Jul9

Trying for happy things

Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 by Dianne

Live Happy ATC, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Just having some fun with ATCs the last few days-I sure needed to do something distracting. This one was a bit challenging, but the fun part is making something cute out of it.

I have to use a rinse for my gums, which I used before and if they aren’t better in a few weeks, I have to go back. Also got one of those rubber pointy things to gently push along that area so the medicine gets in there.

Since I was out, I went to Wally World and bought some more plants to fill in colorless spots. I bought a few different color marigolds which will last until the frost and some Coleus for near Bri’s hot peppers that are under the evergreen out front.

I talked to Karin, a mutual friend of Char’s. She was in disbelief. Char had just sent her husband a birthday card and them a 1st anniversary card. We are just puzzled. Kar had talked to Char many times on the phone. She was in tears a few times. I believe she will call Char’s CL husband soon.

‘Hurricane Schwartz’, our local weatherman, said it is going to be less humid tomorrow, so maybe I’ll plant my new things to spruce up the front.

Jul8

In Memorium

Posted on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 by Dianne

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This was the strangest evening…and very sad too. I had been at a cross stitch group’s website to see if they had any new kids to stitch charity squares for. I haven’t been visiting there too often as the summer is so busy for me. I left a ‘hello’ note and then got an email that a member had tried to phone me and didn’t get through and wanted to talk as it was urgent. I didn’t like hearing urgent, and I thought of one friend there who has been suffering with her back for a few years. I decided to call Vicki and indeed, my dear friend Charlotte from Ireland (but a native Austrian) had passed away. She was only 40, not quite 41. Vicki didn’t know what happened, but it happened about the 26th of June. Charlotte’s last message on the group was the 22nd. Charlotte absolutely loved stitching quilt squares. When she was flat on her back, she still stitched. The last few things I saw that she did were quite detailed with lots of color changes. I have a few things she made for me and a gorgeous hardback book she sent ‘In Praise of the Needlewoman’. If there was ever a needlewoman worthy of stitching in heaven, it would be Charlotte. I bet she stitched at least 200 charity squares if not more. She’ll be so missed.

Jul8

Photo cards

Posted on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 by Dianne

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Last night I ordered a bunch of blank cards to put my photos on. I tried Cafepress.com, but only sold a few things to friends. I figure etsy is a better audience. I may manipulate the photos a bit, adding poetry verses (maybe my own?), we’ll see. I still would like to ‘make’ items for etsy too. I hope you go see Barbara’s Quaker birds there (Mainly Stitching). She really came up with a new original idea. As soon as the blanks come in, I’ll print out some photos and post a few on etsy.

Remember the mystery bird from a few posts ago? Looking through my bird book, it sure looks like a Phoebe to me. I thought it could have been a Pewee, but they have definite white on their wings and not as much of a contrast on their noggins.

Not too much new. I had to take a rare nap today (for like 10 minutes as the phone woke me up) as I had a caffeine induced wakeful night. Darn that Coke!

I’m trying to finish up a stitching project, but my eyes have been really bothering me lately. I think it’s the catkins from the Chestnut trees. I have to use drops to clear them up. I also need to visit the dentist as my gums around a few teeth look like they have craters in them. I have a lot of dental work near the gumline (fillings) and using an electric toothbrush seems to have eroded that area. I hope it’s a quick fix. Bri said he had to get skin grafts on his gums one time. No thank you. I have to go out in the hot, hot weather tomorrow and my van’s air needs recharging-ugh.

Jul7

Grass between the cracks

Posted on Monday, July 7, 2008 by Dianne

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The above is a joke to me. I was indeed leaning over pulling grass out of our brick sidewalk out front. We had just had a torrential downpour which loosened it a bit, so I got quite a bit pulled. Bri had to comment about using weedkiller instead of doing it the old-fashioned way. I do it both ways, bud. Anyway, I was thinking while I was doing this, ‘are you going to blog about it’? ; )

I had to go to the grocery store later in the day. It was so humid, you could cut the air with a knife, plus we had a few downpours. I hate humidity, the plants outside love it. They all look like they spent a week in a greenhouse, they were so perky.

I decided to place my two water plants in the deep part of my little pond. I think that them being in the waterfall part was really making the water green. They had some major roots and were meshing together.

Sean is doing well with his internship. He’s been working on a map of the Delco river systems (I think this is what he told me). It’s neat he’s working out of my hometown too.

My kitty has been a rascal-you’ll have to check his blog over in my blogroll called Cosmo Capers.

