It's Not Too Early to Plan for July 4th

There is no tablescape I like to design better than a patriotic one. With the 4th of July fast approaching, my tablescapes and decor to celebrate our independance are on my mind. 

Below is one of my favorite tablescapes.
Click here to review it. 

I used the tablecloth again for another patriotic table. Click here to review it. 

Another favorite for the 4th was this setting. Click here for a review. There's that tablecloth again draped over an ottoman. 

Now for the planning part. 

1. You can start thinking about what tablecloth you might like to use for the 4th. Do you have an old favorite or something new to use. Kohl's has several patriotic tablecloths on sale.

2. How about placemats. There are several patriotic ones also at Kohl's and at a good price.

3. Plan for a centerpiece. I just Googled patriotic centerpieces and saw several I could easily put together.

My favorite might be the vases with blue water. I might be able to substitute shasta daisies and red roses in the jars since I have them growing in my flower beds. I'm sure I have some small flags to use. So no cost for the flowers and flags.

I'll give you a peek at two items I'll be using for this year's tablescapes for the 4th and I promise I'm not using my favorite patriotic tablecloth seen above.

On the dining room table, you will see my American flag placemats and a paisley print tablecloth. I bought the placemats at Kohl's last year on sale and put away for this year. 

On the kitchen peninsula, you will see this patriotic placemat which was also from Kohl's last year on sale.

I have a centerpiece in mind to use too, so be sure to check back to see these placemats in action for the 4th and a beautiful centerpiece on the table. 

Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Linking to:

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

OMHG Wonderful Wednesday

All About Home @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home and Common Ground on Monday at 6 pm

Through My Lens on Monday

Pictorial Potpourri Tuesday @ Peabea

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Tuesdays With A Twist @ God's Growing Garden 

Tuesday Turn About @ My Wee Abode, Thistle Key Lane, Blue Sky at Home on Tuesday at 6 pm

Wonderful Wednesday @ Ducks in a Row on Tuesday evening

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Karins Kottage Link Party @ Karins Kottage

Share Your Style @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6 pm

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Funtastic Link Party @ Two Chicks and A Mom on Thursday 9pm

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner

FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS on Thursday

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday 

Fabulous Link Party @ Peacock Ridge Farm, Living Large in a Small House, South House Designs, & Vintage Home Designs on Friday

Friendship Friday Blog Hop @ Create With Joy

Floral Bliss on Friday

A Morning Cup of Joe @ The Cottage Market on Friday

Farm House Friday @ County Road 407

Friday With Friends @ My Hubbard Home

Saturday Sparks @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Garden Affair @ Jaipur Garden 

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy on Sunday

Busy Monday @ A Pinch of Joy on Sundays at 5pm

Barns, blooms, and birds - Week 3

I'm still continuing my series on barns, blooms, and birds. This week, I'm sharing another barn around the Murray, KY, area. 

Wow, isn't it special with the cross on the side.  I bet there are interesting old stories to go with it. 

Blooms in my yard this week are mostly daylilies. These beautiful pink daylilies surprised me one morning. 

My roses are starting to bloom again. They opened in May then nothing for a few weeks but now there are new buds forming and are beautiful. I have been watering them more since it is getting so much hotter (94 degrees today) and spraying them with Sevin Bug Spray trying to keep insects from feasting on them.  I talked to a lady at Lowe's the other day and she told me she uses epsom salt to feed her roses so I think I'll give it a try. I do use epsom salt on my ferns and they are gorgeous. 

I'll share a few of the ferns on my porch with you. That's a Kimberly fern on the left, a Boston fern in the middle, and a macho fern on the right. I use 2 tbls. of epsom salt dissolved in a gallon of water once a month. 

For birds this week, I'm sharing a few visitors to my backyard feeders. I recently have made some changes with my feeders and the food to try and keep the blackbirds away.

I switched to an upside down suet feeder which has deterred the blackbirds from the suet and this red-bellied doesn't mind this new feeder a bit. 

The cardinals visit each day, I never tire of seeing them at my feeders. They are such a gorgeous birds.

I have changed their food too, again to deter the blackbirds. I now have safflower bird food in some feeders for them. The blackbirds don't care for the safflower. Below the cardinal and house finch are enjoying the safflower food. You can see the seed in the cardinal's mouth.

The chickadee likes the safflower seed too.

I do still put out some black oil sunflower seeds in a dome feeder. But the squirrels won't leave it alone. I have taped the dome back together several times but today it is back on the ground and may be broken beyond repair.

