My favorite garden spots

Or the ones that look the best right now:

I call this my fairy garden. Last year I could not find my fairy birdbath, but you can see it was located this year! My glider needs to be on a platform as it sinks into the ground. You can see Gem Marigolds, cinnamon ferns (?), a somewhat wild rose, Baby's breath, Pansies, Lobelia and Snapdragons. A few wild Violets are there too. The hanging basket has two kinds of begonias in it. This is really a gnome garden too, but they are all hiding behind the ferns and Baby's breath. This is on the side of the house between the two bedroom windows. There are also plants along the house too-a white butterfly bush, white phlox, azalea, variegated hostas and a bush with lime green leaves.

If you turn right from the fairy garden, you will walk up to this area. It's in a half circle under a Japanese maple tree. There are the few roses I have planted here (some are blooming now). Also you will see Dianthus which is so colorful and pretty. There are two adirondack chairs next to two holly bushes. This is mainly in the front yard.

On a wing and a prayer

Well...almost. That tiling is surely an interesting and somewhat challenging project so far. I got brave today and peeled off the backing of two of the installed 12 x 12s. Not all the tiles are sticking (not unusual) and I had to reglue them. The old 46 yr old adhesive is to blame. But out of all the 100+ in one sheet, a few not sticking isn't all that bad. The first sheet had too much adhesive under it and I am scraping some of it away between the tiles with a knife so I have somewhere to put the grout next. The thing I am doing today is cutting my fingers on the glass shards left over when I snip the tiles. I did that three times already today! And I did the corner-like a contortionist (under the cabinet and sprawled on the countertop) getting the adhesive smooth in the corner section. I am a little worried about that area not sticking. At least I am on the next wall-it also has three outlets I have to work around which is also difficult.
Off to take some photos. : )

Round robin rotation 2 completed

I finished this for Rachael tonight. I left a little of it bare, but she can certainly fill it in if she wishes. I just ran out of time and I'm not good at doing mini animals like Rachael is. Her dog and peacock were stitched over one and she did a beautiful job. I hope she likes this.
I look forward to getting Barbara's next.

Heat wave

Yep, it's hot out today-about 90. I did water a few wilted things before I wilted myself and came in to prime the newly spackled walls. That primer paint is really thin and smelly too.
Remember my previous post about my huge hollyhock? Well, isn't it sick now with rust! It was fine too yesterday. It looks like is has yellow chicken pox. Some sites say to cut off the leaves and then trim it down to the ground in the fall. Others say to destroy it! I bet it got sick from a tree that has similar spots on it's leaves that is dropping them about 25 feet from my plant. Another tree in my yard has it, but it's around the back, away from the hollyhock. That particular tree is 'Sean's tree' as we planted it for him when he was about 2. It will probably have to come down and it's a tall one. Brian is one of these tree trimmers who trims from the bottom ignoring the tops. That tree could have been kept smallish instead of looking like a gigantic green Q-tip. Now it's a gigantic twig!
Off to finish up Rachael's RR. I can't wait to share it with her and you!

How I spent Memorial Day '06

Sanding and spackling another wall

Putting up a few sheets of the mosiac-isn't it pretty? I sure hope it sticks. The lady who I bought these from said it may take days or weeks (gawd) before you can take the plastic (that's what has them all lined up so nicely) off of these to do the grouting. I did put too much adhesive under some sections (thanks to the old adhesive) and I am wondering if I will have to level that out before I grout. After grouting is the cleaning part and then the sealing part. Lots of work! I put the tile all the way down to the granite and then I'll put some clear sealant there. I had to cut the ones directly under the cabinet. I guess that's not exactly a good job for a leftie, but I am getting the hang of it.

I took this a few days ago as Sean wanted a new photo for his facebook. He's next to the Japanese Maple in the front yard.

Post 1,000!!!!

Wow-I do ramble on don't I?
I love blogging and I am
glad to share my little
part of the universe
with all of you.

