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

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

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

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

Coleus-one of my favorite plants

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

These petunias are actually a deep purple velvet

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

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

He of course is hogging the lounge chair. : )

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