Planning my Gardens at the New House

I hope this post finds all of you well, warm and happy!  The past week the weather has been so horrible I think for everyone!  The one morning I got up and it was 12 degrees.  That is cold for our area here in NC.  

I have been planning out my gardens for here on paper.  I went ahead and bought 2 dahlia tubers from Petal Pickers in Greenville, SC.  I have bought from them over the years and there dahlias are always so good.  I brought 4 dahlia tubers over in pots from Scott's house when I moved my gardening things over here.  I hope they make it.  I have them in the garage.  They should be ok.  I am looking into roses and perennials right now.  The next time I go up to NJ, I'll also get some pieces from 2 plants my sister has that were my Nana's.  I had some but they are at Scott's house.  Mason may get them for me when he gets the daylilies I planted along the front walk.  I've got my rototiller all cleaned up and ready to till when the weather gets warmer in the Spring.  I'm going to pull the 2 ugly bushes the builder planted out front and replace them with 2 Encore azaelas.  I'm think a salmon color that I've had in the past.  I figured it would go perfect with the white house and black trim.  I'm also going to paint the 2 rocking chairs that were my parents out on the front porch a glossy black in the Spring.  I will get he usual annuals also to fill in.

The plants/bushes that I'm thinking of getting are:

Daylilies

Roses

Hostas

Zinnias

Sweet William

Butterfly Bush

Azaelas

Yarrow

Marigolds

Echincea

Echinecea

Graham Thomas Rose

Lady of Shalot Rose

That is all I can think of right now.  That is a good start!  I will also put some gladiolia bulbs in.  John loved them!  I always think of him when I see them blooming.  He loved that I gardened.  

Are any of you thinking about gardening in the Spring?  If so, what do you think you'll be putting in?  I'll also be putting in some raised beds and putting herbs and veggies in.  Hope they do well here.  There is plenty of sun for sure!  Down the side of the house there is some shade from my neighbors pecan trees, so that is where the hostas will go.

I have a garden journal and I will probably be using that alot.  I like to keep track of what plants do well and what doesn't.  

Well that is all I have for today!  I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and the weekend if I don't make it back here.

Sherri

Trying to Stay Warm and Some House Updates

Hi Everyone!  I hope you all have been staying safe and warm with all this cold weather.  We have been lucky and we have not received any snow or ice,  just wind and rain.  The temps the other morning when I let Riley out was 12 degrees!  That is unusual for here!  Riley is settling down very nicely here.  He is very good company for me.  I feel like he has doubled or maybe even tripled in size!  He is a very good boy.  Today we took a ride in the car.  I thought he was doing great but he got out of the car, he threw up on the driveway.  I guess he was unsettled by the wind and change.  

Riley-4 months old

I have been very busy at trying to get the rest of the house all set up.  On Friday my new coffee table was delivered from Kirklands.  I opened the box and there was so much styrofoam and it was all over.  Thank heavens for vacuum cleaners!  It came out really nice though and finished the living room.

My bedroom, kitchen, dining area are now all done and I love the way everything turned out.  I will be painting the walls in all of these rooms but for now it will just stay cream.

Dining Area

Living Room, Kitchen and Dining Area

My bedroom

On Friday I went to Gold Hill, NC, which is only about 4.5 miles from where I live.  What a cute little town.  They had a great restaurant and alot of shops.  I went with Lilli, Ben's girlfriend.  We had a great time despite it was freezing cold.  Alot of the shops were closed due to the cold, so we will go back again some other day when it is warmer.  They have a shop that you can cut your own flowers in the summer and they have workshops, which interests me!  Lilli and I may take a class sometime.  Here are some of the shops:

A little shop.

Another little shop.

This old house in the village is so beautiful!

This was a gas station at one time and now it is a shop in the village of Gold Hill.

This is the old post office made into a pottery shop.I definitely want to go back there.

When I was putting the living room together, I came across this wooden box which was my great-grandmothers.  I love this!

This was my paternal great greatmothers wooden box.  It looks like it could have been a jewelry box because it has velvet inside.

