Thursday, June 12, 2025

I Like Thursday # 455 flowers, books, lawn ornaments, donkeys and fresh baked bread

 

welcome to this week's list of little likes starting with another yard ornament, or is it a house ornament? 

Anyway, I love the way it looks against the stone, the beautiful plants/flower baskets and the bench next to it all on the front porch of this house. The house next door has a kokopelli tucked into a tree stump


I enjoy walking and looking at what each person adds to their yards. 

I notice things such as the roof on this house turret is the exact same shade as their shiny VW bug

which was charming in the shade... I had lessons in driving a stick shift (manual transmission) on several cars but truly learned the feel of it driving my friend's VW bug and I still love the look of them


I have lots of cute yard ornaments to show you in the next few weeks, but flowers catching my eye this week were
a glorious display of purple iris!!! 
yellow iris, amid an Enormous rose bush

Sunlight catching this tree and making it glow



a gloriously blue sky with mighty clouds building up to rain

I kind of see a bunny or puppy facing to the left
our teenaged yard bunny, always likes this particular area of the yard 
it's getting bigger daily!
til an eagle hawk or owl dismembered a bird right there overnight. 
Bunny, be careful out there....
Bunny: I saw the feathers right on my prime eating and napping area, luckily I can come up on your porch still, so stay inside mama!
I do not like the taste of store bread now, so we tried a new to us recipe for faster loaves and it was fast and it is perfect sandwich texture and the house smelled great while it baked. Recipe :
I tried half recipe to make one loaf, and let it rise IN the loaf pan,  even at high altitude it only took the 28 min to bake. Try this one! 

We visited the donkeys again this week, and they were in a field of orange flowers... 
and their horse friend...

and we met Phoebe, a 9 year old collie,  who had just visited the groomer and had butterflies in her top hair.... so cute.
we had a good visit with her mama, and talked about pets we've all loved, vet care, etc 
(I always keep my eyes and heart open to the right rescue for us, but not happening yet)
We visited with one of Milo's friends a doodle named Murphy, and his mom too
She told us she had a toy poodle she once took into the movies with her in a purse. She had popcorn water in a small tupperware and her dog was silent except for one burp! 
Luckily her husband patted his stomach and said, excuuuuuuse me! 

I'm still trying to paint and quilt,  especially morning pages/doodles 

progress on my spring quilt


Reading 

I just finished Blackmoore by Julianne donaldson the third book I read from her and LOVE her style
Starting another Jana Deleon in swamp mysteries series

yep




Conversation Starter this week: 

do you swim? Who taught you? Do you still enjoy swimming and where? Were you ever on a swim team? Are you comfortable in the water? Pool, lake, or beach? 

I became afraid of drowning when I was about 4, from sinking in a pool and it took a long time for family to notice. I did take swimming lessons, as a child, learning to float, tread water, and tried to learn to do the crawl. 
I not only retained my fear of face in the water, but developed some kind of ear issue where water won't come back out or dry with alcohol. I got a lot of ear infections then wised up, now ever shower or rain blowing into my ears, gets stuck and causes trouble. 

Even with all that I love the beach, love floating on a plastic chaise, love the feel of pool water swirling around my skin, love the buoyancy feeling, everything but face in the water. 
I kind of maneuver around with a breast stoke, or puppy paddling look which might save me if needed!

Diving is awful to me, never mastered diving boards as a child. I'd pick the beach first, in fact while on vacations in Florida I am the one down at the beach while friends stay at the pool. Lakes? ewww too much to step on for me there. 
My sister lived on a lake in Florida, and I once tried skiing and got up but man, it was scary. An alligator in that lake ate one of her dogs! 

Now please visit these folks to see what they liked this week (let me know if you want to join us) 


18 comments:

easyweimaraner said...

we love the yard ornaments... my mom bought such a deco bike as they were here around easter... it was not even one whole night in her garden.. some people are really weird..

Debra She Who Seeks said...

There's no better aroma than bread baking in the oven!