July at the end of May

Sunday turned out to be an outdoor day for the three of us. Sean cuts the grass around the house and Brian takes over and does 'the long part' of the yard. I am in the weeding phase of my May gardening efforts. I actually got fed up with trying to pull out messy tangles of 'Creeping Charlie' and got out the big boy rake which takes it out in a few swoops.
Before I went out to garden, I tackled the spackled wall in the kitchen. I must say I did a pretty good job. So good, Brian said to why not do the wall next to the basement door so he could just put up a nice rectangle of plywood for the tin so he wouldn't have to cut out odd pieces. I spackled that too and it looks great. Maybe I should get into spackling for a living? ; )
It was about 84 degrees and a little humid. I quickly faded and did things a little at a time. I didn't finish planting a few impatiens and veggies I have. My goal is to plant it all before June 1st and the rest of the summer is maintenance.
We had Chinese food because my freezer only had some frozen pizza and tons of chicken. I guess since it's Memorial Day today, we should throw something on the grill. Maybe some steak?

I was reading a blog and the gardener said she didn't like geraniums. I like them like this, lined up on my backstep. See how nice they look in their different pots. Seeing this reminds me that I so need to pressure clean some steps and to paint that railing. So much to do, so little time.

Write your own newspaper story!

Thanks to Zoey for this idea:

Just one bloom

I've been waiting for the first tea rose to bloom and this perfect yellow one greeted me this morning. The thing is, the rose bush is a scrawny little thing and I don't see it doing that much this year. I just had to take a photo of this sweet bloom. I have a collection of Chinese pagodas here, this being one of the older ones with it's rust spreading throughout it. I like the contrast of the two.

I'm a night owl honey

That's a James Taylor song in the title there. And this is the Night Owl iris. It's so dramatic and perfect for a real night owl like me! I'm waiting on a few more irises to bloom, one which is Stitch Witch-another reference to me. : )

Time for DIY

Brian is patching all these lovely 'mouse holes' that the electricians left behind the oven. He gingerly had to pull out the appliance as the countertop is jammed against it so tightly. Hmmm...maybe I should wax up the sides before he comes home with the patch kit? ; )
This is my contribution to DIY-so far. I am trying to spackle over that horrible residue of the 46 yr old adhesive that had been holding up an ugly backsplash. You can see it showing above the countertop there. This is the first layer. I will have to sand it a bit and probably add another light layer of spackling. The adhesive for the tile (a sheet show on the countertop) will be white and cover that unappetizing old stuff. The spackled wall be be painted blue to match the upper half. I can't wait to get these projects out of the way so I can accessorize the kitchen's new look.

Copper and Purple

This is a gorgeous one isn't it? I don't know it's name, but I did write it down when I planted it. The 'Night Owl', a deep, deep purple is about to open and it's magnificient.
My basket of purples. Love the bi-color petunias and the tall orchid-like plant. I swear I will learn more of the names, but I usually go by what I like and what worked the year before. I found an article about weeds-the ones around the bottom of the white basket are 'Creeping Charlie' and the ones that the neighbor gives me is plantain.

Alien looking plant

What's left of the allium and what I did to the photo of it in Paint Shop Pro.

Flat tops

Dear Recipe writers,
When you develop a recipe called 'Chocolate Chip Muffins' that only has about 6 ingredients in it, why not make sure you get all the directions right, pretty please? In fact, you should have said how much milk to add and how much batter to fill each muffin cup with. Why not use butter instead of veggie oil? This seasoned baker tried your blasted recipe twice to try out her new mixer and oven. She is quite disappointed in the results. And when you say- 'These muffins are requested for breakfast every day at our inn', you get said baker all interested in trying these flops. One thing-they taste better than they look. Said baker didn't open the oven door once and even blamed big footed son for walking around the kitchen like an elephant. Live and learn and find another recipe!

Look what came today!

