English hedge garden plan

My plan is to get about 10 or so of the little box hedges and make a circle around the iris and gladiolus garden-for this year. I'd so love to knock down the useless grape arbor you see in the background that is covered now mostly with wild, sticky roses. Phase two would to make a 'figure 8' with the crop circle garden. It must be my English heritage coming to the surface as I love the neat look of the hedges surrounding the florals. Something like this:
Update Saturday: Bri and I planted 8 box hedges and need to get about 10 more. They are wee things, but it looks really cute and defined.
I did get to my mom's today. That woman has too many clothes. She seems to accumulate them like crazy even though my brother and I have both gone through oodles of them in the last few years. I am sad to say I don't think she can handle living there amd keeping it up in the condition that I saw it in today. I am praying that my brother Don will come up from Florida and help us get it in shape while living there 'rent free'. Maybe he could save up money for his own home as he's always lived in rented places and he's in his middle 40s now. My other brother Ken came to cut the lawn while I was there and I told him we need to get her out of the house as she can't take care of it anymore. He said no kidding. So it may be another phase in my mom's life. We'll all have to figure out what to do and what will be in her best interest. The straw that broke the camel's back was her getting shingles last year when she was handling her sciatica so much better.

Mosaic madness

Well this was a fun and cheap project! Sean and I went to Wally World yesterday and of course I had to see what they had in the way of glass and things. I purchased the vase for $2.49 and about three bags of assorted glass at $1.97 each. I used mostly the squiggley pieces and a few round ones to decorate the clear vase. I had the clear adhesive and the flowers. Some are a week old from the grocery store. The others are bee balm, cosmos, hostas, snapdragons and butterfly bush flowers.

I guess these aren't really mosaics. I just got a book where Sean works and you can make mosaics out of anything from squares of cork to paper. I am really getting inspired.
I am not feeling too great today. I have a pull and have iced it and am waiting for Tylenol to kick in and then I may venture down the now dry road and 23 miles to my mom's house. Wish me luck.

Road to mom's was flooded

This is along Route 1 on the 28th. To the left (you can't see it) is the Brandywine River Museum and to the right is Hank's Place, a little diner that the cast of 'The Village' frequented when they were filming the movie a few miles away from here. This is the road that I take to mom's and Sean also takes to college. To think I actually planned to go there that day-what was I thinking?

A gift

My friend over on tribe.net made this for me. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it with you. I plan to print it out and frame it I love it so much. Thanks so much D.
In case you don't know, that's a collage of singer James Taylor from his early years on up. I have a 'tribe' for JT fans and I have tons of photos there that D. could use. And I've been a fan of JT's since I've been 13, and that's a long, long time. ; )

Dear Harry,

My son and I recently saw you in 'Firewall'. We thought it was a fairly decent flick, but HF, you look so beat! I think it's time to take Calista and Liam to the ranch in Wyoming, kick up your feet and retire. I want to reserve in my mind the 'youthfulness' of you HF in Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Aren't you at retirement age anyway-about 63? You will always be on the top pedestal of male actors in my book. I just hate seeing you trying to play the dad to an 8 and 14 yr old. I know, there are 'older dads', but in this latest movie, when you took a beating, you damn right looked like you weren't gonna get up again. Hey, Harry-look at that sunset, it's waiting for you!!!
Big hugs to you, (really)
Dianne
Preview FIREWALL at www.videodetective.com

eBay no-no

Did you feel the earth move? Yesterday I listed 10 things on eBay and today there was one taken away. Seems a Corning ware perculator I found on a white elephant table was recalled back in 1979 by the US Consumer Products Safety Commission. Opps!!! I do research on some items before I list them and I did see others selling the same exact coffee pot a few weeks ago. Guess theirs got dumped too. I did write a note to eBay saying that I had no intention of selling something that would harm my customers. If I had known, I would have not even picked it up. I told Sean it's going in the garden with some herbs planted in it's little basket at the top.
I got this as a reply to my second note. I told them I was using the coffeepot as a planter! I will, darn it, I will!
You are correct in that you may list the lid and internals of the pot at
your convenience. I also hope you enjoy the plant you put into the pot
as well, but if it's a big plant, remember that it might not be safe to
pick up the pot by the handle!
It is my pleasure to assist you, Dianne. Thank you for choosing eBay!

