We filled up our days pretty good this year.
Saturday-Brian trimmed the forsythia bushes for the second (and probably last time) this year. I’d love for him to get a chainsaw and really cut them in half, but he won’t. I weed whacked around the front yard. I didn’t realize how weedy my little flagstone path leading to the side yard was! It looks so nice now.
Sunday-Brian’s dad gets a belated birthday gift (from June though he had the paint and accessories stored at his house). The guys put the first coat of white paint on the wood part of his dad’s porch. It was a long time coming. I cleaned the big bay window and most of the siding on the porch and even started painting a rickety bench there. The prep took the most time. I helped with a wire brush and then I wiped down the three posts holding up the porch. I even cleaned the porch light and today bought Dad C a new door mat. Needless to say, we were tired today.
Monday-I was so achy I didn’t get to sleep until after three this morning. I didn’t hurt until I laid down on the bed. I wanted to go mattress shopping, but we just weren’t up to it. I hope to do that in a few days time. Brian took me to Big Lots and I got another bookcase for my cookbooks and then Sean drove us to Olive Garden (down in Delaware) and we had a nice dinner. The guys got the ‘endless bowl of pasta’ which they have on a separate menu on the table. If you don’t pick that up, you don’t see it. They could only manage one bowl each as they had two huge pieces of sausage to eat. I had Chicken Cattelina (I think) with sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and mushrooms. After dinner we hit Marshalls and I bought a cute pair of celery green leather slide-ons with bows on top. I have lots of clothes this color. When we got home I cut Brian’s mop.

I was up late looking at all the goodies on BHG.com which is abbrievated for Better Homes & Gardens online. There’s something for everyone! I was there looking at the different themed garden lay-outs; in particular- a front shady bed my mom has in her yard. I’d thought I’d give her an IOU to replant this next spring for her 75th birthday that’s coming up. I already did the side of her house as mentioned earlier. You do have to register to check out the garden themes that can be downloaded from a PDF file.
I hopped over briefly to the craft section to get ideas for Christmas gifts. There are some cute ones! Think you can make a snowman candle holder out of a little fishbowl? Yes you can!
And the recipes are probably great, but I saved them for another time.
I just got the pricey latest issue of BHG Garden Ideas and outdoor living. It’s really a beauty and a keeper. And they have container plantings Zoey! There is one in a big basket that I love. Check out the container section.

What do you use to hold your fabric while you stitch? A hoop, a Q-Snap, a scroll frame, something else, or do you stitch in hand? Have you always used just the one thing, or have you tried one or more of the others? Which do you like best, and why?
When I first started I used one of those round, metal embroidery hoops. I’ve had wooden ones too. I don’t like the mark it leaves on the fabric. I found q-snaps about the time I started doing the charity quilts because I knew there had to be a better way. I love them! (but not the big cumbersome ones). I like my fabric tight and my ‘x’s uniform. Sorry those of you who hold in hand, I can tell when a stitcher does this as the ‘x’s aren’t as straight-my opinion. They may have more of a homemade look which is perfectly fine-whatever floats your boat. I DO hold smaller pieces in my hand and find that my hand gets tired faster. I have a scroll frame that I haven’t really grown use to.

I was totally disgusted at the gas pump today. For one thing, I never, ever spent $30 on gas in one shot. But when I got in the driver’s seat and saw it was a little above half, I wanted to cry. Me, with a son who is a commuter student. My mom said since she can’t drive that much, if I come down to take her out somewhere (46 mile round trip), she will help me with gas. I was talking with a man at the pump and he said he called the oil company to lock in the cheaper price. I didn’t even think about heating oil. I think we’ll be wearing lots of sweaters and utilizing the fireplace more this winter.
I went down to my mom’s for the first time since our trip. I had to stop and get her pain pill prescription and then Sean came over after school (his college is about 5 miles away) and we took her to CVS. I did get to put down the 3 bags of autumn red mulch where I planted the 14 daylilies next to the house. They all survived and are coming up nicely. The mulch sets off the bricks on the house nicely. I also used her weed whacker that keeps coming apart where it needs a big bolt between the top and bottom piece.
Sean and I went to the local brick oven place and he got a big dish of spaghetti and I got a white pizza. The owner has some gorgeous coleus in big containers in the front of the restaurant. On one side of the parking lot, he has a long strip garden with tomatoes and cucumbers (saves money on buying them for his salads!). He also has tons of zinnias along the road. Anyway, after we ate, I batted my eyes at the owner and told him his coleus were beautiful and asked if he trimmed them often. He said they were only good for 3 more weeks (no kidding), but I suggested about growing them inside. He gave me a pair of scissors and said ‘don’t go crazy’. I got a nice sampling of about 5 different varieties. If they make it (root in water), then I will have some for next year. I need to cut some of my colorful ones too. Doesn’t hurt to ask, does it?