Golden Cottage Happenings

 

Greetings Gail-Friends!

We've been busy bees around Golden Cottage, so I have lots of good news and praises.

Jem and I celebrated nineteen years of happy marriage in May.  I am so thankful for my husband.  I know I go on and on about how wonderful he is, but he really is the best husband in the whole wide world.  I ask him sometimes, "How did I deserve such a good husband?"  He always says, "You said 'yes'!"  I often think how different my life could have been if I'd recognized his amazing qualities  way back when we dated fifty-plus years ago.   

I received a lovely bouquet of flowers that day and, here we are in June, and they are still giving me JOY!

My gift to him was a shopping trip to Ollie's (GOOD STUFF, CHEAP!) to pick out stuff for Golden Cottage Garden.  He found a nice ceramic pot the yellow-ish one with pink flowers and a flamingo wind chime. When we first married, we would buy a wind chime on our anniversary, but we ran out of places to put them (or they fell apart, etc.) So, we're starting a new tradition -- buying something for the garden. The flags were placed there for Flag Day.

 

We went out to an authentic Mexican dinner at a new place in Cocoa Village.  Jem really enjoyed the meal, but it was way to spicy for me, so never again!!! But we enjoyed our time together, and walked around the village shops afterward. We found a new business - an old-timey butcher shop called The Forgotten Block. They have fresh meats, cut to your order, as well canned preserves, salsa, jellies and jams. Jem bought this for his breakfast biskits.  

 We enjoyed our stroll because the weather was perfect that day - warm with a nice breeze off the river. 

 A perfect day in paradise!! 

Another part of our anniversary celebration was our vacation to the Florida Folk Festival and, as always, it was great.  It was really, really hot, but the festival always prepares for that.  Big fans are placed at each venue, and free ice-cold water is available in coolers in each area.  The stages are all covered by tents or shade.   But, this year I decided to be even more prepared for the heat.  We had neck fans!!  Wow - they are amazing!  And they are re-chargeable!

 

 

I also bought some new clothes - all linen or cotton/linen blend.  This makes a remarkable difference.  I had a good time shopping online for the clothes.  Had to return / exchange some, but I discovered a whole new way to shop.  And I love it!!!

Speaking of online shopping, we now order most of our food and supplies using our Walmart+ benefit.  They deliver for FREE if you sign up for the program. You do have to do a minimum order, but that's not hard to do for us.   It really is a help when we have to order heavy stuff like twenty-pound bags of birdseed and Black Cow for the garden.  It's helpful, too, for the heavy kitty litter jugs.  We love it.  

And...we're getting excited because Aldi is coming to our neighborhood in August.  It is much closer than Walmart, so we'll be using it a lot.  I like to order everything I can from them and then order the remainder from Walmart.

  Golden Cottage Garden is doing really well with flowers.  My peace plants are blooming, but again, the weather conditions are affecting them.   Our grass looks bad, but Jem's working on it. We'd bought some stuff that was supposed to help fill in the bare spots, but it only made it worse.  Gardening is hard in Zone 9 of Florida.  We're near the coast, too, so that plays into it.  And our soil is pure sand, so we decided to just do pots.  Jem works so hard in the yard and he amazes me with his strength.  He'll be seventy-nine soon and yet he keeps going like the energizer bunny.  I tell him he's a tough old bird.

 Here are a few pics - Jem had decorated with flags. 

 

The peace plants are doing okay, but not as good as in the past.  The heat is brutal.

 

The zinnias are so pretty.

I bought a package of wild flower seeds, and this is all that came up.  I don't know what it is, but it's so pretty.

 Veggies - not so much.  I picked my first lettuce harvest.  It was enough for a salad. But our other veggies have not produced - peas, squash, zucchini, and peppers did not work out.  I don't know if it was the seeds or the heat or the rain, but the lettuce is the only one that made it. :(

 Jem and I have started a healthy-eating plan and veggies are a big part of it, so we load up with those when we shop.  I feel so good when I stay away from sugar and prepared foods.  We are getting healthier and losing a few pounds at the same time.  

This is my favorite lunch these days - turkey, cheese, and pickle wraps with veggies on the side.

Well, Gail-Friends, I'm going to close out 'cause this post is getting long.  I've got more to share - like what we saw and did at the Florida Folk Festival, our grandson's concerts, and what's new with Toonie and Lucy. Oh, and I never did post about our Passover and Shavoat celebrations.  I'll be back soon.

Blessings to you all.