Giveaway Winner Announced and What I Got for My Birthday

Last week, on May 27, while in the midst of my closet revamp, I decided to have a handbag giveaway as a means of reducing the number of handbags I own. Today is the day I am announcing the winner, which is Beryl, determined by a random drawing. Beryl, pease e-mail me with a shipping address and I'll get the handbag in the mail to you.

The handbag pictured above is my first give-away on this blog.

This was my birthday weekend. The weather was marvelous -- a high of 82, which is almost unheard of this time of year. We took advantage of being outside most of the day. I pottered around and husband installed my garden fence to keep the dogs and rabbits out.

As you can see in the foreground, Bermuda grass has invaded the garlic and about the only hope for saving it will be a dose of Roundup. Still working to define the squares in the potager garden. Behind the garlic is zucchini and beyond that is tomato surrounded by arugula. At the left, a running rose has taken over an old clothesline where I once hung out clothes to dry on nice days. The little metal gazebo has moonvine planted  below but it's growing slowly. I had envisioned large blooms by August. Maybe it will begin to grow by leaps and bounds soon.

Saturday night we had dinner in the gazebo. Husband grilled ribs and I made mushrooms and caramelized onions, stuffed and baked tomatoes and garlic bread. Here's a picture he made as we prepared to feast.

So, I got a garden fence and unlimited purchases for my Kindle e-reader. I received several phone calls--from my sister, father-in-law and both children, Patrick and Melissa. I got several cards in the mail and numerous Happy Birthday wishes from Facebook friends. But the gift I received that I can't get off my mind today is a raging summer cold! Headaches, sore throat, the works. I caught it from my husband, who had had one going a few days. It'll run it's course soon, but summer colds are so inconvenient! So today I stayed home and drank tea, ate soup and napped throughout the day.

Hoping you'll have a great week!