War isn’t hell for nothing

I rented the ‘Fat Actress’ DVD as we don’t have Showtime. Kirstie Alley is pretty funny. It’s like a parody of her. John Travolta played himself, but his wife Kelly Preston played an obnoxious weight loss consultant. Lots of ‘f’ words are flying around this one! I like seeing her mansion (I guess it’s really her place) and her squeezing into her ‘fat pants’. She did have a big tush! I still have to watch 2 episodes from the DVD. Having always been overweight, I can relate.
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Now Kathy Griffin is like a little, fiery red headed sailor. She’s got a new show on Bravo. I know her best from the ‘Suddenly Susan’ show. Either she made a ton of money from that or her husband has money-she lives in a huge mansion! Her voice gets to me and how she is trying to get all the free goodie bags at the different functions she attends. Her parents are at her house a lot and she is just like them. She also pals around a lot with gay guys-go figure…
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And speaking of gays, I still can’t miss ‘Queer Eye’ on Tuesday nights. I found out a few weeks ago that the only blonde, Carson Kressley, graduated magna cum laude from Gettysburg College and he is from Allentown, Pa. Ha!
I think they do such nice things for the men they chose. The last episode featured a basketball couch who took every player under his wing and they displayed excellent team work. The couch had Thom crying like a baby. I could easily have a few gay guy friends for ‘girl friends’. I grew up with 3 brothers who teased me mercilessly and a guy friend in college was gay (I didn’t know at the time). I would say I get along pretty well with guys my age and under. Senior guys who dominated women in their hey day bug me to no end.

You know I just realized that my blog is the best journal ever for keeping track of what I am doing in the yard this year! I do have a ‘hard copy’ journal in the form of a Mary Englebreit hardback book that’s divided into months and has a ribbon divider. I can easily fill up those pages in no time. I did use it to write down the names and colors of the 10 new daylilies I just purchased. I am trying to figure out what to do with them all. I have 10 for mom (as mentioned earlier) plus a few Asian lilies for her. I can’t garden in this kind of weather. I was pulling weeds under the shade of my blue spruce earlier and I was wilting fast.
I am having so much fun reading other gardening blogs. Zoey (Perennial Passion on sidebar) had a ‘guess the plant’ question yesterday. From her description, it was a plant I had here for years that I thought was lamb’s ear. The plant Zoey was referring to was called ‘Rose Campion’.
You learn something new everyday!

I am working mainly on finishing up a charity square of little bluebird babies in a nest which are surrounded by apple blossoms. I swear it looked easier than it is. And I snuck that wildflower piece in there for Allie (see sidebar). I’ll get it done. I have a stitch-along to complete. Actually started the Prairie Santa piece ages ago. I’m trying to get my tribe.net stitching group (I head a group of over 60 stitchers) to do one by Sept. 1.
Some of the stitching bloggers questions off the top of my head:
No, I don’t dye my own fabric for stitching. I use white most of the time for Love Quilts. I have heard you can use jello to dye fabrics. For the heck of it, I may just try that sometime on a small piece of fabric. I’d love to have a deep pink.
And I believe this week’s question dealt with whether or not I have a rotation of my stitched wall pieces-LOL Well, I have a few things that I have stitched on display-one is a Prairie Schooler garden sampler (made into a banner) hanging on a twig in the family room.

There’s a Just Nan-Big bee-Little Bee (I think) right behind me on my Martha Washington sewing cabinet.

And in the living room is Judy Garland as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz sitting with the other Oz collectibles. I am getting tired of looking at that for over 2 yrs and it will probably be changed and Dorothy may go in the box with everything else.

That’s about it I think.
This post is in memory of Kyle B. who I made a collie dog head (it’s on the right in the photo there)for a LQ we made for him last year. He almost made it to his 16th birthday.

