It is Magic

OK confess you did some sort of computer voodoo, didn't you? What ever the reason it worked and I'mmmmmmm baccccck.

"Best" Oatmeal Cookies

Typing recipe as given originally with my notes in parenthesis.

3 Eggs, Well Beaten
2 cups raisins
1 Tbls Vanilla
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar
2 1/1 Cups Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Cinnamon (I use the Penzey's Baking Mix)
2 tsp Baking soda
2 cups Oatmeal - Old Fashioned, not quick cooking
1 cup chopped nuts (I've used both walnuts and pecans.)
1 cup margarine (I use unsalted butter. I don't like cooking with margarine.)

Combine eggs, raisins and vanilla. Let stand for 1 hour covered with plastic. Cream margarine and sugars; add rest of the ingredients. Mix well. (I do this in my mixer as it's a bit stiff by hand.) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

(I cover my cookie sheet with parchment paper and use tablespoons to drop. This makes roughly 2" cookie and makes about 3 1/2 dozen. Also watch your first batch. My old old oven isn't the most accurate in the world and I found I needed to bake about 15-16 minutes as they weren't done at 12 minutes so cooking time may be off in the recipe or my oven is just goofy or she does them in teaspoon sizes.)

Paula's Note at the bottom:

Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms his child.

A brief preview of later notes!

The really rotten thing about getting older is you never remember anything anymore! I received the best oatmeal cookie recipe and meant to carry it with me so I could send it to you today but noooooo----I forgot. I will dig it out soon as I get home today and post it up. It's really yummy.

I wandered around igourmet last night. My goodness they have a lot of good looking stuff! Cheese to make your tongue fall out. Here's that cheese that America's Test Kitchen said was the best for the buck. http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/prodview.aspx?prod=208 I think I'm going to order a pound and see how it is. Though they've got a rather neat "Grating Collection" that has a half pound of it in it as well as some other things. I wonder if that might be a better deal? What do you think? Grating Collection

More to come later. It's started sleeting and I need to dash outside and chip out the car. Brrr!

Only four more days to go

I must tell you how much our phone chats mean to me. It is so nice to hear your voice and the subject matter we discuss is of little importance to me, it is the contact with you that I treasure.

That being said I thought I would share what is going on today. It is very cold and tomorrow is supposed to be even colder, so I know that it is worse there. BRRR. I have church duty tomorrow, but want to get in the kitchen and bake up some cookies. I have really gotten interested in cooking this past year (better late than never I guess) I would like to get over to Barnes and Noble and check out several cookbooks that were written by some of the folks that I watch on TV. I am especially interested in Ina Gartner's books at the moment. I have a very dirty house that needs attending to and there is always the call of the sewing room. Right now I am machine quilting. I really do like that and can tell that I am improving in my skill level. It is such fun to have toys to play with. I want to make up a lot of greeting cards to have on hand for various occasions too and with my Sizzix and my Cricut, it should be a snap to do that. Guess I will never outgrow my love of cut and paste. Did I pass that along to you? I sure do hope so as it is so much fun. I really hope that there is a large craft room in heaven that opens into a garden and that I will get to play in both for eternity. It is for sure that I will not make the music room. HA.

I so hope that this week end allowed you some down time to rest up, and if not maybe this short work week will. It sounds as if K is really improving and I know that is great news for you both. I need to scoot and get busy on some things. I have a big pot of beans cooking and they smell wonderful. Wish you were here to share a bowl a little later.

Monday!

Boo on Mondays!

I did get by the soap company and picked a few things out for you. I hope you like them. I did from fondling them in the store. I'm having them ship it to you since they'll ship for free over X amount and that's a better deal than UPS will give me. It's a holiday gift from me to you. Not much of a surprise, I know, but something to smell sweet during the long gray winter months. She told me it should be there in just a few days so I'd hope they'd be on your doorstep by the end of the week. The owner told me she does not publish a list of her soap fragrances and the best way to keep track is to visit the web site (or come into the shop!).

I'm running short on time since I need to hightail it up to the license department to get Kevin's temporary handicap placard. Then it's off to find a couple of little girl outfits for the family his office is adopting for Christmas. More later!

Thursday

We have had a couple of days of some real cold weather, so I bet you have really been on the chilly side. Brrrrr Except for walking Bridget (I left Molly at home) I stayed in yesterday and was very domestic. I made home made peanut patties and got everything that I have so far wrapped. Today I need to do some errands and finish up the laundry, but hope to get time to do some more creative things. I got the Cricut set up, but have not had time to play with cutting out anything yet. Maybe this afternoon if all goes well. I need to mail off a package to Aunt Toni. It was snowing the last time I talked with her.

Assuming that you had the time, would you have any interest in cardmaking or paper crafting? Have you had the opportunity to go by the soap place? I am not nagging, but was just curious if the soap list was headed my way.

The learn at lunch on panini was wonderful and I bought a cookbook by the chef that conducted the class with 200 panini recipes. Do you have a panini press? I talked to the chef after the class about the best model and she said she had tested hundreds of different kinds and her favorite was the Cuisinart Riddler. They have two models, but the right one has three dials under the press and I found it for $106 on Amazon. That is quite a lot lower than the department stores and speciality stores around here, but is the same model. I went ahead and splurged and ordered me one. Wow, that is two nice gifts for me. Now I am feeling guilty!
The nice things about panini's is that they are designed to serve two, which means for the effort of one, two meals for me. You can do savory as well as dessert panini's and they make for elegant entertaining with little effort.

I am putting the finishing touches on some handmade goodies for you two, and hope to get you package mailed by the 19th or 20th. No where nearly as nice as the stuff I got me I am afraid.

I hope that Kev is continuing to improve and get around more and more on his own and that you are remembering to take really good care of yourself.

Cricut Machine

That is a cool machine. And it has serious accessories. I love anything with serious accessories! I was looking around and found ohmycrafts.com. That's a neat website on it's own since they appear to have anything and everything related to papercrafts but they have what looks like the same Cricut machine for $139.00 - Machine Page Is that the same thing? It looks like it but they appear to have a lot of flavors of machines.

Snowy Saturday

I'm sure glad to hear you're feeling better! It is hard not to feel sorry for yourself when you don't feel well and you can't get moving around. I know Kev is struggling some with that right now and I don't blame him. It's tough to be trapped by your body. We were supposed to go to a birthday party for a friend of ours but I don't think Kevin is going to feel up to it so I think we'll just hang out and watch a movie. We have Good Night and Good Luck (I think that's the name) about Edward R Murrow to watch.

We're having our first snow today. It's too warm for it to stick but big old fat flakes have been falling all day and it's quite pretty. I've pretty well played hermit today and haven't even gone outside except to get the paper. I have gotten most of the laundry done though. Yay! Tomorrow I'm going to head over to the soap shop and pick up the soaps you wanted and get a list of her soaps if she has one. I've also got to hit up home depot and take Faye over to be groomed. Oof. She needs it. Stinky dog! Somewhere in there I need to get into the crawlspace and get all the Christmas decorations out.

Did you wind up getting to see Australia? Was it good?

America's Test Kitchen is the show I was talking about. It comes on on Saturday mornings and throughout the week here but since it's a PBS show it may be different for you. We just love it! They have a new one starting in December called Cooks Country that looks neat. Cooks country is on KERA

Sat

12/13/2008

5:30 PM CT

but darn if I can find when America's Test Kitchen comes on for you.

More later! I need to head up to the store and pick up a few essentials.

Thanksgiving eve

Greetings-went to Wal-mart this morning to pick up a few things. It was crowded I guess, but thanks to our new spacious store, it did not feel that way. I rather enjoyed it although many folks seem to feel a WM trip is right up there with root canal work.

Nothing going on really. I am in the middle of organizing recipies and closets and neither one is anywhere near finished, but strangly it does not seem to bother me.

I took Bridget and Toby for a nice long walk yesterday and Nancy took Molly since I am still not as strong as before I got ill and Molly pulls. Toby and Bridget just trot along at whatever speed you care to go. What a difference in dogs walked from a very early age and one left to their own devices for 3 years. I so hate that I did not walk Molly from the get go...shame on me.

I would like to know when and what chanel the show you mentioned that you and Kevin like so much. American cooking---was that it. I do not think that sounds quite right and I could not find it listed.

Hope Kevin got an A from the doctor and that you both have a restfull day tomorrow. If the weather is pretty, maybe you can even get outdoors for awhile. You know I send bushels of love and hugs.

Monday Morning

Well it is not even eight o'clock and I am sitting here recovering from feeling sorry for myself. Shame on me. I have had the crud since Friday afternoon. If it was not the flu (and since I had the flu shot, I do not think it was) it certainly gave a good imitation as all the symptoms of the flu were present. I had planned yesterday to go to the doctor this morning, but woke up around one sweating like crazy, which meant the fever and chills were gone. I went back to sleep until 6:30 and when I got up I realized that I had returned to the "land of the living", so I will skip the doctor since I have not met my deductible for the year and do not want to spend the money out of my pocket. I am weak as a kitten, but will get stronger as the day goes on and I move around some. I have done nothing but lay in the bed or on the couch and only got up to go to the bathroom or feed the dogs, which have been really negelected, poor babies. That is not why I feel sorry for myself. I was supposed to go and help decorate the church this morning for Christmas and then go out to lunch with Kitty, Edwina, Elaine, and Maizie. I will be missing all of that and hate it, but what is, IS. In all seriousness I did have a moment of self pity, but it lasted less than one minute. I am so thrilled to be feeling better. You do not get much done when you are ill and that is a bummer for me.

