June Update!

It's JUNE!!! Where did May go? Oh my gosh. Well, here are some pics to show where my days disappeared to. First off, I made a major life decision and decided to get rid of our mini blinds and put up curtains. This was no small decision as I have Manny, The Destroyer of All Things. 

He had them down the first night. I used two tensions rods to hang a sheer set first and then a decorative panel set second. After he got them down, I adjusted the tightness of the rods and they've stayed up, but he is obsessed with getting at those sheers, holding them in his claws and licking them. So weird! I've given up trying to save the sheers. I have sprayed them with stuff that's supposed to deter cats, but it doesn't work. 

I hung solid panels in the kitchen and he's managed to put pulls in those too. What was I thinking? But they sure do look nice. 

Sometimes I tie them back. When those crepe myrtles bloom outside, the view will be amazing!

Manny sitting in the window. My Mother's Day flowers
in the foreground.

May marked one year since I had my final melanoma MOHS surgery on my face. Here is what I look like now compared to a year ago. 

I've been going to skin cancer screenings every 3 months since then. So far, so good!

Hubby has been taking great care of our yard and he's been growing things we can eat. His corn has been very successful. It's so tall and has two cobs per stalk. We've also harvested some green bell peppers already and he started some green and  yellow squash last week.  

We bought bags to grow potatoes in and started those this past week. 

Of Course, Manny had to inspect them first. 

I can't wait to see how they turn out! 

And I did a major search all over the county for two different varieties of blueberry bushes because you need 2 kinds for pollination. I got a Georgia Gem and Rabbit Eye. I'm waiting on a PH soil tester before I plant them. They need acidic soil.

We take walks nearly every day and always see new things all the time.
Here are some nature pics.

Mushrooms and a cool path through a vine tunnel. 

Gorgeous pink sunrise. 

Cypress trees at The Wetlands. 

Me volunteering at The Wetlands planting ferns in a shade area.

My next door neighbors cut down all the pine trees that were in their front yard. I asked if I could take a few branches so I could harvest the needles, which I did. I dried them in the house and they stayed green. I planned to make the neighbors a basket to remember their trees. 

I spread these out inside and they dried a light green color. 

This is the basket I made for them.

I added a pinecone charm at the end. 

Right after that I made another basket and tried adding beads.

 It came out beautiful! I'm so proud of this one. 

I had some friends over for lunch this week and spent a lot of time sprucing up the yard and cleaning the house for their visit. I made a nice little spread of cheese, crackers, fruit, wine and cookies. They all brought something as well. It was a very nice gathering. I haven't done anything like that in ages. 

And the most exciting thing that happened was a QUAIL visited our backyard and stayed for the entire day!!! We were over the moon about it. He was so beautiful!

I told hubby that he made our yard so nice, it attracted this rare bird to hang out for a while. I hope he comes back. I was hoping it was a female and that it would lay eggs, but it was a male. 

School is out which means hubby doesn't have to leave the house twice a day to do crossing guard duty which is nice. It's gotten hot already and the humidity also arrived, so gardening and other outdoor activities need to be limited to early morning hours now. 

We don't have any exciting plans coming up, but we would like to make a few day trips here and there. We'll see how it goes. It's nice to be able to just take things day by day. 

Till next time. Thanks for visiting! 

Are You Prepping?

Pine needle basket. Completed 4-5-2026.

 It's the day after Easter. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I spent it at home making some food ahead of time for a guest that will be arriving today and staying for a few days. I also worked on another pine needle basket. I love the craft as it keeps me calm during these unsettled times. Speaking of which, are you prepping? Food prices are only going to get higher, so buying more shelf stable items now is a must if you can afford to stock up. We live in a high humidity climate that has lots of bugs, so dry goods don't store for as long as they should in their original packaging. I decided to by a vacuum sealer for dry canning. I saw a demo of this neat little gadget and bought one right away along with a case of mason jars.

Dry goods like pasta, rice, beans, flour, sugar, potato flakes, etc., can be dry canned. Once the air is removed, the product can last for many more years in the jar. There are packets that you can buy to add to the jar that will slowly remove the air and create a tight seal, but I bought this automatic jar sealer instead because it's just so darn neat! It even came with some labels, a can opener. and extra lids in two sizes.

It works on large mouth  and small mouth canning jars. You just put it over your jar with a sealing lid, press a button and about 40 seconds later, it's air tight and sealed. 

I don't know how to can fruits and vegetables, but I have a neighbor that does and I asked her if I could watch her next time she works on a batch. Unfortunately, it's something I never learned to do. I think the jars look so nice on the shelf and this helped make space in my cabinets for other things. 

Here is another handy gizmo I bought for emergencies, but ended up using it every day. It's an over the cup coffee dripper. All you need to do is boil water and pour it over your coffee grinds right into your cup. You don't need the paper filter, but I use it for easier cleanup.

These come in many variations, from metal, to plastic to ceramic. This one is metal and cost about $10. 

There are outdoor things you can do to prep as well. My husband got us some firewood and made this handy holder to stack it in using scrap wood we had lying around. 

He also planted some corn, peppers and tomatoes in our raised beds along with some flowers to attract pollinators. We have water barrels all over our property for watering plants, or if necessary, to flush toilets. If you follow Cash Only Living blog, here is a handy post of things you should have on hand to prepare for a power outage. She has lots of other cost saving tips as well. 

These are only a handful of things you can do to prepare for higher food prices, shortages, or power failures, if it comes to that. With hurricane season coming up in June, we always need to prep for that anyway. There are many prepper people you can follow on social media. Some are fear mongers, others are more practical and reassuring to keep you from panicking. Next time you go grocery shopping, pick up some extra canned or dry goods if you can. If you have any preparedness tips, please leave them in the comments. Thanks for stopping by! 

Busy Hands, Quiet Mind.

 

If I don't stay busy, my mind will start wandering and worrying about things I can't control. I've been keeping busy with a variety of different hobbies so as not to get burned out on any one thing. I crafted a couple more pine needle baskets. This one with the crow center came out the best so far. 

The bottom is just as pretty as the top. 

And I made another one with a tree center. 

And now I'm working on a sea turtle using colored thread. 

I was thinking about al the rocks I still have in my craft inventory and thought about trying something different with them. Have you ever heard or seen rock wrapping? Here is an article about it. 

Tsutsumu: The Japanese Zen Art of Weaving with Ancient Rocks

So I thought I would try it. I found a video online that showed how to weave around a rock using a wooden washer. I just happened to have found a rusty old metal washer and I used that instead. It came out pretty nice.

Then I made one with an old nail.

And one with a decorative metal knob.

It's an unusual craft and kind of frustrating as it takes a lot of finger gymnastics to hold everything in place and keep it from unraveling while working on it, but eventually, I got the hang of it and I like the final result. 

I do these crafts in my "she room" while watching a movie or a tv series or while listening to music or maybe a podcast. I take breaks to go for walks and sometimes I work in the garden. I think it's wise to take up a relaxing hobby in these stressful times to stay sane. 

Thanks for visiting!