Happy Halloween Florida Style

Blooms and Books

Goodness she is bursting with blooms of sunshine today, so glad I bought this Hibiscus it was so full of buds, nice treat before the rain comes and knocks off all the flowers.

Made it to the library to pick up some books that were waiting for me, I'm still using the cane but resting the leg as much as possible has made it easier to walk nearly pain free, it's not 100% but doing so much better.

I have had Dear Fahrenheit 451 on my to read list for over a year and finally found it in the fiction section under the authors name it's a non-fiction book, if you don't know where it goes leave it for the library staff to reshelf.  (a pet peeve of mine)

The other book I picked up is A New Kabbalah for Women my friend is reading it and wanted someone to discuss it with so I checked it out today faster then ordering from Amazon and one less book to put on my bookshelves which despite all the donations I made prior to my move and after are still full. I won't tell how many new books I purchased since I moved in ha ha it's less then 10.

The newest issue of Inspirations magazine arrived in the mail today I going to make a cup of tea and start reading it after dinner.

I received an email from Inspirations yesterday informing me my Greenwoman piece is in this weeks What are you Stitching? section of Newsletter #209. Goodness I remember when I sent in the photo after I finished the stitching in June 2018. I was so surprised.

So I opened the email and hit the view online option so I could read the entire Newsletter and there she was staring back at me.   Work on the newest Greenman piece is coming along slowly I did manage to get some of the thin green leaves stitched and this weekend I plan to do more stitching on it.

slowly making progress

The rain finally made an appearance about 4:00p.m. at first it came down light burst and then the skies opened and gave everything a good soaking which saves me the trouble of dragging out the watering can to water the rosemary.  

The first of November is a week away Wow where did October go? Let me go make some tea, put my leg up and rest for a bit.

October is Flying By

It's been a while since I made a blog post I've been nursing the bad knee, just when I think I'm getting better at using the cane my toe hits the tip and all balance is just about lost. I know I need to go back to the Orthopedic Center for the MRI to find the problem, I am waiting on the doctor's office to set up the appointment. In the meantime I now feel the knee cap move when I walk not all the time its like it slips out of place and the leg wants to buckle and the pain keeps me standing.  When the knee pops back into place so to speak I'm fine.

So while I haven't been 100% I do have good days when I can get things done as long as I am using the cane.  I bought a few plants recently, rosemary and lavender and a yellow hibiscus.

The lavender is a personal challenge because I have not been able to grow it in Florida I've tried in the Spring and Summer I'm sure because of the heat and humidity so I decided to try it in the Fall so it has time to establish itself through the winter months, I know it does grow here several people I know have it so I am trying it again.

lavender pot 1

lavender pot 2

The rosemary looks a bit straggly I am hoping the larger pots will be helpful, I always have rosemary in my garden.

rosemary pot 1

rosemary cauldron

I forgot to take a photo of the yellow hibiscus when the flower was open and looking like a little bit of sunshine.

I transplanted the hibiscus into a large planter which shouldn't need to be transplanted until Spring, the rosemary and lavender will probably be potted again in December, though I may plant one of the rosemary and lavender plant in the ground at that point.  It really is hard to say as I am not very steady on my feet and the cane gets in the way.  It took me nearly 3 hours to get everything potted last Sunday morning, the weather was wonderful and the wind chimes were tinkling and the birds were singing the entire time so I may have just slowed down to enjoy the atmosphere.

I haven't done any type of stitching in the last week or so I just haven't wanted to pick up the needle or a hook. I had several books on reserve come in at the library so I did get some reading in.

I finished the Janet Evanovich and Joan Anderson books, midway through Into the Wild and just started Autumn Alibi yesterday.  I am just about caught up on my letter writing and plan to start stitching this weekend.  The mornings here in Florida are much cooler this week and little bits of autumn show here and there.  These trees are usually green Spring and Summer then in the fall they turn yellow and then red.

turning yellow

turning red

a little yellow a bit of red and a chicken

The photos are not that great I snapped the pictures while waiting for a chicken to cross the road, you can just about see it in the bottom of the above photo, there is a brown one running near the tree however  not clear in the photo.

Sunday and Slow Stitching

My mood changed on Saturday afternoon and I had the desire to work on some hand embroidery again so I pulled out the Greenman to do some slow stitching which I will continue to work on today.

I did the eyes, the leaf over the nose and those thin leaves below the eyes, I have moved the hoop since the photo was taken and will work on the other side to finish the thin leaves.  I am linking up to Kathy Quilts today here is the link to check out what other bloggers are slow stitching today
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/10/slow-sunday-stitching-retreat-report.html