The tree I didn't let go....

A year or so ago a couple of my friends came over and started packing up my house, telling me "this has gotta go, and that has gotta go....." This tree, they said, must go! You can read about it here.

I kept it.

Look at it now!

Just took a little bit of love!

Cindy Bee

Ripple Tuesday!

Tic Tac Toe Games for the grandkids (I think)

"K" decided she was making her bag and taking a break from the ripple. This bag is going to be so cool. I'll probably have to stop rippling and make one. I bought the yarn for it months ago.

And Barb shows this to me and says, "What can this be?"

I said, "Did you crochet that?"

Barb, "Yes"

Me, "I thought you were a new crocheter?"

Barb, "I am."

Really...I think she has previous experience....this looks knitted to me.

I suggested a trivet.

Cindy Bee

Coffee pot.....plans

Sigh....why don't things ever go as planned? It doesn't fit under the counter.

Cindy Bee

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I've been trying to keep up with your blogs by viewing them on my phone. It's my late night reading before I fall asleep! It's been a busy week.

I've been setting up my craft room out at the house we are building. You can read more about that here. My cousin came over and helped me one day and we got a lot accomplished. And, when I wasn't working in the craft room, I was helping my Shug tile the floor.

I also finished another pair of hand warmers.

I did take time out to shop for a new coffee pot. Seriously, do we need this many choices?

It came down to these two....

I went with the Bunn. Only because there are times when I need more than a cup. Might have to get the little one cup later though. I'd like something to use when I just want a cuppa in the afternoon now and then.

I also went to the farmers market in search of produce. I wanted green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, apples, watermelon, etc. I got these tomatoes, and saw some belly dancers. No other produce to be had besides peppers and celery.

Oh, and I made these cute little cupcakes. Someone asked me when I had time to crochet. 5:00 a.m. peeps, 5:00 a.m. I get up with my Shug when he goes to work and I sit and crochet, or read, or blog. It's my 'me' time.

When I showed them to My Shug he said he wished they were real. So did my friend.

So I whipped some up. No icing. I didn't have any and decided cupcakes without icing aren't as photogenic, but they sure are yummy!

My friend, Teresa, and I went to a couple of garage sales yesterday. It was so hot in her car after sitting, that she grabbed a couple of napkins to hold on to the steering wheel!

I didn't buy much...as you can tell from the pics above....I don't need anything. But a deal is a deal peeps, and I had to get this wool green blankey for 50 cents.

And this box of Christmas balls for another 50 cents!

And I called a "blog stalker" friend of mine to ask her a question and she informed me that I missed Ripple Tuesday! (JV) I told her I know, I missed it! I didn't get to go this week. I've missed garage sailing. I missed going to the yarn store this week. I missed the Granny Bees this week. But My Shug and I talked, and we are really trying to get moved in to our house by the first of October. Hopefully it will happen this time, and hopefully things will slow down a bit when we do get moved in. Sometimes I can't keep up with it all.

Neither can the boys!

For some reason Dixie gets into Winston's cage every morning.

And Winston, he gets on the couch. (sigh)

So that folks, is where I've been and what I've been doing. What about you? What have you been up to?

For those of you that wanted seeds....I've got them ready to go. I need to take them to the post office though to make sure they don't cost more than a usual stamp.

As a little extra surprise, I'm putting in some 4 O'Clock seeds too! The flower opens up around 4 O'clock!

Same story with planting them. Put them in the ground in the fall.

I was thinking....if you don't use all of the seeds, put them in the ground somewhere! An unmowed roadside, a park, someone's flower garden! Let's just plant flowers everywhere!

They'll be a nice surprise for someone!

Cindy Bee

Plant Seeds

So, after yesterday's post you are going to think that the title of this post is going to have some deep underlying meaning. No way no how!

Most people only think of planting seeds in the spring, but there are some seeds that need to go through the cold winter and the rough and tumble weather to loosen their outer coating on their seed. And Baptisia Australi's (Blue False Indigo, or Wild Blue Indigo) is one of those plants.
You plant the seeds in the fall.

This was my plant in May.

It died :-(

Don't know why. It's hardy from zones 3-8 (some say through zone 10) and it's drought tolerant.

