Summer is Fading

 

Welcome.  We've been having lots of home maintenance done this past month.  We had new doors installed with internet key locks.  We have a side door as well as this front door.  The Petunia's are getting very legging.  They won't last much longer.

You saw the hole from the tree that was luckily cut down before the tornado.  We had 2 of these trees planted in the back yard.  Red Sunset Red Maples.  They're about 14 feet tall.   We had new gutters, downspouts, and facia installed.  Also, needed a roof repair, we had leaking into the bathroom; presumably a tree limb caused the hole.  At least that's what the roof guy told us.  I've cut back some plantings away from the house in preparation for the house painters which might happen in the next couple of weeks.  We aren't yet scheduled with a date, just an estimated time.

Hard to believe it's September already.  The Rose of Sharon's are close to being done.  Thankfully I got some pictures earlier.  The Pink are my favorite.

But, the purple and White are also pretty.  The bees love them, as do Hummingbirds.

Once they're done, I'll have nothing left blooming for this year.  Always hate that.

I'm beyond disgusted with him, the war, the contaminated food, the prices, renaming Lake Ontario.  I don't think he's done anything decent in his entire life.

I knit and crochet.  This is crocheted; but not by me.  Someone is talented.

I recently finished A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie.  I really enjoyed this book.  I knew Abigail Adams was a force, but still learned things about her I didn't know.  Highly recommend this book.  My feelings for her husband John took a dip.

I didn't know America is Speaking, When Will Our Hearts Listen was so short when I added it to my Libby app shelf.  Less than an hour.  It's a collection of angry letters from Americans to the government.  I rated this a 2 because I didn't really learn anything new.

Hotel Exile by Jane Rogoyska was interesting.  History told through the eyes of a Hotel in Paris.  Hotel Lutetia was built in 1910 and housed the likes of James Joyce, Picasso, Matisse etc.  Then it housed The Germans when Paris feel in WWII, then it housed those freed from the Concentration Camps.  I wish I had known this before we toured Paris last fall, as the Hotel still stands and has a plague on facade of Hotel.  It's located on the West Bank, and we walked all over that area.  We might have walked right by without knowing it.

Meet Me at the Lake, another Carley Fortune love story.  Think this is the 3rd book of hers I've read.  They're good summer reads, or maybe better in the cold of winter to warm you up, lol.  Her books are similar, but still entertaining.  I do wish they were a bit less graphic when describing love scenes.   

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods is a cute historical fiction/fantasy that takes place in Dublin and a bit of time travel.  A sweet love story as well.

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson is entertaining.  A love story, bit of love triangle, baby out of wedlock.....Peyton Place came to mind.  And the song from South Pacific, Gonna wash that man right out of my hair also comes to mind.

Books Memes and Flowers Oh My

 

A fun summer read.  Who doesn't love a good love story.  I've not read any of Carley Foirtune's other books, but probably will look for some now.  You need some fluff books in-between some heavier books.  I will say some of the love scenes are a bit too graphic as a warning if that's not your cup of tea.  I think it didn't really add to the story and would have preferred less of that.  But, the book was fun.

Wow, North of Ordinary by Sue Aikens was WILD!  This is no ordinary lady, truly living out in the middle of nowhere Alaska, on her own for a good portion of the time.  It's a very adventurous book.  She does things I would never consider doing.  On one hand I admired her and on the other I think she was a bit crazy.  A good read!  

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle a very interesting mix of friendship, loss, strange love story vs successful high powered career.

Ghosts of Honolulu by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll, Jr. is a powerful book about the preplanning behind the scenes plans for the Japanese Americans before the bombing of Pearl.  I consider the camps they were forced into to be a very big mistake by our government (but, I think they faired better than those forced into camps in our current times).  The book was very educational, and I enjoyed it.  Mark Harmon of CSI fame and his co-author Leon Carroll, Jr who was in fact a CSI agent make a good writing team.

