eclipse, birthday, other stuff

A guy stopped by and asked if we wanted that stump from the fallen pine tree removed.
We were just going to leave it and wait for the hollies to get big enough to hide it, but he quoted a good price and we told him "yes".

Even before he returned a couple of days later with his stump grinder - another guy stopped to ask about grinding it.  I guess that would have continued over time if we would have left the stump there.

He did a nice job and only took about 20 minutes.  Easier to mow now.

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Unrelated...

One day, when I was home alone, I heard a noise at the front door.  I glanced out at the driveway, expecting to see the mail lady's car, since she sometimes puts packages out front.

Hmmm, no car in the driveway and the noises continued.  Weird!  Is someone trying to break in?

I looked through the peephole in the door.  No one there...but the noises continued.

The bay windows are angled out in a way that I can see over to the front porch easily.  I slowly took a little peek out there and...Crows!   What on earth?

They flew as soon as I snapped the photo and then I could see what they had been doing.  Picking off big flakes of paint where it's peeling on the threshold.  

Gee thanks.   And thanks for the scare.

You are probably tired of eclipse talk by now.   I had planned on just sitting outside during the event...watching the light change.  But I got caught up in all the hoopla and decided to make a "viewer" at the last minute.  A "camera obscura".   

A long cardboard box with a pinhole in one end (in an aluminum can panel) and a white sheet of paper in the other end.  On the side - a hole to put my head in.

As soon as I tried it out, I could already see the edge of the moon moving over the sun.

After I got past the initial excitement, I started thinking " Gosh, what if someone drives up and sees me standing here with a box on my head?"

"Or even more embarrassing...what if they would see me standing here blindly taking a photo of myself with a box on my head!"

It was sort of hot in there too, and I found I could see nearly as well just by looking through the hole without putting my head completely inside.

I took a quick photo of the sun without looking.  Can't really see anything like that.

The light was very unusual, just for a short while and I did notice a drop in temperature.  The birds and squirrels were unfazed and continued visiting the feeder as usual.

A profound happening really, and makes one think of how vast the universe is and how we take for granted that things will carry on as usual.

A change of subject now. Of course I have to talk about food.  I was all happy when I saw this new product at the grocery.  Low carb pizzas!  Only 8 carbs total per pizza.  The crust is made from chicken and parmesan cheese.  Microwavable or bake in the oven.

I really was expecting it to be "real good" like the name says.  When I took it out of the microwave I got a whiff of chicken and I began having doubts.

It was not real good.  The crust was a big let-down. Unpleasant texture mostly - but chicken tasting too.  I just ate the toppings and threw most of the crust out for the crows (it was probably just a little better than those paint chips they were thinking of eating).

Oh well.

On a better note - we celebrated my birthday a little early this year.  If you don't mind me bragging a little, I will show my gifts...all good!

First, from Chopper, a ruler for quilting...2 1/2" wide, a very common size for cutting shapes for block making, and a book of quilt patterns.  Every quilt in there is one I'd like to make.  I was tempted to put away my current project and get started on one of these immediately!

Next, from the Sasquatch...a little Hen & Chick planter he fixed up using a brick that he drilled drainage holes in and then arranged colorful pebbles around  the 3 Chicks planted there.

Awwww...cute!

And from Lonnie...a new sharp spade. I haven't had one like this before. Looks perfect for getting in tight places.  Also, an Amazon gift card...time for me to do some online shopping!

Before I go, I just want to show a few photos of my Hyacinth Bean Vine.

It's one of my favorites with the multi toned leaves...

The blooms and the purple vines...

Then later there will be the fleshy purple seed pods.  I will let them dry on the vine this fall for seed to plant next spring.

around the yard

August is one of my favorite months.  The angle of the sun changes a little...still warm and bright but not as glaring and merciless as in July.  The nights are a bit cooler.

I realize once again that I will not win the race to get the yard and flower beds all nicely groomed so that I can just sit back and enjoy the season.
But really, doing the outdoor work is how I enjoy summer.

Here's the flower bed just off the back porch.  That purple heart vine is huge this year.  It didn't die back completely in the mild temperatures last winter, so it had a good head start in the spring.

That's Sedum and Portucula near by.

Here's looking the other way.   Zinnias in the foreground.  I really like Zinnias and made a note in my garden journal to plant more next year.

Pink Zinnias and yellow Marigolds.  So gaudy...but appealing to me.

Last summer (or the one before) I noticed some Purple Passion Flowers (Maypop) blooming in the field next to our property.  I tried digging a couple of  the vines and moving them to our yard. They promptly died, but I needn't have bothered...

Like every other weed growing over there they ended up coming up in my flower bed anyway.

I left one to grow and I hope I haven't created a problem for myself. I sort of have a feeling it might try to take over the area now that it has a toehold.