I even put out a tractor feeder that holds two ears of corn to try and keep the squirrels away from my feeders. But as soon as the corn is gone, here they come.

Thanks for stopping in for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to: 

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavender Cottage last Monday of the month

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods on Monday

Our World @ Our World Tuesday Meme

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Wednesday Around the World @ Photographing New Zealand

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention Gallery

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern

ABC Wednesday

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme 

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm on Thursday evening

Photo Friday @ Pierced Wonderings

Skywatch Friday @ Skyley

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Camera Critters on Saturday

I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Tom's Barn Collective @ The Backroad Traveler on Sunday

Seasons @ St. Germain's Blog on Sunday

Land Between the Lakes (LBL)

Not far from where we live in Kentucky, is the largest inland peninsula in the U.S. and is known as Land Between the Lakes (i.e. LBL). This area has over 170,000 acres of forested and protected public land, and over 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline. 

My pictures feature the native habitat of elk and bison which were lost to the area over a century ago, but have now been brought back to the area. 

We visited LBL in late fall and saw the elk which are the largest species in the deer family. The male elk have antlers they shed each year.

Elk feed on grasses, plants, leaves and bark like you see the female elk doing below. 

Bison in this prairie area are massive animals with long, shaggy brown coats. 

Did you know that bison have poor eyesight but acute hearing and an excellent sense of smell. 

These female elk are on the move.

It was a nice drive into this prairie in our vehicle. Entrance is limited to cars and truck and visitors are prohibited from feeding or approaching any of the animals. 

Thanks for stopping in for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavendar Cottage

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods

Our World @ Our World Tuesday Meme

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson

Photo Friday @ Pierced Wonderings

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen

Camera Critters

Barns, blooms and birds - Week 2

I decided to make a series on barns, blooms and birds. So this is week 2 of this series. 

This barn is less than a mile down the road from me in Kentucky. The picture was taken in the fall when the tobacco was going into the barn to cure. I love the rust on this barn. Funny how the rust color on the barn almost matches the color of the tobacco. 

Did you notice the sky around the barn is such a beautiful shade of light blue?

The barn doors are closed and the curing process begins.

The daylilies have been in full bloom this week in my yard.

I was happy to see a white-breasted nuthatch at one of my feeders this week. He hasn't visited in several weeks. He's eating black oil sunflower seeds. 

The house finches visit the feeders quite regularly.

The male house finch is rosy red around the face and upper breast. 

The female isn't red at all, she is plain grayish-brown with blurry streaks. She is such a cutie in the pic below.

Thanks for stopping by for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy. 

Linking to: 

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavender Cottage last Monday of the month

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods on Monday

Our World @ Our World Tuesday Meme

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention Gallery

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern

ABC Wednesday

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme 

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm on Thursday evening

Photo Friday @ Pierced Wonderings

Skywatch Friday @ Skyley

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Camera Critters on Saturday

I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Tom's Barn Collective @ The Backroad Traveler on Sunday

Seasons @ St. Germain's Blog on Sunday

Strawberry Shortcake in A Basket

I recently purchased a Nordic Ware Shortcake Basket cast aluminum pan and was eager to try it out. 

I decided to try a pound cake mix from a box. I didn't want to spend tons of time on the mix especially if the pan was difficult to use or impossible to get the cakes out. 

It turned out pretty easy to work with and here's my strawberry shortcake in a basket.

The basket pan was easy to use and I followed the baking tips and lightly coated the pan with oil and then flour. 

I was making the strawberry shortcake for my grandsons and they loved it. I didn't use any extra sugar on the berries, instead I used a dollop of cool whip. 

The tiny bud vase was a gift from my daughter. The rose buds are from my garden. I have also used azalea buds in the vase. The bird nest is a separate piece and there are other seasonal pieces to use in place of the nest. 

If you have time to stop over, I can share my strawberry shortcake in a basket with you. 

When we ran out of strawberries, we tried bananas and cool whip.

Thanks for dropping in for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to: 

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Mosaic Monday @ Lavendar Cottage
Show and Share @ Coastal Charm
Celebrate Your Story @ Sweet Sensations

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday
The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E
Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House
Swing Into Spring@ DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style on Tuesday evening
Share Your Style Link Party @ The Essence of Home on Thursday evening
Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wed. evenings
Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner
Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday
Inspiration Thursday @ In The New House

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage
Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

The Bouquet of Talent Party @ Life on Lakeshore Drive - Saturday
DIY Sunday Showcase @ The Interior Frugalista - Saturday

Sundays at Home @ Love of Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda

Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home 

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays