He'll never be here again...

My uncle that is. His stepdaughter was telling my mom that he needs help with everything. He left the hospital to go in a rehab/nursing home facility on Saturday. He was told not to, but he got up to brush his teeth and fell in the bathroom and scraped his back. He's so stubborn. My mom called me at 10:15 last night all emotional. There's not really anything anyone can do for him. When the time comes, when we know for sure that all this is true (you always have hope for a miracle) then we will help clean out his house. Looks like if he is in there until the end (and his wife is in another place) that he will need the money from selling his house to pay for it. Mom said she could always count on him. But he is 83 yrs old and now her kids will have to help her.
Too bad he had to give up his woodcarving and painting-he was good! I have a few of his pieces. Pain is a wicked thing. It makes you lose interest in the enjoyable parts of life-even down to eating.
Wish him well, it's going to be hard for him.

25 yrs ago Saturday...

... I flipped on my little black and white tv in my bedroom to watch the wedding of Lady 'Di' Diana Spencer to Prince Charles. I think it was around 5-6 am and I don't get up that early for everyone. Brian thinks it's funny I watched this, but it was like a fairytale wedding to a young lady like myself. We all dream of finding our own 'Prince Charming'. I was shy like Diana, I even got my hair cut to a similar short style as hers. At the time, her wedding dress was rather bulky when other brides were going for chantilly lace, etc. Here is a photo I always liked of the late Diana:

Two of my favorite people..

Brian (DH) and niece Tori. My sister-in-law had a surprise party for her mom's 80th yesterday. Aunt Sue is also Brian's aunt. Her house got to 83 degrees before Bri and I flew the coop. He was not feeling well (you can tell by his eyes in this photo) and sat in the van with the air on a while. I think people were opening and closing the doors too much and then the food with the sterno was heating up the place. We came furthest for local people, but she had friend and family from NY and Florida too!

For Tori

I made this with my 7 yr old niece in mind. I printed it out for her last night in hopes of seeing her today at a birthday party...

Then I took an element (the back of one of the little girls) out of this and added it to an entirely new collage:

The guys couldn't see my 'ghostly' face in the middle. Some of these are my own photos.

Tour of Homes day

Welcome to the Tour of Homes!

I was going to do this last night, but we had a wicked thunder and lightning storm go through. So here is part of my home:

Welcome to my home. I use to have a red door and painted it teal (my favorite color). Of course there are tons of flowers all around. The sign says-"Welcome to our nest"
Here's the computer desk tucked in the corner of the family room below (you don't see any dust, do you?)

Me at the computer collaging-what else? See the example right there on the screen.

Our family room in red and gold-this is where I store most of my 100s of books. The pile next to the sofie is my cross stitch stuff. This room use to be the attached garage that we converted back in 1992.

Part of my new blue and white kitchen (click kitchen to see more photos of the remodel). I can only have magnets on the one side of the frig now. ; )

My little hideaway behind some holly bushes. Say 'hi' to my kitty Cosmo!

Winding down

I guess things are running more on an even keel. My uncle is improving, but he needs to go to a rehab center for physical therapy, etc. He was a very sick man. We were worried he'd put up a fight, but he resigned himself to the fact that there is no one who can be his caregiver 24/7. He needs to be monitored because only one artery was cleared. He still could have a heart attack. If he's a good boy and takes all his meds, he could live an extra 5-7 years. Not a bad prognosis for an 83 yr old. He is just like his mother, that one.
I went to my mom's yesterday with a new screenhouse. It's for next year. I couldn't pass up a sale-a $100 house for $40! I also wanted to see my niece and nephew, so I poked my head in their door. Their kitchen looks so ultra-modern! They had got a tan tiled floor, set on the diagonal. They had the templates made for the countertops. I am sure they will be able to use it in about a month. They've been waiting since about last October! My brother had set up a kitchen in the basement-he's so clever.
We had the septic tank looked at-got a new automatic drain thingie ma jigger. Brian said it's still not working 'automatically'. I made him call the serviceman and he said the water needs to be up more before it drains. Brian wasn't waiting patiently. I hope it works correctly when he gets home.
We got a new phone in the mail with a dual handset. So now I have a phone in the kitchen and one in the family room. There were so many cords that Sean and I had trouble figuring it out. Brian isn't organized with his cords at all. Our other cordless phone was awful-it's battery wore out within a few months time. Now I have to buy two phone batteries! I don't think the extra phone will get as much use as the main one.
Chilling out today. Hope you are too.