Glad you got your table upstairs before it was too late to do so for many months. Maybe you will get a weather break with some warmer afternoons and can tung oil with the door opened. We had such a day yesterday because of the cloud cover and high humidity.--no rain though. I want to say more, but I have used up all my energy. I will post later.

Tuesday

Well, I guess we're all prepared for Kev's surgery today. We've grocery shopped, changed the sheets, cleaned the house, re-arranged, purchased crutches and a grabby hand thing (Which delighted him because it has a LCD light on the end. He's so easy.) and done everything else we can think of to do. Including moving the new kitchen table upstairs.

I hated to move that upstairs because I still have to tung oil the topside of the table and it's a rather pungeant product. However it was move it last night or wait until January to get it upstairs. I'm pretty pleased with the tung oil as a finishing product. It gives a nice and rich looking gloss, is pretty easy to apply and seems a durable finish. Downsides are it's more expensive than varnish at $16.00 for enough for the entire table and requires "timing". You apply it fairly liberally and then wait 5-10 minutes and buff the excess off --- but if you wait _too_ many more minutes to do the buff, it tends to get sticky. No big deal to fix that, you just wipe it down with a bit more oil and then buff it but a large project means you're doing it in sections. I still have to tackle the chairs but I'm pleased so far with how the table has come out. It's not the best work I've ever done because it has so many nooks and crannies on the underside, some areas look a bit differently than others. Eh, if someone wants to crawl under the table to look at it, they've earned the right to criticize my work! I've taken pictures as I've gone along and as soon as I finish up, I'll post them.

I've totally fallen in love with those staining pads though--they work perfectly to apply stain or finish oil and work much better than using the old "lint free cloth" option. Fairly cheap at $3 for four of them but always buy one more bag than you think you need.

One nice thing about being housebound for the next month or two is it'll give me lots of time to do projects on my own. I now have the perfect excuse to paint some of the rooms I can do solo without Kev discouraging it because he doesn't want to do it. Sherwin Williams here I come!

Outside of that it's horribly boring. The only exciting thing is I found a really great and really easy breaded baked chicken recipe. I'm not a fan of breading normally but this is really good. I got it from the America's Test Kitchen show. I love that show. Even Kev has gotten hooked on it. Have you ever seen it?

Samantha Who last night was fantastic. That show makes me laugh like a fool.

Wednesday

How exciting to open the blog and find a new post. That is better than a package in the mail. I know because I did get a package in the mail. My friends Kitty and Elaine told me about a small bendable LCD light that sticks onto your machine to give more light in the needle area. They saw it at the Houston quilt show and bought one. They have been raving ever since about the difference it has made in how well they can see the sewing field especially at night. I decided that was definitely something I needed. I found them onsale for $10 cheaper than they paid in Houston and promptly bought myself one. I got it today and will give it a go tomorrow to see if it is as wonderful as the press releases from Kitty and Elaine.

I finished the hall painting and got the pictures cleaned and back up. I think it looks pretty good. I cannot decide if closets or backyard get my attention next. They both need it badly.

Congratulations on getting the kitchen reorganized and on the resulting home baking. The movie together to see Australia sounds great. By now you will know that I sent you and Kevin an email about coming for Christmas. If his surgery will make that a hardship, you know I will understand a postponement. Hopefully he will be recovered enough that you can come as scheduled. I do not really know how such an extensive fix-it job leaves you feeling. It sound pretty painful to me.

We are scheduled for some weather in the 30's this weekend. I guess winter will be on us whether or not we want it. I would love to hold on to fall for a lot longer. It is definitely my favorite time of year.

It's here!

After enjoying a long and gorgeous fall, we've started our winter style weather. It's been rather chilly and rainy all week. Blech! Sunday we cleaned up the last of the fall leaves from the yard and I started another layer in my composter. I really need to get a second one of those. One just isn't enough to do good compost.

The upside to that is I've been doing Martha Stewart inside since I can't go outside. I cleaned out a lot of the kitchen and rearranged to try to make it more usable. I've decided I really need to add an island to my kitchen. I need more counter space. I made a layer cake from scratch last night. I haven't tasted it yet but it turned out looking pretty! I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen. I just love that show! If you haven't watched it, give it a try.

I got the new dining room table totally stained but haven't been able to find a time to start the tung oil finish. I hope to get the first coat on tomorrow night. Tonight being Kevin's birthday, I'm guessing I won't get to hide in the garage to do it.

I saw the neatest thing this morning. On my way in, there's this sweeping embankment as the highway turns. The city of Merriam, where it's located, has put up dozens and dozens of large American flags for Veteran's Day. It's very striking as you come around the curve and see all those rows of American Flags. Just very cool!

I saw that Australia is opening at Christmas? Whoohoo if that's so! We can go see it together!

Belated Blatherings

Uppercase Living is the company I was talking about. They have some really neato ideas for creating household knicknacks (their idea recipes in the catalog are cool) and nice gifts for others and I really like the ease of use factor. That all said, one has to wonder if you could find it elsewhere for a bit less. I'm all psyched up by getting to do some serious work on our house over the winter. Some real re-dos of areas that I want to do.

That assumes we don't have any more repeats of last night! As I left you, I went to free the little bird stuck in the fireplace. 45 minutes later, I'm still trying to free what may be the dumbest bird ever to fly. He no longer stuck in the fireplace however. He's now stuck on the ceiling fan, the artificial flowers, the curtain rod, the picture frames, the top of the doorway....THAT'S OPEN TO LET HIM OUTSIDE! Trust me, you have never lived until you're trying to chase a bird out of your house while being trailed by a 60 pound dog and 3 cats.

Once we set the little birdie free..be free little sparrow of stupidity!...we did the chili for Kevin's Office Chili party. For some odd reason, we never save and reuse recipes from year to year which always makes it a lovely evening of "Does that look right to you? Gosh I hope this comes out okay!" Kev tends to cook from the book of "If it says 1lb of meat, 3lbs must be better" so we always have to negotiate over the actual ingredients we use. He's won the top prize last two years so I suppose our process works.

After that I was exhausted so I sat and watched a couple of Third Rock From the Suns. Nick at Night has been showing those and I'd forgotten how funny that show was. Did you watch Samantha Who this week? Jean Smart is a total hoot and I'm really glad you turned me onto this show.

Glass Light projects

Try this website for directions and some inspiration:
www.lindalucine.com/id1.html

Wish we could explore crafty things together as two heads and four hands can accomplish a lot more than one head and two hands.

Tuesday Twaddle

I know you all are getting artic blasting weather wise. We are getting the edges and dropping temps into freezing, or close to it, zone. It is so very nice, but we are supposed to warm back up. Poor plants that have to survive Texas weather.

I have been on a real cleaning jag here lately. I redid the cookbooks and tea pots yesterday as well as doing church duty which included an hour of lamb die-cut punching. I returned the Amazon mistake to the main post office, so did not have a lot of time to do much else around the house.

Today I am tackling the pantry and the kitchen counters and the refrigerator so that I can go grocery shopping. I am out of everything-cleaning supplies, paper goods, and toiletries as well as food, so guess the bill will be a whopper. It just works out that way sometimes. How is Faye faring on the new food? Is she pale and wan yet???? Ha Ha

Give me the name of the soap place again please as I want to order some more of the applejack soap.

I plan to spend some time in the yard this week finishing up getting everything winter ready and to paint the hall next week. Other than that do not have any real plans except to try and get into the sewing room as often as possible. Let me hear from you if they are not keeping you jumping at work.

Saturday sayings

First of all thanks so much for your wonderful input on gifts for the gals. I am excited about the idea and think they will really like the gift.

I got the water going early as the rain chances for our region were listed pretty low. However sometimes that means a real downpour, so will have to see how it plays out. I really would like to get outside and work, but as I have to meet the SIL for lunch, would hardly get started before having to come in. Guess it will have to wait until Tuesday as Sunday and Monday are also chopped up. I urge you both to get your flu shot if you have not. I think this is going to be a bad year for the flu, and know you do not want a case of it.

I watched the Paul James shows from last week this morning and it sure gets you fired up to get going on your yard. I imagine a lot of the materials he uses for his yard are donated by companies for the plug they get on the show, or are paid for by the network since it is used on the show, don't you? I wonder if he does workshops in the Tulsa area?

I sure hope that my second composter comes this week as I cannot wait to start producing tons of black gold. If I had the money I would purchase a truck load from Rhode's or Living Earth. I know every bed in my yard need to have a couple of inches added and I would love to sprinkle the entire yard with it, as Paul James does every fall.

I need to get up and get with it. So many ideas, so little time!!!!!!!

Autumn Leaves!

Holy cow! I hadn't heard about DISD. That's just stunning. Of course the news is usually about our Kansas City ISD which is so dysfunctional they actually were de-accredited (sic?) and have been struggling with that for some years. The school board here would be laughably crazy if it weren't so serious for the kids.

The weather here continues to be absolutely gorgeous. I have so many things I want to do but it's tough since it's getting dark about the time I get home and get the clothes changed etc. I haven't even gotten to play with my new thermometer! This weekend I hope to get to do a lot of things. I'm going to lay a new path by our gate. That should be an interesting project as I haven't done anything like that where a slope is involved.