…right at the beginning of our 5th heat wave. Darn-it! I hoped it would stay in the 80s so I can get my 10 daylilies planted and Mom’s 10 planted at her house. I got these from an eBay seller in Utah and she didn’t send planting directions. I googled ‘when do you plant bare-root daylilies’ and found an answer-within 2 weeks. So I have some time. They said if you can’t get them in the ground to keep them in a cool, moist place. I have them in the living room near the air vent-lol
I was out digging up around where I wanted mine to do. Bare roots look so much easier to plant then getting a big pot from the nursery. I sure hope they make it ok as they were expensive! And I can’t wait to get my mom’s planted for her.

Zoey wanted to know the titles that I purchased at the various stores yesterday. I’ll post the books that I have gotten in the last few months. I have some serious reading to do this winter.

1. Ortho’s All About Creating Natural Landscaping ($4.25) Like a little lesson on what plants go well in different locations like humid or arid. I like that it has lots of photos and lists of plants with both their Latin and common names. We really need to learn those Latin names don’t we! ; )
2. Mix and Match Gardening by Lindsay Thomas ($6.00) Published in London. I am wondering if their seasons are similar to the Pacific west coast? If you know off hand, let me know. Ms. Thomas uses all the Latin names. I like how the pages are divided so you can study plant details and garden plans at the same time. It’s like the little gardening plans that Better Homes & Gardens uses for like ideas for a ‘white garden’, etc.
3. The Gardening Year of Color by Lance Hattatt ($4.00 with 20% off) another English dude but a nice compact book that will help you know when to plant what. I like to have something blooming from as early as possible to as late as possible. The flower photography is beautiful.
4. Place the Plant by Frances Welland ($4.00) Now I have trouble with some plants. I pretty much know which ones like the shade and sun. It also talks about soil conditions. And yes, another English author.
5. American Garden Writing-an Anthology edited by Bonnie Marranca ($7.00) I think I look forward to reading this one the most of all. From the one selection I learned quite a bit about Queen Anne’s Lace. There are more than 50 selections from travel journals, letters, personal essays, natural history and seed catalogs. I can’t wait to see what Thomas Jefferson wrote.
6. The New Guide to Remedies ($2.99) I little book I picked up at Michael’s Crafts. The print is so small I almost think I need reading glasses. I like to try natural remedies. I learned this from finding out the hidden value of milk thistle. If only my mom would see the light.
7. Tong Sing-The Chinese Book of Wisdom ($6.98) The Chinese views on astrology, health foods, herbal remedies and recipes.
8. Cassell’s Garden Directories Foliage Gardens by Richard Bird ($3.98) I guess I bought this with my mom’s yard in mind. About half of it is shady and this book helps you chose the right plants for yards like this. Nice photos too.
9. Better Homes & Gardens Garden Decorating ($5.98) Fun book! Lots to make for the garden. Just like the magazine (which I get too).

I did great with the prices. I guess I am lucky to have so many places around here where I can buy books. I just need a few more bookcases for them all.