Wax baby

Doesn't this wax figure of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt look like one of those collectible porcelain dolls? I think it's quite odd that they immortalize a person as an infant-bad kharma.

Wednesday shots

White hydrangea bush. If I had a bush like this in my yard growing up, it would have been my favorite spot to put a blanket down and color under.
The butterfly bush was trimmed, but it gets a good dose when it rains from the overflowing gutter!
This waterlily bloomed yesterday, but on the other plant (other than the one I showed you a few days ago).
A Swallowtail on a zinnia-I got several good shots of this guy!
Burgundy gladiolus amongst the cosmos

What do these people have in common pt 2

Pictured: Grace Kelly, David Brenner, Will Smith, M. Night Shyamalan, Sly Stallone, Joey Lawrence, Eddie Fisher, Kevin Bacon, Tina Fey, Jim Croce. Edgar A. Poe, James Michener, Adam Corolla, Daryl Hall, W.C. Fields, Kevin Eubanks and Connie Selleca.
What do you think? Post your answer please.

The answer to the previous collage was that they are all left-handed.

Flash from the past

Every Tuesday night I try to catch 'Last Comic Standing' and then switch over to the ABC show The One: Making of a Music Star'. This one judge looked so darn familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on who he was. This judge looks like a French painter who has painted his mustache blue and goatee green and wears funky clothes and mostly berets. Finally tonight the host called him 'Mark' and the memory vault in the deep crevices of my brain went Mark Hudson? Was he a ' Hudson Brother' who my friend Lisa and I adored in high school and even went to the Allentown Fair to see in the summer of '75? Is this Kate Hudson's uncle?

Man, what happened?

Lancaster Co man wins Tour de France...

Floyd Landis was raised by Mennonites in the little town of Farmersville (I believe that's it). He sure had pretty roads to bike on!

His poor parents have been on the news and are taken back a bit by the camera.

Jay Leno just said Floyd had had hip replacement surgery (not sure when) and won anyway.

Waterlilies up close

After I took this photo I cleaned out the algae in the center. This seems to be a bumper year of algae growth. Hey, I just noticed when I enlarged this all the way there is a flower bud near the larger of the red leaves that are unfolding! The first of the season!

Birdhouse and red salvia

Look what I found...

...those funny Croc garden shoes-but a rip-off brand at Wally World! (Though Sean says he sees kids his age wearing them).They were under $10! So if they last 1-2 yrs, I will get my money's worth out of them. I am a bit worried about the holes-hope the bugs stay out. And they are lightweight too!

W.I.P.

Cape May by Valentine Stitchery (first Silkweavers multi-color fabric I ever used) and DMC All our Yesterdays kit-part of series.

Looking for a template?

I've been playing with the printer tonight. I found some programs on here I forgot we had. Anyway, I made a addy label (for my eBay sales) and could not find a way to print them out. Windows '95 had a program for labels. So I found this one. We have Microsoft Works, so I downloaded the label template there. I should have resized the label just a smidgen, but it worked. There are other kinds of templates that you can use for CDs, etc.

Flowers 3rd week July

I got out the seed packs so I could name these all for you-You are looking at Giant Canary Bird yellow zinnia and Giant Scarlet Flame zinnia. The SF seems to be doing the best.
Monarch on Cosmic orange cosmos

Not sure if these are the Giant Lavender Gem or the Giant Violet Queen-what do you think?
Envy (lime green) of the Barbaro bed (only a few came up)

Let's play a game

Besides being well known, what does this group of people have in common? If you enlarge you can see their names at the bottom...the last few being E. Welty, B. Franklin and M. Monroe. Post your answer-no peeking at other's entries.

