The Impatient Gardener

My Blog Has Moved

2007-03-06T10:12:00.000-05:00

my blog has moved To Here at wordpress click on these words

Fibulae's

2007-02-23T18:29:00.000-05:00

My friend Alecart from Flickr has these really cool looking polymer clay beads that she makes. I was inspired to purchase a few to see what I could come up with. So, I guess I had some fun eh?
I have been commssioned to make a thank you gift for the director of this years play. We all had a brooch in mind but decided to go with a fiblua because of it's versatility. This way it can be worn on the lapel of a jacket, a sweater, on a scarf or a hat.

Other than picking up the coop order on sunday afternoon, we'll have the whole weekend to ourselves. AND, everyone is healthy!!! Lets keep it that way.

Joe Pye

2007-02-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

One of the many reasons why I leave my garden debris. The contrasts and textures make for some interest in the mist of dullness.
The past two weeks has been the spring board for what is to come in the next two weeks of madness. Preparing for this year play has been exciting and exhausting. All good of course!!! Just a lot more hectic than I would want for myself to be. But that's the life of helping with a play and trying to keep eveything else in order that follows. I have lived the words 'Parent Partiscipation' and 'Volunteer' for the last two weeks now. It has its benefits, but I am weary.

Catholic school week was just the beginning. Everday another function and a need for help. Play practices everyday after school then off to one appointment or another for the girls. Ski trip yestserday then play practice, a volunteer parent meeting for the play then the home and school association meeting. I got home at 9:30 last night. Most of my days have been 12 hours of go go go.
I look forward to any down time I can get. This morning is the first in days. a few photos and a little jewelry making and I should be good to go, or at least in time to take my girl to the doctor. Girl number two this week. Nothing major. Just little things that could grow into big stuff if I don't keep up on it. I like to be preventative.
If the conditions are good this weekend ( I doubt it) we were hoping to go cross country skiing. something we've been wanting to learn how to do. We might end up with innertubing instead. Sounds good!

I couldn't pass these beauties up

2007-02-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

silver wire wrap

2007-02-16T20:51:00.000-05:00

wearing this tomorrow night...............

Hearts Day

2007-02-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

The girls couldn't wait for dad to get up so we could 'do' valentines day. cards and candy all around. The girls had a bonus this year though....NO SCHOOL!! another snow day for us. We didn't even think twice when sleeping in.

One girl at home not feeling up to par today. Another on her way to a black light Valentines Day Dance.
The cold is really getting to me. I am looking at photos of sun shine and green fields. I need warmth.

A Valentine's Gift for him.

2007-02-13T09:12:00.000-05:00

My Only Valentine's order. Grateful to have one. This is a 16 gauge Sterling Silver Patina for my friend Edie's husband, Jeremy. She wanted me to use Titanium for the fine brushed pewter look of aged metal. I love this look also. But working with the wire was tediously strong and unruly. The metal was so light in weight that it felt like dental floss on your wrist. I didn't have any experience with tiatnium before and have learned for the next time, to order the jump-rings already made to save myself the agony of not being able to give my customer what they wanted. I order most of my large heavy base metals out of canada, so it took weeks to get here and The Lord Ring are the only ones who have the pre-made titanium jump-rings. Of course by the time I figured all of this out, it was too late to re-oder in time. So I went ahead with the sterling silver and dipped it in Line of sulfur to age it. Edie was very happy with the results and I was very relieved.

My next project/order is a brooch for the direcor of this years play of "The High school Musical." I have a few ideas and will get started on it this weekend.

Getting used to all the snow and cold we've been having. yesterday felt like a heat wave! A whole 31 degrees!! Tons of kids outside yesterday in just hoodies. Today is a different story. I wonder what kind of lake effect we'll get after this system blows through? I hope not much. Tom and I have a dinner date this weekend with Tim and Kim and we would like to make it. Two dates in the same month??!! The stars are in our favor......

I am so excited about the Terabithia movie coming out this weekend!!! I have been looking forward to this movie for weeks now. I hope I didin't work myself up into a foam over nothing. Sometimes the movie previews are all that is excitng about the movie. I hope this is not one of them.

Books the family is reading:

Kelsey:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Amy:
just finished,
Gregor And The Marks Of Secret (Underland Chronicles)

Lynne:

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
~ by Rafe Esquith
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine
~by Susan Monk Kidd

Tom:

I forgot........ ;C)) I can't sneak into the room to see, he is still sleeping.

The Cat Days of February

2007-02-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

The first 'No School Days" for my girls this week. They are thrilled. Of course they want everyone to come over so they can have a party. I personally don't want to leave the warmth of my bed until this cold snap is gone.
The pets really have the short end of the stick. They are miserable! In and out. In and out. They can't stay out longer then five minutes before they need to come in. The cat stays int he basement at night meowing all night. Lucky for us, Tom has a white noise maker so we can sleep.

Being stuck inside the house this weekend, we decided it was time to make the photo light box we have been talking about for weeks now.
I found this photo website called Strobist. We made his photo light box and it works beautifully. I plan on learnng much more from The Strobist. Check out his site if you have a minute. The link is in my sidebar.
Unfortunately I have to venture out to the grocery store. Today is my shopping day and I'm out of coffee!

~"The virtues we can learn, no trait is more useful, more essential for survival, and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge."
--Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Toboggan

2007-01-29T08:44:00.000-05:00

The morning was a luminous periwinkle.
The snow we've all been waiting for had finally arrived this weekend.
Wishing there was more to call a snow day would have been better.
But we'll take what winter we can get.
The word for yesterday's Family Day was Tobaggan!
It was nice to get it out again after so many years in storage .
It was quite the attraction to those, who at our age , remember the Tobbaganing days of their childhood.
Cold and windy, we made several trips up and down this nice sized hill.
Next Sunday we'll take the girls cross country sking for the first time.
We would love to be able to make it to one of the night time sking events at the the local park this winter.
I hear it's beautiful.
Today we are going to a funeral. A close friend's Father passed away a few days ago.
Many of us have lost one or both of our parents over the years.
Just as we struggle to think about our own humaness, we also prepare ourselves for the losses to come.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."--Abraham Lincoln

Finally had some time to work.

2007-01-22T08:47:00.000-05:00

This was the hardest necklace I ever made. I purely did it from a photo idea which made it very time consuming trying to figure out the best strategy to take to get it balanced. It's not a look for me, but one that seems to be appreciated by many.
Nice for spring.

I love to make chain. This necklace once again prompted by a photo, can be a nice everyday staple or glitzed up with some lovely glass beads. I must play with this one.

I've become a copy cat. I recieved this idea from another, but I was looking for ideas for my one lonely tangerine briolette.

I bought myself flowers

2007-01-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

I bought myself flowers yesterday at Aldis. The price was right so I indulged. The pink depression paden city fan vase is a perfect fit .

It's been a very busy week of volunteering and everyday errands. Today I get to stay home all day and Tom gets to pick up the girls after school. I've had a necklace idea laying around in pieces for over a week now and I have high hopes to it together today.

Reading:

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
~ by Sue Monk Kidd

Magazines:

~Cooks Illutrated
~Cook Country
~Everyday Food by Martha Stewart

Favorite Dish this week:

~Prosciutto-Baked Tilapia:

"In order to see birds its is necessary to become a part of the silence." - Robert Lynd

Bracelet Order

2007-01-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

An order for bracelets for this years 8th grade volleyball team was made two weeks ago. These were the choices I came up with for the choosing. The second from the top was chosen and 9 were made and given. What a wonderful opportuniy to get my name out there. Looking to pull off a duo openhouse with another local artist who specializes in ceramics. Looking at March for that.

The sky yesterday looked like the The Stone Bridge By Rembrandt. When opening the door that morning to let Macknaw out, It smelled of snow. Crisp and fresh. Ahhhhhh. Okay......... now you can go away and get mild again. Unless we get two feet of snow I'm not interested in snow this year.

Quote of the Day:
"Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play." - Heraclitus

Currant book we are listening to:
"Gregor and the prophecy of Bane"
Just Finshed "Bartimaeus Trilogy"

Book I'm reading:
Crap.

Book Tom is reading:
Eldest.

Favorie T.V. show:
ER & House

Favorite food this week:
jambalaya.

The Yellow-shafted Flicker

2007-01-09T06:50:00.000-05:00

Photo credit from Wikipedia
A Flicker has been hanging around our suet feeder for the past four days. He is impressive in size compared to the size of the feeder.
We had a bit of snow last night. Just enough to make it damp and cold. I would have to say the mild weather was nice when we had it.
First day back to school for the girls . They woke up well as usual. Lucky me. I do expect an emotional breakdown by tonight from my youngest as she makes the transition in her sleeping habits. what can I say. My radar is up.
Spent most of my day on the computer suming up the differences in the two choices we have for our vacation this summer. What a sobering reality it can be.
WE look forward to a quiet weekend. Let's hope for some snow!

Tool Bar

2007-01-02T13:12:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! What a great party Sunday night. There was such a great variety of people. People I haven't seen in a years time easily. Some I would prefer to only see once year. I didn't feel like hiding too much from the crowd this time. I would have to say mentally, it has been one of the best holiday seasons for me.

The tree is down and the outside lights are next. The need to move forward nags at me. There are so many paths to choose from I am not sure which one to travel on first. Just keeping my slower pace in life has given me a chance to focus on what is truly important. It's not the money issues or keeping a new years resolutions (which is not to make a resolution at all) It's about keeping the amazing balance of famly life. Okay, I have a few shove slam closets that need my attention, I'll get to that this week.

Christmas Cactus ( epiphytes )

2006-12-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

My daughther needed a plant for a terrarium project in science last year. The plant made it home and now we are enjoying it.
Our plans for today is two movies, "Eragon" and "Pursuit of Happyness." One movie for Dad and Amy and one for Kelsey and I.
Tonight we plan on visiting a few family friends, then heading home to unwrap the Christmas eve gift. ( Pajamas and slippers)
The girls are excited as usual, but for some strange reason Tom is also. I think he is starting to get the idea behind the importance of getting something that someone would like and for it to be a complete surprise. He has always poo-pooed that.
The stress of financial debt is starting to rear it's ugly head again. Especially when we ask Tom not to bring it up every ten minutes. We need a winng lottery ticket. Lame.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Gone Golden

2006-12-21T18:19:00.000-05:00

~"May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!"
~Author Unknown

The Jewelry Bench is Done!

