Hello everyone, my name is Lisa I am a southern girl born and raised in East Tennessee. I love discovering new places and things to do. I have a lot of favorites, shopping, traveling, knitting and photography are all at the top of my list. I am married with my fur babies my only children. This blog is actually named after my beloved basset hound Patches. She passed away a few years ago but will always have a huge part of my heart. Come with me and we will explore some wonderful places and discover some really fun things. Are you ready?
Mother Nature came out and waved her magic weather wand and zapped our poor flowering trees. Now the beautiful pink cherry trees are sort of a dull tan color. The Bradford Pear tree blooms are long gone. The Dogwood had just started to bloom so only time will tell on those. The Redbuds are still quite beautiful but they had been blooming for over a week so I guess they were safe.
I pass this house on my way to work. These two beautiful cherry trees. were a beautiful pink color just a few days ago.
We had a really cold weekend. It was beautiful and sunny but oh so cold. My sister and I went for a long ride on Saturday. She hasn’t been out of the house much, except for doctor appointments, since she started Chemo treatments in January. We drove a lot of the old backroads where we grew up and went to elementary school. We traced our old bus route. It was so much fun looking at our old house and seeing familiar and not so familiar things. Lots of changes in some areas.
Most of the weekend I knitted and crocheted on the temperature blanket. I listened to an audiobook while I crocheted. It was very peaceful. My work has been a little crazy. We are in the middle of construction on a new building on the property and it is something every single day. So some downtime over the weekend was really nice. I am glad to be doing something productive I have been very unmotivated lately.
I saw these two in my backyard yesterday.
So spring or winter it has been a beautiful time. And before you know it the hot humid summer weather will be here. I guess we should just enjoy it day by day. How have you been?
Well here it is winter again. The temps tonight will drop well below freezing. Some of the Bradford Pear trees have been hit by the cold and their milky white blossoms have turned a yucky light brown. That’s just how it is in East Tennessee. You never know what kind of weather you will get. The redbuds are also blooming but they seem undisturbed by this little cool spell Mother Nature has thrown at us. It is also time for the Dogwood blooms to emerge and I am holding my breath that they don’t get bit by this cold weather.
Thinking of flowers and blooms and colors, I decided to get some seeds started inside in small pots so that they would be ready to plant outside in a month or two. If we wait until the fear of frost is over, to plant outside, we could be waiting for a couple of months for blooms. I think planting them indoors and getting a good root system going makes for better plants once you put them outside. Plus it is a way to get spring going inside the house. I worked on them Sunday and now I have them spread all over the house trying to find spots that will give them ample light. I will let you know how they do. I planted Marigolds and Zinnias, two of my favorites for summer.
I had to move Zsa Zsa over a bit to get these little seedlings into the light.
I was feeling very creative over the weekend. I pulled out these big needles and made a scarf. The yarn was very thick and it knitted up fast. It will be good for next winter. I am wondering though, if maybe I am procrastinating by not working on the temperature blanket. I have it almost finished and like I mentioned before I am just over it!!!! But I have to finish it. I must!!! It has grown into more than I can handle. I know I will love it when I am finished. I guess.
This will be so warm for winter.
I also made a hat. I have been working on doing some hats to donate to the Cancer Center where my sister gets chemo. There is a basket in the infusion waiting area and people often donate hats, bandanas, headbands etc. This one is a bit thick and might be too warm for spring, but who knows since our weather is so fickle. I am working on some that will be a lighter yarn and will be good through spring.
I made a blueberry cobbler over the weekend and did the meal prep for my breakfast burritos. I love blueberry cobbler and I put it in the refrigerator to have for the week.
I am reading a couple of good books. All in all a pretty lazy weekend, except for that jolt into Daylight Saving Time, I am okay with lazy weekends because my work is about to be crazy and will continue that way through summer. Any down time I can get now I will happily take it.
Happy Friday!! I am so glad to see the weekend. It’s been a really long week. I was out of work on Monday with some kind of stomach bug. We were without power all last weekend because of the bad storms. My poor hubby had to clear the tree off of the driveway by himself because I had no energy to help. I went back to work on Tuesday and my sweet sister in law Pat came over for a couple of days and helped clean the yard. I don’t think my yard has ever looked so good. Thank you Pat!!! So on to the favorites from this week.
Actually this was a leftover from last week. I met up with two of my friends Michelle and Chuck, well Michelle is also my niece, and we had a fun lunch and walked downtown in Madisonville and checked out a few of the shops. It is always fun to get us together.
I went to an estate sale last week and look what I found. A pie crust shield. I guess I knew these existed but I have never had one. I always use tinfoil and wrap it around the edges of my pies. Sometimes this doesn’t work out to well and when I pull the foil off some of the pie crust comes with it. I can’t wait to try this pie shield. A great excuse to make a pie I think. I think I will make a coconut cream pie.
I may have mentioned this eyelash primer from L’OREAL before. I can’t remember. But it deserves to be mentioned again. If you have very fine lashes, like I do, sometimes mascara can overwhelm them and make them appear clumpy. If you use primer, and this is the best one I have found, before applying your mascara it will be a game changer. When I wear this I actually feel like I have eyelashes. As we age our eyelashes become very few and far between, literally. I think I can actually count mine. Try this you won’t be disappointed.
Last week I listened to this audio book by Valerie Bertinelli. Enough Already. I loved it. I always loved her as an actress and the as the host on her cooking show. This book is about her finally telling herself that enough is enough on the weight loss roller coaster. She finally starts to believe that she is enough just the way she is. She also talks a lot about her ex rock star husband Eddie Van Halen and her son Wolfie. If you get the audio book it is read by Valerie. Because there are many of her favorite recipes in this book I decided to order the book from Amazon. Listen or read this you will love it.
Look at this stack of bandana scarf thingies I made. I love making them. I sent a few to friends and I am making more to take to the hospital where my sister has chemo. They have a basket where people donate hand made items like this and hats and different things. I am also working on some springlike hats that would be light weight and good for spring. I can’t wait to donate those.
My co workers and I had a field trip yesterday to look for some items for work. We went to Athens and ate at Yamato’s. It was so good. We shared a few things with each other.
The Redbuds are blooming. This makes me so happy I just love them.
My orchid, Ophelia, is blooming. When orchids lose their blooms it can take several months for them to bloom again. I couldn’t remember what color Ophelia was. I thought she might be yellow but no she is white. She is so beautiful.
This was a favorite outfit I wore last week. You can probably guess that black and white together are my favorite clothing combinations. I got this shirt from Kohl’s and it is a little short. I like it with a sweater or jacket over it.
So those are some of my favorites. What are some favorites of yours this week?
This is perhaps the least specific blog you will find. A variety of DIY projects, book reviews, health tips, yoga poses, fashion ideas, recipes or something altogether different depending on my current mood. I've never been pigeon-holed into one category so neither is my blog. Strap in and enjoy the ride!
Southern Patches 