A comparsion of textures-a ‘skeleton’ leaf against the bark of one of our old Chestnut trees. I think I forgot to flip the photo, but it looks interesting I think.

Is this not a perfect waterlily? I have a large, rectangular plastic planter that I bought just to raise some waterlilies in. It’s not quite deep enough, but it works! I have a little pump in it that moves the water around and I also change the water if it gets too dirty. The flowers have a mild aroma.

I don’t know if I have allergies brought on by all this terrible humidity, but my eyes have been red and dry for the past few days. The left is worse than the right. It even had a little stickiness on the lashes this morning. (I am not ruling out hormones either!) I am using artificial tears every half hour and the eye med Panatol too. If they are still bothering me tomorrow, I guess I will call the eye doctor. I don’t take my eyes for granted at all because of my mom and grandmom. My grandmom was legally blind when she passed on. Both ladies have/had cataracts and glaucoma. I have been trying to finish up a cross stitch square too, but I really think it’s more allergies than eye strain though they are aching like the later (may be a side effect of the Panatol).
I am looking at all the yard work that needs to be done and just shaking my head. Weed whacking is one of the chores that I usually do. I was sitting on the back patio pulling out weeds that had grown between the cracks in the cement. It had a ton of them. A few of the beds need work. I refuse to work outside in this kind of weather. The last weeding I did was at my mom’s house last Thursday.
The zinnias are mostly fun 1970s colors like yellow, pink and orange. I so enjoy going out and seeing a new bloom. I can see why my grandmom loved them.

I do have my blog listed in a cross stitching web ring, so I am sure the xs readers would like to know what I am up to. I have been working diligently on a quilt square for an 11 yr old girl in renal (kidney) failure that’s due at the end of the month. It’s a design of whimsical wildflowers and it says under the flowers ‘may all your weeds be wildflowers’. I am about 3/4s of the way through and should get it done by the end of the week. I’ll post a photo too.

Some of the stitcher’s blog questions-if I have a commitment (see above) I work my tail off to get it done. It drives me crazy sometimes, like in the summertime when I am outside quite a bit, but it’s also a thrill to know that I am making a smaller piece as part of a bigger item, the quilt.

Another question was if I prefer evenweave over aida. Evenweave is fine, but I don’t mind the big holes in the aida fabric. Things work up faster too.

I got this on the 75% off table. It’s low laying with the daisy like blooms

Yep, my rantings have lead to insomnia. Doesn’t look like this mama is going to church today. We’ll see though.
Holy tamale-look what I found for getting rid of ants from this page!

ANTS
Vinegar to get rid of tiny ants.
“One clove of garlic, one onion, one tablespoon of cayenne pepper and a quart of water. Steep for one hour, add a tablespoon of liquid soap and spray it around the house” for ant and roach control.
Mixing baking soda with powdered sugar and applying to infested areas.
Wash kitchen surfaces with vinegar solution and sprinkling bone meal, chili powder and powdered charcoal in and around suspected points of entry.
Pour a line of any of the following where the ants are entering the building: cinnamon, cream of tartar, red chili pepper, salt, dried mint or sage, or cucumber peelings.
Apply perfume to the entry point.
Mix a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of borax with 2 tablespoons of water. Soak cotton balls in mixture and place on low lids.
Band sticky, adhesive materials around base of plants and trees to deter ants, which can carry and colonize aphids.
Border gardens with bone meal.
Mix 2 tablespoons boric acid, 2 tablespoons sugar and a cup of water. Soak paper towels, place on dishes, and set out for ants.
Mix 4 ounces of mint jelly with 2 tablespoons of powdered boric acid. Cut small squares of making tape and dab mixture on tape. Stick on floors behind cabinets and appliances.
Pour boiling water over the nest
Pour a line of cream of tartar or chili powder where ants enter house and they will not cross it.
For fire ants, sprinkle a teaspoon of instant grits on each mound.
Mixture of 10 1/2 ounces of water, 3 ounces of Tabasco sauce, 2 1/2 ounces of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap liquid (available at health food stores). Spray where ants enter the home.
Combine: 1 part active yeast 2 parts molasses 1 part sugar Mix the ingredients well. Drop a teaspoonful on several small squares of white paper. Place the paper squares along ant trails where they will not be disturbed. How does it work? The ants are attracted to the sugary feast and will consume it readily. The action of the yeast, however, will produce gas their bellies which they cannot rid themselves of. They essentially will pop. The best part of this method of pest control is that it utilizes no chemicals which could harm you or your family.
3 parts Apple Jelly 1 part boric acid crystals Mix ingredients thoroughly. Cut standard soda straws into 2 – 3 inch pieces. Fill a 5 – 10 ml disposable syringe (without needle) with mixture. Use this to fill soda straw pieces. Place in areas that ants have been observed. Keep out of reach of children and animals.

I don’t know if hormones brought on my new ‘rampage’ about getting things fixed and remodeled in this 45 yr old house! We have lived here 18.5 yrs and have done a lot to it, but the kitchen was one room we didn’t splurge on except for a dishwasher that is now 18 yrs old and a floor that’s now 15 yrs old. Oh, I know what I want. Light colored cabinets for a kitchen that’s always been so dark. Storage space with a counter just for my mixer or smoothie maker. A pantry closet. An all-in-one oven/stove instead of a space robbing wall oven that’s difficult to clean. I have it all written down. It’s my husband that never helps us to take the next step. Oh he says ‘you can do it’ and then I correct him saying it’s too big a project for just me. I mean, let’s just do it.I plan to have the Home Depot come in here. It’s not a big space, maybe 11′ x 12′. Our mortgage is very low now. We would never be able to sell the house with that ugly kitchen with the broken cabinets. My silverware drawer can’t even be pulled out all the way without falling off the track.
So I was getting on Brian’s case today and he was just clamming up the entire day.Talk about a partnership of 21 years. I have to get on my soapbox all the time now to get things done. I don’t like to be bossy, really.
Wish me luck. Thank goodness for my nice gardens-my escape.

What a pretty combo! The variegated hostas are in bloom with a pale lavender flower. The purple plant popped up there, but it wasn’t planted there. 

Some of the newly opened zinnias. 

I’ve been a bit blue today, so I decided to take a few photos to cheer me up. This is the prettiest this trumpet vine has ever been. It came from a shoot from Brian’s mom’s plant.