2006-12-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

The Bench is done! I am amazed how fast I was able to fill in all the space it allows. Maybe I should add on a wing? In fact I plan on it when I take a soldering glass.
Kelsey had her piano recital today. she was second to last on the list of 32 students. Fortunatley their songs were 10-25 seconds long , so it was painless. Kelsey did a beautiful job and we have Melissa thank for that and Kelsey's dedication. I bit my bottom lip really hard in order not to cry. Dam PMS + proud mother syndrom!

Caroling tonight. Looking forward to seeing everyone again and relaxing somewhat.

Amy and Dad are practicing a song Amy wrote for guitar. She calls it "Rainy Day." Oh No! I'm choking up again!!!!

Ornament Exchange

2006-12-15T09:19:00.000-05:00

I fell in love with some galss art this week. I was shopping for some ideas for making a christmas ornament. I had intentions of sliding this beauty into a glass ball but it lacked something I could not inhance. I guess this is what I had in mind all along. I have a white elephant christmas party to go to on monday and I hope to get this back through exchanges according to the rules of the game. wish me luck. I don't want to have to make another one, but I will if I lose it.

Christmas tree and caroling this weekend. I'm glad the date is Saturday for the caroling so our family can have all of Sunday to ourselves. We need this day.

Kelsey has her first piano recital this Saturday afternoon. I've invited several people close to us to come and see her perform the most beautiful Christmas song. "What Child Is This". It will take everthing I have in me not to cry when she plays. I am so proud of her and where she has gone with her lessons. I'll be biting my lip big time. I hope I don't forget the camera.

I wanted to make a necklace out of the glass art I purchased. I like this one. simple and fun.

I am having an openhouse on Wednesday the 20th from 4:30-8:00 p.m. I hope I get a few orders out of it. I decided at the last minute to have one, so I don't expect much. Just having one for the first time will be a learning experience.that I need. I had a chance to talk with Mary at the Trinity Bazaar and hope to combine efforts for a few openhouses this spring. Her ceramics are beautiful.

Christmas is at home this year. This has only happened a few times in all the years of being in the family. Now I have to think of what traditions I need to set when this happens. I invited Mom for dinner. I didn't want her to be alone on Christmas day. So a roast beast and mash potatoes are in order.

"And the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls,
And tenement halls,
And whispered in the sounds of silence."
- - - Paul Simon, "Sounds of Silence"

2006-12-07T22:32:00.000-05:00

And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said you look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do
So I took off my hat I said imagine that, huh, me working for you
woah!

Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, Hey! what gives you the right
To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in
If God was here, he'd tell you to your face, man you're some kinda sinner

Now, hey you Mister! can't you read, you got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat
You can't even watch, no you can't eat, you ain't suppose to be here
Sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside Uh!

And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all,
I didn't have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine

~Five Man Electrical Band

The 400th Entry!!!!

2006-12-06T10:05:00.000-05:00

I find that amazing and wonderful.

Today is Saint Nicholas. Camouflage Santa hat and 401 bags of candy was put into shoes from pre-K through 8th grade.
what a fun job.

This is a photo of our new round solid oak split pedestal table. FREE.
Date post 1900. Maybe 1905-1917. Tom and I are elated. It measures 54 inches and suppose to have three leaves.
Now all we need are some chairs. I have two chairs that look great with the table, but the possiblity of finding two more just like them is slim. So I hope to find another matching pair that would look as good with what we have already. That should be fun.

Some jewelry orders for Christmas and hummingbrid feeder to be delivered to the store. Sterling silver patina work last night ((smelly))

I am having a few people over next Tuesday to make purchases or small orders for Christmas. Maybe the new work bench will be set up by this weekened so the display will look nice. Looking forward to some down time in order to work on some new pieces I've been meaning to try. Big plans on Jamin out some jewelry and feeders throughout the winter in prep for Art Beat and Open Houses before our month off in July. Things will go ninety miles an hour when we get back as it is without having to worry about increasing my inventory.

Tree killing this weekend. Where are we going to put that tree? I ask myself that question every year. My house is too small for a tree man!! It's will be cramp that is for sure.
well off to do errands.
Have a great St. Nick Day!

A Birthday Greeting from Cardiff

2006-11-22T16:02:00.000-05:00

Thanks Annie.

The 46th year.

2006-11-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

Flowers given for my 46th year.
The sky this morning was a growing palet of watercolors.
The flora crispy with frost.

Mornings like this, my mind immediately goes to those who don't have a warm home, coat or meal.
The need to help those who don't have, grows within me with every passing year.
I wait only until my children are grown and gone from home to do more than what we do now.
Because in my mind, the need will still be there, even then.
In the meantime, helping to supply the food bank will have to do for my soul.

This week is filled with Thanks. We have three dinners in three days! Tons of food, conversation, laughter and family we haven't seen since last season. I believe we will all be in a food coma by Sunday! It will be a Harry Potter weekend and a sneak preview of the fifth movie will be shown. Not sure which day. But I'm sure we won't miss it.

We still have a day or two worth of leaves to get up. I Hope to get these out of the way this weekend so I can plan some kind of Christmas decor. My Christams shopping is almost done. Anything else we 'need' will be online or at the drugstore down the street.

My idea Christmas scene is walking down heavily decorated city streets and store fronts while large snow flakes float down. Maybe I should buy a snowglobe?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! and "Pass the cranberries!"

We'll do it all
every thing
on our own
we don't need
anything
or anyone

if i lay here,
if i just lay here,
would you lie with me,
and just forget the world

i don't quite know
how to say
how i feel

those three words
are said too much
but not enough

if i lay here,
if i just lay here,
would you lie with me,
and just forget the world

forget what we're told
before we get too old
show me a garden
thats bursting into life

let's waste time chasing cars
around our heads
i need your grace
to remind me
to find my own

if i lay here,
if i just lay here,
would you lie with me,
and just forget the world

forget what we're told
before we get too old
show me a garden
thats bursting into life

all that i am
all that i ever was
its here in your perfect eyes
they're all i can see
i don't know where
confused about how as well
just know that these things
will never change for us at all

if i lay here,
if i just lay here,
would you lie with me,
and just forget the world

~ Snow Patrol

Top News Headlines This Week:
Nov 22 - French National Meeting decide to build own nuclear weapons
Nov 23 - Dodgers outfielder Frank Howard is voted NL Rookie of Year
Nov 23 - Tinseltown dedicated its Walk of Fame at Hollywood Blvd & Vine St
Nov 23 - Tiros 2, a weather satellite is launched
Nov 24 - Wilt Chamberlain pulls down 55 rebounds in a game (NBA record)
Nov 25 - "Amos 'n' Andy" made its last broadcast on CBS radio

Top Songs for 1960
Running Bear by Johnny Preston Are You Lonesome Tonight? by Elvis Presley
Stuck On You by Elvis Presley
Teen Angel by Mark Dinning
It's Now or Never by Elvis Presley
Theme from A Summer Place by Percy Faith
My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own by Connie Francis
Cathy's Clown by Everly Brothers
Save the Last Dance for Me by Drifters

US President
Dwight D. Eienhower

US Vice President
Richard M. Nixon

1960 Prices
Bread: $0.20
Milk: $1.04 gal
Eggs: $0.90 doz
Car: $2,275
Gas: $ 0.31/ gal

Academy Award Winners

Best Picture: The Apartment
Directed By Billy Wilder
Best Actor: Burt Lancaster
in Elmer Gantry
Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor
in Butterfield 8
House: $18,500
Stamp: $0.04/ea
Avg Income: $6,227/yr
Min Wage: $1.00/hr
DOW Avg: 616

People born on November 22
1921 - Rodney Dangerfield Babylon NY, comedian (Caddyshack, Back to School)
1943 - Billie Jean King Cal, tennis pro (Wimbledon 1968, 72, 73, 75)
1958 - Jamie Lee Curtis Los Angeles CA, actress (Anything But Love, Halloween)
1961 - Mariel Hemingway Ketchum Id, actress (Manhattan, Personal Best)

On TV in 1960

Gunsmoke Perry Mason The Twilight Zone
The Flinstones I Love Lucy Bonanza
Leave it to Beaver The Andy Griffith Show The Ed Sullivan Show
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Hot New Toys in 1960
Give-A-Show Projector Atomic Cape Canaveral Playset Aggravation
Etch-A-Sketch Hi-Ho! Cherry-O Mr. Machine

Top Books in 1960

The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Onion John by Joseph Krumgold
copyright 1997-2006 dMarie Direct Inc

Amalgam

2006-11-17T08:24:00.000-05:00

My time has been in the basement trying to keep it warm with loads of laundry. An assembly line of hummingbird feeders and a few jewelry orders fills my freetime. I had a showing last weekend at a church bizarre and another one will be December 3rd at a varsity club in town. I'll be in a row of vendors such as Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef and Tupperware. Do you see a pattern here? I don't exactly fit in but it is exposure. I made reservations for a booth next year at Trinity's Christmas Bizarre. This year was already filled up. Too bad. With Trinity Christmas Bizarre, the Artbeat, Wild bird Unlimited and hopefully Artistic Touch, I should have a nice flow of sales and orders for Hummingbird feeders and maybe some jewelry by next year. Word of mouth is getting around at school and a want to 'see'/ 'shop' or 'make' is being requested. Not sure how to handle that. Somehow I need to get creative with this or just drop it. I can't deal with all the Chrsitmas Decorations going up already. The larger than life yard blow up decorations are so ugly!! I swear, people just don't have taste or dignity. Or maybe I just don't know how to have fun when it comes to the holidays anymore. I have no desire to hang up lights or drag out all the dusty Christmas crap I have stashed in the attic. My enthusiasum for Christmas lasted about one day when I bought a package of Christmas cards with the intent of actually assembling them and sending them out. They so suck! Why did I buy them?
I want to take them back and tell them to shove them! The ribbon that came with the kit is much shorter than the sample itself, making assembly impossible according to the 'sample'. So now I have to make my own alterations in order for it to work out. Man.... I need a fresh approach to this holiday. One that doesn't cause me to get into a funk. Having kids pushes me to perform where I would just prefer to let slide. With that said, Blue will be the color for this season. So blue lights it is! Okay..... now I have to go out and spend money on blue lights!! arrrgh.