Is it Christmas today? It sure felt like it. Martha Stewart, move over ! I thank Sean for cutting off my head but leaving my stomach in this shot. Geez.

Monster Hollyhock

Holy cow! This hollyhock is quickly approaching 5 feet! It must like it there next to the evergreen. A plus is we get to see it everytime we open the front door! Watch for flower photos. This is called a Chater's double and I don't know what color it is.

Here's the same plant (extreme left) kast year when I brought it home from the garden center. The other plants didn't make it.

Dusty, sticky pages

I brought home my photo album last night. Mom had it tossed in a box and I asked for it. When Sean was little, I redid it for her and she had it and the boys' albums on a shelf in the living room for a long time until she stuck them in a box. So many of the photos are fading away because they are polaroids. I will have to scan them and tweak them in Paint Shop Pro because I have no negatives of these precious shots.
I love seeing the photos of me in clothes that I had made in size 10 or smaller. Those were the days. : ) I did a good job on a top, a dress (for graduation) and a gown (I wore to a senior dinner).
Not much is new. I was sent replacement doors for a cabinet and drawer front. The drawer looks like the one I have now and the cabinet door isn't in my kitchen. The inspector guy just can't seem to get it right.
The outside is a dust bowl. I hope it rains soon. And my house needs a good cleaning! I can only do so much and since my flowers are my top priority, I am working outside! Who says the men who live here can't push the vacuum once in a while? Sean will, but Bri rarely does. And because they have good upper body strength, they do a great job.

You can see my beloved 'Mom mom' in a few photos with her hair in pin curls!

How did they build Titanic?

These were taken with my camera phone as I had forgotten my digital camera. The show was excellent. I know the music from having the Broadway show CD. I've been interested in the Titanic since the movie. We did get married on April 14th too (when it sank). In fact, the guy that boards at mom's house mentioned this to Brian and me on our wedding day.
We've seen quite a few Titanic related exhibits and shows-ones down in Atlantic City and Orlando and now the musical.

Mom and me outside the 'box office' after seeing the musical This is the same theatre we use to go as kids. I remember standing in a line that wrapped around to the corner when we went to see 'Star Wars' back in 1977.
This is the stage-you can see the capital's wheel in the middle. There were metal steps and a platform there, so the scenes were mostly in different levels. The opening scene showed the cast looking at the 'floating city' stage left. Many of the cast members played both 1st and 3rd class passengers.
Sean had a young lady about his age sit next to him. I think they were the two youngest people in the theatre! Mom and I got a kick out of that. We had a 'red hat' group of ladies in front of us and the rest of the audience was mostly elderly.

We went down the street to The Iron Hill Brewery and got nachos, salad and pizza for dinner. Sean and I had my mom cracking up by singing different things to her in the same music as the show.

Going to see Titanic the Musical

I just ordered tickets for a matinee showing of Titanic in my hometown for this afternoon (local production)! Sean and I are taking mom. He doesn't seem that thrilled that we have to leave here around noon to pick up mom for the 2 o'clock show. Yes it takes us that long to get ready and out of the house. I am excited because I love the soundtrack from the Broadway show. I'll check in tonight to let you know how it was.

Hot, dry summer predicted

Oh joy! The local weather guy, Glenn 'Hurricane' Schwartz (who we have met) said to expect 20 odd days of over 90 degree weather this summer. It's dry already!
I was out late this afternoon planting flower seeds. The home center had 40% off the unusual seeds I like-purple and lime color zinnias and white marigolds. I planted them plus some Cosmos. My allium garden got weedy, so I asked Brian to dig a footer around the perimeter of it. I think he dug up about 10 daffodils, though I didn't run across them when I was planting the seeds. The above flower seeds are no trouble at all. You just have to remember to just cover them with a light topping of 1/4 inch of soil. These are from the last few years.


