Snaps around the yard

A few snaps around the yard for July. In the first one you can see that Brent used what he had on hand for his bean poles...LOL
I love my Hibiscus just wish it would come back next year but I guess I'll just have to buy another one.

White Coneflower

Just revisiting some images I snapped when the flowers were in their prime.  I miss them.........



....

My Cozy Corner

Just a shot of my new little table and chairs and the Diamond frost.  Love this new furniture. 
I'm having trouble with my laptop when I use my Photoshop.....can't use the numeral pad or my little b...the captial B works but not the little b.  Might be cause my laptop is so full there isn't any room left for the PS to run....need to do some major housecleaning.  I think I'll buy a new huge external drive and move all my pictures to it.

///

The Pale Pink Hibiscus

Just thought I would post the pale pink hibiscus bush.  It's not nearly as big or as pretty as the hot pink one and I don't like it nearly as well but it was given to me so it gets to continue growing... 
BTW...I finally figured out a way to take shots early in the morning without my lens fogging over.  Or, should I say, some guys on the Alpha group gave me some suggestions...LOL....I warm my camera up a bit with my hair dryer and then wrap it in a warm towel before I carry it outside.  Worked like a charm...no condensation. It took about a minute to warm the towel up in the dryer and a minute to warm the camera up with the hair dryer. I was getting frustrated because I would see something I wanted to get a shot up but when I'd bring my camera outside, it would fog over and I couldn't use it for at least 30 minutes until it warmed up. 

....

Paula Deen Zucchini Bread Recipe

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. (Believe it or not, I forgot to add the lemon juice but I couldn't tell that!).  Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.  Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out cleans.  Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes. My mini loaf pan is the size of a cookie sheet with 8 mini loaves and it filled them all to the brim with a bit left over in the bowl.  I baked for 45 minutes and they were perfect.

This is not for the fat-free, calorie conscience.....LOL..

....

Pretty in Pink

Just a couple snaps of my perennial Hibiscus.  This one was given to me by a lady on my route and I love the deep, deep  pink color. I have had to pour the water to it this year since its fairly new to my yard but next year it will be able to handle the weather on its own.  Or, so I hope...LOL....the plant is about 5 foot tall and 3 foot around and it has tons of buds on it but only a few have bloomed out so far.  They only last a couple days but are replaced by a new bloom each time.  I also have a smaller plant with paler pink blooms but I don't like it as well.  It doesn't get enough sunlight where it is planted and I need to dig it up and transplant it but I keep forgetting until its too late to dig. 

...

Zucchini bread

Since the weather was so hot and dry this weekend, we didn't have to mow.  I did do a ton of watering but we were finally blessed with an inch of rain early this morning.  The flowers loved it!  So....we spent most of the weekend in the house and I cooked and baked.  Stewed a chicken and made homemade noodles and then made 8 on these mini zucchini loaves today...used a Paula Deen recipe and it is yummy!

...

Couple Shots from the weekend...

Remember when

Brent and I went to a car show this afternoon and this was on one of the cars.

I remember when it was a special treat to go to a drive-in restaurant to eat. 

Visit to the Farmers Market

Blennerhassett Hotel Parkersburg, WV

I love fresh fruits and vegtables so we went to the farmers market this morning to stock up on some goodies. The green beans and cucumbers are just about ready in our garden. We have been eating summer squash for a couple of weeks now and the tomatoes are starting to turn (can't wait). Since I could eat nothing but vegtables for a meal it will be good eating for the rest of the summer.

Wagon Wheel

Just a shot of my flower wagon wheel.  Like the contrast between the dark wheel and the brick.

....

Mr Frog # 2

I followed a tutorial on the coffee shop blog to process this image again. She has an action that you can download but today she had a tutorial on each step in the action and how to do it.

I really like the vintage look that it gave to this image.

Bright Pink Zinnia

One of my bright, pink Zinnia's down by the road.  Used a texture I found in my stash but don't know where I got it.  The frame and mat is a action by Mark but I don't know how to use it as good as he does. 