Not one acorn has been seen this year. The squirrles are out of control with their panic to find a food source which includes all of my birdfeeders!!!!!!!!! To purchase a bag of cob corn will only invite critters that I don't want hanging out in my yard eye-balling my feeders when the corn runs out. What to do.........

We won't be having guests staying in our home this weekend for the Army game. The tickets that were promised to them were given to family memebers . The whole B&B has been a dissapointment except for all the work tha got done that needed to get done in the first place. But it is only the first year and we already have an 'in' with some of the local B&B's with their overflow. So lets hope Notre Dame wins this weekend so the crowd will grow for next years football season. Go Irish!!!!
( making a sour face because I can't believe I said that).

"If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer: but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen."
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

~Amalgam (uh-MAL-guhm) noun
A mixture of diverse elements.

Happy Halloween!!

2006-11-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

Frankin-Broom

Hallloween was cold but at least dry. We went to Corrine's neighborhood with the homeschooling group. We were the gang in that neighborhood. Trading candy, hot soup and cider and plenty of neighbohood friend filled the house last night. It felt like the party was geting started when we had to leave to assume our nightly routine.

popcorn amy:

Hornbeck's throw-up pumpkin:

Fortune teller Kelsey: free fortune with every piece of candy given.

what's up with the nuts?

2006-10-27T10:08:00.000-04:00

I thought the neighbors dogs got loose yesterday when actually it was a couple doe's crossing the front yard out by the street. They've been out front the past few days because of the hickory tree. There isn't an acorn to be found this year. Last year was a major bumper crop. This year nothing. The squirrels looked panicked.

An offer to consign my hummigbird feeders was made yesterday by Wild Birds Unlimited. They had already purchase their christmas items and could only offer consignment at this time. I'm okay with that. It's an opportunity for exposure.

In the meantime I will be working on my new website for jewelry and the HBF's. It's amazing how long it take to
whip one off with all the cha-chas that you need. In the mean time this site will have to do. I still have the photos to upload. Hope to get it done today.

Dinner last night: Lasagna Bolognese from Cook's Illustrated

Hello? It took forever! This reduced 6 hour recipe took 2.5 hours. But....It was amazing! I think my husband is getting me this magazine for my birthday. Is this anything like getting a sweeper?

***********************************************************************************

Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

~Gandhi

***********************************************************************************
Base is made from 14 gauge coated silver nickel wire.
Tube holder is made from 16 gauge silver coated copper wire.
Metal and Glass beads strung on 16 gauge silver nickel wire.
Other small beads strung on 24 gauge stainless steel head-pins.
*All Hummingbird feeders are handmade, hand hammered with light soldering when needed.
*Glass tube and suction-cup included.
asking price $15.00

*EMERALD SUN

JET SILVER

SILVER HEARTS

FROSTED EMERALD

AMBER SUN

Bumper sticker I saw yesterday:
"Bush is a punk-ass chump"

followed by this one on the same car;
"We are making enemies faster than we can kill them"

Hallows

2006-10-23T13:43:00.000-04:00

This was Doug's idea of a halloween costume. It went well with the old movies theme. Elaine had old movies playing on a curtain that divided the room into two seating areas. skulls, candles, and white coverings. Very cool.

Tom and I had great fun playing the androgynous zoombies.

~A huge Soccer gathering here yesterday afternoon. 30+ people. Potluck style. It was quick and easy. I was grateful.
~Making new hummingbird feeders. Wild Bird Unlimited wants to see one. pictures later.

*The bumper sticker I've seen this week:
"You can't be both Catholic and pro-abortion"

A Birthday Present

2006-10-20T15:58:00.000-04:00

16 gauge silver coated wire with 6mm jet hematites. 17.5 in.

Went to see WICKED with

2006-10-18T08:29:00.000-04:00

my daughers eight grade classs. We took a Cardnial Crusier bus to the Rainforest Cafe and then off to the Ford Center of Performing Arts. I love Chicago.
The stage , props, costumes and acting were all so moving. I was overwhelmed with emotions. A must see!

2006-10-10T09:46:00.000-04:00

It's raining leaves here today. I'm not too excited about getting them all up before the first snow, which sounds like it will be this friday, YUCK!
Yesterday was my daughters 14th birthday. My husband and I went out on a date Saturday night and we just kept saying "we had a baby 14 years ago!!" ....... and silence.

When the weather is inclimate, I spend my time at my bench trying something new from a book I bought a few months back. It is a luxury to have the time to play.

**SPIRALING CHAIN**

QUESTION:
If a turtle does not have a shell on, is he homeless or naked?

How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett

2006-10-10T08:32:00.000-04:00


Michigan youth investigate the dubious circumstances under which a Wal-Mart appeared on a wetland in their small town.

Painter's Palette' (Persicaria virginiana)

2006-10-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music,
of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot
thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don't want paradise, you are not human;
and if you are not human, you don't have a soul.
- Thomas Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life, 1996, p. 101

Chick weekend at a glance

2006-09-29T09:27:00.000-04:00

This is the cabin we stay in for chick weekend. We've been going for the past seven years? I'm sure it's seven.
Okay, let's unload the van......

I know I repeated your photo Annie. Sorry. But it was imporatnt to the progression.

Can you smell the cabin smell? We all know what that smell is don't we?

The altar and headboard:

Guess who this is trying to save out butts because I locked us out of the cabin? Such a Lucy.

The Black Madonna, Falafel, Gyros and Oompah!

Peaceful creek walk on Saturday

Saturday Night Dinner:

Sunday In Nashville & Yellowwood: (don't run over the turtle!)

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, Ive been afraid of changing
cause Ive built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
Im getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

2006-09-27T08:58:00.001-04:00

Life is full these days with Soccer practice, dance classes, guitar lessons, selling script, walking with my chicks, wendy's bunday at school, 8th grade meetings, 6th grade meetings and 8th grade pizza parent bunday. All this while fighting off a cold. I took yesterday and napped and layed around in order to feel better today. A hard task , but I had to.

I look forward to some down time to transfer plants in the garden before the chore of leaf raking takes over. Fall is in full swing and the hickory nuts are everywhere!

After filling the birdfeeders It's been a bird sanctuary here these days. The hummingbird feeders need to be put away and other seed feeder put in its place. I would love bird feeders at every window.

This weekend would have been chick weekend. We are not able to make it this year due to circumstances out ouf our control. I will miss it immensely.
I would like to send out an inviataion to go out and at least have some flaming saganaki as a toast to our lost chick weekend.

oompah!! girls, I miss you.

Lorine's Bracelet:

Japanese Chainmaille:

Blood Sisters

2006-09-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

Do you remember being blood sisters or just hearing about it?
I remember becoming blood sisters with two other girls whose names and face escapes me now. But, I do remember the details. I was the only one who actually poked their finger with a needle, while the other two just picked some old scab to get it to bleed again. We did it anyway dispite the legalities.

Just this past weekend, my daughter Amy and her two closest friends at school decided they wanted to become blood sisters. They took this very seriously. I asked the parents if they were on board with this ceremony and they were!!! We ended up exchanging stories about our experiences with names remembered or not, we did remember the act of poking ourselves with something sharp and producing blood at the sacrifice of others. Your not going to forget that.

To me this act of sisterhood gives the currant friendship a more sense of committment, responsibly and loyalty. This is the respect that should be given to all our sisterians....agreed?

The event took place at our house with dinner and a sleepover. After playing soccer in the front yard for hours and dinner, they were ready. They requested candles, sterilized needles and fingers then off to bedroom.
I closed the door behind me and waited. Ten minutes later, they came out and said the 'pins' I gave them were not workng. The skin on thier fingers were picked up just a bit. just enough to make it look like they tried.

"LOL!!! Okay...now what?"
"How about we try knives?"
"What? your parents are going to kill me!"
"No, no...it will be okay, were just going to prick our fingers. it won't take long!"

Knives all around. I closed the door behind me and waited.
Another ten minutes or so and out they came having accomplished the deed. No knives were needed. barely any needles either except for one girls who managed to poke herself with it and produce blood. The other two PICKED A SCAB!! Hello? Isn't that freaky? History was repeating itself!!! I laughed so hard I needed Depends or start up the kegels again!!!.

I hope Amy remembers names and faces thirty years from now. I've yet to find out what words were spoken during their ceremony. I hope to find out soon. I 've known these girls since they were in Kindergarden. I like them very much. I even love them. "We are related now!" they said. " We were already" I said.

Fall Equinox:

In a few days the Fall equinox will mark the first day of fall. Fall has been here for weeks now I swear. This is my favorite time of year so I'm glad it came early.

After dropping off the girls, I was driving down Riverside on my way home and the sun came out for the ride . A new front on the horizon threathening rain with the clouds rolling up like mountains in the distance making me feel, for just a few seconds, that I am somewhere else. At the same time the sun's angle changes the once familar landscape into something new and unfamilar adding to the sense that I am somewhere else just briefly. Meanwhile, I have sun for the ride home. Not only the sun but a huge rainbow. I believe the pot of gold this time was Saint Mary's Church.
Hello Fall.

The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And I cut
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.
- September, John Updike

I had square to spare

2006-09-14T14:28:00.000-04:00

I enter photo type themes on occasion at Flickr. This month for the" lilie 3 a day" group, the theme is lilie with raindrops. Well, this is technically a lily, so I am entering it. No prizes, just for fun.

Okay, between the aggressive bees and these spiders I am so ready for the first frost. ewwwww!!!!

Sweet little woolie.

