Countdown To Christmas

Today is July 25th which means Christmas is 5 months away.

That is 152 days.

I've been seeing lots of Christmas inspiration on Pinterest.

Ideas for ornaments . . .

Ideas for wreaths . . .

Ideas for trees . . .

Sewing projects . . .

Click on images for Pinterest source.

You can go here to see all the ideas for Christmas on my Pinterest board.

5 months is plenty of time to work on projects for the Christmas season.

I think a trip to Hobby Lobby is in order to check out the goodies!

Marty's Cloche Party

Marty is hosting a party!

Here is one of her beautiful cloche displays.

Definition of a cloche . . .

a bell-shaped metal or glass cover placed over a plate to keep food warm or fresh.

Now, I don't have any 'real' cloches, but I did want dress up some of my glass domes & containers

so I could be part of Marty's party.

Now, go on over to Marty's Party to see some amazing cloches.

Click on picture to find Marty.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

Here's an alternative to soft drinks to cool you down during a hot summer day.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

I made this Pinterest recipe for our 4th of July celebration.

click on picture for Pinterest recipe source

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1 cup hot water

2 cups fresh lemon juice

1 gallon cold water

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 lemon, sliced

Mint sprig garnish (optional)

Instructions

Add sugar to a gallon pitcher and pour hot water over sugar, stirring to dissolve.

Add fresh lemon juice, cold water and lemon zest.

Stir until well-combined.

Serve over ice.

Add lemon slices and a mint sprig to each glass.

Keep refrigerated

I squeezed the lemons in this antique juicer that belonged to my Grandma Ruby.

My son doesn't drink soft drinks anymore, but really enjoys lemonade.

He said this recipe tasted great.

I didn't try any because of the sugar.

I need to try making a pitcher with Splenda.

Can you tell which lemons are faux & real?

Have a wonderful Monday!

I'm linking with . . .


Wow Us Wednesdays #76

Weekly Words To Live By #109

Be kind to one another,

 tenderhearted, 

forgiving one another,

 as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32 

Wishing you a day filled with

 encouragement, caring & healing . . .

Happy Saturday

It's going to be another hot, hot, day.

While Hubby is attending to duties at this event . . .

I'm going to take it easy in an air conditioned house.

I'll be watching a little of QVC's Christmas in July sale.

I won't buy a thing, but it's fun to "window shop".

Who knows, I may get lucky & see these little cuties show up at my door,

Happy Saturday!

Enjoy your day!

Refreshing Rain

We were blessed with  much needed rain last night.

The temperature dropped to 79 in just a matter of minutes.

So refreshing!

We'll be hot again today with a high of 107.

I added this sign to my door basket yesterday.

Good old summer time . . .

The extreme heat is good for my Boston ferns.

Hubby gives them a good drink every morning.

This poor impatiens plant is not holding up in the heat.

 It looked like this on June 28th.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stay cool!

Basement Art

I've always wished we lived in a house with a basement.

It would be a great storage area, storm shelter & fun place for the grandkids to play.

Here in NE Oklahoma homes with basements are very rare.

I think the main reason is the rocky soil.

When we built our pool at our last house it was amazing the huge shelf rocks that were removed before construction began. 

Okay, I don't have a basement, but my sister, Susan, does.

This is Susan & Mike's house that I featured on a post in April.

A few weeks ago, Susan sent me pictures of her basement art.

This fun corner features a free handed painting of a car traveling down the highway & two fun chair hammocks.

Here's her description of the painting.

"Here is some of my art work.  One is a huge sunshine the other I was going for a faux paint by number-"esque" look.  I didn't put much effort it it just started painting.  The car in suppose to be a sutto MINI it looks more like the Munster Family car.  At least it gives it a feel of fun."

Let the sunshine in!

This is what she said about creating this wall.

"I used a long board to pencil the sun rays, and a pencil with string to get the circle for the sun.  The faux paint by number picture was free hand.  The sun took more hours than the other project.  It's the cheap way to finish a basement.  $30,000 for finished basement vs. $30 for paint."

What a fun place to play ping pong & hang out!

Goodness it's hot!
103 yesterday!
Extreme heat warning until Sunday night.
Hope you've been having a good week so far!

Sunshine On A Stem

This is a re post from last summer with a few edits & additions . . .

Sunshine on a stem . . . 

The sunflower is one of my most favorite flowers.

Maybe it's because they represent the summer season.

Several years ago while on vacation we found a

bookstore going out of business.

This is one of books I bought.

Sunflowers

Growing, Cooking, and Crafting

with the

 Sunniest of Plants

Written by

Diane Morey Sitton

Throughout the book it lists fun facts about sunflowers

called

 "Seed  for Thought."

picture source google

Sunflowers are the national

flower of Russia.

picture source google

The French word for sunflower

is tournesol, or literally

"turn with the sun."

picture source google

In early Native American culture, the

sunflower was a religious symbol, merging

with the sun in sacred and

decorative motifs.

picture source google

In 1987, Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers

painting sold at auction for a record

$39.9 million.

picture source google

The sunflower was officially named the 

state flower of Kansas in 1903.

picture source google

Bees make a delicious amber honey

from sunflowers.

source google

In the language of flowers, the sunflower

is the birthday flower for June 30.  It symbolizes

adoration, affection, constancy, glory,

gratitude, and infatuation.

picture source google

Faux sunflowers on my kitchen table.

Note to self. . .

buy a bunch of freshly cut sunflowers.