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.

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.