Speaking of blogs, I decided to switch the blogroll up a bit-deleted some, added some. I have such a long list of bookmarks that I need to do this. Also deleted about 1,600 emails (I kid you not) from three email accounts, two I rarely look at. It was all junk mail!

Jul6

Beach Ladies ATC series

Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008 by Dianne

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Beach Ladies ATC series, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Thinking of the beach and making ATCs. That’s really colored sand. Target sells it-6 for $1! I had one more space, so I added my blue hydrangea.

Jul6

Trio of hibiscus

Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008 by Dianne

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Here’s my gift from Sean for Mother’s Day in May. I ended up with 3 different kinds of hibiscus as you can see. Two were in one pot. I decided to put all three in one pot and have been greatly rewarded with color. I love when all three bloom as once like yesterday.

We all went to Wally World as I needed some more potting soil. I had gone to this upscale nursery in Delaware to purchase one water hyacinth ($3.99-geez) to see if it helps with the algae problem. The man who got it out of the pool for me said I should have an entire pond of them in 3 weeks. I’ve had them before and the goldfish that I use to have didn’t like them much. So at the nursery I bought two more beautiful coleus. This one was huge and needs to be repotted.
Also at Wally World I bought three plants for a new hanging basket for out front. They really haven’t reduced anything there, but I love this one plant that looks like little orchids (I have some in the ground). Bri made me get an eggplant and he bought yet another hot pepper plant. I think he has at least 9 plants! I guess that’s his hobby. : )
Anyone know what kind of bird this is?

We thought it was a wren, but their tails stick straight up. The closest we figured was some kind of warbler. They have their nest over our bay window in the family room.
Brother #2 is over mom’s cleaning out a spare room. He just found a bunch of cross stitch leaflets! When I would buy from this lady at the flea market, mom would buy too (only 25¢ each), so she said I could go through them. I just took a huge bag of them to the Goodwill, nothing great and they were taking up space. As I said in an earlier post, I am selling off a bunch in lots on eBay over at the link on the top, ‘Moonlitstitcher’s eBay page’. Many of these I paid full price for.
Have a great Sunday!!

Jul5

Photo Hunter-Pointed

Posted on Saturday, July 5, 2008 by Dianne

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Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Close up of planter, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I saw this awesome planter in a nice shady area when I stopped to rest at Longwood Gardens last week. It looks similar to a Aloe, but skinnier like the top of a pineapple. It has an unusual flower! I am bad about writing down names of plants (though this doesn’t look like it is marked), but I am glad I got a photo of this as it came in useful!

Here’s a long shot:

Jul4

Ka-boom!

Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008 by Dianne

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The above is in our driveway. Sean bought a big package of fireworks. It started to rain right as they were finishing up ‘their show’.

And my dinner:

Baby back ribs, coconut shrimp, a little drumstick, red potato salad, tomato with EVOO and fresh basil, green bean salad and cucumber salad. We had brownies for dessert. It would have looked nicer on a pretty plate. After we ate outside (just the 3 of us), it started to drizzle. Mom is over my Uncle Don’s for a few days.

Jul4

Happy Independence Day!

Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008 by Dianne

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(If you’d like this as a desktop, click on the above image and then save the largest version to your computer).

Some ATCs-I made 4 altogether:

Oh…and the tomato tepees are working-so far-that’s if they don’t get too much bigger. Bri didn’t put the mulch down thick enough and we have weeds galore. That’s his job, I have enough flowerbeds to weed. I do ‘clip’ up the tomatoes. The clips were suggested by Martha Stewart and they work really well. They are clipped to cording that is attached to the top of the tepee and a long nail in the ground.

I plan to make baby back ribs, wings, coconut shrimp (the wings and shrimp are prepackaged), green bean salad, cucumber salad and potato salad. I may toss a pan of brownies or lemon squares in the oven for dessert. Yum!

The weather is iffy, but I may go to the fireworks to try and get some photos as I was inspired by a few I saw on Flickr. We’ll see. All that cooking is tiring. : )

Have a blast!!!

Jul3

Ruthie girl would have been 105 today!

Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008 by Dianne

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This is my maternal grandmom Ruth. I lived with her for the first 24 years of my life (on the most part). The four grandkids lived with her and our mom until we moved out. The house is really both mom’s and ‘mom-mom’s’ house.

She helped me with many domestic things, like to add a pinch of baking soda and some sugar to spaghetti sauce to make it taste better and not be as acidity; to how to hold a crochet hook. She was the strong one in bad situations. She chased us with the yard stick for being naughty or saying bad words. Near the end, she was the one who cussed quite a bit. I guess she held it in all those years! ; ) She passed away on Father’s Day, June 16, 2000 with all of us around her, except for one grandson. She is missed every day.