My Oh My

2006-09-13T20:10:00.000-04:00

"This concrete road used to just be dirt
We'd drive out here after work
Every Friday night when I was eighteen

This parking lot used to be a field
I parked here in my Oldsmobile
Long before the Sonic and the Walgreens

Not no more
Not no more
My, oh my
Look how the time flies
Look how the world changes
In the blink of an eye
My, oh my
Look how the years have flown
Turning around before you know it
Up and gone
Oh my, oh my, oh my

Times have changed and so have I
I once was young and starry-eyed
Now I have these bittersweet memories

Songs were long and gas was cheap
No cell phones and water was free
Daddy paid and I never had to worry

Not no more
Not no more
My, oh my
Look how the time flies
Look how the world changes
In the blink of an eye
My, oh my
Look how the years have flown
Turning around before you know it
Up and gone
Oh my, oh my, oh my"
~`The Wreckers

Dale Chichuy & Lampwork

2006-09-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

The Art Beat

2006-09-08T08:36:00.000-04:00

This was my booth at the Art Beat this year. It was very exciting and fun being there. The weather was perfect. I was so glad to have my friends Corrine and Cheryl here to help out. All the hummingbird feeders went first thanks to Cheryl's sales technique.
I'm not quite sure where i want to go with jewlery, but I'm sure it's not sitting in a booth every weekend. Two or three times a year will do.

Thank you to all my friends for your encouraging words and support. I needed the push.
Love you.

You can view some of the jewelry that was in the booth by going to my Photo site .

Pink Turtlehead, Lyon's Turtlehead "Hot Lips"

2006-09-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

~"But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it
my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of
beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I
have grown apart from the intense midsummer
relationship that brought it on."
- Robert Finch

Another Hitch-hiker!!!

2006-08-28T17:49:00.000-04:00

Our second car died last week and stayed in the parkng lot where Tom works. Tom and a buddy went to tow the car home today to be fix and this little guy......no wait! Big guy . 4+ inches long man!! Now I'm used to taking pictures of stick bugs that don't move and just hang out while I take my fill of photos. But this guy turned its head and looked right at me!!!!! It freaked me out a bit. I was afraid to get too close just in case, like a bat, it would get caught up in my hair or something!!!!!

" You're smart when you only believe half of what you hear, Wise is when you know which half to believe. "

2006-08-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

The last daylily blooming in the garden:

I can't believe how long this daylily bloomed. it was one of the first to start and the very last to finish. Turtle heads are on their way.

Stick bug #3:

This guy took a ride from the south end of South Bend all the way north; including three stops. One of those stops was at the grocery store!! I hope it likes it's new home.

Not getting much done this weekend again. too much running around and socializing to get anything done. That is why having the kids back in school will offer up most of the week for me. It is so nice to have a chunk of time for me. PLus Tom is on vacation next week. Unfortunately most of it will be taken up with fixing the 2nd car, taking a trip down to Indy to see family and hopfully getting the siding finished on the front of the treehouse. The treehouse that has taken 4+ years and problably 2+ more to get it finished or at least, darn close.
One man doing the work, money and time are the culprits. What's the hurry? We would like to get a few good years of our girls enjoying this treehouse before they head off to college!

"Good thiiings come to those who wait a long time"

I love a Rainy Day

2006-08-24T08:26:00.000-04:00

I love a rainy day. I've been looking forward to this day. It gives me permission to get to my work bench and get some work done, and let nature take it course outside. We so needed this rain.

"“The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.”~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

CAR TALK:

No, I'm not talking about the humorus talk show on NPR. I talking abut the time spent in the car with my girls on the way to school. This is an opportune time to give and share life experiences and advice.
Planting seeds.
I know I have given something worth thinking about to my girls when I get a choaked up feeling after I have made a point. something they can really chew on and understand. I think Iget choaked up because I wish I had a parent like myself when I was growing up and very impressionable. But at the same time I feel good that I was able to give just that.

We were listening to the radio and the song"Live lke you were dying" by Tim McCraw came on. The words

" went sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu" raised a question "what is fumanchu?" Well, beside the fact that I thought it was some kind of facial hair design....... "I'm not sure" But I did want to raise the question "What do you think it means to live life you were dying?"
Amy kind of had some idea, so I continued, "To live life like you were dying would mean not letting the little things that seem big to some bother you or consume your energy so much, you don't have time for the waste of time when you are dying."

I feel like I gave them perrmission not to get so caught up in other peoples (peers) issues that can drain what is really important and good. Although being sensitive to others who have to deal with these things because they don't know how to live their life like they were dying yet.

"then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I watched an eagle as it was flying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying."

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

The Wreckers
`Michell Branch & Jessica Harp`

MY FAVORITE QUOTE TODAY:

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” ~Dolly Parton

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope." ~Lady Bird Johson 1912

2006-08-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

**(Gilt Edge Toad Lily)

Stick Bug’s Wisdom Includes:
'Being Patient
Focusing on Your Own Activities
Hiding in Plain Sight
Blending In
Being Out of the Ordinary
Being Accepted for What You Are'

American Walking Stick (Anisomorpha bupestiordes) sprays his intruder with a chemical spray that causes blindness. YEOW!

**False Solomon's Seal Smilacina racemosa Lily Family (Liliaceae)

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
An eternity in an hour."
-- William Blake

2006-08-16T16:56:00.000-04:00

"From a windowbox
of Charlottenberg Palace a single petal of phlox
bears down into the shallow cup of its palm
with all the unbearable weight of a snowflake."
-Mario Petrucci,
Liberation of the Berlin Zoo,
1945

*Joe & David

Walnut Sphinx, Laothoe juglandis

2006-08-15T16:13:00.000-04:00

Blackberry Lily, Leopard Lily 'Hello Yellow' (Belamcanda chinensis)

2006-08-12T10:15:00.000-04:00

This is the time in summer when the garden starts to wane a bit. The last of the yellow in my garden this season. Next will be the Turleheads. Fall is on the cusp.

"This pure Mind, which is the source of all things, shines forever with the radiance of its own perfection.
But most people are not aware of it and think that the Mind is just the faculty that sees, hears, feels, and knows.
Blinded by their own sight, hearing, feeling, and knowing, they do not perceive the radiance of the source."

~ Huang Po

Cicada

2006-08-05T12:31:00.000-04:00

While working in the yard, my girls found this Cicada nymph hatching. What a great find.

Cicada Songs

They say your songs
portend the end of summer
just as chirping robins
usher in the spring air.

Listen to the sound
whirring, buzzing through
leaves of trees that shelter
the thrumming brood.

Insect monks chant
hymns of nature
for us and for
their silent females: “mate her.”

More musical than electric currents
that hum along power lines,
your symphony hovers,
guarding the sultry night like armored palatines.

Constant and pervasive,
we humans sometimes hear
sometimes ban your frequencies,
lulled to sleep by drums so dear.

Air conditioners and headphones
drown out your beautiful noise
but others sing with you
till Fall’s frost steals these little joys.

~David Granville

The Summer's Reprieve

2006-08-04T10:16:00.000-04:00

That beautiful season the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

~Sweet Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)

I laid awake last night, smelling the fresh night air flowing through my bedroom windows for the first time in weeks. The Cicadas are singing so loud that I don't even hear the road nosie. I'm sure when I get out to mow this weekend I will find many disgarded nymph skins. I used to collect them to use as part of my Halloween decorations for the table. How cool is that? (evil grin)

Went on a bike ride last night with my daughter. I love my bike.
here's a sweet little photo of it.

I am a tall woman who needs a bike that will give my long legs the full stride without the knees reaching for my ears. This a men's 1972 Chicago Schwinn Speedster.

It's is such a cruiser! I love love love this bike and It only coast me $10.00 at St. Vincent DePaul. It was the first object my eyes landed on when we walked into the front door. Not an impulse buy, but a must have!

~"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. "
~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

Oriental Lily 'Casa Blanca' (Lilium )

2006-07-31T15:52:00.000-04:00

2006-07-29T12:28:00.000-04:00

It took me several tries to get a photo due to the lense fogging up from the humidity. The rest is just lovely dapple shade.

2006-07-28T09:45:00.000-04:00

*Cool looking motn on my screen door

*The Nap that was interrupted by the snacking squirrel.

2006-07-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

"I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one."

~Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Afternoon on a Hill"

**Oriental Lily 'Tom Pouce**

***Daylily 'Little Grapette' ??

***Challenger***

2006-07-24T20:07:00.000-04:00

*Whose move it is now?

*Big Blue Hosta Flower

*Joepye to come.....

The past few days:

* Had a bit of a cool down and spent most of it indoors painting the master bedroom.
* still pitching wood chips and enjoying the smell of the oriental lilies wafting through the yard.
* going to the lake in the evenings with the girls and watching the sunset.
* found a pair of sun glass in the lake & they look good on me!!
* celebrated my little girls' twelfth birthday.
* Now I'm waiting for the next cool day so I can get back out into the yard.
HAPPY DOGS DAYS OF SUMMER!

Too hot to play outside "I'm Melting.............."

2006-07-14T06:57:00.000-04:00

Past few days:

Seen a red tail fox.
Two black squirrels ( unusal around here).
The Daylily bloom bring new color to the spanse of green.
Put the air conditoner on for the first time this summer.
My Good friend had her second child yesterday. Welcome to the world Blaise!
Got poison ivy again.

Up and coming;

My little girls turns 12 next week (sigh).
Might have to mow for the second time this summer.
A plant sale.
Making jewelry.
Finishing up on the woodchips.

There is nothing like a pile of Swarovski Crystals!!

2006-07-11T09:16:00.000-04:00

This is my work space in the basement. It keep growing as I add newer areas of interest in jewelry making.

Today will be the first all-day rain we've had this summer. I have been looking forward to this day. Mainly because I don't have to water AGAIN! Secondly, I can get started on some inventory for the Art Beat and not feel guilty about not being outside.

My husband went back to work last night after three weeks. I will miss him but not his snoring. Breath rights do work well!!

Today in the yarden:
I have a pair of Cardinals& Gold finches and a wet dog.

Off to the dungeon with me!

Okay, So I'm a little excited.......