Sean wanted to go up to Lancaster County to go to the different outlets stores off of Route 30. We live about 22 miles from here. We got a late start-we left around 2:00. The stores are opened until 9 anyway. I think he wanted to try out his car on a longer trip. He was looking for new sneakers and has had good luck at the Adidas store there, but not today. He did get some Penn State Nittany colored blue and white Nikes for a little more money.
I hit Tuesday Morning to look for a few birthday gifts. It was freezing in the store and thus took some enjoyment out of my browsing. I got my sis-in-law the cutest piggie bank dressed in his swim trucks with removable sunglasses.
We went up to another center as we had 20% off coupons for things at various stores not on sale. I hit Liz Claiborne (I love Liz) and got these pretty mocha slacks with no elastic around the waist! I have to turn them up, but they will be great for the fall. And I got 20% off. We went to Gap and tried to use a coupon but the girl wouldn’t let us saying the shirt was already marked down. We got a lot of stuff for $58, so we left, but I complained about them at the book store. The bookstore gave me 20% off.
We realize that they send you the coupons to get you up there, but we managed to use 3 of the 4 and saved maybe $10 or so, not too bad.
We ate at the Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed that. Sean enjoyed the waitress who looked like a dark haired Bo Derek.
Sean went back to get the Nikes and then he dropped me off at a book sale. That’s when the weariness hit me. I managed to sniff out 2 gardening books and a cross stitch book. The last place we went to was the Pepperidge Farm outlet store for some bread and goodies.
I noticed they are building up Route 30. There was a new miniature golf course with a big pirate ship as one of the holes across from the Steamboat hotel (it looks like a steamboat with it’s big wheel on the side). I want to eat at the Waffle House one of these days which is across from the Rockvale outlets. It use to be a Dairy Queen which was in the movie ‘Witness’.
I have to tell you that on the way up there I was checking out house gardens because it’s such a green and fertile area. I was disappointed not to see more going on. The ones I saw looked like they were tended to with love, much like the ones my gardening blog pals and I tend to. It’s a shame not more people find joy in such a simple and easy hobby. I mean, you have to weed and feed, but it’s a hobby you develop to your own taste over the years.
We saw a few buggies on the way home around 8 pm. I thought all the Amish went to bed at 8!
Here’s a good joke I heard from a guy named Vic on Comedy Central last night- ‘When the other countries heard that Bush and the USA were going to war, they stared at him like Amish in a Circuit City.’
PS-Good luck to Dana Reeve who announced she had lung cancer at age 44. Hasn’t that poor woman been through enough? I heard she didn’t smoke. Scary thing.

Peter Jennings was a class act. His voice was so dignified and you enjoyed hearing him read the news. If you are about my age, you remember him from when you were in your 20s or younger.
It’s hard to realize that he’s gone at only the age of 67. His last appearance on the news was quite shocking and touching back in April. His wonderful news reading voice was all raspy. He said he had lung cancer, though he had stopped smoking 20 yrs earlier. I couldn’t help but get teary-eyed when ABC dedicated their entire broadcast to him. He would have liked it. It showed him as a down-to-earth person even doing a segment in his boxers and getting caught in the act!
My mom always said that Peter reminded her of her dad as he had a high forehead and quick wit. My pop-pop only lived to be 58 and cigarettes were his curse.
I also really appreciate how much he cared about kids and how he had specials for them to hear about their concerns and interests.
Sorry to hear about his passing in only 4 months after diagnosis.

Thanks to Karin for this great forward:
MSNBC.com
ICE could save your life ‘In Case of Emergency’ initiative turns cell phones into lifelines
By Dawn Fratangelo
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:36 p.m. ET July 28, 2005

NEW YORK – At Montefiore Medical Center, New York City’s busiest emergency room, information is vital, and sometimes hard to come by — like when a woman in cardiac arrest is brought in alone and unconscious.
“We were resuscitating this woman with no information,” says Dr. Robert Meyer, “and only two hours later did someone show up.”
News that she’d had chest pains for weeks came too late, but she was carrying a potential lifeline: a cell phone.
That sort of situation is just what Robert Stimpson, the acting police chief in Madison, Conn., is thinking. Now he’s launching a campaign that’s catching on: asking cell phone users to create a specific entry called ICE, or “In Case of Emergency.”
It couldn’t be easier. Enter the number of your emergency contact into your cell phone’s address book. Label it as ICE and store it. Paramedics or doctors can then access that number if you’re in an accident.
“A program like ICE,” says Stimpson, “would make our job much easier, save a lot of time, help the emergency provider, and ultimately, help the person in need.”
Most of the 193 million cell phone users in the United States probably already have an “in case of emergency number.” It just may be under something like “mom.” Programming it again under “ICE” only takes moments.
There are some concerns, especially that the emergency contact be up to date about medical history.
The idea caught on after the bombings in Great Britain, where a paramedic conceived it. Word spread, and a grass-roots movement was under way — from the Internet to hospitals worldwide.
“It’s a no-brainer,” says Meyer, “It’s a wonderful idea. It’s cost-free.”
It’s three simple letters that could help save lives.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
© 2005 MSNBC.com
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8744626/