I cooked a turkey meatloaf for dinner, which was good. I think my dishwasher isn't set in it's place well enough because when I open the door, it almost touches the floor and the rubber fittings on the top and sides seems to be showing too much. I guess I should call to get that corrected.
I have all the things I need for the tile work and tin work and wood trim around the new windows. I'm taking a deep breath before I start anything.
I got some more flowers at the home center, many of which were pot bound. I planted about 5 pots, two of which are teapots! I found some pale yellow phlox and put them in with the few roses that I have. This particular bed has a nice border of Sweet William. I'm almost finished. I like to get all my planting done by June 1st and then the rest of the year is maintenance.

Chester County loves Barbaro!

This fella is on the local news every day! He's still 'down the road' at the New Bolton Center. I've seen it from the outside, but never inside. Everytime I see this horse, I want to cry as it was just pure rotten luck that he hurt himself so bad. He's really a beauty. I was not much of a horse lover, but I have a whole new respect for them now. We are headed near here later, maybe we can do a drive by and see what's going on. The vet says 'it's a good sign' that Barbaro is taking an interest in the mares in nearby stables. ; )

Thanks to our super local news websites for these excellent photos (ABC and NBC).

After his surgery, he was lowered into water so he wouldn't hurt himself if he started kicking.

Barbaro and his surgeon (that's a news trailer on the bottom).

23 pins and a few plates in his back leg.
~Update-Sean and I did take a drive down Rt. 926 after we went to the local home center. He was driving and was going to pull into the hospital drive, but a police officer was there. We only saw a few cars and two local news vans next to the main building. The 11 o'clock news said there was a major news conference there sometime today. I think we missed it. We saw the signs on the fence wishing Barbaro well, which was heartwarming. Jade McCarthy, a local newsperson had an 'exclusive' with Barbaro. They showed her talking with the vet and petting a rather quiet Barbaro.

First real meal

I promised Brian a pot roast and I delivered tonight! I am really tired from a hectic week. It was an ok roast, just a bit on the strong side. The asparagus was tough and a little overcooked. I'm learning to use the stove, and it takes time. : ) But the 'smashed potatoes' were yummy, thanks to a recipe in my head from Rachael Ray. I cut up red potatoes and cooked them with the skins on. After they cooked, I 'smashed' them and added dried parsley, salt, pepper, butter and the secret ingredient light sour cream! We had cranberry sauce and a nice romaine salad with edamane (raw soy beans) and beefsteak tomato tossed with a Vidalia dressing to make up for the squooshy asparagus.
Clean up was a breeze. I had so many pots, some are soaking in the dishpan! The sink is so big and pretty. Swanstone is as smooth as glass and cleans up nicely. I got a retractable faucet which should help clean that monster sink.
The funniest thing earlier was me forgetting where everything is-like the spices and my corning oven dish. Ha-ha-what an airhead.

Let there be water!

Yahoo! The sink and dishwasher are working after a month of hauling a dishpan up and down the basement steps to use the sink there. We are running the dishwasher right now with about three things in it-just to see how it works.
I'm happy and a bit disappointed as Rob, the PM, chickened out on the tinwork. He looked at it again, but I couldn't find the directions on how to install it (I just looked at the website again and it's not that complicated). Mom suggested having my brother Ken help us with it. We could wait until he has his kitchen all finished or find someone who can install it or do it ourselves. I think if we take our time, we shouldn't have any problems as the areas aren't large where it has to go, but that could be tricky too. I see template making in our future.

Barbaro, the 'former' race horse is still nearby at the New Bolton Center. He has about 23 screws in his back leg. They emerged him in water when he was coming out of the anesthesia from his 4 hour operation in case he started to kick. They are showing people coming to the hospital leaving him carrots and apples. I recognized this one lady from a newsclip and sure enough it was a lady I worked with from Sean's school years ago! Small world. : )

Guess I will go mail some birthday gifts later on to my good friend in Illinois. I haven't mailed anything at the post office for a month and I don't really miss it. I have one bid so far on 7 eBay listings that end today. I'll get more into that now.