I'm still here

I didn't feel too well yesterday because of terrible indigestion at 5am that woke me up. I was trying to take supplements for my trigylerides and garlic oil made me half sick. Someone told me to try flax seed oil. I just may stick to cooking more with garlic and eating more Omega3 fish.
So here is an oldie of my Uncle (bad boy with a ciggie), my grandfather and gr grandfather. Everyone says how skinny he is now, but look at him there! He's been going through some procedures, the latest being the bladder caustic action. They didn't render his bladder entirely useless-yet. And he is getting shunts to keep his arteries open (I think this is what mom said). Hopefully these procedures will help him.
We got my van last night-another $180-yes, older cars start to 'nickel and dime' you. I can't afford a newer vehicle right now, so this was the best action to take.
I'm taking it easy this weekend and I hope you all do too!

Retro toys

Did you play with any of these toys as a kid? (you may have to click to enlarge). I couldn't sleep last night so did this wallpaper. It looks good on the desktop, plus Brian and I had fun talking about the toys I included. I forgot 'Mousetrap' and 'Playdough'plus a few more, I'm sure.

Check this out, do you girls have this one?

Happens in 3s

Yes, I believe things do happen in 3s.
First it was the car and the brakes acting funny. It's still at the shop too. Idiots decided to look at the front brakes and lo and behold, they found something. And they have to order the parts. No van until tomorrow.
Then Brian tells me the pump isn't working right for the septic tank. Oh great! Did you call someone? No. Who should I call? I don't know. Flip open the phonebook-hey he's been 'serving the county for 20 yrs'-ok call. What no power? And lots of emergency calls because of other pumps not working? Tomorrow? Drainfield may be failing? Oh s#$% and I mean it.
Uncle Don needed 2 pints of blood. Mom left his house today. We don't know what this is all leading to, but it doesn't look good. My only uncle-so good to mom and his mom. So talented as a music teacher and elementary school orchestra leader. He can play almost any instrument. All he wanted was a good day.
~Update-6:45 pm-My uncle had a heart catheterization and he did have several blockages. They are also flushing out his bladder. He called his house thinking my mom was still there and then he called her. He sounds good, but groggy.

A bit of a scare

Just got in from the hospital. Sean and I first dropped off my van to get the brakes checked out and then headed the 10 minutes down the road to my uncle's house. As we rounded the corner we saw the paramedic and ambulance in his driveway. My mom had to call '911' as when she was bringing his lunch to him he was slumped in his chair and his mouth was moving funny. His stepdaughter and neighbor were there already. So mom went in car with his SD and Sean and I followed. When we got there I went back and he was wide awake and he asked me how my car was! In fact he was alert in his driveway. His pulse was about 97. He had taken some kind of high blood pressure med and his blood pressure is low (ordered by his doctor). Within 45 minutes he had that reaction. I'm glad he was lucid and that eased my mind a bit. He can't walk too well and is having urinary problems.
My van is still at the shop. The guy pulled the papers on Brian's car and it didn't get checked out until I called them to see what was up. So that was 2 wasted hours. They looked at the rear brakes and not the front ones. Sometimes I wonder....
I'll keep you posted.
Update-I was trying to call my mom all evening. Finally, a little after 10, she answered at my uncle's house. She had just gotten in from the hospital. She was so flustered, she had my uncle's other stepdaughter tell me what was going on. He has heart damage from all the bleeding. H also had a little episode like he did earlier and they are thinking he is having mini-strokes. They are talking heart surgery, but they can't do anything until his bladder calms down. I thought he was doing better and my hopes are now dashed. He is 83 and very thin and weak. Mom is still staying at his house. That must feel strange. She says it's hard to see his pipe and his empty chair. He was eating better too. This totally sucks.