Forty Autumns by Nina Willner an inspiring and sad story of a single family when the wall was built and when it came down.  Most of the family lived in depressed circumstances behind the Iron Curtain............one escaped.

Beach Read by Emily Henry, another good summer read.  Two authors who write very different styles of books, one is full of hope, the other dark.  How their personal lives are projecting into their writing styles, and the competition between them that turns into a love story.

There have many meme's lately because there's so much material to work from.  Thought this one was one of the better ones about proof of life for Mitch.  A little extra fun making fun of Rubio wearing shoes trump got him to wear even though they don't fit.  I don't believe Mitch is still alive personally, or he's in a coma.  Either way, it seems to me the entire Republican Party is disgusting for not coming forward.  I believe they are more than concerned about the midterms and are doing everything they can think of to rig the elections.

And who doesn't like a good Dr. Seuss!

I saved this picture awhile back and no longer remember which city this was posted in.

I haven't knitted much so no new pictures cause the afghans don't look much different.  Maybe next time where you can see something new or different.

We had to have the 2 trees in the front trimmed recently.  Was surprised at all the equipment they used.

And sadly we had to have the tree in back cut down.  It was very damaged from multiple storms and was pretty hallow inside, a danger if it fell.  Hated to lose a tree, but it was necessary.  We're going to have 2 planted in the back yard.  Currently waiting on an estimate and some suggestions of what type of trees to plant.  I asked about Red Maples and River Birches, so they'll give estimates for those as well as suggesting others that would be good in our area.

Still fighting the deer and rabbits I've got cages around everything in the Butterfly Garden.  I think I'm making headway

I've not seen this color for Phlox before.  I had purple for years but the deer ate it so badly last year, it didn't come back so I bought this new one.  Fingers crossed.

You can see the difference in my Pink and Red Hibiscus.  These were transplanted years ago from my parents yard and are a real favorite of mine.  The Red always bloom before the Pink, but the Pink are always taller and the flower itself larger.  Knock on wood, thus far it seems to be the only flower in my yard that the Deer and Rabbits leave alone.

Rabbits Part II, Summer Flowers, Books and More

 

Ok, the follow up on my Rabbit problem.  You can now see I only have 1 very small blossom left on my 4 milkweed plants.  Despite my chasing them off constantly, they continued to eat both the Milkweed and the Zinnias.  I now have cages around all the plants here in the Butterfly Garden.  You might have to click on the picture to enlarge it enough to see the cages.  Took some time as the pieces come flat and you bend them and zip tie them together, and there are metal clips to make sure they stay put.

These are some of the lilies in my yard.  They (the rabbits) have eaten some of them as well; but thankfully, I have a lot. 

I can no longer plant Petunia's in the flower beds because the rabbits eat them completely.  I keep an eye on my pot which is about 4 feet off the ground.  So far so good.

For my crafty friends, thought you might get a kick out of this meme.

This bingo card shows where we are IMHO.  Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and this is our 250th year; but I do not feel like celebrating.  I've seen video's and photo's of trumps pathetic Great American State Fair, with one disaster after another.  Everything he touches is an embarrassment.  

Beachy fun, romance, heart break, family secrets. Something for everyone. I had fun reading this.

Important read, heavy and heart breaking. A book that will really have you thinking about how people are treated/miss treated. Award winning book.

A once Grande Hotel, a dysfunctional family, and Jewish refugee children all come together...and some romance.

Weird is the first word that comes to mind; but I couldn't put it down. Single Moms strained circumstance, and lots of mixed emotions.

 

History of The Harvey Girls was very interesting, really enjoyed that part of the book. Romance added to the fun; but I was disappointed with the ending.  I plan on reading a bit more about The Harvey Girls.

STOP the war in Iran and Gaza.

If you're traveling for the holiday, travel safe!

No updates on knitting projects, too hot to have yarny things on ones lap.