I bought some beautiful roses and mums at Harris Teeter and they have lasted for over 1 month and I got 2 bouquets out of the batch I bought.

Sunsets have been really pretty here lately.

I have been knitting also.  I started a new project called The Travertine Throw.  I'm not too far into it, but when I get some more done, I'll take a photo to share with you.  I'm reading Prodigal Summer for my bookclub.  I joined the Salisbury Library bookclub.  It will be meeting on 2/17.  I can't wait to meet everyone.  You can also go online and Zoom meeting the bookclub.  I'm excited to get back into a bookclub.  I have been having dinner with Jim, my neighbor just about every Wednesday and Saturday.  He has been a widower for the past 6 years.  He is 73 years old and very lonely.  We are going as friends and that seems to be working out just fine.  I have started going to church at Shiloah United Methodist Church in Granite Quarry, NC (just about 10 mins. from me).  I love that church.  They have a widow group and they go out to lunch every Sunday after church and 1 lunch a month at Longhorn Steak House.  I love that group so much and enjoy them every time I go!  They make me laugh!

So as everyone can tell, things are settling in rather nicely!  I hope everyone is well and enjoying 2024!

Hugs,

Sherri

Lots Going on With Me Since December!

I had a very busy end of 2023 and beginning of 2024!  I closed on my new house in Rockwell, NC on 12/18.  I moved from the apartment to my new house on 12/20.  I left NC to go to NJ for Christmas on 12/23.  I stayed at my sister, Sue's and had a wonderful Christmas holiday with my family until 12/26.  On 12/28 I started my new job.  I had training down in Charlotte on the 28th and 29th.  Then I started working from home on 1/2.  On 12/30 I picked up Riley, my new Golden Retriever puppy.  I had a very stressful work week from 1/2 until 1/5.  Over that weekend, I realized that this job was something I was not enjoying and I was stressed out all the time.  Monday I gave my notice before I had too much time invested in a job I knew I would never like.  My boss was understanding.  I will be doing minimal things for the job until the 17th.  I'm going to take a few weeks off before looking for an easier job, something I would like to do and I could leave where I work and not take it home with me.  I think that would be better for me.  So as you can see, I wasn't kidding when I said it was a very busy end to 2023 and beginning of 2024!  

I have met 2 of my neighbors and they are so nice!  Jim is on one side of me.  He is a widower of 6 years.  His wife passed away from cancer.  On the other side is Sabrina with her little boy.  She is super sweet!  I have gone out to dinner a few times with Jim.   He really misses his wife and is lonely.  He makes a great dinner partner!  It is nice to have a friend to go out to dinner with.  Sabrina is going to talk to her Dad about the big tree I want removed on the property line now that I found out it is mine.  Branches are dropping and I'm afraid some day it will just drop one of it's huge branches and either crush our homes or hurt someone.  I wish the builder had removed it, but he probably didn't want to pay to remove it.  Sabrina's Dad does tree removal for a living.

I am getting my house pretty well set up now.  I don't have many more boxes to unpack!  I put up all the pictures on the wall, got 2 new rugs (1 for the living room and 1 for the eating area).  It really looks like home!  Here are some photos of a few things I've done:

Bookcase in the Living Room

My little cranberry colored shelving unit.

My cupboard with all my green Depression Glass collection in it.

The other bookcase in the Living Room.

My pie crust drop leaf table in the kitchen.

My sofa table in front of the Living Room window.

I have enjoyed the sunrises and sunsets when I take Riley out for potty breaks in the early morning or evening or for a walk.

Sunrise in my backyard.

Sunset in my backyard.

I made a Valentine's Day wreath for my front door.  I had a Christmas wreath up, but it seemed time to move into the next holiday.  I only had a small lit Christmas tree and a Christmas wreath this year.  Too much with moving to decorate any more than that!

The Wednesday after Christmas Jenny, Owen and Jack came up for a visit to my new house.  We had a wonderful time exchanging Christmas presents, going to White Owl Antique Mall and having lunch.  We laughed alot and had just a really good time, just like before I started dating Scott.  I'm glad they came up to see where I moved to and it was such a good time!

I got all my green Depression Glass unpacked.  It had been packed up for almost a year!  It was like seeing an old friend again LOL!  

On December 30th I picked up Riley, my Golden Retriever puppy!  He has been great company and such a delight.  He is pretty much potty trained already, sleeps thru the night until about 5-ish.  We have had some fun together since he came in my life.  He also has grown almost twice as big as when I picked him up!  He is going to be one big boy!

When I picked him up they had a little box made for him to bring to his new house.  This little red blanket with his Mom's scent was in the box.  He carries it all throughout the house with him and sleeps with it at night.  So sweet.

Riley is always close by where ever I am.  He is such a sweetheart!

As you can see, he is one cute little boy!  He is such a blessing to me!

Last but not least, I have continued to bring fresh flowers into the house from the grocery store.  If you know me, you know that flowers are a big part of my life!  I am hoping to put alot of gardens in around here.  I also plan on putting some raised beds in for veggies and herbs.  Mason is going to dig up the daylilies that are at Scott's house and bring them to me.  It was too dark when we went over there to get all my outside things.  So I now have my parents 2 rocking chairs on my front porch, my gas grill on the patio along with my outdoor patio furniture, my circular saw, my painting things (inside wall painting items not my watercolors (I brought them with me already), my rototiller and my sanding equipment when I refinish furniture.  I couldn't find my ladder or metal hose, so Mason said he will bring them over another time.  I don't have to go back over to Scott's to get anything else, so that chapter of my life is now closed, thank goodness!

Well sorry for the long post, but I hadn't been on here in some time!  I hope to be able to post more often.  Everyone have a lovely day and enjoy whatever you are doing!

Sherri

Books I Read in 2023

Hi Everyone and Happy New Year!  I know, I know I'm a little late but things have been so busy for me!  I had a very good reading/listening year last year.  Here is the list of books I read:

1. Flirting with the Beast by Jane Porter 

2. The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper 

3. Saltwater Cove by Amelia Addler 

4. The Cursed Wife by Pamela Hartshorne 

5. Defensive Wounds by Lisa Black 

6. The Storm Girl by Kathleen McGurl 

7. Burnt Mountain by Anne River Siddons 

8. The Second Life of Mirelle West by Amanda Skenandore. 

9. Monday Lies by Jamie Mason 

10. In A Bookclub Far Away by Tif Marcelo 

11. Nantucket Homes by Pamela M. Kelley 

12. The Fifth Avenue Artists Society by Joy Callaway 

13. The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C. McPhail 

14. The Secret Irish Castle by Santa Montefiore 

15. Our Little Secret by Kiersten Modglin 

16. Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery 

17. The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda 

18. Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica 

19. The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand 

20. The Islanders by Megan Mitchell Moore 

21. There was an Old Woman by Hallie Ephron 

22. Cardinals Rule by Barbara Delinsky 

23. You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose. 

24. The Last Word by Taylor Adams 

25. Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena 

26. Southern as a Second Language by Lisa Patton 

27. The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden 

28. The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela Kelley 

29. The Great Women of Heron Lake by Deanna Lynn Sletten 

30. Gilded Girl by Pamela Kelley 

31. Lemon Curd Killer by Laura Childs 

32. The House by the Lake by Ella Carey 

33. The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter 

34. The Bookstore Sister by Alice Hoffman 

35. Plymouth Undercover by Pamela M. Kelley 

36. The End of Her by Shari Lapena 

37. One Night on the Island by Josie Silver 

38. The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby 

39. Honey Drop Dead by Laura Childs 

40. Chardonnay Charade by Ellen Crosby 

41. The Bordeaux Betrayal by Ellen Crosby 

42. The Riesling Retribution by Ellen Crosby 

43. Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle 

44. One Last Secret by Adele Parks 

45. The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan 

46. Christmas at Cozy Inn by Meredith Summers 

47. Finding Christmas by Karen Schaler 

48. Murder at an Irish Christmas by Carlene O'Connor

I tried to read 50 books this year, but I am happy with 48!  50 will be my goal for 2024!