New Projects

Thought it was time to begin another hooking project so I have something to take along to hook-ins. Hate to go empty handed! Since it's a good summer theme,I drew up the moon and stars watermelon pattern. Then realized that almost all the colors I would be using would have to be dyed. Well, I must admit that dying is not my favorite thing! And it's going to take time, thought, and planning.

Soooo, needing instant gratification, I drew a quickie project that will use up some of my wool that's already on hand. Zip and I had been to Cracker Barrel restaurant last week. While we were waiting for Brand, Kami, and her realtives to arrive, we played checkers on the porch. It was kind of fun, meaning we didn't get mad at each other! haha!! Thought I'd make a gameboard to use during those long boring winter nights.

Then I had some monks cloth left over at the end and drew the apple tree to use as a small table runner. It will probably be a gift at some point. Now I have two samller stress-free (I hope!) that I can work on while getting the wool ready for the watermelon rug.

In the month of July both my Mom and grand-daughter Emily have birthdays. We celebrated (at Emmy's request) at Bonanza at the mall. Here is the 13-year-old birthday girl, Zip (looking like he has eaten the sour pickle!) and in the background, my sister Linda.

And this is the 84-year-old birthday lady!

I got to do the cutting and serving of the cake.

With Brad and Kami looking as though they are sharing a joke. We had a delightful evening of family togetherness!

On the home front, the hummingbirds have finally arrived. Don't seem to be as many this year and they are late getting here. Must have been the cool weather and rain. The little guys flit around so fast that it's hard to get a decent picture, even with the zoom.

The feeder is hanging from a tree limb about 12 feet from our kitchen window.

I am still trying to learn how to use many of the features on my new camera. There is a setting for 'tree and leaf' setting that is supposed to make the greens more vibrant. The hostas do look vibrant.

And a setting for sunsets. This lovely one was a few evenings ago. I love sitting outside (except for the mosquitos!) in the evening and watch the sun go down behind the mountains. We have a few bats that flutter around overhead, and a whole herd of cats that wander through the yard and go down to the run to look for rodents. No, they are NOT mine! Our neighbor, unfortunately, does not believe in kitty birth control! Even though I deplore animal over -population, they are lovely to look at.

Good evening! Enjoy summer while it lasts!

After Midnight

This is the night!

One of the buds on our night blooming cereus is about to open. Most of the year this amazing plant from the jungles of Central America looks like a very ordinary spindly not-very-attractive plant. It's scientific name is epiphyllum oxypetalum.

I first became acquainted with this plant as a child. My paternal grandmother had a huge one planted in a galvanized metal washtub. It stood about 5 feet high. I remember staying at grandma's way past the usual departure time to view the opening of up to three dozen buds.


The large bud on the table will be opening tonight. The smaller bud at the top of the picture will wait until tomorrow.

You can see the size of the bud by comparing it to the coffee mug.

This picture was taken about 10;30 p.m. The bud is fully open. In the jungle the flowers are polinated by bats and large moths. Here we have never had one that became polimated, due to a lack of the proper large insects. The blooms are fragrant, with a scent reminding me of peonies.

This is a closeup of the center of the flower. It looks like a sea creature.

The blooms last all night long. By daylight, they are closed again and their stems are drooping. In a day or two the stem and bud fall off.

Good Night!

Aaaahhh! Summer!

This has been a really nice summer so far. Warm in the daytime and cool at night. Pure Heaven!

Our garden is finally producing, after the waterlogged spring. This is a row of lovely mixed variety lettuces that Zip somehow managed to plant right along the edge of the grass!

Mom came down to visit last week and here she is in the zucchni patch with Zip. If any of you who are nearby need some zucchini, we have extra. We only have a few plants, but they are prolific! We also picked our first batch of greenbeans on Wednesday. We cooket them with ham and new red potatoes.

Deiter has decided that summer time is best spent napping. Here he is, sleeping with his head in one of my knee pads. I think the knee pads would make great kitty bicycle helmets! LOL!!!

On the kitty subject, Sophie is doing well so far on her insulin.

This evening we are going to Harrisburg to the Top of the Hill Restaurant for the annual Sunoco awaards dinner. Even though Zip has retired, they still invite him back for special occasions. As usual, I had nothing to wear (being mainly a jeans and t-shirt type!). So for the past several days I have been working on a top and a light jacket to wear.

Was hoping to make some pants to go with it but that didn't work out. Yesterday Kami and I went to the PA Fabric Outlet and the ONE THING I really needed was a zipper. I picked one out and put it in the cart along with the many bolts of fabric to be cut. And the zipper is still in the shopping cart!!! Boohoo! So we made a quick trip to K-Mart for some light beige pants. Wish I could have gotten a good close-up of the jacket buttons. They have little leaves in the middle.

Yes, my Santa hooked piece is finished! I haven't decided yet what my next project will be. Didn't get to the hook-in because I had absolutely nothing to work on. Since I am off for the summer I want to dust off the loom and do some weaving.

Happy hooking till next time!

Happy....and not so happy

The not so good part of the week has been that on Friday I had an appointment to take Sophie, my dear little kitty with the heart problem to the vet for a checkup. I took a urine sample and dropped it off in the morning, to check for bladder infection. They called shortly after, and told me to bring her in right away for a blood test because they suspected that she may be diabetic. And yes, she is. What a major upset!!!

The doc reassured me that it is very treatable with proper medication and diet, but that her heart problems make it a bit more difficult. So now my baby has been on insulin shots twice a day for the past two days. She seems to be doing OK (but then she seemed OK before the diagnosis) . We will see how well this does works when we take her back for a fasting blood sugar on Friday. After that we will be doing home testing with a glucometer.

This is going to severely limit our 'away time'. And it is expensive! But as long as she is OK with the treatment and isn't miserable, distressed and fighting it, Zip and I will deal with the inconvenience. We love the little girl!!!

The happy part is that we had a wonderful afternoon on the 4th having a seafood feast at Brad and Kami's. We ate in their lovely shady screened in porch. They steamed crab legs and mussels and did talapia on the grill.

Plus we had lots of yummy sides and Kami made black raspberry cobbler for dessert.

Here is Zip modeling a gas mask that Brad found at a yard sale. Or is he anticipating the effects of the baked beans???

Afterward we had a shooting match with Brad's new battery powered pellet gun. I must say that even with my lousy eyesight, I'm still a pretty good shot. Kami kept telling Brad and Zip that if they ran, maybe her aim would improve! LOL!

Later in the evening Zip and I went to the fireworks display in Shippensburg. Since we were early in order to get a good parking place, we dicided to further stuff ourselves by going across the street to Mei Lin's House for some Japanese appetizers. Zip's fishing buddy and his wife joined us for the fireworks show. Zip and Greg talk more than a bunch of old women! hehehe!

More good news is that my Santa piece is hooked, bound, but Kathy is going to say not yet finished because it doesn't have a label on it. I'm trying to decide what I want on my labels, Kathy! Just can't quite decide!

And now I need a new hooking project. I wonder what to do next.....