Author Archives: Dianne

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About Dianne

Domestic goddess, wife, mom, gardener, paper and collage artist, geocacher, local traveler, cross stitcher, baker, crafter, Facebooker, blogger, decorator and photographer.
May20

Could it be rain?

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It hasn’t rained in this area for almost 3 weeks. It was a pollen enhanced dust bowl around here to say the least. I tried to get my gardening done, but I just couldn’t get the shovel that deep into the ground without it causing discomfort. Now I can get the weeding and planting finished in a few days.
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My dear friend Karin just lost her beloved grandmother. I am so upset right now. The poor lady just had an operation which proved too much for her frail body. She got an infection and even the antibiotics didn’t help. I lost my grandmom almost 5 yrs ago and it still hurts. Karin and I really thought of our grandmoms as ‘second’ moms.

Update:
My nephew does have Crohn’s Disease and we are all upset over that. I hope the meds they try will help him.
Mom’s bloodwork was good! She is waiting to hear about an x-ray of her ribs as she is hurting near her liver area. She is finally going to get her eyes checked too.
I used an ice pack off and on all day yesterday on my sore elbow and it helped! Something so simply and I didn’t think to keep it in place with my ace bandage before.
Sean got his progress report and he has all ‘A’s and one ‘B’. He had trouble with the class placement exam for Penn State and we are going to the Learning Center next week to talk to the lady about a ‘tracking’ program-whatever that is. It’s not special classes, etc. I called the woman yesterday to let her know about how well Sean is doing in school, he’s just a poor test taker, especially when he can’t prepare for the test. She said kids have trouble moving from high school to college. I don’t know why she said that, their test was designed for rocket scientists it was so difficult.

May19

I think I have Medial epicondylitis

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This is a fancy name for ‘tennis elbow’. It’s my right elbow that is sore. I have a ‘Well Patch’ and Ace bandage on it right now. Not sure if it’s from using the computer mouse or banging my elbow a few times in the past that is causing the pain. It’s not terrible, but I notice it more when I want to lay on my right side in bed. I was trying to stitch a little this morning and it was too uncomfortable. I am glad I didn’t hurt my left hand when I took a spill off my little wheeled garden stool a few days ago. I don’t use my right arm that much as it is-just when I’m on the computer. Brian thinks I hold my arm funny when I stitch too. I haven’t been stitching a lot lately. I did lift a few heavy groceries and flower pots yesterday though.
I found a website with exercises, so I’ll give them a try.

Stitching blogger question-I like to use 2 strands of floss when I stitch. Over 2 strands makes the piece look bulky to me. 2 seems to be popular with many designers.

May18

Middle-age unfortunate fashion blunders…

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Thanks to Vikki for this forward.
These just don’t go together:
1. A nose ring and bifocals
2. Spiked hair and bald spots
3. A pierced tongue and dentures
4. Miniskirts and support hose
5. Ankle bracelets and corn pads
6. Speedo’s and cellulite
7. A belly button ring and a gall bladder surgery scar
8. Unbuttoned disco shirts and a heart monitor
9. Midriff shirts and a midriff bulge
10. Bikinis and liver spots
11. Short shorts and varicose veins
12. Inline skates and a walker

And last, but not least . . . My personal favorite:

13. Thongs and Depends

May18

I love being an aunt

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This past Sunday Sean and I went down to visit my mom and take her out to a few places, plus dinner. We had some gifts from Florida for her and my niece and nephew. After dinner we pulled up on the street where my brother and his family live (they live around the corner from my mom) and my niece Tori just stopped dead in her tracks she was so shocked to see us coming. The first thing she did was show us how she could ride on her bike down the sidewalk. We gave them their little token gifts plus I had found a Twister (the game) beach towel as I knew they were going to the beach the next weekend. They loved it. They kept excusing themselves to ‘toot’ because of all the bending over they were doing.
We hadn’t planned to stay that long but my nephew was really grabbing at our heartstrings. He said, “Are you staying for dinner?”
No Kenny, we ate already.
“I really want you to stay a while.”
We have to get going, but next time we’ll stay longer, I promise.
Sniff…yeah, they are my baby brother’s babies and I love them like I love him.

May17

Getting in the swing of things…some day

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I’m sitting here with a cat behind my back. I didn’t want him on my lap as I am wearing shorts and he kneads me with his claws on bare skin. He is purring like crazy. By the way, I have a blog just for my cat because Cos is such a character. I think it’s pretty funny what he is doing right now.
I have so much to do both inside and outside. The inside tends to get neglected when I garden. I have a storage problem on the main floor with the basement area bursting at the seams. My younger brother and his wife really work well together to keep their home in order. I wish Bri and Sean would help me more with our house. For instance, I misplaced a large box with a fairy birdbath in it that goes in my little garden. It’s about 3 feet tall and I can’t find it. So frustrating. I know it was probably moved when ‘I’ was cleaning up for the new dryer last fall.
We have spent quite a bit of flowers and veggies. I thought Brian would have given up on the tomatoes and green peppers as deer and groundhogs are getting in the garden and munching everything. I refuse to plant in the veggie garden as it’s backbreaking work for nothing. So what if they eat a few flowers? I haven’t had problems with that lately. Bunnies were seen eating flowers a few years back. So I need to get out and finish up the planting my annuals. I always love seeing flowers like Sweet William make an encore appearance the next year. I have a lot of them out in the various beds. Sean even planted marigolds in his garden. He’s had one for many years. Originally I dug up a spot for herbs, but gave it to Sean when he showed an interest in planting things.
Mom is off to the doctor as she hasn’t been there since January. She takes pain pills for her sciatica daily. I am hoping he tries something that isn’t a narcotic. I told her to try some arch supports in her shoes. I bought them for our Florida trip and I believe they saved me in the long run. Yesterday I wore flip flops and my feet were hurting in the evening.
My 20 yr old nephew is getting tested for Crohn’s Disease today. He is a tall 6’8″ and we hope this isn’t the beginning of medical problems for him.
I better go get busy doing something constructive. I can’t go anywhere as Sean is taking the van two days a week until the end of the school year. It keeps his mind off getting a car for a few weeks at least.

May14

Stitching Blogger question

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Sorry, I’ve been a little lax with these. Here’s the latest though:
Q. Given the option, would you rather buy a chart and get the material and floss together yourself, or buy a pre-packed kit?
I do both. I find that some kits and their directions are hard to follow. Sometimes the kits where you have to separate the floss are tricky too. I know most of my colors, so I usually do okay with separating them unless they are too close to call sometimes. I have this one kit that had the chart on one side and the symbols on the flip side of the chart. Are they that cheap that they couldn’t give us stitchers two pieces of paper so we wouldn’t lose our spot all the time? I gave up on that one. I need to go to the office supply store to get an oversized copy made one of these days.
I have so many charts and most of the floss colors, that I don’t mind kitting up designs myself. I’d say that is the best as you can chose the fabric that most appeals to you.

May13

Utterly shocked

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A great lady who runs a charity website sent us an urgent email today. I couldn’t believe what I read. I won’t name the organization as this is a public blog. Someone took the bio and photo of one of the featured sick children of the month and made a fake website to get people to donate money in this sick eight yr old’s name. They said they are up to to $19,000 or so! This little boy won’t see any of the money at all. The webmistress with the real site has contacted the place that is accepting payments to tell them it’s not a legit operation. I’ve been dealing with this site since August, 1998 and I don’t believe anything like this has happened before. Too bad when you are trying to do good for people someone comes along and jeopardizes a great thing. Please, if you see any websites asking for money, do a search, especially if sick kids are involved.