing a mountain of weeds and things that have spread so it looked like a jungle,

we spread the mulch and see order again!  

(What I enjoy so much in all of my spaces!)

 You can see the very end where we ran out of mulch!

We will be going today but purchase some more to finish the job!

What a wonderful way to get sore muscles--by working for it instead of just having them!

If you get what I mean!

 The flowers around the house are so pretty--yellow and pink is the theme right now-

this is red ginger,

 angle trumpets

 look up the trumpet and see how pretty!  (these blooms are large-a foot long and about 6-7" across)

 And the first of the season--Dutchman's Pipe or Cereus blooms!

 Remember you can only see them at night--I didn't stay awake until 11 or 12 pm to see them fully open but they were deliciously scented even so!

 This is what I call a lemon lily-it is from my daughter's home and we transplanted them last year

and they are blooming now for me!  I'm so excited about it!

 How's this for showy?  Hibiscus-large and without an inch of aroma, alas.

 And this is the project we work on when we get too hot outdoors--

 with lots of pieces--lots and lots of pieces.

 A kitchen island!  I've wanted one for so long.

Now to figure out what I want to put in the two cupboards and two drawers! lol

I think this will be my baking, pizza making station.

Now to get used to having it in the middle of the kitchen....we will have a bit of navigating to do

but already it is easier for me to get things out of the fridge and not have to walk so far for each trip!

Can you say bar stool?  I need one of those, too.  

We will look while we are out today.

I sit in the car while Bill goes in the stores

 but I'm going because we have two stops at doctor offices 

where they need more paper work to correct claims!  

I'm bringing the blanket to work on while I sit and people watch!