We talked about Dave Ramsey..he's on 570 KLIF from 1pm until 4pm every day. I can't recommend listening to all 4 hours but if you have time one day, listen to 30 or 45 minutes of him. He's just really interesting to listen to. I'm not advocating any of his educational programs or anything for you...just that he's great about how he explains things clearly and rationally and addresses everything from a Christian point of view.

Let me say again how much I enjoyed the gifts you sent. As always you were WAY too generous but everything was just perfect and made my heart sing with your thoughtfulness. Not that you were thoughtful to get them but that you gave gifts where you actually _thought_ about me and the things I like. It's pretty rare to get those kinds of gifts.

I'm off tonight to do the monthly dinner thing with the girls. We're not going to one of my favorite places but meh, it's about the company and not the place so we'll still have fun.

Deer in the Headlights

I guess by now the sauce is done and in the freezer. I guess they use veggies to make sort of a V-8 tomato sauce. It sounds good and I know you will enjoy having it for soups, stews, and Italian dishes this winter. Have you ordered the composter yet? I have not, but still plan to before the end of the month.

The declining stock market has me almost gasping. I got my Fidelity statement and my jaw dropped over how much I had lost this last month. I am just furious as it is all due to a few greedy folks and now the entire country is going to have to pick up the pieces. It just does not seem fair to me anyway you slice it. Yet the commercials roll on with urgings to buy more and more and more.

I am at the point where I am so disgusted with the news media that I have literally tuned out. I did watch enough to see that 51% of Americans did not watch the Katie Couric interview with her. The news folks are making more of pictures of her in a red swimsuit than they are her politics. I do not think they would ever treat a man that way. Disgusted with them all!!!

Have you all gotten any news about the Dallas ISD up there? They are in the same shape as the AIG and are laying off 1200 plus folks with more to come as they are so in the red. Aaargh!

On the good news side the weather is nice and cool this morning and I am making some headway in reclaiming the messy yard. I am off to my quilt group this morning and plan to spend the day in reckless abandonment quilting and laughing with friends. Wish you could be here to join us.

Insert something creative!

Texas is lucky then. Since Missouri is one of those despised-by-the-coasters, flyover, battleground states, we get the full court press. We have one of the candidates or VP candidates here just about every week. With what they spend on ads around here, THEY could bail out AIG.

Not a lot of news. I was going to move my azaleas this evening but I was woken up at 6am this morning but huge claps of thunder and a rainy day. Instead, I'm going to take my tomato harvest and try making homemade tomato sauce. I've never done it before but looking at recipes, how hard can it be? There's only so many tomatoes you can eat sliced or in a salad. Even the animals are starting to look at me in alarm when I bring another basket of them in! An odd note: did you know that a lot of tomato sauce recipes call for carrots? And broccoli? /scrunched face.

I'll let you know how the grand experiment goes!

Puzzled

I am puzzled as to whether the TV folks really think they are great, or realize how bad they really are and so constantly tell us how great the shows are. I tuned into the start of the Emmys and after about 3 minutes of boring banter among the reality hosts turned to another channel. I turned back twice more to see if things had gotten better and both times quickly realized they had not, so turned it to another channel for good. I wonder what the ratings for the show were.

I watched Dancing with the Stars premiere last night, and it was dismal. It was almost a caricature of itself. Yipes I may be watching the TCM and Western channel this next year. I planned to watch the opener of Boston Legal, but fell asleep in my chair and awoke to the end scene. It was a jam packed day and the DWTS had lulled me off to dreamland. Bummer. Was it any good? I sure hope so as I would like to have one or two shows to look forward to.

I am headed out to the yard for a full day of trim, rake, prune and weed. I am going out to dinner with a group of friends from church to a restaurant called Sweet Temptations. It sounds like fun. I cannot wait to get my Mastercard bill so I can order the composter. I want the cost to be on next month's bill not this one.

I think your take on the elections is an interesting one. You may well be right. We have not been as bombarded as in past elections. Maybe both canidates are not that interested in Texas, or maybe they are waiting until the last minute to blast us with ads, or maybe neither side can speak Spanish.

Televisions!

First, sure enjoyed talking compost with you yesterday. You ignited my brain with grand plans and I've been scouring the Internet reading about worm farming. Always such a pleasure to get a call from you.

That one program I told you about, Chuck, starts next Monday September 29th at 8pm on NBC! Check it out. You'll either love it or--not. I like it a ton. A good spy spoof is always good.

Did you watch any of those (awful) Emmy awards last night? Blech. I guess they're off my list for forever. Not like it was ever great drama but they used to be fun to watch just for people making fools of themselves but now it's just grindingly boring. So they cut off someone like Glenn Close making her acceptance speech so we can listen to a bunch of reality show hosts talk? Sheesh. I should have realized how bad it would be when I saw that reality shows have a category on the Emmy's. Really?!

I'm so happy we only have a few more weeks before the election. I think I've hit the "I don't care! Just elect someone so you'll shut up!" point. Maybe that's the secret plan? They annoy most voters so much they no longer care and then the secret cabals vote and carry the election.

Wind and rain and forecasted doom, oh my!

Well Ike has the local weather folks in a tizzy with almost around-the-clock break into current programming alerts. I even got a red-alert call from the city of Garland. Just when we are supposed to be hit with this weather I am being picked up by a friend of mine for afternoon tea at the Adolphus. It should be an interesting afternoon.

Took the girls for a long walk about 7 last night as I was unsure if the weather would permit one today. They love to go so much and it is fun to walk with Nancy and Toby.

If the power is still on when we get back from tea, I would like to start coralling some stuff in the office with an eye toward doing some prep work next week and painting the week after. I will just have to see how it goes

I took all the umbrellas down and put them in the attached storage area. I would so love to totally clean out that place, as I cannot find anything and actually can only use a tiny part of it because of all the junk in there. I surely do need to gather stuff and have a garage sale. Clutter everywhere is getting me "nuts".

Mushroom farms incoming!

Sometimes...Mother Nature works with you. It's been raining off and on all week with Tuesday the one break in it. We took Tuesday and mowed both yards short in preparation for aeration and seeding. The service actually came a day early, yesterday, and got the yard all aerated and seeded. An hour later, the rain came back and we got a good slow drizzle all night and so far all today. All those little holes in the yard filling up with good soaking rain. Hooray! It also means we don't have to water the entire yard twice a day like you usually do after seeding. Double hooray!!

Outside of that, just not a lot to report. It has been raining pretty much the last week so not much outside time. We've cooled off (highs in the mid 70s) and Faye just goes bonkers when we start getting fall weather. As you can imagine, with the rain I can't easily get her out to run some of that energy off so we've played a lot of "Throw the toy down the stairs!" so she has to add some stair work to her house running around.

We, Faye and I, plan on working very hard on our walking manners so we can do some walks with the dynamic duo of Molly and Bridget. Finding a neat safe area to let them run would be a ton of fun. Bound to be somewhere close to you where that's possible.

Hurricane Season

We got a nice rain from the hurricane Ike already and they are forecasting up to an additional 8 inches depending where you live this week end. I should be fine as far as flooding unless the 8 inches falls at the same time and it is supposed to be over a couple of days. They are saying that we will be getting winds 30-60 mph, so I guess there will be a lot of limbs and leaves left to rake up. Ahhhh fall has finally made its appearance.

I am going to see Alex Anderson, the hostess of Simply Quilts on HGTV with several friends on the 16th and to the Adolphus this Saturday for tea and a teacup exchange with 16 others. Both of those outings should be fun. I have two classes coming up, an applique class on the 18th and a composting class on the 19th, so the rest of this month I am either playing or learning, or both!

I actually do the teaching this Sunday and the next. I confess to being a little nervous as it has been several years since I taught. I hope it is like riding a bicycle and it all comes back to me.

There are so many house and garden jobs that need doing, that I am overwhelmed and am not doing any of them. I really need to pick one and launch into it, which I plan to do the week of the 23rd as I have left that week open to WORK.

I think Faye and Bridget are going to have a blast together. We must walk them and maybe find a place to take them where they can run together off leash in complete safety. Bridget would love to have a playmate that has longer legs and can keep up with her speed.

Indian Summer

Ack! How can it be another month? I'm not ready for fall!

Kevin and I went out to LeRoy Kansas and visited Arnold's Greenhouse. It's a couple of hours away and was a neat trip. Just lots of little Kansas farming towns and farmhouses. Arnold's was a real treat and is absolutely on our must do when you visit during planting times like spring. It's the largest plant supplier in the state and grows most of it's own plants. It's a countryhouse type place and they had a nice seating area with gardening books. Acres and acres of plants. We were looking at bags of these wonderful garden shoes they have and Kev picked up a pair in a bag and there was a frog in it! Heh! They just had all kinds of neat garden tools. Their catalog is online and I'm just kicking myself for not picking up a printed catalog (about a Sear's catalog size) for you. Their website is www.arnoldsgreenhouse.com.

I picked up a new shrub I'd never seen before called a Beautyberry. My variety is a Early Amethyst. Here's the wiki entry for it : Beautyberry

Tuesday-another month

I just finished making a To-Do list of some chores that need doing badly, but that I really am not looking forward to doing. I plan to grit my teeth and start knocking them off one by one. I know I will feel better for doing it once they are all done, but of course there will be new yucky chores by then to take their place.

So far we have not received one drop of rain from the hurricane that came ashore. We are all hoping that a little will fall, as once again we desperately need it.