Where I'm from...

I found this on Barbara's blog. I found it interesting and challenging...

I am from suburbia, from hula hoops and Frisbees.

I am from the rolling, green, sweet scent of honeysuckle in summer, east coast.

I am from the evergreens, dandelions and gladiolus, tall, climbing trees, Queen's Anne's lace and gravel driveway.

I am from sparklers and fireworks on the 4th of July and singing when the mood strikes, from 'Mom mom'Ruth and Mom Jeanne and the proud Strouds.

I am from the 'see you on the holidays and birthdays' and to random special phone calls.

From always saying 'thank you' and to be weary of boys because they are only after 'one thing'.

I am from a Catholic marriage but a sometimes attend church Presbyterian upbringing. From knowing a little to starting to understand-just look at the amazing world around you!

I'm from a county seat and a melting pot, from Ellio's pizza to turkey with all the trimmings.

From the first forest ranger in Oregon to the supposedly brother of John Deere to the brother who is an electronic whiz at a local tv station.

I am from the dusty, fading pages of sticky photo albums to shiny CDS, to plastic boxes with browning carnations and school memory books with silly messages.

Barbaro racing career ends

What a sad turn of events for such a splendid animal. As I write this, Barbaro is just about 10 minutes away from here at New Bolton Center Animal Hospital in Kennett Square.
We were sitting in a local restaurant when the race came on the tv. There was no sound and we were trying to decipher what was happening. He had a false start and then the injury.
From the news: Barbaro, thought by many to be a serious contender for the Triple Crown if he won the Preakness, was diagnosed with a fracture above and below his ankle. Dr. Larry Bramlage, of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, called it a "life-threatening" injury.
Here's hoping the 'young fella' will be around for more than 3 yrs.

Do as to others?

We have been invited to a few events and we decided not to attend them. Sounds rather hasty and nasty, but when people just invite you for a gift and don't bother with you anyway, then the heck with them. First, a relative had a two kid grad party today-one from high school, one from college. Flashback 4 yrs ago-same relative but 8th grade grad and high school. Go to their house-sit outside and watch elderly relative get bombed. Graduates look at you like they don't know you. And you never get a thank you for those gifts. Every year you send same people Christmas card-they never send any to you. You stop sending them cards-finally. Relative tells Sean last year he doesn't need her $25 and never even gives him a card. So you see where I'm coming from.
Wedding invite-another relative gives the groom our address. Say like 3 words to guy getting married in 22 yrs. They don't invite Sean. Get stuck giving woman I don't know a bridal shower gift. Send invite back saying we aren't coming to the wedding. The only person I feel bad for is the groom's mom. She is Bri's dad's sister and I got yelled at for saying indirectly that he should visit his only living sister in the nursing home.

We did go to the fair-it was fun. Mom wanted to go but couldn't get ready to go early. I spent a lot of time looking for little things for her. I think I spend about $15 on two boxes of things. I got a large cobalt blue vase that will look great in the kitchen or in the middle of the dining room table. I got these little flat ceramic trees as a backdrop for my bunny collection. A local store (or the hospital gift shop) must donate things that didn't sell or they have too much of. They had cute ceramic pieces like mermaids and little mice. I got a teapot, but when I got it home I noticed it had some of the enamel burnt off the bottom-I don't dare put that on my stove. I'll use it as a flower pot. Now I have two teapot-green and blue-a collection.
I saw my uncle's step granddaughter at the fair. She said how mean he was to her and her mom. My uncle is the same age as Bri's dad. Why do some older people have to act like the world is against them when we only have their best interests in mind? I don't get it.