But I went out to the pods and gathered seeds. I'm hoping some of those seeds have been replanting themselves for the last couple of years, because when growing the plant from seed, it takes three years to get flowers. If you were to grow this plant from seed, you would need to mark the area so you wouldn't think it was a weed and pull it.

I gathered some seeds.

Want some?

You don't have to follow me, comment, or read my lips. The first 20 people (a book of stamps has 20 - that's my investment - besides time) to send me their address will get some seeds.

Now...you don't HAVE to do this, but wouldn't it be cool if everyone that had seeds to offer, would do so. Let's get the blogger world planting seeds! Now is the time to be harvesting them.

Oh yeah - speaking of world.....sorry overseas people, but I just can't pay 8 Euro, Lira, Bucks to send you some seeds. Do you know how much yarn I could buy with that money?!?!!

Cindy Bee

PS - you can either e-mail me your address at hilltopbeelady@aol.com or leave it in the comment section. If you e-mail, put SEEDS in the subject line.

The "Memories" Thing...

OK first of all, let me just tell you here and now, I know everyone is very busy and trying to find time to create memories is hard to do. I'm one of the worst offenders so no need to explain to me why you just can't do it. I know when you get off of work at 5:00 pm, and you cook dinner, clean up the mess, etc. well there isn't much time left. And forget about the energy it takes to plan something....And Lord knows when your house is a mess people talk so you have to take time to clean. And with us building a house on top of all that, I'm flat out worn out, and my house IS a mess! I haven't done near the stuff I used to do and I miss it terribly.
But.....
In my last post I said I'd explain why creating memories has been on my mind lately. Remember this couple that got married, I think in May?

Well he told us a couple of weeks ago he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. We wondered what was going on, because they had an auction of all of the contents in his house. We've known this man since we moved into our home 17 1/2 years ago. He was one of the first people we met, and he introduced himself as our Mayor! He is the Mayor of our neighborhood. He goes around and introduces himself to everyone when they move in, and we ask him important questions that one would ask a Mayor of a neighborhood. Like, where has "so and so" been for the last three weeks, and who is living over there with "X", and what's going on with those peeps in the yellow house?
And he has a heart of gold. He is the one that found Dixie in the park and gave him to me. Even the boys I watched know this man.
He used to take our airedale (who has since passed) bye -bye in his truck. When Abby would hear him she would go crazy barking until he'd get her. She would go to Phil's house, get a treat, and come right back to our house. He is just a wonderful person.

I went to his auction for a little while, but it made me sad. Sometimes I miss the "good old days" so much my heart just aches.

And the day before his auction...on Friday....I spent most of the day finishing up with my Mother-in-Law's condo. I turned over the key to the new owners that same day! I am glad to be finished with it. It's been a lot of work.

Mom and Dad helped me get all of the stuff out of the attic a couple of weeks ago.

(of course, this pic is before I swept the garage)

And my cousin Vickie helped me a week ago. We loaded up a bunch of stuff that we couldn't throw out. Old slides taken on vacations and boxes of pictures. We had started out in the kitchen, but I called an auction house and they came over and said they'd box it up and take it.

They did.

This whole process has taken about three or four months. A little at a time, because my MIL wants to go through every single thing. And why wouldn't she...it's her stuff. But she is 89, in a wheel chair, and has to take a bus from her Assisted Living place to get to her condo. The bus is almost always late picking her up. Sometimes as much as an hour. She wears out after a couple of hours. So it's been a long haul. (this would be a good business for someone to start-btw-for people who don't have family to help them go through their stuff)

The hardest part cleaning out her condo was the time it took. There we go, with the time thing again. It wasn't the memories for me because I really don't have many memories in her condo. She usually came to our house.

But this peeps....this is what made me think......

About the same time I found out about my neighbor, I found this box in the attic stuff. It was my Shug's Father's wallet.

My Shug's Dad passed away in 1978. In his wallet was my Shug's senior picture, insurance cards, a calendar, a page out of a magazine to order a carpentry book, and a note written by him, on what dates to change his vacation from and to so he could take off of work.

A vacation he never took.

He went to work that day in 1978. He passed out at work, and they took him to the hospital. The hospital did a bunch of tests. He woke up during one night with indigestion so the nurse gave him some 7-up. He felt better, fell asleep, and never woke up. He died during the night of a massive heart attack. He had no idea that this day that he went to work would be his last.

Memories peeps.....that's all there is....really.

Cindy Bee