Last week of Feb

The garden is started to wake up.  There's little bits of greenery popping up all around.

In the Garden:

I started doing some gardening chores.  Winter is a good time to trim shrubs, trees and bushes while branches are bare of foliage so you can really see the shape.  I trim out any dead or crossing limbs making sure that all that's left are nice outward growing branches.

However, please note that the best time to trim flowering bushes and trees is after they bloom.  Trimming them in winter will reduce the amount of blooms.

Rudbeckia or Black eyed Susan and Lychnis or Rose Campion, the tiny pink flower dancing among the daylillies in my June 2015 sunny garden border.

This is also a good to time transplant stuff.  I get loads of volunteer Rudbeckia, Lychnis and Lunaria popping up from seed in the lawn so I scoop them out and transplant them to a better spot inside the garden borders.  I try to get them all transplanted before the first time I cut the grass.  Best time to do this is just before it rains.

Another chore that helps tremendously, but I sometimes forget to do in time, is sprinkling compost or fertilizer around the bulb foliage shoots, ornamental shrubs and perennials to give them some extra va va voom.  If I don't have enough compost I get a couple of bags of cheap plain flower fertilizer from Lowe's or Walmart.  This stuff can burn so it's best to use before the tender shoots emerge.  

What I've been Dreaming about:

During a break from Gardening, I sipped a relaxing cup of tea while I perused the Viking River Cruise brochures, relaxing, studying and dreaming on the veranda.  

My sister, Mary Ann wants to treat me to another unforgettable glorious vacation for my BiG Birthday this year.  Isn't she an angel?

Thrifty Finds:

Nabbed another SK book that was on my
dwindling list of 'SK Books I Need to Look For'.  

Gotta Love that creepy cool cover!

What I See When I Walk:

Love this striking historical home on the corner of Main Street & Cascade in Washington Park.  They've done a swell job restoring it.  It had been hidden behind overgrown bushes and trees for many years.  

Cyclamen are so pretty with their silvery heart shaped leaves and lovely blossoms in shades of pink & red.  I admired these beauties for sale but I only took a photo of  them because I seem to excel at killing them, cannot keep them alive despite my affection for them.

What I've been watching:

We decided to reserve The Martian from Redbox, finally.  

What a great movie!  

I'm crazy about space movies in general and this one was a real favorite.  I was swept away.  It was so good we watched it again before returning it the next day.  It was fascinating, loved the story line, acting and soundtrack.  I noticed how the music lyrics reflected what was going on in the movie ~ Genius!

And such clever dialog, I really appreciate the use of humor when it's done so well.

Fav Lines -
"I am the greatest botanist on this planet." ~Mark Watney
"Mars will fear my botany powers!" ~ Mark Watney
"If we are going to have a secret project called 'Elrond', then I want my code name to be 'Glorfindel'
"Rich Purnell is a steely-eyed missile man!"
"Mark Watney: Space Pirate"
"He asked us to call him Capt. Blondebeard" ~ Mindy Park

 Another one of my biggest thrills with this movie was the Great Music Soundtrack.  Yes, I'm a massive FaN of Disco!

The song, Don't rock the Boat, always reminds me of me of my grammy poppy cuz we'd sing it together back in the 1970's.

Then there's that part at the end when he's pulling 12 G's rocketing from Mars, 

just before he goes all  Iron Man, 

that reminds me of that Disney World ride, Mission to Mars, later known as Mission: Space.  

Boy, that kicked my butt!  

According to Wikipedia that ride was only 2.5 G's -

  "The attraction exposes riders to forces up to 2.5G, more than twice the force of gravity at the Earth's surface (effectively multiplying a rider's weight by 2.5)."

What I See When I Walk in Old Salem:

I took these photos during my morning constitutional, recently, in this wonderful historic area about a mile from my house.  It's really quiet and empty that early, so it feels even more like taking a walk back in time.

So many great views walking down Main street.

I like the way the bare tree branches look against the sky.

   Salem College in the town square

I always feel so inspired after a nice walk.

Celebrating my Birthday Week

Happy Birthday to me!

So I like to celebrate my birthday for a whole week or more.

 The anticipation, making plans and doing fun things together with friends and my family is how 

I like to Live it UP!

I started off the week watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel.  

Cuz everyone knows that the minute Halloween is over, 

it's CHRISTMAS!!!

It is a little sad packing up all our cherished vintage Halloween treasures so I like to listen to my favorite collection of Christmas music while I take down and pack away all my decorations.

 Before I bring out any Christmas stuff I want to give the house a good cleaning.  

One chilly morning, I got my first Starbucks Redcup of the season before a quick shopping spree at Target.  I congratulated myself in resisting the purchase of any half off Halloween candy by splurging on a glorious tartan scarf instead.

I choose a festive shade of nail polish for my birthday manicure.

While at the Clemmons Goodwill I spied a fantastic wood & wicker picnic basket for $3!!!
It was very sturdy despite one of the hinges being busted and I couldn't help but dream about all the picnics the previous owners had taken it on and what I might pack in there to nosh on while traveling on a day trip, maybe to the mountains.

Over in the book section I spied some gorgeous classics, circa 1950's. This nice man saw me picking them out and gave me the ones he found as well, since they all seemed to be from this lady named Gloria's collection according to the book plate & inscriptions.  Ssssshhh...I'm going to give them to Ems for Christmas!

On my actual birthday, I wake to the wafting aroma of freshly brewed coffee, 

and think, Ain't Life Grand?  

My BFF of 14 years, Donna, 

brought decadent Krispy Kreme donuts over to gobble up together.

