I've been waiting and waiting for spring temps to arrive for more than a couple of days without rain. And this is the week! We finally have some color in the yard and on our deck. So, I want to share what my husband, son, and I have been up to for the last few days. First of all, we had our first cookout on Sunday, April 28 to celebrate our younger son's birthday. That officially kicks off spring. I mixed the first batch of hummingbird nectar a couple of weeks ago, hoping the males would take advantage while the females were tending to their nests. As far as we can tell, 1 male has visited twice. Of course, we can't look out the window all of the time. But we do look out frequently. And we hang them in 2 locations that we can see directly from the kitchen windows. The rose bushes started blooming about a week ago, and I finally had time to take pictures of them. I pulled out the grass and weeds that were growing around them a couple of hours after I took the front-facing ...

In my last post, I spoke of yellowjacket hives being underground and that my husband gets rid of them himself. However, I highly recommend getting a professional exterminator to do this, because it can be extremely dangerous to do this yourself. In this post, I'm just going to tell you how to know when a yellowjacket nest is nearby and how to discover where it is so you can safely mark the spot for your hired professional. And in case you don't know what a yellowjacket looks like, here's a picture you can use as a reference.  yellowjacket image courtesy of Wikiepedia. Yellowjackets are members of the wasp family, but they are plumper than the average wasp. And although they resemble the more docile honeybee we all adore, the yellowjacket is extremely aggressive and not as fuzzy. So, if you begin to notice quite a few yellowjackets in your yard, just be watchful. Often, where they are more plentiful, you will be near their nest. Sometimes, you can see them come and go thro...

This morning, I have been embracing gratitude and thankfulness as I reflect on all that God does for my family and me. That's how I reset my emotions when they go off the scale. And now, I'm feeling much calmer and less anxious and ready for the day.  One of His sweet creatures visited our deck yesterday afternoon. God's sweetest creations like this grey squirrel bring me so much joy and calm me down. Thankfully, I didn't scare this little squirrel when I pulled back the curtain to check the rain gage.  The bluebirds must have eggs in the birdhouse now, because the male chased the squirrel under the deck, perhaps thinking he could be a predator. Then he took to his "throne" on the shepherds hook that will eventually hold one of the hummingbird feeders later this month, watching out for other "predators" that may come along.  In an earlier post this month, I had mentioned that we had either a bumble bee or carpenter bee visiting our deck, looking for...

Today I have a quick kitchen tip to share with you about Paprika. While paprika comes in its own shaker, many times, it comes out in clumps when using the shaker it is sold in, making the distribution uneven on the food. So, about a year ago, I had an idea. I decided to put my paprika in a salt shaker to see if that would evenly distribute it on top of my side dish. And it worked! Finally, no more nearly bald areas next to thick layers of paprika.    It is so much easier now to control the amount of paprika I'm shaking onto my deviled eggs and potato salads. It really has helped make my holiday side dishes less stressful to top. I hope this tip is as helpful for you as it has been for me. Patricia  

I just finished designing a couple of Christian T-shirts and listing them on Etsy. You can read more about these and keep up with new arrivals on my Digital Potpourri Blog. If you have a custom request, you can contact us via Etsy messages . We'll be happy to try to produce a t-shirt to your liking as long as there is nothing profane, vulgar, immoral, licensed, trademarked or involving hate related to the design. One of the tees reads Love Obey Trust with bible books, chapters, and verses that coincide with these words. The other states God Lives Here with "Here" inside a heart shaped from mini hearts. So, basically 2 messages. God Lives and He lives in our hearts. 😇 Thanks for dropping by to read my updates today, Patricia

Recently The weather was warm and dry enough last week to get outside and start some yard work . So, I wanted to drop in with some pictures of my early progress.  Our crepe Myrtle bush has progressively accumulated quite a bit of this fungus on the bark over the last few years. I thought that the fungus, along with the mowers weed eating all of its new branches at the ground level, and its roots being exposed where they weed eat so deeply and form a "bowl" in the dirt was making it difficult to get new growth. So, I brushed off all the fungus and filled the "bowl" area with new dirt. Silly me forgot to show the new dirt in this picture. You can see the new dirt in this picture though. I also put up a small protective fence around the bush to remind the mowers to not weed eat around my crepe Myrtle! I may try to find some trim that will hold in some rocks or other mulch to better protect it later on. The rose bushes are already putting out new leaves! We had quite a ...

My son and I have spent the last month designing t-shirts and uploading them to our Etsy stores. So, if you're interested in a birth year t-shirt, hop on over to take a look at what we have.  HHC2019  is selling 200 vintage styles for the ladies, and SoAppalachianVintage is selling 100 classic styles for all genders. These t-shirts range from XS to 5XL and from the years 1950 to 1999. Feel free to message us on Etsy if you want to customize any of these designs or if you need another birth year designed for earlier than 1950 or later than 1999. We're happy to show you the designs and get your approval before you commit to payment. Once payment is made, our printing partner gets right to work on your t-shirt(s). Since each t-shirt is made specifically for you (made to order), we cannot accept returns or give refunds. However, we can send you another shirt of the same size, color, and design if there is a default. Just send us a picture of the default so we can show our ...