In the Garden

This year we decided to try growing loofah gourds.  I admit that we got a late start on planting which I am sure means a lower harvest, but we should get three or four gourds at least.  I knew they were going to run, but I was surprised at just how much.

We put up a row of fencing for them to grow up.  They quickly became a mass of vines and grew up the fence and then along the ground.

Then they started to grow up the side of the building beside the garden.

This is the largest of the loofah gourds.  With all of the vines I expect a few small ones may be hidden away.  This one gourd is enough to make us want to grow loofahs again next year!

Weekend Book Review: Joyful Surrender

Joyful Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot focuses on seven disciplines for Christians.  Approximately one-third of the book is dedicated to reasons why Christians should surrender to God.  The remaining chapters deal with the seven disciplines.  The short chapters worked well when I had a limited amount of reading time.  I could easily read a chapter and focus on the one particular discipline.  Each of the disciplines was relevant to today's world.  I do think the chapters on surrender could have been summarized into one.  My main issue with the book was the lack of references for the Bible verses used.  I would have preferred the book, chapter, and verse be included.  This would allow readers to easily look up the references on their own and study further. 

disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from Revell/Baker Publishing but was not otherwise compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own!

Weekend Book Reviews

Read on Arrival by Nora Page is part of the Bookmobile Mystery series.  Cleo is an active senior librarian in a small town in Georgia.  In addition to driving the town's bookmobile, she is preparing for the re-opening of the town library.  Two things threaten to put a damper on the event.  First she is trying to reclaim the library's only overdue book, which happens to be 40 years overdue.  Second is the arrival of a neighboring town's bookmobile driver.  This pretty, young driver has caught the eye of Cleo's library board president.  The main problem being the young woman does not want books on the bookmobile.  Throw in a murder and Cleo is fit to be tied.  This is a fast-paced cozy with plenty going on, but everything ties together.  It is a great addition to the series!

J.R. Ripley's ninth book in the Bird Lover's Mystery series is Cardinal Sin.  J.R. Ripley is one of my favorite authors, and this is another great book in the series.  Amy meets Yvonne who is new to town.  Before she can get to know Yvonne well, the woman is found dead.  Amy immerses herself in Yvonne's life including her strange family and odd neighbors in an effort to solve the mystery.  The quirky characters (both standard and new) make this series work so well.  I am already looking forward to book number ten!

A Twist in the Tail by Leighann Dobbs is the first book in the Oyster Cove Guesthouse series.  Josie is the new owner of the Oyster Cove Guesthouse.  Things are not going well though as the town building inspector seems to have it out for Josie.  When Josie finds a dead body in a closed off section of the guesthouse, she wonders if her new business is over as soon as it began.  Now for the twist in the book - Josie is not truly the main character.  The story switches from Josie to her two cats, Nero and Marlowe, who came with the guesthouse.  I am undecided on this series.  The human characters were less likable than the feline characters. If you are looking for a book with cat detectives, this is the one for you.


disclosure:  I received these e-books through NetGalley but was not otherwise compensated for these reviews.  All opinions are my own!

Furry Friday - Tucker

I was crocheting in the garden last week when Tucker came to keep me company.  

He napped for a bit until he realized that I was taking pictures of him.

Then he decided to strike an extra cute pose for me.

I am dreading winter when sitting in the garden will not be as much fun.  For now I am taking advantage of every sunny day.

Sprucing up the Porch

The plants that I did have in the big planters on my porch had outgrown the pots.  A few weeks ago W decided to plant them in the yard which left me needing new plants in the planters.  It may be close to fall, but the weather here in the deep South will continue to be hot until the middle of October.  Still it was close enough to fall that I did not want to spend a pile of money to refill the planters.  

I headed out to the garden center of a home improvement store and went straight to the clearance section.  As I was looking for something that would work, I spoke to one of the employees.  I mentioned what I was trying to find.  She said she had just the thing.  Large hanging baskets that she needed to mark down for clearance.  The plants had not sold well since they were better suited for pots than hanging baskets.  

The plants were beautiful when I bought them but were starting to turn a touch yellow.  I added a bit of farm fertilizer (hoppy poo poo) to the soil when I planted them.  Now they are gorgeous.  I made sure to find the employee when I went back to the store to let her know how much I was enjoying them and thank her.  

Beach Trip

Once upon a time W and I went to the beach once a week.  That dropped to once a month until eventually it had been a few years since we went to the beach.  We live a bit less than two hours from the coast.  Last month we decided to take a day off and head out.  It was an inexpensive trip as we packed our food and did no other shopping.  It was just us on the beach.  W spent the time fishing while I read and wrote a couple of letters.

The weather was absolutely perfect.  The beach was practically empty since we chose to go after schools had started back.  Aside from us there were a couple of families with very young children and some retired folks.

Just like at home I seem to attract an animal of some sorts.  This crab came by to visit me.

Hopefully we can make a yearly beach visit a tradition.  It did us both good to get away just for a day and relax!

Busy, Busy

I feel as if I fell off the map when it has related to blogging recently.  I am seriously hoping to remedy that this month.  I have been busy getting the house back in order and putting myself on a schedule.  It is still a work in progress, but I am at least making progress.

I have had several weeks off from my Saturdays at the farmer's market and have been using that time to stock up on items.  You can see that from the pile of things waiting to be tagged.

That is on my to do list for this week.  I have been stocking up on items more than normal since I will soon be doing a farmer's market every weekend with fall quickly approaching.  A friend also talked me into setting up a booth at a festival in a neighboring town in November.  This will be my first festival so I am just trying to be as prepared as possible. 

Also on my list is adding some things to my Etsy shop as the holiday season nears.  I love working from home, but it has definitely been an adjustment to balance everything!