Lilies of the field

This is one of my older lilies in my rose bed. I wish I knew the names. I like the shadow and light effects. This is a wee bit more raspberry in color then the next one.
Yes, people sell plants (bulbs, rhizomes) on eBay! The following pair were part of a 20 lily win. I divided them with mom. Only 6 made it for me, but they are pretty. The bonus is we can divide the ones that each may have that the other doesn't.

A little help from my friend

Beware of Wild Parsnip

You may think you've had a run in with poison ivy, but wild parsnip may be the culprit. It looks like Queen Anne's lace with yellow flowers. Don't pick it or get any of the 'sap' on you or you may look like this. UGHHH! I saw an article about it in Better Homes and Gardens and have never seen it, or at least I don't think I have. They say to treat it like a 2nd degree burn!

Major flooding

These photos from NBC10 weren't labeled, but I have a feeling they are down near the Brandywine River as one looks like the picnic park next to it.
We had enough water in our basement for it to creep past the basement steps. Brian had the wet vac on at 7:30 this morning cleaning a lot of it up. I have two fans going and will probably be moving things and spraying Lysol around. I was going to go to my mom's, but I have to cross over the Brandywine River, and I am afraid of debris, etc being left on the roadside. The Schuylkill River in Philly hasn't crested this high in over 100 years.
Today is sunny and humid. I was surveying my flowers and most look so waterlogged. My lilies are droopy and I waited all winter to see the ones I purchased from Utah (eBay). The side yard where the chestnut trees are is covered with their fuzzy droppings. I have lots to clean up inside and out, that's for sure!

Star-less View

I am so not sad about Star Jones leaving The View in September. There was speculation about whether or not she could stand to be at the same table with Rosie O'Donnell who is taking the vacant seat of Meredith Vieira. Starlet never came clean with how she really lost all her weight. Rosie said 'come on sister, you had gastric bypass'. Star said 'no comment'. Boo hoo. I happen to like Rosie O. At least she came 'out of the closet'. Honesty is the best policy. Wonder what Star will do now? Please don't give her her own show.
Update Wed.: I didn't watch The View, but it was indeed Star-less today. Apparently the above was a surprise announcement to Barbara Walters and Star was asked not to come back. This is getting very interesting.

When at first you don't succeed...

...try, try again. Okay, I am still doing something wrong. I think it's overfilling the pans. Here is a pictorial of my cantaloupe bread baking session. Sean really liked the finished product. We think it's a cross between applesauce and zucchini bread. Some of the loaves may not be pretty, but they taste good!

I got out the handy dandy handheld mixer to puree the 2 cups of cantaloupe-very quick and easy.

Next the wet ingredients were stirred and the dry added.

I used mini-loaf pans and I guess I overfilled them abit. Yet another recipe that didn't say how much to fill the pans. Take note, if you have two leavening agents, fill halfway or less. Only one came out of the pan easily.

The pretty loaf with the brown sugar, butter and pecan topping. Better lay off this when I get my cholesterol checked! ; )

Mosaics and mopping

All day we waited for something to happen in the basement with all the rain we've been getting. I purposely didn't dump out an empty flower pot outside (it's a big one) and I'd say there was about 5" in it when I looked at it this afternoon. We got to eat dinner and then I saw the water creeping out of the finished room we have. Between the three of us, we swept and used the wet vac and kept it under check....so far. Crossing fingers.
Earlier, I was tidying up our bedroom and ran across a mosaics kit I had bought at QVC about 5-6 yrs ago. I wanted to put the mosaics on the roof of a wooden birdhouse I have as a decoration. Well, since I had the tile adhesive and the tile nippers, I went ahead and did the birdhouse-finally. (It's on a tall stand).
I think it only took me 45 minutes to decorate it. Later, after dinner, I added iridescent 'pebbles' around the hole on the front and around various places on the birdhouse. I added a few seashells too. When I grout it, I'll share another photo.
The other photo is of a memo board (was a knife holder I purchased for $3) that I tiled using the kitchen tiles and snipped pieces a few weeks ago. I'm looking for a little chalkboard, so in the meantime I hung a calendar on it.