Fall Afghan, Books, Flowers and More

Another afghan completed.  This one went through quite a transformation.  Again using yarn from my stash, green, orange, and black I mixed the yarns as I sized the squares.  In some cases I unraveled a few squares to redo them to get them to fit.  I used both orange and black to join them together and used all 3 colors to do the final boarder.  Am pleased with the final product, as I was pretty skeptical when I started on this one because the squares were so many different sizes.
 

This was early on, you can see the middle section had been worked on a bit.  Calling this one Fall.  It will be donated to Homeless Families Foundation, like all the others.  In the previous post you can see the very beginning of this project.

We spend the winter, or at least a good chunk of it in Hilton Head, so on one of my walks, I decided I needed to take a picture of this beautiful bush.  Isn't it gorgeous!  We don't have pretty blossom yet in cold Ohio.

Another day I spotted this painted rock.  I assume that's the name of the person who painted it?  I enjoyed it for a day, then took it with me on another walk to place elsewhere for someone else to find and enjoy.  This is the 3rd painted rock I've found while walking.  Found one last year at Hilton Head, and one in Williamsburg.  It's a fun thing that people do.  If I could paint, I would and place some around, but I'm no good at painting.

Once back home where they're aren't pretty flowers yet (too cold), I spotted this on one of my walks.  It was pretty windy so it's hard to see the flags, but the 1st one says deport elon, the 2nd one says America doesn't have kings, and the 3rd of course is the Ukrainian flag.  I appreciate seeing people standing up, even if the current administration isn't.  

I have been very disturbed by the actions of this administration.  Many of those deported were not criminals, and even those that perhaps are deserved to have due process.  Kilmar is not a criminal, and he was not here illegally.  He was not undocumented.  Despite knowing they made a mistake, despite being told by two courts (including trumps court), he remains in a concentration camp in El Salvatore.  People are being kidnapped off the streets, car windows being smashed to drag people from their cars.  I've seen many video's and read many stories about this happening to people who are here legally.  In all cases thus far, they are people of color.  

I know often when I post books I've read I see a fair number of comments that say I can't read that it's too much of what's going on now.  For me, that's the exact reason to read them.  I've wondered multiple times about The Orange Felons ties to Russia; but after reading this book...I have little doubt that he is, in fact a Russian Asset.  The detail given in this book is astounding even as much news as I've followed.  Truly astounding.  Please put it on your to read list.  And when you do read it, please let me know what you think.

Sometimes I have to clear my head and read a book just for fun.  I've read many of Jean Grainger's book and they're always a good read.  This one is a good mystery with lots of small town Irish flare.  Mags is the police sergeant and deals with being a woman in a mans world while still trying to solve a murder case.

World War II rages, the Nazi's are not only trying to take over other countries, but they're stealing treasures.  Art, money, and cataloguing art to steal the worlds cultures.  They're also destroying art they feel is unclean.  But, in the middle of all of this is a small very dedicated group of British and American soldiers who were museum directors, art historians, curators and the like who go behind enemy lines, often without arms to document, and move art to protect it from the Germans.  Their work focused on the period between D-Day and V-E Day.  I found the book fascinating.  I knew Hitler had an art collection that he had stolen; but did not know the hard work being done to protect the worlds treasures.

I was a young child when John F. Kennedy was President, and when The Situation Room first began.  George Stephanopoulos a former advisor to President Bill Clinton with 20 years of being an anchor of This Week and wo-anchor of Good Morning America brings lots of background and first hand experience of 12 different Presidents and how they used or didn't use the Situation Room.

March was a good month for me stepwise.  333,826 (up from 290,232) averaging 10,244 daily (up from 10,365).  Miles were also up 139.07 (from 126.03), averaging 4.48 miles daily.  I doubt April will be up, as we started having iffy weather while in Hilton Head, and once home nasty weather.  Planks were down as were leg lifts.  Planks 17 (down from 19), Leg Lifts 5 (down from 6).  Have not done well in April thus far, playing catch up with stuff around the house, and appointments.  Argh.  Must try to do better.

I'm also having a hard time being motivated, reading the news makes me not want to do anything.  Anyone else feeling this way?