Five Things Thursday

1. You might remember the skink from last year. It was about a foot long and an inch wide. Unfortunately, I no longer have the picture since I ruthlessly cleaned out my photos!

Well, we were sitting out on the front porch the other night and saw this one. 

We watched as it scampered in to our wall basket. That's where the big one lived too. Maybe this is a baby, but it looks completely different than the brown and rosy colored one from last year. These things creep me out! I try not to freak out by telling myself they eat mosquitoes. I hope that's true.

2. I love fresh flowers. I met the lady that owns White's Creek Flower Farm several years ago at a little farmer's market down the street. I loved buying flowers from her. 

When that farmers market stopped doing business, she moved down to our big farmer's market in Germantown. I never go down there. But, I was on her email list, so have been able to keep up with what she's doing and planting. 

During Covid, she planted more and more flowers. Now she's started a new business. Talk about pivoting! She sends an email out every Sunday. There's a link where you can order a bouquet to be delivered on Thursday or Friday. She charges $25.00.

The bouquets come wrapped in pretty tissue tied up with ribbon. 

Her flowers are always cut fresh that morning. She sells out every week. This was the first time I was able to get one. When she delivered, she remembered me. We had a little chat. She said that she kept adding more bouquets each week and continues to sell out. Luckily, I was able to get another one for this coming week. Right in time for Mother's Day! I'm telling you, for the number and variety of flowers in the bouquet, this is quite a bargain! I'm going to ask her if I can come out to her farm sometime, just to see her garden!

3. I saw this at the grocery store and did a "double take." 

What the heck?? I considered using this as a Monday Mystery, but then I looked closely  and found out it's called "Jack fruit." I have no idea what that is. Can you see how huge it is? Those are regular sized apples next to it. I didn't pick it up to see how heavy it is. Curiosity got the better of me, so I had to find out what it is. 

OMGosh, that looks awful!! It's some sort of tropical fruit. It must be pretty good though, because...

...holy smokes! Check out that price tag!! I'd say people would have to know what this is and what to do with it to pay that much. I'm not gambling 25 bucks on something I've never heard of before! Has anyone had this before?

4. I've had my eye on this needlepoint canvas for a really long, long tine. I think it's stunning. I had never actually seen it finished.

I erased this lady's face because I don't know her. She had posted this picture on Facebook. The pillow is amazing. But, I think it's a little too big for my taste. I thought it would make a beautiful picture, but I don't have room for that. Still, it's a gorgeous piece. 

5. Let's talk about pool days. They are fast approaching. That means, a lot of work to get everything ready: power wash the pool deck, clean all the furniture, clean and blow up the floats. Butch usually does it all. Stephanie came up with the idea that the whole family should pitch in and help. Sooo, Saturday is the day. Everyone is coming. Stephanie has planned something to make it more "game-like." Not sure what that's going to be. How do you turn "work" into a "game?" Prizes! That's how! And food!! I'm getting Corky's barbecue for lunch.

All the work doesn't negate the fact that we're still not happy with what the neighbors behind us have done. It used to look like this:

It was all private---so nice. But now...

...it looks like this. I'm still heartsick about it. I just don't understand it. The neighbors cut down all of the wooded area--granted, it was their property. They are putting in their own pool--OUTSIDE of their fence! I guess they are going to have to put in a new fence. We've planted some fast growing arborvitae. It's supposed to grow 36" a year. I sure hope so. In addition we've put climbing white hydrangeas all along the fence interspersed with clematis. Hopefully by having the fence completely covered, we'll still feel like we have some privacy.

Oh, and we went ahead and bought all the flowers for the patio and pool. We'll enlist the family's help for that too! We're a little worried about the weather, but hopefully we'll be able to get it done. Right in time for Mother's Day. Now that's what I call a great present!