Two new movies shot in the Philly area

Lady in the Water
The plot of the movie is based on a bedtime story M. Night Shyamalan wrote for his kids.
Some of this film was shot in Levittown, Pennsylvania at a Jacobson logistics warehouse site (Shyamalan has committed to using films sites in Pennsylvania). The set, built on the warehouse site, includes an apartment complex and a half city block of row houses. Occasional footage was shot inside the overflow area of the warehouse. Most of the filming was completed after Jacobson work hours. (from Wikipedia)

and
ShadowBoxer starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.

My sister-in-law said she actually saw Cuba in a neighborhood near where my mom lives when she had her daughter at a birthday party there-really!

(mom doesn't live near here) COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., --The production crew of the Lee Daniels film "Shadowboxer" was on the Ursinus campus Tuesday, June 14 (2004), for a location shoot that included scenes set in classrooms, a graduation ceremony and a "pub."

Cute photo of the day

Collage shares of the day

My pals and I are still collaging like crazy. I have completed a few 'vintage' ones as I love the old postcards and trading cards. But, I like nature too. If you want to see them full size, click on each. I like my textures too.

This is mostly of vintage postcards from Atlantic City, NJ found on Corbis.
This is my ode to rain and dewdrops.

<---Sandy asked what me what do we do this these collages once we make them. Most of us just use them for wallpaper on our desktops. One of the ladies is printing out the ones she likes for a scrapbook. I have also printed a few out on mat finish 8.5" x 11" computer paper and they look great.

I'm okay

It was a long day for me waiting to go to the doctor's to hear about my bloodwork. Everything is ok except the pesky triglyerides and 'mildly' elevated liver enzymes. I was told to try fish oil for the 'tris' and she didn't seem overly concerned about the enzymes. Two of my brothers have 'weaknesses' in that area. Ken and I had our gallbladders out. My other brother has elevated LFT like me, but he smokes. He became a vegetarian (not sure if he caved in) but to me it would be wise to stop smoking. My older brother has diabetes. I think everybody has 'something'. I just took a fish oil capsule after dinner, but I'm going to alternate it with garlic capsules. The doc said I could get rechecked in 3-4 months. A bonus- I have lost 6 pounds since February. : )
I then got a new filling in a bottom tooth by a handsome young dentist with strong hands (my poor jaw). He was pretty fast-reminded me of how my usual dentist was a few years back. We were talking about my 'gap tooth' smile since there was a 'before' and 'after' photo smack in front of me. He said that I could get it fixed, but I've had my entire life and it's me.
I got home to no dinner. Just once I'd like my guys to surprise me with dinner. I was numb from the middle of my lip to my jaw. I couldn't eat until after 7.
Mom and Uncle Don sound good for a change. Mom slept 5 hours straight because she liked the double bed there. I think she likes taking care of her brother too. She's been filling up his tank, especially with cool drinks and I hope a nice dinner. Sean and I will go see them probably Wednesday. I may steal her to bring back to the house for a while as she hasn't seen the kitchen yet.
Got out my 'Cape May' cross stitch design and was working on that for a bit. It's nice to have some personal peace of mind for at least a little while.

Scrapbooking anyone?

My friend started up a Scrapbooking blog called ScarlettLane. If you or you know someone who would like to participate, go check out the contact info. It's also for crafty people and you know who you are. : )

Close the oven it's hot!

I made myself go to the store as it's suppose to be one of the 'cooler' days this week. I'm a sucker for buy 1, get 1 free and bought two more half gallons of ice cream. Seems Seanie boy isn't eating what's in there and I had 6 1/2 gallons of ice cream! This is totally bizarre for a house with only 3 people under it's roof. I purposely put the milk shake machine in an easy access place for him too. I had to grin and bear it while I threw two of the containers in the trash-they were from April and there was only one scoop from one and I couldn't look in the other one. I'm getting like my mother who also overbuys. Actually, I've been better this way as I can see better what I have because of the added storage space. And I also blame buying more ice cream on the delicious sounding flavors. I bought for my diet conscious self some green tea mango smoothie. Now who else is going to try that one?
My mom is at my uncle's now. He got home about 1:30 today and had to be helped in the house by his stepdaughter's friend. His legs are like noodles and he can't make it to the bathroom. Looks like he'll need a wheelchair if all this keeps up. I'm surprised his stepdaughters thought my mom should be there when she is as weak as a kitten sometimes. What happens if he falls? Mom said she has the phone numbers of neighbors 'just in case'.
Brian is finishing up the lawn. He waited until a few hours ago to cut it-wise idea. I watered things in anticipation for tomorrow. And I have that blasted follow-up appt for the bloodwork-in this heat-my blood pressure will be high. They love to take it when you first get there too. After that I am headed up the stairs to the dentist for what I hope is a patch job on a chipped tooth. It's rough in the back and is so annoying. Keep us all in your thoughts and I'll do the same for you.