Building a rainbow

I should say an ark! ; )
I just ran across my iris rhizome order from last year and decided to check out A Touch of Nature again to see if I wanted to add to my collection. No problem! They are having an iris sale, so I ordered 10 more at only $1.95 each. Not to bad. One is this color:

I also entered their photo contest. I sent them a photo of my fairy garden. Wish me luck!

Deluge

We've had downpours like crazy since last night. I am holding my breath because of our basement's tendency to get a bit wet. Right now there is just a puddle in front of the doorway leading to the finished room. I haven't checked the bathroom down there yet. I am surprised (but deeply thankful) that is all for the time being anyway. On the news they are showing people wading through water in their basements in towns near to here.
Guess I'll do some inside stuff as there is always plenty to keep me occupied. I am so sick of sorting papers and mail. Do you have the same problem?
Wish Bri and me luck as we are getting our annual bloodwork done to check our cholesterol, etc. I get myself in a stew because I also get my liver enzymes checked because of trouble I've had in the past (probably due to Lyme Disease).
Our local weatherman predicted a drought as I mentioned a few weeks ago. Man was Glenn 'Hurricane' Schwartz off the money. This is Sean meeting Glenn back in November 2003 at a Tech Expo.

Crop Circle 2006

Here's a totally new circle garden, hence it's name above. Last year's 'crop circle' is mostly a iris and gladiolus garden this year. I think these are fun gardens and the deer and other varmints mostly leave the Cosmos and Zinnias alone. It's about a 7 foot circle. The iris garden is a few feet away. I am thinking about linking the two gardens together with box hedges. I know it takes a while to get them established. Walmart has them for $4 each which is really a bargain. I priced them at about twice as much at a garden center. I bought two already (not planted), but hope to get at least 8 more to start off with.

We've had some decent rain. I like summer rain. When I was a little girl, I enjoyed walking around in the rain down in the neighborhood behind my house-along a hill. I got yelled at by the neighbor lady and stopped doing the hike, but I would lay in bed and feel safe when it was raining or storming during the night. Funny thing is my house now is on flat ground with a hill behind it! And no, I don't walk along the hill as it's such a tumble of weeds and fallen branches it could be really beautiful because there is also a stream down there too. Maybe some day.

So most of my flowers and plants look so more alive after a good rain. The petunias, not so much. Their papery flowers are droopy. The salvia seems to be a little taller even!

I had to grease the pole that is holding the birdfeeder because my squirrel pal won't leave it alone. I take my can of canola oil out there and give the pole a few sprays.

Sean is working today. The store closed a half hour ago, so they must get a Sunday night delivery and they have to unload the truck. It's pouring again.

Today I spackled around the bay window. I am ready to get the wall painted and the wood stained so I can hang up curtains.

Brian took his dad's birthday gifts over to him today, including the two planters I put together. I still don't feel comfortable going to his house. He thanked me through Sean for the planters.

Family

Here are some nice shots of my mom and my older brother Dave. We did get to the grad party after all, despite the rain. Unfortunately, Brian's aunt had a sick spell and they took her away in an ambulance. They weren't sure if she had had a stroke, but it was probably from medicine she was taking for an infection. Bri's dad called her grandson a few hours ago and she was stable. Aunt B has Alzheimers too. She was always a lady who made you feel at home when you went to her charming house. We feel bad seeing her this way.

Update Sunday- My sister-in-law called and said Aunt B. was passing a gallstone at the party! I can relate to that as I've had my gallbladder out many years ago (Sean was an infant). No wonder she was keeping her head down and getting sick to her stomach).

Ha-ha-Dianne can eat a hoagie in the rain-that really tickled the heck out of Dave. (nose joke) We are the only three 'lefties' in the family too. Dave and I are the two oldest of the four kids.

