...5.15...Friday Update...

...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us...

...we celebrated our anniversary with flowers and dinner out at a new-to-us Chinese restaurant...I had vegetable mei fun and it was delicious...but I didn't take a single photo for some reason...

...since I didn't take any photos of our anniversary dinner...I'll share an old postcard from the restaurant where we got engaged all those years ago...funny that there was a Chinese restaurant in a "Dutch Inn" hotel...haha...sadly it no longer exists but it was iconic in its day...

...another pretty lily is blooming along the sidewalk...

...the yarrow is blooming like crazy...the rain we had really generated a lot of blooms...

...the star jasmine is still blooming an perfuming the back porch...

...I was so worried about the transplanted gardenias...

...but they are green and flourishing...this one is about to bloom...

...and the taller ones are already blooming...

...and we have cherries on the Cherry tree...

...they're so pretty as they ripen...

...unfortunately the Man saw a mockingbird eating them...so we covered the tree with a net to protect the cherries...

...we had a few 'volunteer' greens in the garden...these are definitely mustard greens...but I'll just be adding them to a salad as they taste kind of like arugula...

...and we got a nice bowlful of also volunteer lettuce...it's growing where the lettuce was planted in the winter garden...and is now an eggplant square...it'll bolt soon in the heat but we'll defninitely enjoy it while we can...

~Have a lovely day!

...4.24...Fix-It Friday...

...I've actually "fixed" this 1/2 cup measure before...way back in 2022...and of course there's a post about it...

...the straight pins that I'd used for that repair finally rusted through...so I got out these teensy-tinsy screws and tools to "fix" it again...

...these screws are from an eyeglass repair kit that the Man had gotten years ago...and they're stainless so they shouldn't rust...

...and since I'd already drilled the holes for the previous fix...this was a super easy job...

...I just found appropriately sized tiny bolts and slipped them through the holes...and added the nut on the back...it's a nice sturdy rust-free fix this time...

...and I'm happy to have the 1/2 cup measure back in the group...

...and I added a 1/8 cup measure from the thrift store too...

...it 'nests' ok with the others...

...and popped them all back in their drawer...

...have you been 'fixing' anything lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

...10.24...Friday Update...

...just a quick post before we head out for my sweet sissie's house for the weekend...so looking forward to that visit...

...but earlier we put up the halloween decorations...

...we got the Halloween decorations down from the attic...our first time unrolling the nifty dangly light storage...it worked beautifully...perfectly NON-tangled lights...

...we put the two ceramic pumpkins that actually use candles for light down at the bottom of the steps and the row of solar-light-up pumpkins down the sidewalk...

...and the 20+ year old happy/sweet witchie on the post...and the two old-but-still-working electric/foam pumpkins by the doorway where they can be plugged in...

...and the flame lights in the overhead lights...and we were done...

...spooky...

...in preparations for the trip where we'll be celebrating Sissie's birthday...long overdue...I made her a cake...

...vegan...just like Mom's orange one from last month...

...it turned out great...

...I used my pretty fluted pan...

...and I packed a sammie for the 3+ hour trip...

...a cross section...I'm already looking forward to eating this...

...with a Poppi...of course...

...and I packed my bag...(over-packed probably)...

...and on the way to the car...I snapped a couple of photos of the greens we'd planted in the winter garden...

...kind of surprised that they're already up...but thrilled...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your weekend!

...8.1...Friday Update...

...a little more birthday goodness that wasn't included in the weekend post...

...the Man made me a sweet cup of coffee on my birthday...and topped it with vegan whipped cream...it was a treat...

...and then he went to the grocery store to get the ingredients for one of his recipes and he got me this watermelon slice for a treat...

...it was delicious...I stood right there at the counter and ate the entire thing...

...and then when I got down close to the rind...I used a scoop to scrape off the remaining pink fruit...

...and I put that into a jar...

...with some lime juice and a little bit of stevia...

...and gave it a quick blend...

...and I had a delicious watermelon aqua fresca to sip on all afternoon...

...and now for a couple (or a few) of sweet birthday presents I didn't show you in the birthday post...

...the kiddos sent these adorable solar lanterns...they're pretty in the daytime...

...but right at dusk the little lights inside them come on...

....and they are so pretty...

...we put one on each side of the back porch...

...look at the pretty pattern the light makes on the wall and concrete...

...and Mom got us a new cooker for our outdoor kitchen...YAY!

...it's a little bit different from the one we have...but pretty simple to use as well...I love it...

...and the Man wanted me to have a pink toboggan for the trip to Alaska...and the only way he could get it was in a set of four...

...so now I have 4 new toboggans...they're really nice though and I'm pretty sure they'll fit under my helmet for winter rides...

...and I went to my new LYS...aka Stuff-Mart...and got the yarn for Our Airman's Wife's Minecraft vest...

...I've stowed it in my laundry/craft room cubbie for now as I won't start that project until I finish the Porcelain sweater...soon though...

...and...I'm not super sure of the colours...they both seem too bright for this vintage-look sweater vest...

...and you can apparently purchase one ready made...how funny is that?...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your weekend!