Night ocean and stars

The marble guys showed up about 3 pm and left a bit after 5. Other than two of our new outlets not resetting (they finally did) and some of the drawers sticking abit, we are happy with the results. It really is hard to photograph. It look black and gray when it is really a dark blue with the 'opal' flecks in it that catch the lights.
The sink fit too-whew! The carpenter will be back on Monday to hook up the sink and dishwasher (finally); move the vent and tweak a few things. He said he'll come back and do the tin work in a few weeks. It's been a long, stressful haul, but it sure has been worth it! (We have the paper towel holder in the sink as the hole is there and we were afraid Cos the cat would get his head stuck in it!)

Another Friday already

...so Sean says. He has applied online at several stores and hasn't heard back. When we were at Boscov's on Wed., he noticed they needed help in the garden area. Now we were wondering if they all need help as there is one nearer to us in Delaware. I think he could handle that.
Right now we are waiting for the kitchen countertops. They said to watch for them between 2-6 (nice open window, I'd say). Bet they show up later than sooner. The carpenter was here this morning and cut out 'most' of the piece that the templaters requested. He said he didn't dare go any further. I'm seriously crossing my fingers that everything will fit. Rob did take the sink out and looked at it and said first that it was a 'monster' sink and that he believed it would fit.
Tomorrow is the yearly fair at the hospital where I was born. They have a great white elephant tent. If they have too much stuff, they start giving it away for a dime or a quarter. But you have to get there early to get the best selection. Last year I got some cute paper mache children figures that were made to look like chalkware. They were priced at $35-40 a pair (probably from a store that had closed) and I got the entire box for a few dollars.

I wish you all a nice weekend.
I dedicate this photo to Lee for her sweet comment:

Painted Sky iris...it really looks like a sky over Montana!

May Bloomers

Peachy azaleas that look like bridal bonquets hanging from the shrub. I have another one like this that didn't bloom. I think I need to move it.
The rhododendrons surprised me today! I didn't expect them to be in full bloom. See the bee on the pale pink bloom?

Landscapers

Sean and I went to my mom's with the intention of putting in a shade garden under her lamp post and next to her driveway. It was a bit of a belated Mother's day gift, in addition to the other things I already gave her. Anyway, it turned from about an hour project to a 3+ hour one! Mom's neighbor, who is a gardener herself, came over with clippers and tripled our plans. She was cutting down Japanese maples and branches; dug up daylilies and moved them next to a shed and replanted them! My shade garden did get pretty much finished (I forgot my camera).
First we stopped at a nursery and picked up 2 bags of top soil and some impatiens (light pinks and lilac-I wanted white, but they didn't have any) and begonias. When we got to mom's, Sean dug out orange daylilies (different ones from the ones I planted last year) around the lamp post. We dumped in the topsoil and then I started planting-first the barrenwort wild hyacinth(?), and hosta I brought from here. Then the impatiens and begonias. I dug about 10 pounds of stones out of this bed-it is next to the driveway! Mom started digging out daylilies in another garden and Sean took over. Sean worked really hard and I am so proud of him. I hope our work gets my mom outside more as she's been staying in bed a lot lately.
After Wendy's, we hit Boscov's garden center (like the one I went to last week with the great prices and plants) and we loaded up on much more for mom's gardens. I got some white bleeding hearts and white astilbe for the shade garden along with red salvia, and other colorful shade loving annuals. They will go in next visit.

Glad to get home as we are both exhausted and I have a swollen gland in my neck-I get it off and on and it feels weird. I think I've had that problem all my life and finally figured it may be from allergies. I took Claritin too and may use a spray of Flonase.

My 'hippie boys' won The Amazing Race-woo-hoo! Remember my previous post about them? They beat out the jerks who everyone called 'the frat boys' even though they stated at the end that they were college drop outs. They couldn't figure out the flags from the countries they had been in, (to get to the finish line first)in the right order and that's how the hippies won as they were smart fellas.
Off to take a much needed shower. Ahhhhh...

Current XS projects

These are the three projects in my rotation. The top is A Walk in the Woods by Cross-eyed Cricket (stop cringing at my narrow borders. I think I picked up the wrong piece of evenweave when I started this one. I have the edges securely sewn). Then the blue is Cape May, depicting the local seashore resort in New Jersey that I love. And then you see Rachael's RR which is nearing completion for it's June 15th (or before)send off to England. I definitely have some embellishments for that in mind.


