Ms. Toody Goo Shoes: July 2017

Friday, July 28, 2017

BEST OF THE WEEKEND 7.28.17

Hi everyone!
Thanks for stopping by the Best of the Weekend party!
Wow, Friday rolled around quickly this week, didn't it?

Last week, I asked you to answer this question:
As this is the Best of the Weekend party,
tell me what was the Best part of your Week?
I enjoyed reading your answers, so let's do it again!
For me, the best part of my week was spending time with friends.
It happened to be a week heavy on breakfast and lunch dates,
with lots of catching up, a ton of laughs, a couple of omelettes,
and a few too many salads with grilled chicken.
Time spent with friends is good for the soul!

So how about you?
Leave me your answer in the comments section.

We'd appreciate it if you'd follow your co-hosts!

Cindy - Little Miss Celebration | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | G+

****************

We feature all kinds of posts --
recipes, home decor, DIY, gardening, travel, whatevah!
so link up your best stuff!

Non-Bloggers: There are hundreds of fabulous ideas collected here each week;
just click on the links under the thumbnail photos,
and you will be taken directly to the blog post.

All of our features are pinned to our Best of the Weekend board!

Last week's most clicked:

5 Healthy Habits Everyone Should Have | Life, Love and Thyme

A few of my favorites from last week:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Marbled Biscotti | The Monday Box

How To Make Butterscotch Sauce | Little House Living

Kefalonia In Blue - Enjoying Beaches of the Greek Island | The Boondocks Blog

If you were featured, grab our button!

Let's link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thursday, July 27, 2017

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? 10 CONTAINER GARDEN IDEAS

10 CONTAINER GARDEN IDEAS | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

How does your garden grow, halfway through summer?

With silver bells and cockle shells?

Or quite contrary, with fading blooms, and leaves of brown?

For the most part, my flowers are still thriving, looking lush and abundant.

Usually by this time of the summer,
my plantings look more like the Garden of Weedin' than a paradise of posies.

By late July, I grow weary of watering and dead-heading.

This year, however, I've been diligent about keeping them hydrated and well-groomed,
pinching off spent blossoms, and pruning dead leaves.
My care has yielded bountiful begonias, a profusion of petunias,
a mass of marigolds and some very patient impatiens.
The creeping jenny is practically galloping; the licorice plants are good and plentiful
(yes, that's my attempt at candy humor 😉).

Some of my plantings haven't survived, through no fault of my own.

Unfortunately, the deer and rabbits have had their way with them,

which really gets my goat (animal pun intended).

I enjoy putting together combinations of flowers,
but I do admit it's nice sometimes to purchase something ready-made,
plop it into a container and call it a day.
Unless otherwise noted, the containers below are my own creations.

It's unlikely that at this point in the season, you need any ideas for container gardens,

unless you live "down under" and summer is coming,

but I've chronicled some favorites for my own personal future reference.......

and perhaps, yours.

Pinning is free, after all.

PART-SHADE CONTAINERS

1. Caladium, Impatiens, Begonias, Licorice Plant

2. Caladium, New Guinea Impatiens, English Ivy

I bought this one pre-assembled at Lowe's.

3. Begonias, Impatiens, Creeping Jenny

4. Impatiens, Coleus

This one has since been ravaged by deer or rabbits.

PART-SUN CONTAINERS

5. New Guinea Impatiens, Begonias, Creeping Jenny

I bought this arrangement from Lowe's.

6. Banana plant, Impatiens, Begonias, Marigolds, Gazania, Creeping Jenny

FULL SUN CONTAINERS

7. Banana Plant, Petunias, Begonias, Marigolds, Gazania, Licorice Plant

8. Petunias, Verbena, Lemon Slice Superbells

Mr. Goo Shoes bought me this one for Mother's Day.

9. Herb Garden: Lavender, Sage, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, Basil

10. Flower Box: Petunias, Marigolds, Gazania, Licorice Plant

And now, for your pinning pleasure:

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Pretty Container Gardens: Easy As I-2-3

Summer Flower Pots

Friday, July 21, 2017

BEST OF THE WEEKEND 7.21.17

Hello, all!
Welcome to Best of the Weekend!
Hoo, boy, it's been HOT HOT HOT here in NJ this week!

I know most people who come to the BOTW party
scroll right down to the link up, and that's fine!
But, if you do happen to read this,
I'd love for you to play along with me,
and answer this question in the comments:
As this is the Best of the Weekend party,
I'd like to know......what was the best part of your week?

That's an easy one for me........
The best part of my week was the couple of hours
I spent shopping for college stuff with Junior Goo Shoes.
I don't get much one-on-one time with him, anymore,
and when I do, I'm grateful.

So how about you?
Leave me your answer in the comments section.

And then, by all means, link away or browse the link-ups!

We'd appreciate it if you'd follow your co-hosts!

Cindy - Little Miss Celebration | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | G+

****************

We feature all kinds of posts --
recipes, home decor, DIY, gardening, travel, whatevah!
so link up your best stuff!