2006-07-07T21:21:00.000-04:00

2006-07-04T10:53:00.000-04:00

What is it again???? HMMMM?

This is a herbaceous shade shrub whose name is lost to me. I look forward to it's fall blooming red spiked flowers.

**Sweet hosta**

***Bear's Breeches (Acanthus mollis)***

I've divided this plant several times. even though it might
looks mad at you for moving it. it will perform beautifully. My favorite plant this year.

My newest hosta. I gotta get the names going!

***Lily***

***Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa columbaria***

***Lily***

This is a herbaceous shade shrub whose name is lost to me. I look forward to it's fall blooming red spiked flowers.

***Cimicifuga racemosa Black Cohosh, Black Snakeroot, Fairy Candles***

You pick a name. I have a good friend down in North Carolina who sent me a box of roots after a visit. That was six years ago. This makes such a wonderful statement in the shade garden. Right next to the joe pye!

**lily***

I have a secret daylily place in mIchigan. (i really don't) but it feels like it. I purchased several varieties of daylilies last year and I can't wait to see how they perform. the longer flower pedal was a big attraction for me!

***Big Blue***

I love the grey/blue textured hostas. The big hostas in the garden are my husbands contribution to the shade. His babies.

Round two for the Mourning Window Cranesbill

**Catawabanese**

Nice contrast among the greens.
I purchased this at the famers market a few years back. It is suppose to have some kind of flower but I never seem to get any. Lost the name of it also, but it is striking just the same.

I love a rainy day

2006-07-03T12:38:00.000-04:00

I had to share this sign with you. I have seen this sign all my life as I traveled to Indianapolis and back home. Fun sign.
Not a good place to take a bathroom break.

We are back from the abyss they call southern Indiana where EVERYTHING closes by 3:00 pm. I'm talkin way south by the Kentucky border. We rented a cabin in a huge fishing community, where nothing there is for children except a deck of cards, a ball and 2.5 channels on television. Not that T.V. is important. It isn't. No phone either which I really enjoyed that. We did manage horseback riding, caving and an awesome waterpark.
The rolling hills and valleys were beautiful!!! No photos. Why I don't take more photos on vacation is beyond me. We definitely had our fill of road-kill and turkey vultures.
Hiking wasn't an option this time due to the ankle injury. That wasn't something the girls looked forward to anyway knowing the waterpark was on the list. It was good that I could participate as much as I did especially at the waterpark.

It is raining today which give me permission to lay around, read and finish up the laundry and not feel pushed to get out into the yard and accomplish something.....

This is our last week of vacation. We hope to get the cedar siding started on the treehouse.

2006-06-23T19:33:00.000-04:00

We have had our first week of vacation this week. We have found in the past, that it takes a whole week just to adjust to being on vacation before we really start feeling like we are on vacation. make sense? Well, it works for us and we have two more weeks to go. Trying really hard not to to fill it up with too much outside stuff but it always creeps in. the only 'honey do list' item that has gotten done is the cleaning out of the garage. The rest of the week has been movies, readng books, small road trips to nowhere in particular, tennis lessons, guitar lessons, and going to Lake michigan to see the sun set.

~Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
--H. Jackson Brown

* A few lilies that hide in the back garden where I cannot see them from my window. I cut those flowers and bring them in to enjoy.

Summer Solstice Celebration

2006-06-21T10:13:00.000-04:00

"Traditionally, Summer Solstice is celebrated at noon when the sun stands directly overhead and the full force of solar energy can be felt and drawn upon in ritual. One stands beneath the sun, for a while, absorbing the light and heat, and establishing a connection which can be drawn upon in rites later that night.

This is a time of purifying, of cutting through obstacles and drawing on the dynamic power of the God principle to manifest your own power. Lift up your hearts in celebration of the fertility and wonder of life and remember to give thanks for that which has been manifested for you since the last Sabbat.

Many traditions throughout time have celebrated the Solstices, from the times of the ancient and the indigenous people to present day. Bonfires are set on hilltops. People dance around the fires. In many places, after the fire has died away and only the hot coals are remaining, children will be lifted across the coals to be blessed and cleansed by the smoke.

The Summer Solstice is a time to be happy. It is a time to remove unwanted things from your life. It is a time to dance and sing and spread joy and be filled with love."

An Entourage of Photos

2006-06-20T14:08:00.000-04:00

*Grecian Foxglove, Woolly Foxglove (Digitalis lanata)*

*Backyard garden from the north & Tigger*

*Catawbiense Rhododendron* north side

*Tucked back there to the right is the on going treehouse project. (4th yr)*

*Jacks among the Hosts*

*The backyard Garden started two years ago* I love the early morning light.

*Buliding an inventory of plants to sell*

*Micro Lily*

* Hosta Nursery*

*Ferns*

*Freckled Lily's*

* woodchips on the ledge garden project*

*Sun and Substance*

*Hosta Flower yet to bloom*

*Variegated Hosta*

*Sunning the wing buddies*

* TIgger and the roses*

*Lily*

*Pink Astillbe*

* Spirea my mother-in-law gave me*

*Some shade loving, fall blooming, variegated bush*

* Soon to be Hosta Flower*

* Bear's Breeches*

* Sweet and lucky was I to get this photo
*

* Goatsbeard*

This was the very first plant that I purchased when I started the gardens 11 years ago. Last year I divided it for the first time. Now I have two.

"We come from people who brought us up to believe that life is a struggle, and if you should feel really happy, be patient: this too will pass."

2006-06-19T15:27:00.000-04:00

My (renamed) Blog is more than just about my gardening hobby. This venue of expression includes my everyday life with my husband, children, friends and those who share my other interests. Sometimes it's just to vent about what bugs the crap out of me or questions I might have about life. I enjoy the variety. So I hope I didn't bring some of you here to my blog under the pretense that the whole premise of it was for gardening only. To maintain several blogs to cover all my interests would consume me. Living life and my personal time is too precious.

My ankle is healing well. Never fast enough when there is so much nagging at me to get accomplished. This, of my own making of course. So be it.
Now, while I am hung up waiting for the second load of woodships to come along, I have turned my attentions to jewelry display tactics and ideas for my booth for the Art Beat this fall. I'm really not jumping the gun here. I just need to get all my ducks in a row so I can concentrate on putting out the product.

What a nice weekend we had. The warm wind continuiosly blowing, making the wind feel so soft against your skin. I just wanted to lie around in a hammock and day dream. But, Instead we went out to see the Prairie Home Companion. Tom and I were the oldest ones there!I swear! Great lines, great jokes, amazing stars and of course, great quotes. A must see!

Lola Johnson: What if you die some day?
Garrison Keillor: I will die.
Lola Johnson: Don't you want people to remember you?
Garrison Keillor: I don't want them to be told to remember me.

Organic Strawberry picking!!!

2006-06-12T12:35:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful day for strawberry picking. These beauties will be cleaned and frozen whole for future smoothies.

The woodchips are done thanks to my husband and two daughters. The wagon that came with our tractor sure made the job go by quickly. We will have to order another truck load though. It's always nice to have extra woodchips lying around when you need them. I have two more gardens to fill yet along with some bush and tree lines I'd lke to pretty up with some fresh dressing.

*White Tea Floribunda rose bush*

*Spiderwort, Bluejacket, Snotweed (Tradescantia ohiensis)*

*Mock Orange 'Natchez' (Philadelphus )*

I'm out of bed now!! YAHO! ooooh, nice nail polish......

2006-06-09T12:10:00.000-04:00

Well, I was on a serious roll with the yarden this past Sunday. I mowed the lawn, trimmed bushes and weed-whacked all the trees. The day was too good to pass up. I didn't even break out into a sweat! Mother nature would bring on a breeze just when I started to get warm. Perfect day to get a the 'detailed' work done that I've been wanting to do. Waiting since May 25th for the woodchips to be delivered; I had a feeling that this week they would show up so, I wanted to get as much work done in the yard in order to focus on the chips for the week ahead. This week would have been the perfect temperature to chuck woodchips if I hadn't severely sprang my ankle in the mist of my fury on that Sunday. The two foot ledge I stepped off of had let me down hard. I thought I had broken my foot for sure. Cried like a baby. Off to the hospital, x-rays, air cast and pain pills. Home in bed for the last four days keeping my foot above my heart on a stack of five pillows all day and all night with ice to keep the swelling down. Of course the very next day the 16 cubic yards of woodchips showed up. Not at all surprising eh? Unable to spread them this week, I hope to be out there in a lounge chair giving direction to my wonderful family this weekend on the placement of the chips. Any opportunity to drive the tractor around the yard with the trailer and girls are there. Lucky me.

*Evening Primrose (Oenothera)*

My daughter was sweet enough to go out and take this photo for me. This is the next flower that is blooming out in the yarden. It's amazing really, how much has happened in the yarden in the past four days. The Iris' are done now sadly. The astillbes are getting ready and so are the spireas. Next will be my Rhododendron Catawbiense.

A Hummingbird Cha-Cha

2006-06-02T12:01:00.000-04:00

I am participating in the Art Beat program this year. It's an outdoor event in the begining of fall located in the downtown area. There the local artists can display their art and sell it. I hope to have my own litttle booth to display handmade wire jewelry and hummingbird feeders.
Strange combo but I love working with wire so it works.
I must get out of the basement and get outside! Have a great day!

They were down, Now they are up!

2006-06-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

Now that's what I call a bouquet of flowers! It seems to me that this is the variety that tends to fall no matter if there is rain or not. The color and height is so striking in a sea of green in the garden. I just wish they could stay out there. I think that maybe a bracket of sorts will have to be made for next year...

These are the Jack's that I 'saved' from one of many Notre Dame expansions. Hepatica was another one that was saved from the same wooded area. But now there is a four lane highway running through these woods. There are a few sections of the woods left on each side of the highway.

I think the remaining jacks are calling me.......

One Jack was planted four years ago. This second one is a bonus. PLuse there are several babies.

I don't believe it!