A cute shot of the graduate 'Si-si' and her look-alike mom E.

Trumpet vine collapse

I was just surveying the yard as I do several times daily. The air is as thick as pea soup today. We are going to try to make the grad party later on if we can see where we are driving (if it isn't raining too hard). It seems the storms always pass through later in the day around here. Anyway, there was my 13-14 yr old trumpet vine half hanging off the shed. I guess there was just enough wind to knock it loose last night. I have gotten a piece of the plant from my late mother-in-law and waited at least 10 yrs for it to bloom. I see little trumpets forming on the piece that is loose. Maybe we can get a huge trellis or get use cording or something to salvage it. I hope so.

My allergies are somewhat better, I believe the rain helped. I have a terribly achy right knee. I believe lots of my aches and pains are from having Lyme Disease. When I had it back in 1998, it seemed to have settled mostly in my knees. I was just reading in the local paper an article about how epidemic Lyme is in these parts. One woman even stated that some children who are diagnosed with ADD may in fact have had an undiagnosed case of Lymes. Interesting. It's a very mysterious disease in a lot of ways.

Little garden sample

This is a little project I started last year on linen. It's Shepherd's Bush-The Herb Garden. It looked so cute sitting on the arm of the sofa this afternoon.

I don't usually leave a project in the hoop. This was bought on eBay and the previous owner highlighted it, which I don't do.

Allergies abound

I've had a hairy week with allergies. It takes me a few hours to clear my head in the morning by hacking and consuming tic-tacs that seem to shock my throat. I think the problem is the chestnut trees 'blooming' or whatever you call the fuzzy things that must be dropping pollen. The fireflies mate at this time of year and seem to like the chestnut trees and their fuzziness. I noticed how puffy my eyes look in my photo I included here with the hollyhock.

My poor mom has poison ivy (or sumac or oak) on her left hand and face! She made the mistake of going out last Friday to do hand trimming without wearing garden gloves. I guess she was perspiring and wiping off her face. She had to call the doctor and she is now taking pills. She said her cheeks were on fire last night, but she is better today. I haven't seen her for a few weeks. I like to try and get down every week, but sometimes life gets in the way (last week it was the cars and this week its the heat).
We are hopefully going to a grad party tomorrow if we don't get a monsoon! Sean said we are suppose to get 5 inches of rain this weekend. The party is about an hour from here and mom was invited too. I may stop and get the graduate a Penn State t-shirt as she got a full scholarship from the engineering dept. Sean will be seeing his cousin on campus in a few months.
Happy 83rd to Brian's dad!

Purple petunias and pink sweetpeas

Jelly Bean chocolates

Just when you think you've tasted all the chocolate in the world, Jelly Belly has come up with this: Milk chocolate with a flavored shell in a variety of yummy flavors from coconut to cappuccino. I found these in an office supply store of all places. You know how good the jelly beans are, well toss in chocolate and you are in heaven. : )

Yum recipe

Smothered Chicken
Take some boneless chicken sprinkled with lemon pepper and salt and brown it with bacon (I used the pre-cooked bacon) in some oil. After the chicken is cooked, take it and the bacon out and sautee sliced onion in some brown sugar (in the same pan) until onion is golden or caramelized. Top the chicken with the bacon, onion and Monterey Jack cheese. This was from a Taste of Home magazine-special edition.
The guys loved it! The brown sugar gave the topping a bit of a sweet taste. I'll be sharing more recipes and food photos with you to motivate myself to cook more. In the summer I find I am just too interested in the gardens to cook much. I do love to use homegrown produce in new recipes.

Pond whimsy

I've been adding plants here-along with decorations, the newest being the goldfish with the spinning tail. : ) The plant behind the solar powered sunflower is new and has small flowers. Creeping Charlie is making it's way around the pond and the princess and the frog, it's so hard to eradicate. The chair shown is child size.

Garden close-ups

I was out with the camera in the early evening last night, it being the 1st day of summer and the longest day of the year. I'd still love to get a camera with a better zoom.