I really have no news to share as it seems as if my life is in one of the doldrums that come along from time to time. While I do not like being in this state, I have learned that the event that shakes you out of them is quite often an unpleasant one. I certainly hope that this time it will be a nice one, which happens too. Life keeps you guessing, that is for sure.

I hope your long week end was fun and productive and that your week back will be an easy one.

Still laughing

Thanks for bringing some much needed laughter into my day. I will definitely tell them to look in the trunk for a mosquito bitten lady that desperately needs a cut and color. With any luck The Closer will express interest in using your story in an upcoming show as the plot line.

That is certainly one problem with having enough rain, you always get way too many mosquitos with it. Rather like a burger and fries...the fries being the rain of course as you mentioned you become the burger.

Bridget was weighed today and is now up to 19.2 pounds. When she hits the magic number of 21 pounds, doc is going to do the surgery. She is really pretty with her shiny hair and it continues to grow. She has become a favorite of the vet's staff due to her sweet personality.

I talked to Charlie today and he is having a rough day. They sent him home without any pain medication and neither he nor Genice asked for any. Heavy sigh, I worry about those two from time to time. They put a call into the doctor and got some and he had just taken it with I talked with him, so hopefully by now he is feeling much better.

Paul had a great start to his year. He is very happy with his classes as there appears to be no major behavior problems, he really likes his new principal (a lady) and has no language teacher shortages to contend with this year. I hope it continues. The new outfits have garnished several compliments from fellow teachers and students. It is really good to hear happiness in his voice and I pray it will continue.

This has been a very slow week. The one thing I had planned got postponed until Friday and I have been pretty much at home. I am beginning to get antsy, so probably need to start a project---like finally redoing the office that is driving me nuts.

Not much on this home front

Like you, not much news to report. I'm not even sure I can tell you what's filling the hours of the day outside of daily grind. We've had several weeks of lovely weather but it's been such a cool(er) and wet summer, the mosquitoes have invited their cousins from other countries to visit. Even if I spray down with chemicals, just going outside long enough to water the potted plants and gather the tomatoes still nets me 4 or 5 large bites. I'm guessing there's a giant neon sign over my head that reads "Eat at Joes" in mosquitoese.

Sorry to hear Charlie had an operation! I do hope it'll ease his back pain. I think that's something that's troubled him for many years isn't it? I wish there was more opportunity to see him--he was always a favorite.

I have a "mystery appointment" at my hairdresser's tonight. She called my cell and asked if I could be there tonight at 6:45. Desperately needing a haircut, I said sure and she told me to bypass checking in and just come back to her station. Maybe a color and a cut. She's been nice this last year to color me "offsite" at a mutual friend's salon so that I just pay for materials rather than the $100 it usually costs but we usually have to do it away from her regular salon as they frown on it. Maybe just a cut. But odd of her to call like this. If I disappear, look in her car trunk first!!

Summer is still here

Many of my friends have started the decorating for fall, but with the heat and humidity still way up there, I have not been so inspired.

My oldest brother had back surgery yesterday for a disk problem, but did great and is going home today. This was unexpected, but hopefully will eliminate or diminish his back pain.

I take Bridget in tomorrow for weighing and I think I will ask them to check for diabetes. She has had an abnormal thirst the last few days and that is a symptom. I am sure hopeful that she does not.

I have been doing some quilting this week. The air pollution levels and heat have kept me out of the yard. It really could use some attention and I look forward to the days when I can spend the day outside getting everything ship shape again. I want to put in some shrubs and grasses and remove some high maintenance plants (all the roses must go). I also need to rework a lot of the stones especially around the tree as the roots have pushed them up. I plan to remove some of them and enlarge the bed around the tree. I really should be stock piling mulch and compost, but have not been near a home improvement store in weeks.

Like always there is little, to no, news of any importance. In so many ways that is a good thing.

We interrupt your programming to bring breaking news

Just a head's up! There's a current crop of email spam going around that appears to be from major news organizations like MSNBC or CNN with a BREAKING NEWS type subject. These are fake and lead to bad sites trying to put yucky things on your computer. I know you're very hip fake stuff on the internet but it's been a rather bad attack so wanted to let you know. If you have friends that are more gullible than you are, maybe give them a friendly warning.

The week has wound up okay. I'll be calling to talk to you as I always do on Friday so there's not a lot of news to put here. I'm glad it's the weekend! We had a huge branch come off one of the black walnuts in the backyard and Kev cut it all up Thursday night but tomorrow we have to haul it all down to the brush dump. We have a service that we pay to come handle brush and garden debris but I think I'm going to cancel them. They do a worse job every week it seems and even though it's not very expensive still---sheesh.

I'm starting to think about plants to put in this fall. I have a few spots here and there I need to fill in with some good strong perennials. Time to start browsing the web sites and catalogs again. I really want to add a tree to the backyard. I just need to decide what I want to add. Time to browse the old blog entries where we talked about trees! That's a handy extra to the blog. I can go back and revisit advice you've given me.

Some Links

I'm going to call you but these are the links I found:

Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
Another Good Entry
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth
A bit about diet and again, bacteria and other symptoms

Life in 30 minute chunks

Yeesh. Seems like I live life in 30 minute chunks. Back now!

I can't believe what a hard time I'm having locating decent thermal coffee cups. Just hard plastic insulated straight-sided Thermos type no handle mugs. I bought a couple at Target that Kevin loves and we had one go warped in the dishwasher and now I can't find them to save my life. It's crazy!

Not a lot of news outside of that. We've been watching a ton of Olympics. The gymnastics was great. I'm rather glad Michael Phelps is done. Not to dismiss his achievement but oy, I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about him. I've grown really attached to that cute little Shawn Johnson. How about you? Found any favorites?

Tonight I'm going to go home and watch last night's Closer. I really like that show!

The Wild World of Pet Supplies

Our discussion about pet supplies got me looking around this morning. I've found several places and they all seem to be _roughly_ the same price. Where they do vary is how much you have to order before free shipping. Here's the three I found that seem to be the largest and most reputable. (I found one who's prices were about half anyone else's and they only sell pet meds and not other pet supplies -- but the pricing made me suspicious.)

These are all based on Frontline Plus 0-22 pounds:

1-800-PetMeds - Free Shipping over $39 - 3 Dose $44.99
EntirelyPets.com - Free Shipping over $100 - 3 Dose $32.99
JeffersPet.com - No free shipping that I could see - 3 dose $33.95 They have a lot of cool stuff though.

See what you think?

More to come later!!

Thursday chat

The soap is just for me and I do not care what the label looks like. Yummy, I can hardly wait as the first bar is just a tiny sliver, but I keep hanging on to it. It will be nice to finally let it go, as it is really little and has done full service.

We are supposed to have excellent chances for rain several days starting tomorrow. I sure hope we will since the yard just got fertilized and everything is so dry.

The pancreas power caused Bridget to throw up, but the vet said give her Pepto today and give the power again tomorrow. I sure hope that she will be able to tolerate it. She was doing so good for a week or so. I worry about that girl!!!

Went shopping with Paul for some new duds and French posters for his room. Found good sales on both and he is all set and we had a very nice day. Lots of laughs. Paul can be a great companion and lots of fun when he chooses. I was tickled that he asked me to go along and share my opinion as that happens rarely. He is only teaching French this year, so keep an eye out for all things French. He is back full time starting tomorrow with department head meeting, inservice and meet the teacher night tomorrow night. Sure is hot for all that activity. It is thundering right now...keep your fingers crossed for us.

Bridget bit into my speaker wire on the computer, so I am without sound until I can buy a new one. I tried using electrical tape to repair it, but it did not work. I have strange dogs...one liked couches and one likes electrical wiring.

I look forward to more of your bubbling brain activity. The class sounds like it would be interesting and I know you were the star pupil.

Wednesday Woundup!

It's been a weeklong whirlwind. I've been in a training class all week, we've been shopping for a new car and it's been errand running o'rama. All that has meant my internet time has been pretty slim.

The training class has been pretty interesting though. It's about virtualization with a product called VMware. What it does is allow companies to run multiple servers (machines) on a single piece of hardware. So with this product, I can do the equivalent of making your one single PC look like dozens of PCs to our users and each user thinks they have their own PC. It's been a lot of fun learning something new and it's the hottest technology going. Every company is going to this ---you can imagine the difficulty companies have storing and cooling and putting power to dozens and dozens of servers.

I'm disappointed. None of the spiderwort I've planted, either in the garden or in my pots, appears to be coming up. Maybe I'm being impatient but it's been 10 days or so and I'd think I'd be seeing some sign of growth. I still have plenty of seeds so I'll just keep trying. The tomatoes are starting to ripen up as are my pepper plants. It may be time to learn how to make some great salsa!

I got the soap mailed off today. That's going to be one really great smelling package and I had to to resist the urge to dip my hand into your stash. That applejack is wonderful. The bars I bought have just handwritten labels on them rather than fancy labels. If you buy just bars without labels you get bigger bars for the money. I realized after I did it that you might have been looking to use them for more of a fancy display and might want the fancier labels so I hope what I did is okay.

After I leave class today, I'm off to meet Kev at the car dealer. Looks like we're going to be getting him one of those Hyundai Sonata's. I hate adding another car payment but I suppose it's time. The Taurus is 10 years old and getting up there in mileage.

A compost class? That's fantastic! I'd LOVE to do something like that. Where are you going to put it and any idea what you're going to use as a container for the compost? I'm certainly in agreement with you that for many places, shade is the way to go. I'd like to have morning sun but anywhere afternoon, deep shade or filtered shade is so nice. YOu can get some lovely plants for that. I just read a big article on dry shade versus damp shade and they had a long list of terrific plants for shade types.

