I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to spend this overcast day. No gardening-not into ‘pick axe’ weeding or transplanting as the ground is so hard. The ground is cracking open-will it swallow us up? About 30 minutes or so away from here, they got rain galore last night. Tomorrow looks more promising for some much needed precipitation. Thank goodness.
I’ve been after Brian to bring up the Bissell deep cleaning rug cleaner for months. Late this morning I was getting into a new cross stitch project and I heard him say ‘where do you want this?’ Yep, today was the day that a majority of my rugs got a going over. I tried just Oxiclean and water and it worked great-the dirty water was the color of dark chocolate! I did it in my bare feet and they were sparkling clean too! Wow!! I still want to do a few more areas in the family room that I missed (under furniture) and the bedrooms.
I did tidy up my cross stitching basket and ran across a few pieces that are more than half way completed (UFOs). I get tired of them and tuck them away. Now I am tired of ‘Cape May’ and the other two I’ve been working on for a month. I may try and finish up the older ones because I haven’t had a finish since the round robin project. The little project I started today may take a few days-I will show you-I promise-in a few days. It’s in honor of ‘March of the Penguins’. I just got a new cross stitch book called ‘Traveling around the World in Cross Stitch’. My mom had purchased the same book last week. It sounded so good, I bought it on Amazon (my word cloud over on the side says I use Amazon a lot). I saved about $5 buying it there.
If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I hope to do some walking at a nearby park with Brian. : )

Last night after I talked to my brother, he turned around and called mom. I know this because mom called me this morning. She said Ken really raked her over the coals. She was better with me, but the longer she talked, the more she drifted into her weary conversation about what was bugging me in the first place. Things are better though.
Sean was nice enough to take me to the hospital where my gyn is. Down the road in another YMCA that he went to and worked out in. I was left on the exam table for 30 minutes! When the midwife came in I told her my back was about to give out. I told her some of my bloodwork in June was a bit high. She had to add that she hoped my pap would turn out ok as I didn’t sound like I was having much luck lately. How nice of her! I was glad to get out of there. Sean and I ended up in a Chinese buffet for a late lunch. Man that boy can eat!
I sure hope we get some rain over the weekend. I am just mostly using the hose and swinging it back and forth.
I signed up with Amazon to try my luck at selling books there. I still do eBay, but at least I can leave things up on Amazon for a few months before I have to relist. You know I utilize that site!
Have a great weekend!

There’s a new Disney flick coming out tomorrow called ‘Invincible’ about Vince Papale who played for the Philadelphia Eagles for a few years back in the late 1970s. What’s interesting is that he was 30 years old when he got chosen to play for the team- he was the oldest rookie in NFL history. He’s from Glenolden, PA-a suburb of Philly near where I grew up (and where Brian worked for 13 yrs). Mark Wahlberg plays Vince. At 60, he’s a robust man who is a colorectal cancer survivor.

Personal update-I called my younger brother who lives near mom and he is fed up with the way she is acting too. I got him to open up and he said things that made me feel so bad for him. He got a car for mom a few years back, fixed it up for her -put a ton of his own money in it, etc. She called the next day to say it was ‘making noises’. See, nothing we do for her is good enough. He thinks she should work out her own problems for once in her life. Also, he gets grumpy after she calls him in the evening and ruins his time with his kids. Sound familiar? I don’t know what will come of this silent treatment, but I sure hope she finally learns that we have feelings and concerns too.

Woo hoo!

Dear Dianne,
I am happy to inform you that your photo is August’s winner in our photo contest! You can see your picture at http://www.touchofnature.com/photocontest.htm and you have won a $20.00 gift certificate redeemable for any items in our catalogs (expires 1 year from today’s date). Just enter code ***** in the comments field when you place your order and we will apply your gift certificate to your purchase!
Thanks again for participating….we really enjoyed your photo!
Happy Gardening!
Ingrid Bagwell
Touch of Nature, Inc.

If she saw what this looked like now….well, at least it was pretty in this photo. ; )

Welcome to the desert of s.e. Pennsylvania. No measurable percipitation for almost a month. The brown is slowly creeping into a large area of grass. The flowers and plants are getting brown on their edges even though I give them a drink almost daily. I’m like my friend Zoey, I am getting tired of watering and am starting to plan my indoor activities for the cooler months.
I haven’t heard from my mom yet. I called her and left a message yesterday-nothing. She’s making it very awkward. I don’t know who she is b&m to since she isn’t talking to me. Probably the boarder Jim. She’ll give him a heart attack!
My friend K wrote and sent photos of herself with her boyfriend. They have proclaimed their love for each other. I am so sentimental, I got misty-eyed. My friend has been through so much in 5 yrs (operations, loss of beloved grandmom) I am thrilled for her. Only problem is her guy lives down south and she is in IL.
Tomorrow is the annual gyn visit-I’d rather go to the dentist! I ususally see the midwife-they seem more thorough then the doctor. I think they should check my fibroids this time as I seem to have problems associated with them. Sean said he would drive me down to the hospital. Wish me luck.
Today we will probably buy mulch for my fairly new flowerbed with the little box hedges. The tags say to mulch the little suckers, so I will. When it does rain, and that may be today (please Lord) then I will be a very happy gardener.
Slight update-unbeknownst to me, the fellas said it rained, just a little around 5am this morning. That is my usual ‘dead to the world’ time.

by Julie Jackson

Against the sky and clouds

Feeding off of a zinnia that is drying up in this draught.

And in death on a zinnia where I found him.

First: A magazine called Arthur Frommer’s Smart Shopping. Ten More Secrets of the Supermarket. Do you shop with a list? My mom doesn’t. Let’s not go there. They also suggest you look in the Latin food stuff aisle. I know the olive oil I buy from that section is at least a $1.00 cheaper. Do you buy flowers from the food store? That’s another good suggestion-I’ve gotten a huge assortment of ‘day old’ or whatever flowers for about $3.00.
Anyway, if you like to shop, you’ll like this magazine.
Second: I recommend Oxyclean! I had some staining in my new kitchen sink under the little plastic mats I have on the bottom to protect it. Well I tried Bon Ami, a Mr. Clean Sponge and then the Oxyclean. I filled the sink about an inch and stirred in a few teaspoons of Oxyclean. Lo and Behold, it took out the stains! I also tried it on a stain in the family room carpet and it literally pulled that one out right onto the paper towel I was using.
Third: Entertainment.com coupon book-It cost $30-you get dozens and dozens of coupons. We took it to the beach and saved $38 on most of our meals. I think these make great gifts!
Fourth: Amazon.com- My mom was telling me about a hardback cross stitch book she recently bought that I don’t have. She paid $10.99 for it. I hopped on Amazon and found it for $3.69 or something like that. I also found a Sandra Lee Semi-homemade cookbook that I eyed at Walmart for $10 cheaper at Amazon. You have to look under ‘used’ when you check to see if the book you want is in stock. I bought a book for mom recently thinking it was a book about the area where she lived and it was another place in PA. I went to refund, printed out a label and stuck it on the box for a return. I am losing a little money on the postage for the refund, but at least I didn’t have to keep a book I wasn’t interested in.