Coleus-one of my favorite plants

I recently saw this 'Kangeroo paws' plant and had to get it.

These petunias are actually a deep purple velvet

Dwarfed by a hollyhock

I guess this flower is about 6 feet tall as I am only a little over 5 feet tall.

( Finally my hair got some attention today.)

Fantasy cross stitch

I was following links on blog sites and ran across this artist:

I find her designs very stylized and different. Plus we share the same birthday of Nov. 19th, so I'll always give a twin a little blog space. You have to stitch over one on 25 ct lugana, so if you can do that, have fun!

Purdy kitty

Even though Cosmo has his own blog, I'd thought I'd share a cute photo of him here too:

He of course is hogging the lounge chair. : )

Stuffy

Darn sinuses have me feeling pretty crummy today. I even had to cancel my hair appointment this afternoon. The chemical smells would do me in for good. I have been smelling lots of interesting glues and cleaners lately thanks to the kitchen redo. Then the dusty paper overload yesterday was too much. I can't believe I felt that bad especially after the spackling I did a few weeks ago and the dust that created. So I got out an ice pack, then took a Tylenol and later a Sudafed. I don't like taking medicine unless I really have to. I do feel better and actually watered some flowers and took the cat for a walk on his harness.
We have a brown bunny living out in the backyard area. A few weeks ago, Cosmo actually went after it. He didn't catch him and he is still hanging out. He/she has taken to laying all stretched out under the Rose of Sharon bush. It's the cutest thing! It reminds me of our late pet bunny Buster. This was taken out the dining room window, so a bit blurry. He's sunning himself a little bit out from under the bush.

Can I help you?

After Sean's first day of working for salary. They had him on the register for a great deal of the day too.

Important papers

I'm a fairly organized person with most things around the house. When I was single and only had my bedroom to contend with, believe me, I knew if I went to my crate of record albums, I could go to 'T' and there were all the James Taylor albums I owned. By release year. I had a good system of cleaning. I'd get a clothes basket and everything that wasn't suppose to be in say, the living room would go in the basket and get sorted in the various family members rooms later after I dusted and vacuumed the room.
So now I live with one fairly organized person and one very untidy one. Can you guess who is who? Sean is the tidy one, but only with his own possessions. I guess I taught him well. Brian was raised by a clean freak. She cleaned the house top and bottom every Tuesday. Now why would you clean a room that didn't need it?
What all this is leading up to is that we couldn't locate Sean's birth certificate and SS card. I did find something from the selective services with both his birthdate and social security number printed on it. I guess this was all right. Sean's been at Big Lots since 2. I am kinda hoping he likes making money and works more than 20 hours a week. Mom and I think this will do him good because he can be a little on the shy side like his parents (though I am a lot better than I use to be).
Rummaging through papers is a good way to get rid of clutter in that respect. I tossed a bunch of old bill receipts today. Good thing I held onto that one piece of paper.
It's warm again today. I did some indoor things like putting liners in some of my cabinets in the kitchen. I have a pot of spaghetti sauce on for dinner-Sean's favorite. I imagine he'll be home at 5:30 for half an hour of dinner and go back to the store until closing.

Wacky day

I hope those of you who have their dads had a nice Father's Day by sending them your love. I do have a dad, but I don't know exactly where he is and we don't communicate. Today was also the 6th anniversary of my maternal grandmom's passing. It wasn't the best day here. Brian decided to open the box of tin and then I had to get involved. Before you know it, I was cutting it and let me tell you, being left-handed and cutting with those tin snips is not easy. It's really frustrating too. Needless to say, we messed up one piece. We did manage to hang it up on the one wall and Brian nailed it with the decorative nails before he checked to see if it was perfectly straight. But since the piece (there were only 3 pieces) is mostly hidden by the back of the oven, we are going to live with it. I am thinking of getting some edging which may help. It looks 95% better than what was there. When we do the other wall, we won't be nailing anything until we make sure it is straight. Here is a photo and it looks so shiny and new. It's not too bad an installation for inexperienced people like us. I curse the carpenter who at first said he would do it and backed out. ; )

We may add the edging to the blue area directly under the microwave and more tin down the wall next to the door.