More tomorrow! Juices are bubbling!

There may be garden hope yet

We actually have some decent temperatures today and a nice breeze to boot. There are some fairly good chances for rain today, but only of a scattered nature. Hope they scatter over here.

Did you watch Paul James this weekend? He had a couple of pretty good shows. I always enjoy watching him and have learned a lot from him. There was a segment on Ft. Worth schools Junior Gardner Program that was pretty neat.

I am enrolling today for the city's compost class. I have finally figured where to put one. There is so much clean up and weed up work that I need to do this fall and several trees need some lower limbs trimmed up. I hope to get a lot of releveling of stones after the shift from the heat and a permanent walkway built in the long beds. I am going to plant a couple more trees in the back as I have decided that shade is the way to go. I think I will only leave a small area sunny for my daylilies and go with trees, ornamental grass, shrubs, and ground covers in the rest. It is just too hard to maintain flowers during our prolonged heat waves.

My latest passion is Autumn ferns and I plan to add a lot come fall and as my budget allows.
I found an interesting page featurning sofas in the paper and will send it to you.

Cantalope cheer

Cantalopes do take a lot of room, but the only time in my life that I got to eat as much cantalope as I wanted was the year that we grew them. They were also the best tasting ones I ever ate. There is nothing like picking one and bringing it in warm from the garden, cutting it open and eating it straight from the shell with a spoon. YUMMY

What are you going to do with all the tomatoes?

I am so glad to hear that you are getting a weather break from the heat. It certainly does zap you, but before you know it things will start cooling down. At least I hope it works out that way.
I sure feel sorry for the returning teachers and students as the first month of school is so hot.

I have no news. I am going to see Swing Vote with Kay and Lois today and to the water store and that is the "big" news from this neck of the woods.

Hope you got the rain.

Good advice!

Thanks for the good advice! It's nice to have someone to talk to and get some advice from on various things. It helps to know if I'm on the straight and narrow.

I haven't mailed the soaps yet. I will get those out this week for sure but haven't made it up to the old post office just yet as it's just been too hot to even think about it. Our cool front hit this morning though and things are significantly cooler. I hope we get the rain they're predicting today since I chose not to water the beds. It's always such a dither---if I water, it will rain. If I don't water, it won't rain. Agh! If it hasn't rained by this afternoon, I'll give everything a light drink and hope I tempt fate to bring the rains.

We have tomatoes all over the place. They haven't ripened yet but looks like we'll have a goodly crop of them. My cantelope plant is taking over the world but no fruit. Not sure how long I can be patient with it as it continues to creep across the yard. That was one my husband was absolutely correct about---I think cantalopes are related to weeds!

I don't know if you'll read this but I'll call you later today to see how Lady Bridget did with her surgery. Poor little thing. I'm sure she'll be pretty slow moving for the next week. It has to be done but I always wish I could explain better to the animals before we have to do things like this.

HOT talk

All the experts and books say that you should NOT fertilize during the summer months that this causes great stress to plants. I would advise against it, but sometimes it is easier to go with your husband and lose some plants than to argue the matter. You must decide this for yourself. If Kev insists and you loose some plants, he will know for future plantings and a few plants against a husband's feelings seem a small price to pay.

I feel just like you do that I am not getting hardly anything done because of the heat. We also have not had rain, so things look pretty sad around here in the yards. I am still walking with the girls, but have shortened the duration of the walks because it stays hot at all hours. Bridget is having her surgery Wednesday and I will be so glad when this is behind her. She is such a sweet addition to our group, but unfortunately she continues to have occasional accidents in the house. I know she knows to go outside and I think that it is becuase she is still puppy enough to be busy playing and wait too long to go. It does not happen often, but I do not want it to happen at all.

Bridget's fur is beginning to grow longer and she is taking on more the look of a sheltie every day. The best way to describe her personality is "lady like".
Can't wait to get the soap. The bar you sent is dwindling fast as I use it daily to bathe. I just love it, have I mentioned that?

I am taking the crayola bags to the police station with a couple of my friends tomorrow and then we are going to lunch. I am really looking forward to that. I got the tote finished for my friend and need to get it in the mail this week. I am not sure what I will work on next. I think I would like to get some of the things that are already done quilted.

Debs remember you work full time and do not have as much time at home as I do. One day you will, so do not beat yourself up for what you do not get done, but celcbrate what you do get accomplished. I bet if you ponder that for a few minutes you will realize just how much you do in one day. In the long haul it matters little. Relax and do not feel guilty about what you did not get done. Do what brings you joy and the rest will take care of itself. (This is your momma talking I realize, but good advice none the less)

Summer Doldrums

I'm going to hit the soap shop tomorrow and have your list in my hot little pocket. I appreciate you offering to pay for that stuff but don't worry about it. You send me so much stuff made with your materials, time and love that picking up some things you enjoy gives me great pleasure.

I'm having a hard time finding things to post about right now. It's so hot that I just don't feel like I'm _doing_ anything. Of course, I'm not doing anything so that probably explains why I feel that way. I haven't found any new web sites or activities that have me engaged, I'm not gardening outside of bare minimum maintenance and I can't seem to work up much enthusiasm to do much around the house. I'm not even doing much running with girlfriends right now as no one really wants to go do anything.

I don't know how some women, like you, do it. Everything I talk to you, you're doing this or that and going to this place or that. I just guess I don't plan my time very well. Seems like by the time I get all the "gotta" stuff done, there's not any time left for "wanna" stuff. I certainly haven't maintained the exercise regime I just _swore_ I would. I need a friend like you have to call me and make me go do those things. If I'd do that, I'd probably have more energy to do the other things.

Opinion time: Kev thinks we should hit the veggies with some fertilizer and I'm not sure. First it's hot. Second, they're in a new bed with heavy compost and it was treated with Osmocote. I know the slow release things and the good soil probably isn't the fast release nitrogen plants like but I hate to stress them with something like Miracle Grow. What do you think? Should I give them an application of something like Miracle Grow? What about the flower beds? Is it a good idea or bad idea to do that when it's so hot?

still talking about kings

Well, yes I have some ideas for Paula. First of all I am so sorry to hear that she is having to undergo chemo. I thought of a "Pamper Yourself" basket with a couple of turbans (as you lose your hair), Hersery's candies has a new kiss called cherry cordial that is pretty tasty. It is like a chocolate covered cherry without the mess and the huge size, so perhaps a bag of those. A music CD would be nice if she likes music (does not everyone), or a movie classic like FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, a bar of the wonderful soap in a fragrance you think she would like ( or several of the $2 sample slices in a rainbow of colors/ and or handcream in a nice fragrance, a new bottle of nail polish in the latest color craze,maybe a bag of popcorn with a cute tag that says something like "Put your feet up and let you hair down as you enjoy an evening pampering yourself" or something much more clever that you come up with.

I looked at the soap site and was drooling. I would love to go to the actual store, but probably should not be turned loose there. I would love to try in this order of yearning: 1/ applejack and peel 2/cucumber melon 3/mint eucalyptus 4/lemongrass mint 5/cranberry spice I will be so happy to send money for you to buy some for me, for I absolutely love the soap. Once again you introduce me to something new and wonderful.

Many, many of my friends shop DSW for tennie hoppers as well as other shoes. Do you have one of those locally?

I am so ready for fall weather so that I can enjoy the yard again and also get a break in the pocket book. The AC seems to run non-stop as does everyone's this time of year. I think of the Chevy Chase movie where the meter was spinning around as he plugged in all his Christmas decorations. Do not get me wrong, I think it is money well spent and I am so grateful for the AC. How folks lived without it in Texas I will never know.

Tomorrow is the last day of VBS. Hooray! I feel so behind in housework, sewing work and more importantly in puppy loving work. The kids have been pretty good until today and they were very chatty and inattentive for most of the day. I had to do a lot of correcting of behavior and I do not like being grinchy, especially at church. The other main teacher also had a difficult day, as did the two teachers across the hall. One of the worst behaved will not be there tomorrow, so hopefully things will be more pleasant. Even if they are not there is the thought that it is the last day.

Eyes can learn!

My eye doctor recommended this page to me since I spend a lot of time doing the same activities on my eyes. I thought it was rather neat. If exercise for my body is good, I suppose exercise for my eyes was good too.

EyesCanlearn

Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax

Here's the soap company in Parkville where I picked up our stuff. Let me know if anything looks good to you and I'll go pick us some up!

Sunrise Soap Company

I'm looking for a little gift to send Paula. She starts chemotherapy this week and I wanted to send her a little something or basket of something but I'm totally stymied. She's not much of a reader, I've sent her more baskets of bathroom stuff for past holidays than she can have used. Perhaps some teas though far as I know she doesn't drink hot tea. Any ideas? Or good places online where someone can order something like that? It's so hard to try to find things for someone that has no real hobbies. I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have.

Dog days of summer are certainly here! It's just hot and sticky and yucky. I've been growing my hair out and now is the time I start regretting it. At least it's gotten long enough I can put some barrettes in to keep it off my face.

I wish I could find a good discount place to buy (preferably) Keds or a good Keds clone. I need some more sneakers that are nice enough to wear to outtings. I'd also love to find a good online place to buy clothing where I already know the manufacturer and how they fit. Dockers and Lees are a good example. I do like Shopzilla.com.