2006-05-31T09:43:00.000-04:00

We received an inch of rain last night! Awesome. This means that some of my taller iris' will be laying on the ground and will need to be cut and placed in a vase to enjoy. I would prefer the color to stay in the garden , but I have no control over mother nature.
While out cutting the iris', which I guess, is an invitation for any Joe- smoe to stop in with his big old truck and give me a sales pitch about my roof and gutters. My driveway is narrow and the last thing I wanted was for this guy to back out and smash all kinds of stuff on his way out. When he was finished, I asked that he use the turn around in order to avoid that scenario.......Then I turned my back and I shouldn't have. I should have know that not everyone knows how to back up in a turn around and make their way without some kind of plane parking flags waving to guide them ....HELLO? Did you not see the 20 foot row of hostas in your mirror?? Not only did he run them over, he peeled out because they were wet! Did he know that he ran over all these hostas? Did he say anything?
I am heart broken. Crushed. I'm used to a hosta or two getting slighlty smashed because people insist they know how to back out. I just pull out the leaves and soon new ones will take it place, but this is so much damage!! It will take the rest of the summer, maybe!
I am officially depressed. I will try very hard not to think about it too much. I know the plants will be back next year. Just that their beauty was so short lived.

(that is not my snow fence) can we say ugly?

No Commentary, just photos.

2006-05-30T08:50:00.000-04:00

*Baptisia australis -blue wild indigo

*Rhododendron albiflorum

*Two-tone Bearded Iris

*White bearded Iris

*I forgot what this is called. sad isn't it?

*More Iris'

White Columbine

*Heuchera

Bring on the rain!

2006-05-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

I am amazed at how the garden just seems to glow and vibrate after a good thunderstorm

I have a dump truck coming today with 16 cubic yards of woodchips from the organic resource center. I'll have my work cut out for me for the next week.
I'm a huge fan of woodchips (not bagged or colored). It gives the garden a very natural look. Over the years I've purchased less and less woodchips as the garden expands and takes up the spaces between the plants. But this year I have another garden going in. We have a grassy ledge up in front of the house that is framed in with two feet of flagstone on three sides. I've always wanted to bring plants from the garden out front and place them on the ledge so I could see them from my window. Several layers of newspapers will go down first to kill the grass. Then 4-5 inches of woodchips. I can't wait to start planting this fall!!!

This purple Iris is from the Iris man down the street. I haven't seen his sign out yet. Maybe all the trash cans covered it up. I'll try to look for it again later today.

My friend Joe runs a Christmas tree farm and decided to start a nursery business in the off season. Lands once filled with trimmed Christmas trees, now have perennial plants, shrubs and trees.
I purchased three dwarf lilac bushes with high hopes that they would bloom for me. Getting the blooms all depends on how early the canopy comes in. Now last year, it came in a week or so early so there were no blooms. I think the cooler extended spring delayed the canopy this year and the lilacs were able to bloom. what a blessing.

I call this "The Well" garden. Two years ago, we went from a 2 inch water well to a 4 inch . As a bonus, we received one of those ugly, sticking out of the ground a whole 12 inches, blue and white capped pipes. "Oh please....we have to do something about this." So I went out and purchased one of those hollow rocks and slapped it in! This is a real pre-formed cement rock! Not one of those plastic ones. They look okay (from a distance) and are significantly cheaper but I needed the look and feel of the cement rock.

*Currently reading:

*Things I hear at night when the windows are open:

~The pond frogs looking for the pond that dried up six years ago. Developers came in and damed up a nearby wetland to make a lake for condo dwellers. (Losers)

~ Raccoons screaming, more like mating or fighting over the cat food that I left outlast night. oops!

~ Some nocturnal bird I haven't Identified yet.

~ A very loud obnoxious motorcycle, that you could hear five miles before it came down your street, waking you up with your heart in your throat! Makes you want to pull the garden hose across the street as they pass by eh?

~ My dog Mackinaw. barking at anything that makes a noise outside and waking me up several times!

Man! I need a nap!

"Why garden? God knows." -Mirabel Osler

2006-05-24T08:13:00.000-04:00

I can't get myself all worked up on remembering what everything is called in the gardens. I'm into gardening for the beauty not the naming and knowing. I am truly a gardener who buys a plant that she doesn't have already that fits the light requirements and I plug it in and say "good luck to ya and thanks for blooming for me this year."

The Iris guy down the street whom I get my Iris' from is a sweet, in his 80's old man. He has a couple acres of iris varieties galore! I look forward to going every year and getting a few more to add to my growing no-name collection. He never seems to remember me but knows every iris he has in the HIS garden. I will be looking to see if his sign is up in his front yard announcing that his garden is open and the iris' are ready. It will be a very sad year when I don't see that sign............

~Star of Bethlehem?

I'm a big believer of going along railroad tracks or on the roadside to dig up plants to bring them home. I do find myself wanting to save plants that will be destroyed because of developers tearing up the woodland and building. (trilliums, rue,bluebells, baneberry for instance) NO, I don't dig in people's yards at night in camouflage or dig up what the county has put out along the highways, Silly.

I have a woman's tool in my car at all times ( a small shovel) thanks to my mother-in-law. So, whenever I find a gem in the rough I'm there and ready! Friends find it strange my method of achieving plants, but half my garden wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this technique. Whenever I start the sentence " Hey, I saw these plants.....They'd say "Are you going on a plant caper?" (Mission impossible music playing)

One time I had a yard sale and a woman came down our driveway and told me she just dug up a bunch of hostas and put them out to the street for the trashman to pick up. "WHAT!?....WHAT?..... Where do you live?" I ended up with four very huge hosta's!! So huge that when I put the hatch door down on the van the leaves were sticking out all over! Several times this has happened over the years. Thanks to my husband's keen eye and abilities at trash picking, we have achieved most of the green and white hosta's in our garden due to people digging them up and tossing them out for the trashman!

We are the plant savers!!!! LOL!
sooooooooooooooo, reading the next sentence won't sound so weird maybe?

Okay, so I found these bulbs in the woods behind a bowling alley next to the railroad tracks.
They are interesting because they don't bloom until all the nice green grassy parts are starting to die back. I have several clumps of these and this is the first year all of them have bloomed.

My sister-in-law was moving and wanted some of the family members to take plants and save them for her so when she moved into her new home she could start her new garden and save money. I think this is part of the buttercup family. It is a very aggressive groundcover. The one small plant I received three years ago has turned into ten feet of golden blooms.
Not complaining!

Have a great day!

I had two whole days and looking forward to two more. Thank you beautiful weather!

2006-05-23T08:56:00.000-04:00

*Blue Slate Pathway*

When we started building the treehouse, we were generously offered old barn beams and siding to get started. While loading up the wood and beams, I noticed a pile of blue slate that used to be part of this old barn's roof that was build in 1860. How cool would it be to have a slate roof on the tree house? Well, very cool but there wasn't enough and too many broken pieces. I kept the whole pieces of slate for a future 'creative' project and broke up the rest to use as a path in the garden. This slate has been the best source to use for a path. It looks good all the time except when it is fighting for the width between the sweet woodruff and pacasandra . Five years and looking good!

* A beautiful purple Iris*

I'm afraid I don't have the name of this Iris. Finding an Iris database hasn't been easy and I don't have time to run through Dave's Garden 507 choices to find it. "So hear is the first blooming Iris!!! "

Paul Simon - Outrageous

2006-05-19T21:15:00.000-04:00

It's outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor.
Outrageous the crime some human beings must endure.
It's a blessing to wash your face in the summer solstice rain.
It's outrageous a man like me stand here and complain.

But I'm tired, nine hundred sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the colour of mud, mud, okay?
I'm tired, tired
Anybody care what I say? No!
I'm painting my hair the colour of mud.

Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Aw, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

It's outrageous the food they try to serve in a public school.
Outrageous, the way they talk to you like you're some kind of clinical fool
It's a blessing to rest my head in the circle of your love.
It's outrageous I can't stop thinking about the things I'm thinking of.

And I'm tired, nine hundred sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the colour of mud, mud, okay?
I'm tired, tired, anybody care what I say? No!
Painting my hair the colour of mud.

Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

God will,
Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.
Take me, I'm an ordinary player in the key of C,
And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity

Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
God will,
Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

2006-05-17T16:31:00.000-04:00

Baneberry (white doll's eye's)

Reeves Spirea 'Double Bridal Wreath

CORYDALIS Yellow Bleeding Heart

'Samobor' Mourning -Widow (Geranium phaeum)

Beautiful Evelyn Hope is dead!
Sit and watch by her side an hour.
That is her book-shelf, this her bed;
She pluck'd that piece of geranium-flower,
Beginning to die too, in the glass;
Little has yet been changed, I think:
The shutters are shut, no light may pass
Save two long rays thro' the hinge's chink."
-Robert Browning
(1812-1889)

I can not remember the name of this spring bulb. Any help?

The finch feeder for Mother's Day is paying off. what a handsome American Goldfinch.

Hummingbird Dreams

2006-05-16T09:01:00.000-04:00

I saw my first Hummingbird of the season on Friday and felt the need to get the feeders up. As usual , I end up loosing those suction cup thingys for the window feeders and had to run out to find replacements.
.59 cents. I can handle that.

Every year my girls get me something for the garden for Mother's Day. This year was a squirrel proof bird feeder and three glass vials to make my own wire holder for a hummingbird feeder. Man, do they know me? What fun it was to make one. It was the perfect thing to do yesterday during the on and off rains we are still having. I'm now thinking of several different ways to make this nifty holder. Like I need one more thing to do right? I'll file that as a rainy day activity.

The rain has brought new life to the garden. The urgency to get out there and finish the work I started before the rains came nags at me. The plants that were small two weeks ago are now large and I am concerned about moving them now. I am now envisioning myself running out to the gardens between rain drops and digging up plants and moving them and then running back into the house before it starts raining again. It could happen!?!

everytime I go out there, I see so much work. Why should this be so worrisome?
I feel an urgency to get a certain amount of work done because the cool weather isn't going to last much longer. You know how spring has been in the past, cool with a good amount of rain and then BAM! Hot, humid and no rain! I don't work well outside in those hot, dry and humid conditions. So if the majority of the 'garden' work doesn't get done during the coolest of times, things get pushed or dismissed until next year. I still have some catching up to do from last year. If I just get my head into it, I could get all the work I would like to get done in five to six days. I hate to think how sore I'm going to be. :>D

A Mother's Day Prayer for you

2006-05-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

~Photo by Alicia Bock

May We Celebrate What Unites Us

May we believe in, respect and promote the dignity, the worth and even the sacredness of every human person, including of course our own persons.