Sean insisted that we take his dad out to dinner. So we piled in the newly conditioned van and headed to Ruby Tuesday. It wasn't that crowded when we got there and we had a nice dinner. I had been a bit peeved at Brian for nailing the tin up, but this helped.

We went to Kohls and I got a few things that were on sale. The guys got Ford Mustang t-shirts.

We stopped by KMart and they had perennials for $3.75. I got a butterfly bush and a few other plants (I think one is salvia and the other is sedum). It was blasted hot today and I am feeling it tonight.

Sean is looking for his birth certificate and SS card for his job and he can't seem to locate them. I think we needed the BC for our trip to Florida or he needed if for Penn State. I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning!

Brian's contribution

This isn't too attractive and we sure hope it sticks to the wall so we can add the decorative tinwork over the top of it. Actually, there is another wall I want to apply this to across from the sink . Man, did the adhesive stink! It bothered all our throats, especially Brian. So you may be asking why we used adhesive? We have plaster walls throughout most of the house and we can't really nail things into it, except small ones for
pictures. We'd have to use the nails with the supports that open in the wall and they wouldn't really work for this project. We did get wood screws for a few of the spots that just don't want to lay flat. This luana covers the last of the really ugly 46 yr old adhesive used on the walls by the previous owners.
I used an acid stuff to clean the glass tiles (had on rubber gloves and safety glasses). It smelled a little like old eggs. The tiles look cleaner, but it didn't get all the grout out of the indentations in some of the glass. I'm wondering if the sealer will do the trick. If not, I can live with it. The walls look 100% better than they did a month ago.



By the way...
I used my Panini grill tonight! I had sourdough bread that I sliced up (I think I need to slice it thinner). I made turkey clubs and ham and cheese for Brian because he had turkey for lunch). They were yummy. I will toast them a bit more next time.

Sean may be interested to know...

Sean, my son, is an Earth and Science major at PSU soon to be a meteorology major up at the main campus in '07.

You Are Rain

You can be warm and sexy. Or cold and unwelcoming. Either way, you slowly bring out the beauty around you. You are best known for: your touch Your dominant state: changing

What Type of Weather Are You?

A sprinkle of color

Don't you love the little marigolds? I had them last year and had to get them again for thr fairy garden. Brian gave me the miniature 'bubble' gazing ball a few years ago.
I have my van back and it seems to be running better (it should for almost a grand) especially the air! No popping was heard from the steering wheel, so I guess my 'little firecracker' will be the van's knickname because of it's color of red.
I did run around the store-finally. Of course I forgot a few things, I always do.
Have a great weekend!

Bad girl

I just ordered yet another cookbook -one with Panini sandwich recipes. I have the Cuisinart press I haven't tried yet. I think I'll make some turkey clubs tomorrow-that's if I get to the store. I also ordered To Kill A Mockingbird on DVD. Thank goodness for Amazon and their used section-though these were both new.
I need to go food shopping! I've had a bad week with you-know-what and just couldn't walk around the store, plus Sean wouldn't let me use his car if I wanted. Well, he probably would if I asked nicely. ; ) I was just snacking on Cheerios-the cupboards are getting half full-lol.
Hopefully I'll go later after we get the van if it is indeed ready to be picked up.

Unusual butterfly

This is called Morpho hyacinthus, a rare and almost extinct butterfly. I believe this photo was taken in El Salvador. I think butterflies are some of the coolest creatures on earth. I even let some milkweed sprout around the side gardens for the Monarchs to enjoy.

Here's a little info I found:
They reside in tropical jungles and can often be found in clearings. Most of their later life history is still unknown. What is known is that they normally spend their nights hanging from trees and the underside of leaves.

Microscopic ridges on the backs of their wings fracture and reflect light, making them appear iridescent, like blue gemstones. When their wings are folded they show only the bottom of their wings that are camouflaged dull brown side with "eye spots"
This allows for the morpho to fold inward the bright side of its wings when it sleeps and show only the side that blends into the environment.