Sean and I have been watching King Kong the new version from last year. There is a lot going on in this one and the special effects are good. We have an hour left of the three hours. Sean saw it last year in the theatre with his friends. Not recommended for young kids.

Always a cat person

This photo is really deteriorating and it's really a cute one of my younger brother Don and me. I was about 16 (I go by my hairstyle) and Don was 15. That's my girl Smudgie. I had to cut out my brother Ken who was behind me opening a gift, and the black terrier doggie Chin Chin who Smudge is looking at. And the pjs were new. : )

Playing the 7 yr old blues

Just had to share:

You know this is my niece Tori, right? You should by now. ; )

Oldies but photoshopped goodies

These images didn't look good in their original black and white. This is a photo of my older brother Dave and me at Longwood Gardens on Easter. I'd say about 1963. We use to go there as a family tradition.
I know a few of my friends can relate to this scene from Christmas, 1960. Mom wrote on the back of this polaroid: I'm tired as usual, David is hamming it up, Dianne is crying and Donnie was disinterested (he was only 3 weeks old and I had just turned one). I was probably crying because I had two brothers! ; )

My mom said she was a single parent when the above photo was taken. My grandmom was helping her raise us. And there are 4 kids-Ken came along in 1967, my parents divorced in 1972.

Hope you had a nice Mom's Day

We had a nice Mexican dinner last night at a place that seems to have replaced Chi-chi's called Don Pablos. The guys had shrimp fajitas and I had fried lobster ones. Before we went to din din, we took back moulding and under the counter lights that we didn't use in the kitchen and got a $146 credit to our account at the Home Depot. : ) We did manage to blow another $100 on stuff we needed for the tile and tin work, plus we bought more plants, grass seed, a doorbell (I am sick of people pounding on my screen door) and a new mailbox. Gotta get the place all spiffy. I completely forgot the stain for the wood on the new windows, but I can get that nearer to home. We were also looking at toilets as the one we have is approaching 50 and it looks it. That's another project for the future.
Sean finally used some of his graduation money (from last year!) and bought a Ipod nano. He was tinkering with that most of the evening. I worked on 'Cape May', my piece on the pretty Ocean fantasy Silkweaver fabric.
Looking for a ton of rain tomorrow.

He's a millionaire

All the 'season finales' are rounding up this week-mostly the reality shows. I know, you can love them or hate them. I've watched Survivor from the 'get go' and what's cool-so does my brother Don in Florida. So Aras Baskauskas,25,a former basketball player and now yoga instructor won Survivor. I like Aras! He always came in 2nd losing out to Terry, a 46 yr old Navy fighter pilot. That always bugged me. Danielle, who came in second, only won the 'lily pad' challenge because she was lighter than the guys and we all know the guys on Survivor can never keep their balance well.
So here is a photo of Aras, the grandson of McDonald Carey (late soap opera doctor on Days of Our Lives).

