The garden's last blooms

It was very warm today (high 70's) so I began the process of cutting back the perennial garden.  I have a few plants that continue to bloom.

The digitalis (foxglove) still looks beautiful.

I also have one echinacea (coneflower) that bloomed very late and is just glorious right now.

I started relocating some plants and also thinned some out.  It is supposed to remain unseasonably warm for a few days which will give me the opportunity to finish up before a hard frost.  It was nice to be out in the sunshine and doing a little manual labor!

Update

After pushing an entire bag of this

into the opening and then spraying in this

and then shoving in half a bat of this

my brother was finished....confident the mice could no longer get in and no more cold air in my kitchen!

Alas, apparently a mouse or two was hidden somewhere in the kitchen.  I know because Gracie brought one up to me in the studio as a gift.  Thankfully, her latest "giftie" was intact and just dead.  (I sent Grace back to the kitchen to search for more!)

Project time

From Google Images

About a week ago I walked into my kitchen for my second cup of morning coffee.  As I was walking in, the cat was running out.  Imagine my surprise (horror) at finding a partially disemboweled mouse in the middle of the kitchen floor!  I did a really good job of not freaking out and screaming like a little girl.  I calmly tried to think of how to clean up the mouse and who could I call so I didn't have to do it myself!  I kept saying to the cat, "Good job, Gracie.  You are such a good mouser."  I didn't want her to think she had done something bad.  I was so hoping the mouse was a loner...lost from a pack of little mice living happily in the backyard.  Sadly, that was just a dream.  Two days later Grace left another "gift" for me at the top of the stairs.  Again, I told her how proud I was of her and what a good cat she is.  That night I didn't sleep very well.  I knew the mice had to go and they had to go immediately!  I think I have figured out how they are getting in and have enlisted the aid of my brother in sealing their entry point.  Today is "shove in the steel wool and squirt insulation day".  

Wish me luck...my feet hurt from stamping them to scare off intruders when I walk into the kitchen!

Basket of thrifties!

Last Wednesday, I made a trip to the Goodwill near my office.  I was just killing time on my lunch break.  I found just a few things and I put them all in a free basket to show you.

The wooden tray is teak and it was only $1.97.  The white plates (3) are English ironstone by J&G Meakin and were $2.97.  They are going to go on the wall above my bed.  The wooden picture frame was a whopping 97cents.  The silver plate salad fork and spoon on the left (and you can just barely see) are Towle and they were also $1.97.

I painted both the tray and the frame Heirloom White.  I haven't decided exactly what else I want to do to the tray but I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to frame!

Grandson Andrew David

Did you find anything good last week?  Check out everyone's goodies at Rhoda's!

Shopping at Goodwill

I was a little depressed on Friday afternoon.  I had two choices - go home and eat something "bad" or go shopping.  Since I just lost 15lbs (on my way to 40!) and I didn't want to spend too much money, I hit the Goodwill.  Here's what I found

See all those price tags?  The trims were from Joann's and had been discounted several times before they ended up at Goodwill.  The gold and ivory were in a plastic bag together and I paid $ .97 for those.  The white fringe was $ .97 by itself but I am not complaining!!  I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with these trims but I know there's a project waiting to happen.

I collect pieces of silver plate that no one else wants (apparently)!  This is not an old piece but I liked the shape and size.  I will use it on a shelf in the bath to hold hair accessories.

Best thing about thrift shopping?  I only spent at total of $3.08, went home in a better mood and didn't eat everything in the 'fridge!

Linking up to

Something I recently noticed

Have y'all noticed all the trend again toward white/off white/antique white/nearly white walls? 

 (All images from My Home Ideas.)

Having lived with a realtor who refused any color on walls (based on the premise if you have to sell it is harder to make the sale if the buyer doesn't like the paint color!) I became used to the idea of antique white walls.  My house now has all antique white walls.  I still want a pale, pale pink in the bath because I love pale, pale pink.  The only reason I have not painted the bath is because I hate to paint.  For a time, I was going to paint my first floor walls all a delicate shade of sage.  Then I thought about what happens when I get tired of that color.  And I also looked at all it would entail because I could never do it on my own and I am pretty sure I don't have anyone in my life that loves me enough to paint my entire downstairs area!

I like the idea of bringing color into a room with the furnishings...except that I lean toward colors like ivory and linen.  Maybe I still have antique white walls because I like them!

Rain

(Photo from Google Images)

Mercy!  We need rain.  I need rain.  Tonight I will have to trot approximately 40-5 gallon buckets of water from my kitchen, dump into a 5 gallon watering can and water my garden.  If not a drip falls upon the grass I am perfectly happy.  The "lawn" really is just a collection of cut weeds.  I am sure there is some grass in the mix but mostly I think it is just weedy stuff.  Also sitting on the lawn is a pallet stacked with 208 paving stones that are supposed to be the center portion of my patio.  My BIL framed out the patio in May, filled it in with dirt and has not been back since.  I threw down 6 paving bricks across the dirt to get from my back door to the grass.  Upside - I really cannot afford to finish the patio until the fall so I will live with the dirt, stacked pavers and bad grass until then.

When do you put down "Weed and Feed"?  Can I do that in the fall and again in the spring and just pray for rain?  (Calling in a plumber to add a spigot to the back of the house makes a lot of sense!)