Poor Hollyhock

The leaves were covered with 'rust' and all the sites said to cut them off.
Such a pretty salmon color too. It looks so bare without it's big frilly leaves. I guess after it blooms, I am cutting it down to the ground. I happen to turn on GW's press conference yesterday and saw hollyhocks behind him that looked like their leaves were cut back. Maybe theirs was only for show though.

Stitching Blogger Question

How many cross stitch books do you own and how often do you use them?
Before I answer this, you have to be aware of one thing-about 7 yrs ago I wasn't doing eBay and only had a small box of cross stitching charts let alone books. Then I began selling things and I started to find cheapie book sales and would buy one for me and one for the eBay table. Needless to say, I have an entire closed cabinet of hardback books now. I do go through them to look for certain designs. I also have several crates of leaflets. I plan to weed these out-someday-so someone else can enjoy them. Right now, I have to sell off or give away the eBay cross stitch related things.

I could just cry...

...because of darn this old van! $1300 to fix it all. I think repairs that have to do with brakes and air conditioning are important and that seems to be the majority of problems with the popping, grinding and humming. The day we were at my mom's a few weeks ago was miserable as it was in the high 80s and the air wouldn't work properly-it heats up the second seat where I was sitting! I'm trying to get a hold of Brian to tell him the 'good news'. Last night we had 3 of the 5 numbers in the powerball-wow-$7!! If only. Since I don't see us purchasing another vehicle for me in the near future, I would recommend us getting all the repairs. We have the home equity loan and I need a car. Peace of mind so be it.
Blogger won't let me upload photos. I don't know what it's problem is.
It is a nice day before the heat is suppose to hit tomorrow. Sean said he'll cut the grass. So maybe I'll settle on the lounge chair with my book and stitching and stop worrying about things-for at least a little while.
~Update-blogger didn't publish this earlier. I talked to my brother the mechanic and Bri and they said to stick with the brake repair and the a/c. Not sure if that will bring the cost down that much.
I tried to sit outside and the bugs were bothering me. I'll find something else relaxing to do.

It's a Wonderful Life

I just got finished watching the 3-hour long 'most inspirational' top 100 movies of all time as rated by the American Film Institute. Now I must be daft or my brain is water-logged because I didn't even think about 'It's a Wonderful Life' being voted as #1. It certainly is one of my top 10 favorites as is Jimmy Stewart, a fellow Pennsylvanian definitely is one of my favorite actors of all time. I do have a few 'collectables' from the movie-a IAWL cookbook written by Karolyn Grimes, the actress who played 'Zuzu' Susan Bailey in the movie. And I also have the Zuzu porcelain doll (I was into dolls a while back) and the trading cards too.
I'm glad to see 'Rocky' in the top 10. I'm wondering if I've ever seen 'To Kill A Mockingbird' as it was #2 in this list and #1 about a year ago in another AFI special. I'll have to make a mental note to buy that one.
Not much is new. Brian's car is home and repaired at a tune of almost $800! I decided to leave my van to get the air conditioning checked out and a few mystery noises hopefully figured out. My brother the mechanic has tried in the past to do this. I call my van 'the red firecracker' because as soon as it warms up outside, I get a popping noise when I turn the steering wheel left or right. We also have some grinding and humming noises. I think when Sean was learning to drive, he was backing up and really went over a curve bad enough to give me a bubble in the rear right tire that needed to be replaced. I think it's out of alignment. I want to have a vehicle I am not apprehensive to drive.
We went to Carrabbas for dinner (across from car dealership) and came out to torrential downpour.
I spent the evening watching the above show and worked on my 'A Walk in the Woods' cross stitch piece.
BTW, I added a link to Make A Child Smile in my sidebar. It's an web based organization where you are only asked to send 3 sick kids a greeting card each every month. I've been sending the cards to the different children for almost 8 years now. I've come to know many them, lately little Joanna whose mom Lorie sends me email and photos. What a precious child Joanna is.