I have seen the new Batman and it rocks. I haven't seen MamaMia but I'd sure like to see it. I'd also like to find a new music artist. I haven't found a new listening pleasure in some time. I'm out of good things to read---I should go prowl and see if any old favorites have new books in paperbacks. I just can't make myself buy hardbacks anymore given how fast I go through them. I should not be so lazy and just go to the library.

Wednesday words

Well the DISH guy finally came and got the job done. He removed tons of spaghetti wiring from the back of the set, and I kept it all in case it is needed somewhere else. It will take a couple of days to get used to the DISH DVR. It is very different than TIVO, but I can use it just not very fast.

The old satellite receiver has been acting up, so perhaps TIVO still is good enough to set up on another TV. It might be worth a try. I think that I will check out a DISH box they said was good buy on the local news to see if it is feasible to make the office TV work when everything goes digital. It cost $69 including shipping but is eligible for the $40 goverment rebate.

No other news of any importance. I am doing laundry and finished cleaning the house this morning. Same ole, same ole.

We're back on the air!

Now that the whirlwinds have gone and life is back to normal, regularly scheduled broadcasts have returned. I didn't even turn a PC on while the kids were here and, given my usual job, that was a nice break.

Ran over to Target today at lunch to pick up a few things and noticed they're carrying some of the Bare Ecsentuals -- at least the eyeshadows. I didn't have time to stop and look to see if they had the whole line but it'd be great if they did. I'd love to get another container of the face powder. I thought I'd drop back by tomorrow and browse a bit more.

I need to do some serious shopping. I haven't bought a single new thing this summer and it's certainly showing. I need some new shoes both casual and a smidge dressier and my entire wardrobe just feels meh! So does my house! I do have a line on a new kitchen / dining table. I've got a coworker that is doing an estate sale on her parents home and has one for sale that sounds interesting. I'm probably going to go take a look at it tomorrow night. Hope it's what I want. It'd be nice to fall into a terrific deal like that.

I worked a deal with Kevin so tonight I'm off to mow the backyard and he's going to do laundry and dinner. I think I got the better end of the deal! At least I hope he does enough laundry that I get the better end of the deal. Laundry is certainly one of the drudgier of the drudge tasks.

Happy Fourth!!

Your plans sound like a lot of fun and I am sure that what ever you decide to do, you will all have a lot of fun doing it.

I started out collecting some books to take to Half=Price and oozed right into rearranging the den and decluttering some. I have not decluttered nearly all I want and intend to, but have made a small dent. I really need to keep this up and then have a garage sale and see if I cannot remove it permanently and make a few bucks along the way.

I am off to start on my sewing room and that is my exciting news for Fourth of July plans. I guess tonight I will watch the Boston Pops or one of the other firework shows. I think I will make some potato salad and grill some chicken, maybe even devil some eggs. Yahoo!

Excuse me but have you seen my lawn chair?

It may well be laying in your backyard.

We had an absolutely torrential storm last night. Rain so thick you could have cut it with a knife and as an extra bonus, it was raining sideways. It was one of few times I was actually concerned about damage to the house or yard but looks like the worst thing that happened was a very large limb coming down off one of the big black walnuts. Of course it chose to land right on top of the viburnum I planted three days ago but it could have been much worse. I talked to Kev on the phone a little bit ago and he was showing the boys how to use a hand saw and pruners. On the upside, it brought a lovely cool spell through so the temp is hanging around in the high 70s and it's supposed to be _gorgeous_ for the 4th.

We haven't decided what to do for the 4th yet. The boys are at that odd age where they're old enough they want bigger entertainment but they're still young enough they get bored pretty quickly. Kevin took them up yesterday to buy fireworks and returned with two huge bags of various things that go boom. We may just go picnic at the park and then do fireworks at home.

Tuesday-a new month

It sounds as if you all are going non-stop and I know you are having a lot of fun. I am so glad that you are finding joy together.

I have nothing new to tell. It is hot with lots more hot forecast, so gardening is not a real pleasure right now. Tonight is quilt guild and Thursday is Bridget's last puppy class. That is the news for my entire week. Lots of same old, same old going on around here.

Hope you have a delightful fourth of July. Guess I will watch the Boston Pops and the fireworks on TV in air conditioned comfort.

Phew!

Just had a few minutes to drop a note. I want to say thank you again for the gorgeous bag and hanging. It was just the most adorable thing and I can't wait to take it over to the park to help carry stuff for Faye (and me!). I think the biggest overall hit is the treat flinger. I laughed myself silly at Kevin and Faye last night as Kevin was shooting Faye's treats in the air thinking she'd learn to catch them in mid-air. I think all she learned last night was how to dodge them gracefully. I do know it made a grown made giggle.

No other news at the moment but later today I'll get some pics up. We're off to do something today. Not sure what just yet but as the weather is just totally gorgeous, we'll find something I'm sure.

Wednesday whine

There was some unknown difficulty in my getting Part I,II, and IV of the book. Part III always came through fine, so Debs mailed a CD of the book to me yesteday. She said this is the first time anything like this has ever happened in several years of doing this and I believe her. She is always very prompt to return calls and emails and is very nice on the phone, so I know I will get the CD. The part III looks very good.

I am taking Bridget tomorrow to have her nails clipped before class tomorrow night and Molly to be groomed. We have cut our daily walks to just the morning, because it is just too hot until dark and we do not want to be out after dark.

I would love the receipe. I love dill and potatoes, so I know I will like it.

I met a friend in Plano yesterday for lunch at a tea room and I am hooking up with Diane and we are off to McKinney to meet Roxanne who owned our favorite quilt shop that recently closed its doors as her husband's cancer returned. We are taking her to my very favorite tea room , which is the one that I wanted to take you too, but as you know we ran out of time.

I mailed the box and check to you yesterday and you should get it this week or Monday for sure.

I am so far behind in weeding that I feel defeated. It is so hot to work in the yard anytime but very early and that is when we walk. I do not want to deprive the dogs, Nancy or myself of the walking as it is so good for us all. Molly is doing better all the time. Bridget is finally beginning to put on some much needed pounds, but is still too thin I think.

It is very overcast today, but I do not think we are in for any rain, so I went a head and watered this morning.

I did finally get my letter that said a check is coming. The big decision is dental work or utility bill????

Time to dash off

Monday!

I tried out another new recipe this weekend for dilled potato salad. If you're interested, I'll post it. I served it warm the first night and it was great. It was also great cold the next day. Kev grilled up some salmon to go with it and highly recommended. It's not what a good Texas girl would call "Potato Salad" but it was awfully good.

Did you get your dog book? She had an interesting web site. I looked around for a bit and plan to go back to read some more.

No other real news. We dithered in the usual weekend way and I did some heavy cleaning yesterday. The weather continues to be lovely with highs in the mid to high - 80s though it's fairly humid for this time of the year.

Ick!

And I was feeling sorry for myself that I had to have a root planing done on July 7th. I think you win the dentist "ook!" award. I know exactly how you feel about carpet and flooring. Mine is driving me to distraction and yours is in a LOT better shape than mine but things just keep coming up that pushes it back a few more months. Oh well, I guess that'll just make it all the more fun when we do finally get it.

You can scratch one catnip off that list. I went out yesterday and discovered the catnip was just gone. No chewed plant, no plant debris evidence---just flat out gone. I suppose some member of the feline community decided to get a heads up on his/her bretheren.

Going to plant some Blue Lake bush green beans this weekend. It may be too late but what the hey...worst that can happen is nothing happens.

A friend sent me a link to the cutest beehive cake pan from Williams-Sonoma and the link to a recipe.

Cake Pan
Honey Lemon Cake Recipe

I thought that was the cutest thing. Not sure I've decided to spend $30 on the cake pan but I may. It's just too adorable for words! The cake sounds scrumptious too.

We haven't seen our rebate check either but both of our SSNs end in high numbers--63 and 83. I suspect that we're getting a paper check and not direct deposit and those are on a much later payment schedule.

Last two SSN digits:	Payments will be mailed no later than (and received a few days after):
00 through 09	May 16
10 through 18	May 23
19 through 25	May 30
26 through 38	June 6
39 through 51	June 13
52 through 63	June 20
64 through 75	June 27
76 through 87	July 4
88 through 99	July 11

al Farm Report

Mercy, you two have been busy! Can some chickens be far behind??? I grew cantaloupe one year and loved every delicious bite. I look forward to the pictures.

The dentist informed me that I need to replace a crown in the coming months and fill in some gaps at the top of several teeth. Sheesh, the carpet and tile replacement just got shoved back several more months. I can just imagine that folks will be thinking "Why doesn't she do anything about these nasty floors" Oh well, let them think what they will. I can have a dazzling smile as I listen to the speculations. HA

Nearly all my friends have received their tax incentive, but I have not heard a word. I hope that I am on the list to get one. Have you all gotten yours?

I do not have much news to share unfortunately, so guess I will get up from the computer and get busy.

Have Ben-Gay, Will Share!

35 bags of top soil, 20 bags of mushroom compost, 2 bags of peat humus, 8 bags of cotton boll compost, 3 tomato plants, some marigolds, 2 bell pepper plants, a rosemary, two basils, a greek thyme, a package of Contender bush bean seeds, a bee balm, one catnip plant, one cantalope and two echinacea plants later, the Denton's have a new vegetable bed. Woof! It's not much to look out now but hopefully in 60-80 days, we'll have fresh produce. There's still lots of room left for a few more additions but it may have to wait until it's time to plant some fall crops. (Hah! Crops. Farmer Jones has nothing on me!)