May we in all honesty search our minds and hearts to discover, to acknowledge and to free ourselves from biases, discrimination, oppressions, violence, and unenlightened and unanalyzed opinions and judgments.

May we admit in true humility that our strong assurances and convictions have their limitations. We are ever in search of the fullness of truth, the truth that is beyond simplistic answers to complicated issues.

May we not restrict ourselves to the limited and isolated visions of our own circles, especially the enclosed views of our religious organizations and ethnic and cultural affiliations.

May we welcome dialogue among ourselves in which we listen sincerely and speak honestly in an atmosphere of genuine freedom.

~ Father Virgil Cordano, O.F.M

Now this is what I call a rainy day activity.

2006-05-11T13:12:00.000-04:00

While working out in the garden yesterday, I was mumbling under my breath how I needed some rainy days in order to get caught up on things inside the home. Funny thing is, the only "things" that got done were phone calls, IM-ing a few friends and family members and making arrangements for Mother's Day at my mother-in-laws. Not exactly what I had in mind. I do have the rest of the afternoon and evening to accomplish something significant (according to me). Oh yes, one load of laundry.

I transplanted and rearranged a few plants in the crescent garden. A few plants were pretty pissed off at me. Lucky we have days of slow trickling rain to make up for my late decision making. I find myself very overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs to get done. I feel that all my worries would be lessened if I just had 6 cubic yards of woodchips. I prefer to lay out newpapers and pile on the wood chips in lieu of weeding. The downside to this method of course is the lack of seedling surviving those conditions. So , in the mean time my hamstring will have to survive..........

~

Man! My hands are rough!!!!!!

2006-05-09T14:33:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day came early for me this year. We were able to yank out two overgrown yews to make room for this dogwood and added a kitchen herb garden. slowly, the ledge will be taken over with 3 cubic yards of woodchips and filled in with divisions made from the front garden.
I believe you can click on any of these photos to get a bigger look........

The photos below are all from one corner of the front garden to the north east facing south. This garden is 145 feet long north to south. I get eastern morning sun and a touch of late afternoon western sun with full canopy. My canopy consists mainly of red and white oaks, hickory trees, red & white maples and dogwoods.

This garden photo below started out as a fern garden with several varieties of ferns. Over the years I've added two different kinds of ginger, variegated Solomon seal and hepatica. I have one SO VERY dry spot in the back corner right up against the house were I store our vacation rocks. Last year I found this Japanese Holly Fern (Cyrtomium falcatum) and thought it was the perfect fern to put in that corner. Sadly it never returned. I hope to try it in another spot again this year if I can find it locally..

What a Dogwood!

2006-05-05T08:06:00.000-04:00

I have 4.5 Cornus florida dogwoods in my Yarden. Yes I typed Yarden. My whole yard is my garden.
The half dogwood just peaks out of the woods in the back adding light to a dark spot. The woods to the south of us has dozens of 5-6 foot baby dogwoods that bloomed just this year. What a sight.

Getting out in the yarden this weekend is a must. I have transplanting galore to do and looking forward to it. Newer gardens I started last year have established themselves well.

CREEPING CHARLIE:

Thanks to my mother-in-law, we recieved this ground cover on accident with a daylily she gave us two years ago. I like the foliage and the flowers. It is not a threat to healthy native plants and it's an edible herb.
So, okay, its a bit of a weed. But it flowers and to me if you flower, you can stay in my yarden. When all you have is full to partial shade to play with, you'll take just about anything that adds color.

Japanese Rose
Kerria japonica :

I recieved these beauties three years ago from a friend who wanted them out of her yard so she could plant a sweet flower garden.
We picked up these bushes in my husband's festiva hatchback!! Inhaling exhaust fumes and getting strange looks, It took us only three trips to get them all.
They were longer than the car and I didn't want to cut them back anymore so they dragged on the street for the whole ride!
Poor things. I knew they were invasive and therefore tuff enough to handle the abuse and survive.
We ended up with a hedge row of twenty feet when we were done.

Thanks again Corrine. They are doing beautifully!

Inspirational

2006-05-01T08:51:00.000-04:00

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness,
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I
to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

~Miarianne Williamson

North Manchester this weekend. A minister license given . The gift of gathering new and old friends for a meal and conversations. A very nice time had by all.
This is my first rosary. My hope is, that this rosary will brings what it is intended to bring for one who still holds on to what is familiar.

Akeelah and the Bee. A wonderful movie full of perseverance, chivalry, fear, friendships, strength and love. This is one of those movies you think about for days. Please go see Akeelah and the Bee.

Well, it's Monday and the rain has been on and off for the last two days. There is nothing better than the morning after a good, long, slow rain. The world looks so fresh and clean. The Dogwoods are at their peak for us now. I love looking out my windows at night see them glowing in the dark. It's a photo moment if someone had the right camera. The want is there. The tools are not.

2006-04-28T11:47:00.000-04:00

"Where your pleasure is, There is your treasure;
Where your treasure, There your heart;
Where your heart, There your happiness."

~Saint Augustine

Reading;
"Things I Want My Daughters to Know"

By: Alexandra Stoddard.

2006-04-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

What can I say, I like to play..............

Blooms on the move

2006-04-25T07:19:00.000-04:00

woodland anenome

Kerria Japonica-Rose
Grandiflorum-Trillum
Epimedium~ Bishops Hat
Dicentra-Wild Bleedinghearts
Cornus~ Dogwood

Cercis Canadensis-Redbud. This is the tree that was brought back from the farm in Michigan before it was sold. The house that Tom's mother grew up in was in the family for 100 years.
Asarum- Wild Ginger
Athyrum-Painted Fern

These Brethren Don't Drink!!

2006-04-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

While visiting the Family for Easter, Mom decided it was time to take care of some of her personal inventory to lessen the stress later (ha).
Names where put on items that were desired and old arugements of past distributions was renewed.
While in my mother-in-laws bedroom looking at years and years and years of boyscout stuff I spied an old wooden box on the top shelf in mom's closet. There is something so charming to me about old wooden boxes. I still don;t know what I am going to do with it but I had to have it.
I expressed a desire for the box to mom and she said " you can have it and everything that is in it."
Now this is something I would expect to be said because of the need to get rid of some junk that has been laying around for years. To my amazement the wooden box was full of BOOZE!!!!! MOM!?! Large expensive bottles of Brandy and Whiskey! Even little plane size bottles. "Mom?" I said, or more like WHAO!!!! "Yes, the deep dark secret is out!"

I guess dad would receive the booze as Christmas gifts from his tax customers as a thank you. So for years and years Tom's dad has been placing bottles of gifted booze in that wooden box on the top shelf of his bedroom closet........For what?

Well, I tell you for what! Tom would crumble under the onslaught of peer pressure and allow his friends to take sneaky sips of brandy or whiskey. Then he would add water to the bottles to make up for what was missing!!! Unfortunately I had to, or wanted to throw away those bottles that were already opened, but ended up with was these two beauties that have been aging for years!! Can we say PARTY?

I belong to a group on Flickr where only flower photos that 'nod' are allowed. This is a Bluebell before the bloom 'Nod.'

No, I'm not giving birth to Amy again. The treehouse is where Amy and I like to hang out. There is no place to be alone when she's around. She has a keen eye and can spot you a mile away. That ability comes in handy when you've misplaced something and can't find it. She knows where everything is.

2006-04-17T16:28:00.000-04:00

Turmeric, paprika, yellow & red onion skins, red cabbage and blueberries dye our Easter eggs this year. How simple it was. Easter started out with all of us in Mom and Dads bed listening to Harry Potter's "Half Blood Prince" while eating animal crackers. Then Mom's house for dinner with the family. So eventful with a new teenage mother and one very rebellious teenage daughter who could have used a good spanking the way she was acting. My girls were amazed at her behavior towards her mother as were many who witness the onslaught of verbal abuse. Grateful that the offensive teenager left and soon after the mother, then there was peace and laugher once again.

Two Birthday's to celebrate that evening and then home to finish Narinia's "Loin, Which & the Wardrobe" then back to finishing the Harry Potter book.

A wonderful spring rain followed us all afternoon on our travels. The garden is busting to bloom!

~ Each one of us is a mystic gradually awakening to the truth of who we really are.
~ Megan Dona

Bleeding Nose Trillium

2006-04-15T07:25:00.000-04:00

As the garden begins to blossom into full spring, I find myself, with great urgency, to get out there and get started on the yard clean up. Lucky for me I have Tom home this week to lend me a hand. Not too happy about I'm sure, but Hey! That is the life of a home owner. I'll make it worth his wild!

BLOOMS!

2006-04-11T11:40:00.000-04:00

Just a few items that are blooming so far this spring. Jewelry making will have to take a 'rainy day' seat now.

The last photo is my favorite Rue plant that just starting to come up. What a presentation! "come on baby."

Not too much yard cleanup this spring. We did a very thorough job getting up the leaves this past fall. Now I can concentrate on dividing and transplanting a few things and bone up on the wood chips this year. I get the feeling it will be another dry one.

The photo below is the exact Scion xB we purchased last Tuesday. I know what I said, but it is nice to have a NEW car. This is our very first NEW car plus the price was right. We broke it in by taking it on a long trip across Ohio to visit our good friends Sal & Cindy. We were able to go over 600 miles for less than $50.00 in gas. That is good for us. The smaller size just tests our ability to be better organized and to do without. Not all bad.

Tom is on vacation next week for a whole week. Just Tom and I during the day...............WAHO! We have big plans to get organized about all things that need to get accomplished this spring and summer. That includes having fun too and actually taking somewhat of a vacation in June or July. Now all we need is the money to do all the things we need and want. We don't want to bank on Ebay being anything other than a buffer zone for our budget. I think once we depend on it as a 'real' source of income then it becomes a J-O-B! Right now it is pleasurable hobby with benefits (for Tom).

