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

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

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

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

Next the wet ingredients were stirred and the dry added.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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