Then we strolled around my favorite antique store called, Lost in Time, 

looking at all the cool vintage things.

Birthdays are the Best!

Later on Emily and I hit the Starbucks and I got my FREE  birthday reward.

It was warm that day so we got Frappucinos.  

Gingerbread for me and Caramel Brulee for Emily.  

So Yummy!

On the way home we pick up our order at Marco's for my 

Pizza Movie Party Night!

On Friday we did a bit of shopping at the mall 

then met my other BFF, Christi and her daughter at the movies.  

I'm so LUCKY to have two best friends!

I met both my beautiful BFFs through homeschooling our daughters 

and our daughters are best friends as well!  

I've known Christi for at least 10 years and we both LOVE Bill Murray so we wanted to see his new movie, Saint Vincent, which was a really good movie but not as funny as we were thinking it would be.

Emily & I shared a huge bucket of popcorn for the first time in about 3 years since she had her braces removed last month.  And afterwards we go to Carraba's, another one of my favorite restaurants, for dinner and I always seem to order the same thing there, too, Fettucine Weesie.  

It's SO GOOD!

I took this photo at Old Salem Tavern where Donna & I + our girls met for lunch after some Christmas shopping on another beautiful, sunny, crisp fall Saturday.  Of course. I had the chicken pie again with gingerbread for dessert.  It's a tradition!

I got a lot of fun packed into this fantastic Birthday week.

And finally there's this:

I found it while flipping through Instagram 

and it made me giggle.

Anybody else miss Jesse Pinkman, from Breaking Bad?

I still seem to look forward to my birthday every year.  

I feel like it's another year older and wiser.  

Definitely a time to count your blessings and celebrate LIFE.   

Do you like birthdays? 

How do you spend your birthday week?

Highlights of My Week

What a beautiful Fall it has been!  

So many Lovely sunny days with temperatures in the 70's.  

Here's a photo of the table on my back patio.  I grew the itty bitty tiny baby pumpkin on the right and I bought the cute little pie pumpkin.  

We visited the Cobblestone Market in Old Salem for fresh beautiful veg.  What a gorgeous bouquet of fresh picked carrots.

 Afterwards we took a walk around Old Salem enjoying the sunshine and gently falling leaves.
Love those mossy old bricks.

I was able to snap this photo of one of the costumed folks walking down the hill.

This new dahlia finally bloomed in my garden.  

It was worth the wait though, don't you think?  The colors are just so pretty!

I found a cat!  

I just happened to be looking out the window when I saw a blur of orange fur scamper through the gate and up my side walk onto the veranda.  I thought at first that it must be our Lucy that somehow escaped but she was sitting by me looking out the window, too.  Then I worried it could be my daughter's beautiful orange cat, Chester, that had got out, so I had to investigate!

I opened the front door and saw this little poouffy darling with a tail that looked as magnificent as Chester's!  He came right up to me and was super friendly so I scooped him up and brought him safely inside.  I knew he had to belong to someone as he was well fed and well groomed, definitely not a stray or lost like so many of our found/ adopted pets.   We played with him and took some photos to post on facebook to see if any of my neighbours recognized him.  With Sarah's help printing up posters we delivered them to houses around ours and tacked them on poles.  A few hours later, Maxwell, was back in his home which just happened to be the rental house next door to me.
I Love a happy ending!

We celebrated one of my BFFs, Donna's birthday with cocktails and dinner.

Caramel Appletini

1. Add 1 shot of Caramel vodka to a shaker filled apple cider & ice.
2. Shake well. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with thin apple slices

Later we had a bonfire with roasted marshmallow's and S'mores.  It was a beautiful night!

One chilly morning, I decided to bake pumpkin bran muffins with raisins and chunks of fresh apple.  Nothing like the aroma of baking treats in the oven.  I've been perfecting my muffin recipe for years.  My secret is a sprinkling of cinnamon & sugar on the top before you pop them in the oven.  I'll email you the recipe if you're interested.

Hope you are enjoying so many fun fall festivities!

XO,
Michelle

Old Salem in Fall

I'm Lucky, I live close to Old Salem

It's a historical village that has a few shops, bakery, tavern, 

lots of cobblestone and interesting architecture.  

I go there for walks in the morning when it is quiet and no one is around.

There's a water pump fountain in the town square and lots of folks walking around dressed in period clothing that work there.

I especially like Old Salem in the fall when the air is crisp, the leaves are turning colors and they crunch under your feet.

I also Love to go The Cobblestone Farmer's Market held every Saturday, 

9am-noon, May through November 

for fresh produce, eggs, baked goods, flowers and whatnot.  

Everything is arranged so beautifully.

It gets even more picturesque when the leaves start to change in October.

I LOVE how the folks that live here decorate their front steps.

Around Halloween there's a Jack O'Lantern carving contest, then everyone displays their carved pumpkin by setting them on the fence that surrounds the town square.  

The ambiance is incredible in the evening
when they are all lit with candles!  

My birthday is in November and it has become 

a new tradition to go for a sunset walk around,

then eat dinner at the Tavern in Old Salem.

Here is a photo my daughter, Sarah
of Lostvestige
took of the Tavern on the evening of my birthday dinner last year.  

I Love the way the moon looks shining above.

I usually order the same thing every time I eat here, 

Moravian Chicken Pie!

And maybe a cocktail ~ Cheers!

Then there's warm gingerbread cake with lemon sauce for dessert to share.

I ♥ Old Salem!!!

Just wait until I blog about it for the holidays.

All the photos were either taken by me, my awesome sister, Mary Ann
or my Lovely daughter, Sarah.

Visit her blog, Lostvestige for more of her fabulous photos.

or Google!