Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

I Like Thursday #391

Everything's growing really nicely in my garden and pots right now, which is something I like very much.  The tomatoes have blossoms, the cucumbers and jalapeño have baby ones already forming, and the green beans... 

Somebody made a salad out of these!  Probably a rabbit - and they have come back multiple times, too.  We kept trying to put things in their way, but it never deterred them.
So we went and bought a deer and rabbit repellent to spray on.  Fingers crossed that it works.  I did plant more bean seeds, hoping that the pesky varmint stays away from the new sprouts!

I just finished reading the latest book in a series that I've enjoyed the last several years.  The series began as a collaboration between two of my favorite authors.  Unfortunately, Mary Higgins Clark passed away in 2020, but Alafair Burke has continued the series in the same style.  


I've enjoyed stitching quite a few of PinkernPunkin's mini samplers, so of course, I had to make the mini strawberry sampler.  Isn't that strawberry fun with its star quilt block in the center?!

There's one more strawberry to stitch and some blossoms.
I have several little cross-stitched pieces to fully finish - 
hoping to get to that this weekend!

LeeAnna's question of the week is:  Tell about how you felt about the last day of school and what you looked forward to doing in the summer. 

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the last day of school!  I loved school,  and always wanted to be a teacher, so I wasn't necessarily that excited about the end of the school year.  Even when school was out, my sisters and I played "school," and I was always the teacher!  I did look forward to more time to read, and of course there was lots of time to play outside.

Playing on the jungle gym!  Did you have one of those?

Every summer we would go visit the grandparents in Iowa - my dad's parents lived in Iowa City and my mom's lived in Cedar Rapids.  The best part about that trip was going to the pool.  My dad's parents belonged to a club with a pool, so they took us every day.  


And then there's being a teacher and getting to the last day of school.  I would be tired and ready for a break, but also sad to be saying goodbye to my students.  A friend shared this on Facebook and it is really true:


Hope you're having a great week!
Joining in with I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color.
















13 comments:

The Cozy Quilter said...

We had a vegetable garden years ago. We put a fence around it and added chicken wire to the bottom to keep the bunnies out . It worked for several years until the black walnut trees behind our property got big and shaded the garden and killed everything with the poison in their roots. Now I have flowers where the veggies were. The fence is gone and we only have plants that are not impacted by the black walnut trees. I grow herbs and tomatoes in pots on my patio. We shop for veggies at he local farmer’s market. I hope that your brand recover and the critters leave them alone!
Growing up, we had a swing set in the backyard. There was also a school nearby with playground equipment. My daughter loved going to the park to play on the various playgrounds.
What a cute strawberry! Lots of people are making strawberry projects these days.
I’m about to start reading The Bittlemores by Jann Arden. It’s always fun to see what other bloggers are reading.

Michele McLaughlin said...

I love that quote about the classroom and family! Your cross stitch is coming along so nicely, how big will that sampler be? I really like it! Also loved your photos. Our problems with the rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels is that they are driving Lucky crazy :D Anyway, hope the spray works! Have a great day Diann!

Linda said...

I know how frustrating it is to have veggie plants eaten! I've read that some people plant things like lettuce just for the bunnies - lol! I'm enjoying your strawberry stitching. Those photos of you are adorable. That quote is so sad about teachers! Have any of your former students commented or written to you? I did that with a couple of my teachers and most recently (about 15 years ago) wrote to one of my college professors. He was absolutely delighted!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

As a kid, I loved school. As a parent, the first day of school--while our daughters were always excited and happy about the first day--Iit was a sad day for me because the carefree days were memories and my little playmates were back to homework, school activities and of course preparing for their futures. The last day of school was a sad one for them; but it was a joyous day for me because it meant visits to the library and mini field trips about our area. . .and no homework to complete or tests to study for nor projects to complete to spoil our plans! You must have been a fabulous and much loved teacher.

Libby in TN said...

That repellant worked on the deer for us. We don't have many rabbits ... too many foxes and bears!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I have used repellent but the best I have found is to put some stakes around the garden taller than the plants will be and drape bird netting around them you can find the netting on amazon and it comes in long pieces and you can cut it with scissors.

Angela said...

Squirrels did the same to my container garden. I have been putting coffee grounds in the pots as it is supposed to keep squirrels away. We will see if it works.

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

Happy Thursday, Diann. Oh my, that is not good that the critters are getting in your garden already. I hope that the repellent helps. I wonder if putting a wire cages around them till the plants get a good hold would help. Last year I had a big watermelon in the garden and the day before I was going to pick it , a deer destroyed it. I felt the same way about the last day of school. Those are such sweet photos of you as a youngin'. Enjoy your day. Hugs.

Jeanna said...

I'm envious of your green thumb and can enjoy your own home-grown vegetables. Hope the repellant works! You always do such a great job with Melisa's designs. I just downloaded a bunch of her strawberry designs. I need to get to stitching!

grammajudyb said...

I like your quote about the end of school for teachers. I think parents forget about the attachment that happens in the classroom.
Fun to see your photos. I’m not sure what happened to most of my mom’s photos. We did have a swing set with slide. A metal one that got HOT!
I’ve planted some tomatoes but nothing else. I’ll support the locals who have extras to sell! 😀

I’ve enjoyed some Mary Higgins Clark novels in the past. I’ll add that series to my to-be-read list.

Enjoy the warm! 🥵

Sandra Walker said...

That saying is so very true! I felt the same as you too about the last day of school, and come August I couldn't WAIT to be back. Not so when I was teaching, but mainly because I knew I'd have no life until Christmas Break. I'm not familiar with MHC series, and do not think I have ever read one of her books. Something has been chowing down on a few of my perennials in one spot of my garden, most annoying.

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

What great photos of your childhood with the memories. The last day of school was always a hit with me, I really looked forward to having time to do as I pleased, read what I wanted, and play.

Kate said...

Hope your latest deterrent keeps the pests away. That straberry with the star block is really cute. Melisa has so many cute stitcheries posted. I don't remember my last days of school all that well, but we did start a tradition with Grad Girl for her last day. We'd got out with her friends (and parents), then get ice cream.