Kevin objected to the cantalope believing it will grow to strangle us in our beds but I don't care. I wanted to try one. If it will quit raining long enough, I'll get a picture posted so you can see it in all it's dirt glory.

I'm sure glad you're doing the walking regime. It's good for you and your flexibility and a lot more fun than a treadmill. Just be careful in this heat and don't overdo. I'm also delighted to hear that you're gonna get some pepper spray. I don't think they're super cheap but it's a good insurance policy.

We had glorious wonderful days this weekend and absolute frog strangler storms every night--including one 20 minute hail storm last night that sounded like an entire company of dwarven clog dancers on the roof. I guess I can't complain about the rain since it's kept things very clear and cool around these parts but we could use a little dry time. I'm sure those poor folks in Iowa and Nebraska would appreciate it as well.

Gigggling

I got a lot of amusement from your story about the mystery plant. Welcome to the "surely I am not losing my grip" club. I bet it turns out to be a SPECTACULAR plant and everything will come rushing back about the details of its purchase.

I am worn to a frazzle and it is not even 10 o'clock yet. These two a day hour long walks have me sore in places I had forgotten that I had. Today we ran into a large off-leash dog and it is sending Nancy to Academy to buy us both pepper spray. She was going to her daughter's house that is close to Academy anyway and offered to pick it up for us both.

I have been sewing and watering since I got home and now must go to the grocery store. I would be taking a short nap, but it is my turn to bring snacks to Sunday School tomorrow, so I guess I will do the other shopping while I am there. Next year we are doing snacks only on the first Sunday of the month. Yea, to that as that means that your turn does not roll around so quickly. Guess I had better dash and get to it. Enjoy the rest of the week end.

Hmmmm

I had one of those moments in the garden last night. Faye and I were taking our evening stroll around the beds, her making sure nothing strange had hidden in the bushes and me doing my usual bend and weed routine. Tucked amongst the daylilies was a tall 3' rather scraggly looking plant that looked out of place. "Ahhah!", I pounced and after some serious tugging, it pulled free from the soil. At that point, I noticed it had a root ball that definitely showed signs it had been in a container at some point in time. So, apparently I planted this ratty specimen on purpose. I have no memory of doing so and absolutely no idea what this plant is.

I somewhat sheepishly replanted it in one of my holding beds (I call them holding beds because it sounds better than "no idea what I should do to make this bed look really cool" bed.) and figure I'll see what it matures into and where it should wind up as a permanent home. I guess landscaping by surprise plant is as good a method as any.

Thank You, Thank You

I received your generous gift and I thank you and Kevin so much. I loved the card and giggled several times as I read, and reread it. I do not know what I will spend the gift on, but more than likely it will go into some yard project. I have many of those!!

Where did you find mushroom compost? I always see garden shows recommend it, but have never seen it in the stores.

Bridget is not well again. She has diaharrea and did not eat last night or this morning. I really did not offer her a dish of food this morning, but bites from my hand which she refused. I am concerned and hope that it is something that she ate in the yard and that this is not some continuning problem I have medicine left over from the last spell, which I gave her. If she worsens I will take her to the vet, but hate to drag her up there as they do not seem to be able to do much more than I can do (since I already have the meds from the last flare up). I just hate it when a poor animal is ill, as they cannot tell you what they want. She is sleeping now, which is most likely the best thing.

I am sorry to hear that you were rained out, but know the plants loved the mositure and it will have compacted the soil nicely in your new bed and eliminated the unwanted air pockets for you, so that is a good thing. I switched the dogwood that I bought when you were here and the rose of sharon. These last two days of cooler weather and rain will help them both survive the move I hope. If I had not moved them, the dogwood would have died for sure, as it was looking pretty pitiful.

Had a great birthday day with my friend Diane yesterday, but we got drenched twice from downpours. What an adventure we had, wish you had been with us.

I have the laundry going but need to get busy on some housework and I hope to make the sewing room today.

Glug Glug!

We had another storm move through last night with about an inch of rain in less than an hour. The plants are grateful I think and its saved me lugging hoses around but sheesh, I think we're going to grow moss if it doesn't dry out a little bit.

We got 25 bags of soil, 8 bags of mushroom compost and two large bags of peat moss into the new veggie bed---and realized we need just about that same amount again to actually fill it. Pants. I hope I can get Kevin to help me go get the rest of the dirt soon since it's supposed to rain again Friday and I'd like to have some of the plants in by then. Those better be some darn good tomatoes!

Something interesting I found today. The most underdeveloped area of land in the world and yet:

The Giant Week of Zzzzzzs

I truly have no news worth posting. I haven't done anything this week except buy a new area rug for underneath my dining room table and a new Quickfire hydrangea. Massive yawns!

But I wanted you to know that I read every day and I'm still here!

Wednesday already

I took the girls for their walk this morning at 7:30 and the wind was really blowing. Even so we were all glowing nicely by the time I got home due to the high humidity. Thank goodness for the wind or we would all be steamed.

I have today and tomorrow until puppy class free and I am elated. This has been a busy week and next week is too. As you know I am not fond of having a committment every single day.

My exciting news for the day is that everything is done around the house except cleaning the bathrooms, so I get to sew some today. How dull is that???

Tried leaving both dogs in the garden room with the gate up. It worked like a champ. I slept through the night and awoke to clean house everywhere. Thank you for a great suggestion. I put one of the crates back in the garden room, so Molly has the couch and Bridget has her crate and she made use of the doggie dog instead of my floors. This might actually be the key to getting her house trained.

My hycinath beans are getting pretty big, but no blooms as yet. My rose of sharon trees are blooming as are my daylilies, gernaniums, Asian lillies, lavender, cannas, red sage and coreopis, so the back yard still looks pretty good.

I need to get busy in the sewing room, but send my best as always.

Something simply cool

Called HDR, these are real pictures that are overlaid with spectrum enhancing. It creates stunning pictures.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/10/35-fantastic-hdr-pictures/

I used these for wallpapers a lot.

Memorial Weekend Recap

Mother Nature was really kind to us this weekend. We had a lot of rain but it call came in after 10pm each night and was gone by 10 or 11am the next day. The only downside is while Saturday was just 85 degrees tempwise, it was about 100% humidity. Of course that was the day we picked to do a lot of the mandatory yard work. Wheeeeee! It was SO muggy it took us both about 3 hours to get both lawns mowed.

I did get one project done that's been on the to do list for forever and got a coat of stain on the deck. That was a bit of a goat rope keeping the animals off it for it to dry a little bit. I also built a couple of new edged raised beds for a couple of shrubs -- a rose of sharon and one to be named that I bought and have no idea what it is. They weren't doing well in their old locations so we'll see how we do there. The beds are along the fence which means they get morning sun but are shaded from the afternoon sun and that should make them happier. The robins were also made very happy by the tilling of the soil. There's been loads of them hanging out on the fence. I think they've learned the sound of the tiller means "buffet!" in robinese.

I told you I gave up on my initial hyacinth bean planting and planted some new seeds in a little pot and potting soil. Whee! Apparently that's the way to do it. One week later, they're all up and on their third set of leaves. I figure I'll let them grow in the pot for one more week and then transplant them next to their permanent home.

We were pretty boring all weekend. Watched some movies, worked in the yard as described, did some laundry, grilled some steaks. Fairly quiet after starting off with the great Snake Incident of '08. /shudders

Memorial Day

Whew is it hot here. Summer has definitely arrived. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up two shrubs, a dwarf pittosporum and a variagated pittosporum and a Mexican bush sage and two blue plumbago and a Star Jasmine vine. All were on sale for MD, but looked wonderful. They also had some of the best looking Encore Azaleas that I have seen in 5 gallon containers for $20 each, but I did not think I could afford those.

I did lodge a protest at the site you sent. I do so hope that I get the letter from TRS this coming week, so that I can get the paperwork completed and taken to SS and get this behind me. I do not feel like I can move forward financially until I learn for sure that I will not have to pay the $3500.

Bridget has really grown since I got her and her coat has improved tremendously. She had dandruff when she arrived, which has totally gone. The vet told me it would as her nutrition improved. Housebreaking is still going on as her efforts are sporadic. She starts puppy class this Thursday and I hope that she will be a star and learn a lot. She is a sweetie and a funny girl. I will be happy to see the permanent teeth in place though as chewing is still a major occupation of Bridget's.

I have no set plans for the day and will just let things unfold. I hope that the two of you have a wonderfully relaxing day.

Call to Action

I've been doing a lot of research on this GPO and WEP thing for social security. What a crock!!! I'm steamed.

In the meantime, there is an action alert to repeal this unjust modification and I encourage you to contact your congressmen. Here's a place to send an automated letter but if you feel up to it, I'd call directly. You are their constituents. I've sent one to my representative already.

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/socialsecurity13

Thursday already

This week has flown by so fast and I cannot believe that it is almost the week end. I went to quilting yesterday for the first time since Bridget entered my life. She did great closed off in the garden room with Molly. I stayed for two and a half hours, which was shorter than usual for our get togethers, but was not sure how things would go at home. Who knows I might actually get to do some sewing again soon.