I took this out my dining room window (and it looks remarkable clean) of what I see every morning. I'm not happy with the creeping charlie under the little chairs though. I haven't had any waterlily blooms or seen any froggy pals in the pond.

Beach guy

My fair-skinned Sean, Friday on the beach at the inlet (Ocean City, MD)

This n' that weather

It's misty, it's partly sunny and then it's spitting rain. The weather can't seem to make up it's mind! I didn't venture outside until after 2:30 as I was paying bills and ordering some checks and deposit slips for Sean. Speaking of him, he was grouchy from driving 260 miles with his pals to the beach. To me that is totally ridiculous! I guess guys like to do that kind of thing.
My uncle is still in the hospital. He had his bladder cauterization and now they want to make sure his heart is ok. Mom has herself in a stew. She needs to take care of herself so she can take care of him. I can see me going over there and taking care of both of them. My uncle lives about 20 minutes from me.
So here are my prized lilies. I don't know what their names are, I just bought them because they were beautiful. (BTW, I resize my photos before trying to post on blogger, so that's why I can get away with posting 4 or so).

Obedient plant (white and new) and blue salvia-one of my favorites.

One Roma tomato plant-we are going to get quite a harvest!

I haven't seen as many butterflies around this year, have you? I have seen the usual Swallowtails and some Monarchs. That Orange Sulfur was a surprise. I saw an alien like bug on a Cosmos-it was gray and looked like a mini-cricket with long legs.

A Collage challenge

I think there are five of us pals making these collages now. If you have Paint Shop Pro or a similar program, it's so much fun! One lady is using a trial version of PSP. So we challenge each other. We've done 'favorite color', 'Parables of Jesus', 'favorite movie' and 'things that start with the first letter of our first name'. Want to see them? I knew you would. Click on them to enlarge them.

Barbaro's honorary flower bed

Because he made a 'run for the roses' and is so close by...

Old and new pots

As I was going through my kitchen stuff yesterday, I ran across this old graniteware coffeepot Bri and I purchased on our newlywed (not honeymoon) trip to New England way back in 1984. We were going around different antique stores and I can't even remember where I bought this-probably Massachusetts. I just can't bear to part with it, so it's in the kitchen. I'll have to stash something inside. The little glass pot is new. It's made in the Netherlands and you can microwave it. It's good for a couple of cups of tea. They are sitting on my new stove that I'm getting use to. It's easy to clean!

Stitching Blogger Question

Since you started blogging, have you noticed any difference in your stitching habits? Tell us about them.
I would say I don't stitch as much-I still stitch most evenings, but I use to stitch a bit in the morning when I got up. I do take more photos of what I am working on. Of course I have to check out what other stitchers are up to by checking out their blogs.


UPDATE on Barbaro
There must be a lot of people sending him good vibes because he is stronger today! I liked horses, but since all this has happened to this beautiful fella, I think they are extra special now. I even named my one flower bed after him because I planted the zinnias and cosmos there on the day Sean and I drove past The New Bolton Center to see where he is being cared for.

Speaking of Sean, he's taking in some rays in Ocean City, Maryland today with his pals. It's in the low 80s there. We are are beginning a heat wave over the weekend. My mom is getting ready to spend some time at my Uncle's house. We don't know when he will come home, but moving someone in heat isn't a good idea.