Jinxed windshield wipers

Well, I have all my cabinets hung, but I am waiting for a replacement door and a pantry drawer too. The Home Depot guy Bob came today and it took him an entire hour to hang 1 door and put in about 6 knobs. I was suppose get to my mom's by 2 and Bob left at 1:45. The guys went over to Bri's dad's for a visit and to give him our old microwave (that he is 'scared' of-he prefers his 23 yr old one) and Bri planted some tomatoes too.
I quickly ate lunch, put on a little makeup and loaded mom's planter and gifts for Mother's Day in the van. I was in a good mood and called from the bank parking lot to say I was on my way. I was headed north and in front of me were menacing black rain clouds. It dawned on me that my windshield wipers had been acting weird and I got a bit nervous. I had every right to feel this way as I drove right into the rain and had to pull over twice because my left blade just flopped around. It was quite scary. I called the guys up on my cell and told them what happened. Thank goodness I was headed to my brother's house-the mechanic bro. After the rain eased up I finally got on the road and landed in a traffic jam and more rain. By the time I got to my brother's house I was strung out. Ken's kids were cute and I enjoyed spending time with them. Also got to see Ken's handiwork-his kitchen is shaping up! Most of the cabinets are in place!
Brian and Sean decided to come down. On the way from his granddad's house, Sean's windshield wiper blade, on the same side as my broken one, started to flop around!I couldn't believe it! Sean had to pull off the road about 5 times. Ken got out his wrench and just tightened the mechanism under the hood (in like 5 minutes) and they both were fine.
We went out for brick oven pizza and ran into rain on the way home. The wipers were fine! At home, it was rather dry and I watered my newly planted garden.
So check your wipers if you haven't used them for a while!

Update-Su, my pal from England, is sending me the cross stitch magazine that I thought I was getting my photo printed in. Unfortunately I'm not in it, they picked an English lady. Not surprised, but Cyperstitcher.com got some nice coverage.

A rare treat

That is the name of this iris. I think it's totally awesome.

We were blessed with some rain last night. The weird thing is we lost power twice the night before-right in the middle of 'Invasion' the only show Bri and I watch together. A few hours later the cable modem pooped out. It was working by the next morning.

I got my herb/veggie/flower garden planted tonight. A total joy to plant as the dirt was moist. I have 3 eggplants, one purple pepper, a lilac aster, a pink carnation, red salvia and assorted herbs.

My gladiolus popping up-I think I see about 8 grass-like sprouts now. They will be intermingled with marigold, cosmos and zinnia seedings that are coming up from the 'crop circle' of last year. I plan to do another crop circle. I need Bri to rototill the garden where the 'purple' (not blue) alliums are. I will sprinkle some zinnias behind the iris in the older circle. I am thinking about making that a box hedge garden there. I know it takes a while to get it to take shape, but they are so visually interesting.

Nancy wondered if I got my green thumb from my mom (thanks for your sweet comments, coz). Mom isn't a big gardener, but she loves certain flowers like lilies and her hanging baskets. She tries to dig up gardens, but they usually fail as she needs to enrich the soil and use a mulch. I want to do a shade garden for her under her lamp post where I see mostly hosta. I want to give her some delicate heart-shaped barrenwort and maybe some white flowering plants to brighten that space up. I'll probably see mom tomorrow. Bet we go to her Boscovs (I am loving what I got there). My gr grandmom Caroline had the green thumb and her daughter Ruth was a fair gardener (from what photos I have seen of her).

A new view

After 6 hours and dealing with rather sober workers coming in and out of the house a million times, I have new windows! They both need to be varnished, oh joy. The cat is really interested in both of them, though I don't want him in the garden window. Not sure what to do about that. Maybe putting up some curtains in the living room will take away his interest in them.
So here they are:

See how the little windows open on the sides? I need a step ladder to use this inside.

Oh Cos, what am I going to do with you?

You can see 'the red firecracker' (because it makes popping sounds in the warmer weather) with the red M&M guy on the antenna.

This makes the living room look larger and the house look newer.

Missed Martha!

The local paper comes out every Thursday (part of the group of papers that Bri works for) and he said 'hey Martha Stewart was in Delaware on Sunday at Point to Point'-(a yearly steeplechase horse event)held near Winterthur, less then 10 miles from here. Rats! My baking and gardening mentor so close and I didn't get to see her!
Anyway, here's a photo from another online paper, but this one's from Delaware. I'm dying to know what MS is sipping. I've never been to this snooty event, but they have a carriage procession and the one MS was in broke down and she was rather annoyed.

Flowers galore!

Mom's Mother's Day gift
Columbine in the front
My front step-store bought to the left and my plantings to the right.
The little wagon that saved the day! (helped to get the old mower in the dumpster)