I have red and also white amaryllis blooming. I am going to try to grow some amaryllis from seed just to see what happens. The day Lillie's have started blooming too and I look forward to going out each morning to see what has opened. So far I have had yellow, wine, and pink ones. The spiderwort, gerbera and begonias are also adding color to the yard. The Easter Lillie's are just amazing this year. If you do not have those in your yard, I highly recommend getting some. I want to add more next next. I just bought the plants they sell around Easter time when they went on sale after Easter and plopped them in the ground. They all thrived and I have four plants now and can't wait to add more. My hycianth beans are taller than the arbor, but are just starting to branch out to the sides as all the growth has been upwards. The new clematis is not happy in that spot. I think it is the pitiful soil. If it perishes, I will make better dirt and replant. There are still some green leaves so it might adjust, who knows?

I have had several friends get their tax incentive checks, but as my SS number ends in a high number guess I will be in the last bunch if I get one at all. They have already spent their money.

I am getting my haircut at noon today. Hooray, I am tired of it drooping in my eyes. I also need to go by the bank for some money and to the water store. I would love to see the new Indiana Jones movie, but as it just opens today, and with a holiday weekend it will probably be packed so I probably will wait until next week when the working crowd goes back to work and before the kids are out of school. Wish you were here to see it with me.

As you can see all I have to share is day-to-day stuff, but that is my life. I might add that I like it that way and am happy to leave the exciting (and stressful) to the more adventurous out there.

Monday Checkin Redux

Busy busy weekend in the old yard. I went and got 15 bags of Cotton Boll compost and I'm using that as a mulch in several of my beds. I got all but one bag spread. Phew! I build a small bed with some spare stone edging next to the fence and moved a shrub I had that wasn't doing well in its old spot and surrounded that with some spare hostas. Thrive or die! Almost all my irises are in bloom now. They're just gorgeous this year. My yellow ones are in amongst some blue salvia that's blooming. I love the yellow and blue/purple color combos.

I spotted a chinese lilac at the nursery that was absolutely _covered_ in butterflies. They're sure gorgeous. I'm pondering putting one in but don't have a lot of experience with them. Have you ever grown one?

I went by Walmart after the dentist today and was disgusted. I wanted some color annuals and some more salvia for the beds and some pots. Their plants are a great price but just awful. Half dead root-bound scraggly things. I refuse to pay the prices at Home Depot ($4.00 for a zonal geranium!?) so it's time to stop and check out all the little blacktop nurseries that spring up around here. Hopefully I can find some good plants at decent prices.

I'm sure sorry to hear that Bridget is feeling poorly. Any idea what's caused that? She get into something that didn't settle right with her little self?

The diet was a total disaster last week. I didn't even weigh on Friday because I knew it would be so terrible. I was a total idiot about it. So I'm back on it this week and determined to behave. I will be skinnier! I'm tired of carrying big bags of concrete on my hips, backside and stomach.

Monday Morning

Another Monday rolls around with a dirty house,bills to pay and laundry to do. We are supposed to get close to 100 degrees today, so guess it would not be to pleasant outdoors anyway, so I might as well work inside.

I went to VBS training last night. VBS isn't until the week of July 21, but a lot of folks are going to Germany on a choir trip and so will be gone in June. It is an island theme this year. I will be in 5th grade. I said anywhere you need me is fine and that is where they put me. I guess most folks want the younger kids even in bible school.

Bridget continues to get bouts of upset stomach/diarrhea. She did not feel well all weekend, so I had to keep the girls separated a lot and gave Bridget the lion's share of attention. As a result Molly is sulking and is pretty much ignoring me and staying outside or inside under my bed in her bed. Shesh! what's a mother to do.

Well this sure sounds like whining, and that was not my intent. Just not much going on of any interest around here.

Midweek Checkin

A hectic week will always throw a wrench into the best laid plans. You didn't gain any weight so no harm, no foul. It's tough to stay to a plan like that as eating well is more work than eating poorly. It's faster and cheaper to eat bad junk than good stuff. That's the challenge I face--how to do a decent meal without thought and effort. Some nights I just don't want to even consider it and throw a PB&J sandwich down. That's why I'm trying to find good alternatives for that kind of food with the wrap breads and fruit rather than jelly, etc.

I'm going at lunch to get a lot of bags of compost. Kev's working tonight so that gives me an evening to work in the beds. My irises are starting to bloom. It looks like all those that I bought last fall have done very very well. Of course it's been a very long cool wet spring. I hope that will give everything a good chance to get going. My jasmine vine you recommended seems to be coming up well too. I added a trellis to give it something to climb on. No sign so far of the hyacinth beans I planted. It's been 7-8 days. I go check every day for some sign of little leaves. Maybe it's been too cool for it---or I'm just impatient.

Hang in there with the doggies. You've sounded really harassed the last few times I've talked to you and I hope that's just tone and you're not feeling harassed and high strung in life. If so, I hope you're taking enough relax time for you.

Confession

I totally did not diet this week and I was surprised to find that while I did not lose any weight, I did not gain any either. The week was so hectic and confused and busy that diet was the last thing on my mind. I have strengthened my resolve and will do much better next week. I am so proud of you for adding the treadmill (also a goal next week) and for losing three more pounds. You go girl!!!!

I cannot tell you how much I treasure your phone calls on the way home. I look forward to hearing from you and being able to chat is the next best thing to having you live in town. I hope that things are more settled in your home and know that I keep you in my mind a lot and in my heart constantly.

Your weekend plans sound very ambitious and I hope you will pace yourself and not overdo. If I lived there, I would be right there giving you a hand. Since I do not, I hope that Kevin will give you the gift of his two hands.

I think the batteries are dead and gone, so will buy some more today and get the pictures of the yard changes and Bridget, the pup in the mail. She has grown a lot this week and it is very obvious by her behavior and appearance that she is feeling much better.

I must do some serious cleaning this week end as the house has reached my intolerance level. I have not sewn for a week and am feeling twingy. You know I need a garden and sew fix on a regular basis. Today is supposed to be pretty warm, so it is a good day to be indoors working.
I do need to do some yard work too, so maybe I can work them both in. I also need to study the lesson for tomorrow. Yipes, I better quit blogging and get busy!!!

TGIF!

Good and meh on the diet front this week. Was back to three pounds. I'd sure like to see a bit more but was not totally unhappy as I had a backslide Wednesday. I did get on the treadmill 3 times this week and plan to continue that. The treadmill seems to be a good choice when my energy level is low. How about you? How were things on the quest to "Go Get Slim!" ?

Great choice on the meal. It's very hard to go wrong with chicken fried steak and trimmings. That's a very sweet thing for you to do and you make the best chicken fried steak around.

I went and got a card for Paula and got it mailed off. She's having some surgery today and I need to call this evening and see how it went. She was diagnosed with a tumor on her lung 10 days ago and they're going in to take it out.

This weekend starts the Great Patio Project. Step one is to dig a trench around the base of my deck and place a border of fiber edging. This is to provide a place to store all the rock that will be removed from around the old patio and paths. That shouldn't be too tough. Step two will be to remove all the old brick out of the existing patio. I'm going to try to reuse most of it in some project or another. Bricks just too expensive to dump. Some of the brick is getting chipped and weathered around the edges but none of it looks broken. I may use it to make some small "four square" spots around the new patio for adding potted plants etc.

Off to make some dinner! Hope to talk to you soon.

Hump day

Things are in a temporary calm for a change Bridget is snoozing at my feet and Molly has her usual post on the kitchen rug so she can see the most directions doing the same. I have fed the entire household and have paid bills. That online banking you got me going with is just the very best and I do not know why I did not do it years ago. I am such a slow learner at times.

Today is another cool day that I would love to be spending in the garden , but cannot because of commitments. The graveside service is at 11 and Kitty asked Edwina, another quilt buddy, and I to come to the house afterward for lunch and to be with her. I could not refuse, and did not want to, so the garden will have to wait. We are supposed to climb into the 90's by the weekend, so I guess our lovely spring is gone and summer is knocking at the door. YUK. my least favorite season.

I decided to do chicken fried steak, gravy, parsley new potatoes, a tossed salad and apple pie for the meal. I know Kitty likes American cooking the best and that is easy to do and as cheap as anything to fix. Once the decision is made as to WHAT to cook, the rest is easy.

I am going to go check on the batteries as soon as I get up and I thank you for the reminder. I sure had forgotten that we did rechargeable ones.

I hope they are playing nice today and work and that you can get in some relax time tonight. You know I send hugs always.

Phew!

Long garden day yesterday with most of it having to do with weeding. With the high winds and heavy rains we've been having, the weeds are making their best push to take over the world. Tenacious things.

Got some of the hyacinth beans you gave me planted as well as some of those ornamental peppers. I hope they'll come up okay. I feel like Jack the Giant Killer waiting for them to appear. My next task is to rework my round bed with some more materials to make it a much better draining bed so I can put herbs in it. I'm not sure if I'm going to add a layer of stone and make it a deeper raised bed or try to work with the soil as is. It's good soil but still fairly clay-ey when it comes to drainage.

It's so odd to be telling you about tasks that I know you did 6 weeks ago but that's how much later our season is than yours.

Best guess

It is hard to say from just a picture, but my best guess would be a crabapple tree. They come in many varieties and are shaped like that and have pink blooms in the spring ranging in color from light pink to deep pink and pinkish-purple depending on the variety. The leaves are oval in shape and are very attactive and often have redish color on the underside of the leaf.

To make sure, I would suggest asking your neighbor. I bet she will be flattered that you find her tree attractive. Let me know what you find out, as I am curious. It is a beautiful tree and I can see why you like it.