...

Mr Frog

Took this shot Saturday and was going to post yesterday but was a little under the weather so didn't do much but lay around. Feeling some better today.
This frog has been sitting  out back by the pond for years. He's almost the same color as the rocks.

The Shasta Daisy Clumps

...

The clumps of Shasta Daisy and Coneflower.  I've tried for years to get the Shasta Daisy to grow like this and its finally paying off.  These clumps have now been growing on their own for the past 3 years.  Love them!


...

Flower box 2011

...

The front of the house where I used to have the old windows.  Jerri Ann bought this scroll for me for Christmas, or my birthday, or mothers' day....can't remember...LOL.  Anyway, I still need something to go along with it cause its a bit lost on the big wall but can't find what I need or want, so its there as is. These flowers are doing so good in this location.  My geraniums in other spots aren't doing as well.  I need a bit more height in the middle and probably should have planted some spikes or something else like that. I hope I'm not boring you with all these flower images but its the best I can do right now.  It takes 30 minutes for my camera to 'defog' once I take it outside and then I've forgotten what I wanted to take a shot of. LOL..

Off to the sweat box!

....

Sunshine Yellow

.

I'm not real sure what this flower is....I'm thinking its flowering moss. It's only open for a few hours during the day so I only get to see it during the weekends and the little blooms were a bit ragged when I decided to get a shot of them.  Found this little pitcher at a flee market and had to have it.  The vendor was impressed with my huge purchase...$2.00. I need to find me a better texture....I'm wearing this one out and its a bit too bold for this dainty image.

....

The Red Door

....

I'm not sure what is happening to me....I've never been a red color person and look at my house!  I have to admit it through....I really like it!  It really shows up great from the road and the red flower accents it beautifully.  I know this image is crooked....I had to use the lens correction to get the door to 'stand' up and wasn't sure how to straighten it after that.  So....just tilt your head and view it...rotfl..
I've had two people stop by and tell me my house looks like it should be posted in a magazine.  I won't go that far but it does look nicer than I've ever seen it.

Off to bed!  More shots to post tomorrow, I hope.

....

Missouri Humidity

...

Waking up in good ole humid Missouri.  If you tell me that WV has NO humidity, I'm moving your way! 


...
I.....

Last post for today.....

A view of my house from the road.  I've got another image of the mailbox flower bed but don't have the time to work it up this am....will do it this weekend.  The Shasta Daisy and the Coneflowers are just beautiful down by the road.  I need to plant more of the coneflower as I really love it.

....

Please resize for me...LOL...

...

Two more Shots of the LaceCap

...





Took a couple more shots of the LaceCap but this will probably be the last for this year.  It's started it's decline and putting out only a few blooms now and they are pretty small.  I wasn't sure which one of these images I liked the best so posted both of them.  I tried a texture behind the top image but it didn't look good so just left it as is.

....

Blue Beauty

.....

Just another shot of the Lacecap with a texture added.  More rain today but maybe it will bring some relief from this oppressive heat and humidity.  Even the plants are struggling with the weather.

Ok...I give up!  I've sized this dang image three different ways and still can't get it to fill the block like you do.  I even checked your dimensions and sized it like yours and it is either too small or it hangs over the type on the right.  



....

Beauty in Nature

 ....

Just a shot I got on the 4th.  My hydrangea in the back yard has got several blooms on it but the one in the front only has a couple.  It's the bigger bush but its out in the hot sun too long and its always wilted down when I get home at night.  I keep babying it till my tree gets big enough to cast some shade on it.

...

After the rain

Took this one after the rain today. Added a texture from Kim Klassen.
I think I'm done playing around for the day.

Lazy...Hazy 4th of July

Hope your 4th has been better than ours. Nothing going on, kids out of town or working. It's been a rainy gloomy day. Walked out back a few minutes ago and snapped this.

Making Hay

Stopped to snap this on the way home from Marietta today.