April Fool's For who?

2006-04-04T10:12:00.000-04:00

This was Tom's April fools joke for me. He knows how I feel about the Clown toting vehicle. The girls were involved and talked him into borrowing the Scion and making seem as though he had purchased it.
While I was driving this clown car I really didn't notice, so much, how strange it looks on the outside until we came to most of the stops. "The people were looking man! " Maybe I was a little sensitive to the thought that people would be staring, but they were! They really were!

Now the taste to get something to replace our dying vehicles has come back to bite us in the ass. We are officially on an active search for a new, gas efficient car and a monthly payment. There's not much out there in our price range.

It's scary adding another 'monthly' payment to our already very tight budget. Taking away from anything fun we might want to pursue. Our trip out west has been delayed again. We won't be done paying off our current debt before we will have add to it with braces for Amy and Catholic high school payments for Kelsey. The reality is, unless we win the lottery, we will always have some debt. It's the way life is. Not something I want to be comfortable with, but we cannot stop living because of it. But we will not be foolish either.

Oh Lottery king! Please sway our way. Just $100.000 please, so we can pay off our house and debt. Not a penny more!

I think my palm is itching.....

~"Money and success don't change people; they merely amplify what is already there."
~Will Smith

Temporary B&B website is up!

2006-03-31T09:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been HTLM-ing. Did I say I hated it? Well, It's not easy, but I managed to utilize the old cut and paste to its fullest. I am proud of the results of my hours of Labor.
Please give me all your thoughts. All will be accepted graciously. I need your input and ideas.

~ I love a spring rain and the smell of 'old musty cabin' as I open my screen door
Sending cravings of a wanted get away to my soul
Nodding heads of new spring birth has me seeking the sun to see their blooms
And the sweet sweet songs at my feeders send me into a day dream I don't want to lose.

Just some quick thoughts from Lynne's head

2006-03-30T08:14:00.000-05:00

~Photo by Naphatu

Out for a walk this morning then later this afternoon a therapeutic massage (wink wink). I'm looking forward to meeting the ladies at Hacienda this evening. I don't get out with the ladies very often in the evening because of the girls being in school now and my husband work hours. But we are on the cusp of spring break and I can let my hair down a bit and enjoy a margarita. I'll drink one for you Cindy and Annie. Maybe two!!!

Why I decided to write about this now, I don't know. Maybe because I was going through it and in some ways still, as it raises it's ugly head. And if so, I can figure out an alternative route to take. All good of course. A lesson in the making.

I am talking about control.

Did you know that being a control freak has nothing but unsatisfactory results in the end? every time?
Why would I want that? There is nothing rewarding about it. It's an upward battle of wills I would prefer to let slide.

The 'conrol' I do have within my personal life motivates me in creative ways. Helps to run a smooth homelife by channeling my energies in ways that have rewarding benefits.

I'm sure my ability to deal with other challenges of control as my girls grow will test me greatly. But I am grateful for some forethought on the subject now.

The circle of friends I have in my life are truly a rare blessing. I had no idea how lonely it is out there. People are starving for what I have in my life and some people are scared of it. interesting.........

~People either think I am crazy , or they respect me
~ I forgot who said this.

So Many Things

2006-03-28T08:12:00.000-05:00

So many things going on in my life right now . I don't think I could list them all. (maybe I should ? )
They are all very exciting things. The things that need to get done and the things I can't wait to start. I am overwhelmed but joyful.

Both girls are back in school today. It was a long, long week and weekend of extreme mothering at its best. Side stepping all the germs has been trying. I am lucky to beable to get extra sleep in order to keep 'them' at bay. (fingers crossed & knocking on wood).

Spring! Spring! Spring! Ahhhhhhh! sniff! sniff! How sweet. crocus' blooming in other peoples yards (of course). Daffodil's with their heads peaking out . The renewed nagging of dividing my spring daylilies is upon me. Just add it to the list!

Jamin with the Friends this weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Hope the sunny weather holds up for Saturday. Oops. nevermind...........Looks like rain. :>(

p.s. This photo is by Plow-Plane. (flower macro)

~"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere; it is within each of us."
~ Black Elk

Site number one.

2006-03-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

Well I finally started a homepage for my jewelry making. I hope to put this siteon my business cards soon. Now it's Time to work on the B&B site. I think I'm getting the hang of it!!

2006-03-20T11:52:00.000-05:00

Getting up Sunday morning knowing we have the whole day to our selves makes me breathe easier and knowing that Amy no longer has a fever helps also.
Grazing the Sunday paper, breakfast and a clean sweep of the house and we have the rest of the days to ourselves.

Bathingsuits are at the forefront of our daughters' thoughts and it's a really good thing that it was. Trying to find a suit any later in the year and it would be a sure disaster. Especially when one pieces are practically nonexistent. Everything has string ties behind the neck (which they both hate). It take some serious digging. I am so glad that Tom came along. Stop laughing! He was helpful until it came to the cost of a swimming suit with a skirt which is sold separately, but you have to have it because it makes you feel more comfortable with your body when your not swimming. You know what I mean ladies! None of the words have to be said out loud to my daughter. It is just innate common female knowledge.
Amy of course, is all about comfort and some nagging peer pressure in the back of her head of eairler; " what's cool bathing suit styles conversations" and who has what so far. Poor thing. Hold your head up high honey. Ooze what is really important, like not being a slave to fashion and embrace who YOU are and not your clothes. She knows. (hmm)

Barnaby's Pizza and home for an old movie Tom has been wanting to see for weeks. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Tom wanted to hear the words Bon Ami really bad!

up to no good:

Not reading anythng! HELP!
trying to finish B&B website
Waiting on Photo's for B&W project
Making jewelry, ideas I get off websites, nothing original
not getting ahold of people and closing myself off.
getting big time bloodwork done because I'm 45 :>(
getting a mammogram, wha-ho-ie

2006-03-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

I am being driven forward
Into an unknown land.
The pass grows steeper,
The air colder and sharper.
A wind from my unknown goal
Stirs the strings
Of expectation.

Still the question:
Shall I ever get there?
There where life resounds,
A clear pure note
In the silence.
~ D. Hammerskjold

I am so in the need to be in the Blue Ridge mountains with the sun on my face and the hum of the trees in my ears. I want nothing but the peace of a sunny afternoon to myself, but don't leave me there for long for I will become lonely.

2006-03-15T13:34:00.000-05:00

Tom gave me a watch with a streatching band that pinches, so I change it. This is a gold coiling. You can do fun things with coiling! I don't wear watches much and Tom wasn't trying to tell me anything by giving it to me. Just a watch.

Sunday Sunday.

2006-03-14T08:06:00.000-05:00

This is a photo of Amy lunch for the family this Sunday. It tasted as good as it looks!

Our weekend was a bit prempted by Kelsey's sleep-over the night before. This means both Tom and I were butt tired. But We made it up to St. Joesph on that most beautiful day. Dinner with a lake view, local brews , potato soup and window shopping. . The music for the night didn't start until 10pm and we didn't want to wait 2.5 hours for that so we headed home with the hopes of catching a movie we've been wanting to see. We never made it. Sleep over came us both. I thinnk we will have to continue the second half of our anniversary this weekend.

Back to work!

Good Years

2006-03-07T08:27:00.000-05:00

Today Is our 14th wedding anniversary. This photo was taken 18.5 years ago on one of our many dates. This one being dubbed the Photo Booth Date!! I was greeted this morning with three long stem yellow roses (my favorite) dark chocolate and a very mushy card for Tom. I think he's in love, as I know I am. Happy Anniversary Thomas.

The Polovicks gave us yet another used washer this weekend. This time it came with a matching dryer! To us these are brand new. We feel like we've won a great prize!!! Now if we could only have this happen to us in the form of a vehicle. :>)

The Black and white Project is on its way. I told tom that I probably wouldn't have to do this again until we had grandchildren. He was a bit freaked out by that comment.

This weekend will be filled with many girls spending the night on Friday, an an
niversary dinner for two Saturday night, ending the weekend with family day Sunday . My life is so very good. I am grateful.

~"I just want to matter."
-June Carter Cash

Don't ever wear artistic jewelry; it wrecks a woman's reputation. ~Colette, Gigi, 1944,

2006-03-03T11:21:00.000-05:00

Another try with the home made photobox

2006-03-02T08:17:00.000-05:00

Tom brought home another box in better shape and size so I could make another photobox. I need to do more research on lighting, etc...... But it is fun!

Ebay and Amazon have been steady. I was joking with Tom today saying that we needed to hire a part-time person. I am so grateful to have this job. I couldn't make this kind of money if I was working outside the home with taxes and all. I am constantly eating crow when it comes to Tom's method of buying and storing what I used to call junk. Don't get me wrong, There still IS JUNK! Just some of it just happens to make money.

Lent starts and the girls have given up gum and candy. Kelsey asked me what I was giving up for Lent. I said "my sedentary life style............"

Our weekends have been relaxing. We have found a good routine that almost feels as though we ever belonged to a church family. How sad is that? Tom misses church. He misses the people. I do to, but not enough to give up what we have now.

Kelsey is involved in this years play "The Wizard of Oz" and it opens next weekend. Lucky for us this play doesn't include a Sunday show. I have kept my 'sewing' hands out of the 'to need for the play' picture. Yes, I can do it, but I do plenty of other volunteer work at the school and I don't NEED to do it all. It is so nice to say "that isn't going to work for me right now." In other words NO! There are hundreds of very capable people who haven't done a darn thing all school year who can get their 'volunteer' hours in before the end of the school year. Yes, you are gently required to have so many volunteer hours per family. Sad to have to ask isn't it?

~I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.--George Eliot

2006-02-27T10:42:00.000-05:00

Our teenage niece had her baby. very small. mother and father's hands are holding the child. It all starts now......

2006-02-23T13:59:00.000-05:00

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!
Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...