Sara said...

The bike with planter baskets is definitely cute! And the donkeys are just delightful. Makes for an entertaining walk. I love a beach, but don't live anywhere near any beach. The lake nearby is surrounded by private homes. I practically lived at the town swimming pool as a kid. And when our kids were growing up we spent a lot of time at the pool. My girls both were lifeguards, but there was no swim team in our little town. Both of my granddaughters are swim team members however.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Love the views of the yards around you, and the fun yard decor. The irises are definitely pretty right now! Your bread sounds yummy, too. Love that meme about living in the moment, lol! My family lived on a lake when we first moved to Colorado, so they bought a boat and there was water skiing. But not for me - you have to go fast, and I don't do fast! 😜

Cloudia said...

Wow! What a bounty of color and flowers and light! You even have a bunny! Very enjoyable. Thank you friend. Aloha and thank you for including me

https://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2025/06/when-calm-returns.html?m=0

Tigger's Mum said...

Another full week from you - I love all those flowers - so much colour in sunshine. We are still struggling with bleak grey against a green drab background. I love our bush but colour variety it ain't. Some days you just want more that soothing green background. Speaking of green tour spring patchwork is looking vibrant.

Duke said...

I loved my VW's - two SuperBeetles and 1 VW bus. We were going to have 12 kids. LOL The flowers are so beautiful and nothing is better than homemade bread! Your spring quilt is coming along beautifully!

Brian's Home Blog said...

All those flowers sure are pretty. YUM! Home baked bread is just the best and the house always smells so good when it's baking. Thanks for joining Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

Rosemary Dickinson said...

I love the smell of baking bread. What pretty flowers! I never learned to drive with a shift which is fine with me!!

Helen said...

I love my VW bug. It's fits me. I drove a candy-apple red one from 2008-2017.Then I traded it for a deep jade green one. That's what I drive now.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I have always wanted a ride in a VW beetle but I doubt I could fit. I'm 5'9" with long legs.
As for swimming - I never learned for two reasons...we lived on a farm and my parents had no time to take me swimming (I don't think they knew how to swim either), plus I have a 'thing' about anything over my face and just the thought of putting my face in the water almost makes me hyperventilate. I can't even stand if the sheet happens to touch my face when I'm sleeping.

Annie said...

What a lovely post today....such pretty flowers and I can almost smell that bread from here :-)
Hugs,
Annie x

PaintedThread said...

Lots of fun photos, especially of the outdoors. Growing up in MN with so many nearby lakes, my mom insisted that we knew how to swim. Always loved swimming - I have been unable to swim laps the last several years and miss it.

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

I don't know where to start, Donkeys, bunnies and a collie, lovely. Like your bike too. The quilt is gorgeous, loving the colours. I'm sure you'll find a new friend soon to adopt. Have a good weekend. Hugs Angela xXx

Lisca said...

I love all the different flowers in people's gardens. Beautiful!
And the ornaments are fun too.
Swimming? My dad was a swimming teacher at the life savers club. So as a child my sister and I had to learn to swim and I hated every minute of it. I became a good swimmer but i never liked it. I learned how to save a person in the water. We practiced with (day) clothes on. Even now at my age, I hate going in the water and I don't like the beach. If I have to go there (like with grandchildren) I will perhaps get my feet wet but no more. Needless to say, we bought a house without a pool.
Have a lovely weekend,
Lisca

Kathleen said...

So fun to see all that you notice on your walks. I did learn to swim at a local pool and loved it. I don't swim as much now, even though we are on the ocean, but the water in Maine is cold.

Michelle said...

We have mostly been eating homemade sourdough lately, but I am going to check out your recipe. Sourdough is time intensive :( I love the flowers, they are a favorite of mine during this season. Thank you for linking up.

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

You always pack so much into these wonderful posts of yours, LeeAnna. All things I want to remember, try or look up and some to just enjoy ogling too of course. Thank you for sharing that recipe. See it means I'm going to have to give that a go!