Last week's most clicked:

A Succulent Succulents Cake | Feathering My Empty Nest

A few of my favorites from last week:

How To Make Bolivian Corn Cake | From Play Dates To Parties

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Parfaits | Live Love Texas

Oops...An Unexpected Twist | The Red Painted Cottage

New Kitchen Pendant Lights & Mudroom Light | Welsh Divine Studio

If you were featured, grab our button!

Let's link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

BEACH WEEK! LONG BEACH ISLAND PT.2

Read A House With A View: Long Beach Island Part 1 here.

We wake up on our first full day in Long Beach Island to abundant sunshine.
After breakfast, we grab our chairs and umbrellas and head to the beach.
It's a little breezier than I'd like, but tolerable, and we manage to stay till about 3pm.
The great thing about a house right on the ocean
is that even when you leave the beach, you're still there.
Heaven, I tell you.

For dinner, we're in the mood for seafood,
and settle on Harvey Cedars Shellfish Company, named for the town it's in.
After putting our name on a wait list,
Mr. Goo Shoes decides that for the rest of the week,
the name he will give is Mr. Harvey Cedars.
We're doubled-over with laughter at our cleverness,
although it's hardly likely that we're the first to think of this.

After our meal of soft-shell crabs and swordfish,
I scare the crap out of Mr. GS, when I yell,
"Make a right turn here!"
My direction leads us to the bay beach,
and we are rewarded with a perfect sunset.

We decide to sleep with the windows open
and be lulled into slumber by the sound of the waves,
but the ocean is just too darn loud.
And to think we used to fall asleep to the roar of cars, buses
and garbage trucks when we lived in New York City.
The windows are shut tight, and the AC goes back on.

I set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. on Day 2, to get up and walk on the beach.
At 10:15 a.m., I drag my weary butt out of bed.

After spending another sunny, breezy day on the beach,
the big decision of the day is where to eat dinner.
We feel like something casual, and opt for a seafood shack.
My steamed lobster is very good,
but Mr. GS' lobster roll is a bit skimpy.
It's the side order of about nine french fries for $5.99
that is enough to make us cross this place off our list for good.

My alarm is set for 5:30 a.m., as I'm determined to see a sunrise over the ocean.
Somehow, I manage to wake up without the alarm.
As I step out onto the deck in my bathrobe, I'm overwhelmed.

I've seen endless sunsets in my time,
but comparatively, relatively few sunrises;
fewer still, over the ocean.
I feel such a strong sense of awe, and almost feel moved to tears.
Whoa, didn't expect that reaction.
I stay up way longer than I planned to, snapping tons of photos.
Finally sated with bright orange skies,
I go back to bed.

The good news is, it's another sunny day;
the bad news is -- it's really windy.
Mr. GS manages to anchor our umbrella into the sand,
but I'm paranoid that it will pull out
and clank the people down wind from us, on their heads.
I hold on to it for insurance purposes the whole day.
Watching a guy unsuccessfully try to open his umbrella,
as it turns inside out and outside in,
is comical enough to make us laugh about it the rest of the week.
Beach entertainment is free, folks.

Finally, the wind dies down around 4:00p.m., and it is absolutely glorious on the beach.

We decide to forego the restaurants tonight, July 4th,
as they will surely be jammed prior to the fireworks down in Beach Haven.
We have a great dinner on our deck.......
fresh Jersey tomatoes, cheese, crusty bread, a refreshing bottle of rose,
and what may be the best chicken salad I've ever had,
from a deli in Harvey Cedars.

For dessert, we sit on the beach,
devouring the hues of pinks and lilacs, as sunset falls.
Oh, yeah, and the incredible humongous donuts from the market
that were marked down to 50 cents apiece at the end of the day.

As darkness falls, fireworks are launched all over the beach,
and we've got front-row seats.
It's a perfect July 4th.

The weather pattern has changed, and not for the best.
It's three days of clouds and drizzle.
There are only so many ways to pass the time.

We take a ride down to the southern end of the island,
reminiscing about places we went when Junior GS was young.
"Oh, there's the mini golf place where JGS got a hole in one when he was five."

We take a ride to the northern end of the island.
"Remember when I climbed to the top of the lighthouse with JGS?"

We go to historic Viking Village,
a small shopping area at the fishing docks in Barnegat Light.

We eat.
And eat.

One meal is downright awful........
yep, that would be the burger place with "excellent/very good" reviews,
promising the "best" burgers on the island.
The "best" part is that it doesn't rain while we're eating outside.

As a make-good, on our last night in LBI,
we go to an excellent restaurant called Bisque.
It's the second restaurant this week
where we've forgotten to BOOB (Bring Our Own Bottle),
so we order a Pinot Grigio from a local vineyard that is quite good.
The restaurant offers a lobster soup of its namesake,
and it is outstanding.....perhaps the best thing we eat all week.

When we get back to the house, it's time to pack.
Had the weather been better the last three days,
I'd probably be sad to leave, but I'm ready to go home.
I'd like to figure out how to take that view home with me,
other than just on my camera's memory card.

In the morning, a glorious beach day sticks it's tongue out at us,
saying, "Oh, so sorry you can't stay, now that the sun is shining." 😜
We load up the car, and head out on the highway,
with exit 63 fading quickly in the rear view mirror.