Pretty blooms though and there are a lot of the little passion fruits too.

Black Eyed Susans...so reliable and long blooming.

One lonely Purple Coneflower there on the left. I want to get a fresh start of those next spring too.

I keep plugging away on my 9 Patch quilt.  I'm considering that red fabric at the bottom for the outer border but not sure if is the "right" red.    It has a gold print in it so it coordinates with the gold background, but my mind's eye thinks it should be a darker, truer red.

Oops! One of these things is not like the others!  That's what happens when your mind wanders.

At least I noticed it before I sewed it up into the quilt!

garden veggies, closet cleaning, quilt progress

A recent sunrise after a rain....

Much prettier in person, of course!


No new recipes this week but the Sasquatch did bring over a couple of things for us to try.

First, this bottle of concentrated drink mix from the clearance shelf at Kroger.  It's a drink made from bark and it came from Trinidad and Tobago.

When you lift the glass to your mouth you get a wiff of a wonderful spicy combination of licorice and root beer...but when you take a sip...BLECH !   It is bitter with a bitter after taste.
We just couldn't drink it.    A definite 'thumbs down' on this one.

The other thing he brought was  'thumbs up'. 

 A Lemon Cucumber from his garden, named that because of their size and color.  They don't taste lemony but they have a good cucumber flavor - better than an ordinary cucumber, we think.

Their skin has a scattering of stiff little whiskery spines...

He brought a regular cucumber too and sliced both up a plate to go with Sunday dinner.  He said his garden is fizzling out for the season.

Our little gardens are fading fast too...except for Lonnie's tomatoes, which are producing like crazy.
He has to pick them when they first start turning red because crows or other birds have started pecking holes in the ones ripening on the plants.

He has dehydrated a few of them. We may just skin and freeze some of the rest.


During the recent rainy spells  I've been reorganizing a couple of closets.  I ordered and put together this wire shelf.

It's for the closet (below) in my sewing room.  This closet was never finished by the builders/previous owners...probably due to bad planning, because the central air vent comes up through it, as well as the vent pipe from the downstairs bathroom.

So there was no real way to hang a closet rod or attach shelves in there.  We have just used it to pile our suitcases in.  A lot of wasted space in there until now.......

I took measurements to be sure the shelf would fit and it's about perfect.

  That's my suitcase (dark blue) and travel bags on the top shelf - then 2 shelves of quilt books and magazines.

Next, more tote bags and bedspreads and comforters.  To the side is a quilt wrapped around a pool noodle (no wrinkles) and a wheeled folding table that I use to help support a larger quilt when I'm quilting it on my machine.

I might still hang some hooks from the ceiling in there - to hang some of the tote bags and free up shelf space.

I did cull a few items...like these plastic zip bags that comforters and bedding comes in.  There were at least 12 or 13 of them tucked back in that closet.  Some so old that the plastic had developed an unpleasant sticky feel.

Must. Fight. Hoarding.!

Lonnie's suitcases went into the hall closet (below). Now, he won't have to hopscotch through the mess in my sewing room to get to them!  They are on the top shelf, then toilet paper, extra towels, beach towels, light bulbs and bedding.

 I read a tip, that storing extra sheet sets inside their pillowcases will help keep things tidy, so I did that and also put a couple of wool blankets in pillowcases too (with some cedar blocks).  

I labeled the pillowcases so I won't have to rummage through them all when I need something.

In the bottom, next to the laundry bag, I finally found a place to store my upstairs vacuum cleaner (yes, it is a shop vac).  In all the years since I decided to have a second vacuum for the upstairs - it's never been put away anywhere.  It's just been hanging out in one bedroom or another...any empty corner.

Now let's see if I will be good about returning it here each time after I use it!

I would have bought wire shelving for this closet too, but the attic door is in the ceiling in there. Occasionally, someone will have to go up there and the closet has to be emptied.

Well,   You are probably beyond excitement after that tour of my closets but I'll also show my progress on the 9 patch quilt. Blocks not sewn together yet, just doing a layout.

I like it so far but now I'm not sure if  it's the right thing to give to the person I intended it for.
I'll keep working on it and thinking about that.

this and that

The Naked Lillies (or Resurrection Lillies) have sprung up around the yard. I have only planted them in a couple of places but squirrels must have replanted a few for me, because they come up in random spots.

There's always a few stalks that fall over or get knocked over by animals so I sometimes bring those inside and put them in a vase.   Now some varmint broke off one of my Zinnias at the ground, so I stuck them in the vase with the Lillies.  

Flower arranging is not my forte. I did work for a florist for a while but not doing floral arrangements!

Now here's what I like better...stuff to plant in the ground.  These are my three new Holly trees to plant in place of the pine that fell.  I ordered them from Evergreen Nursery in Tennessee.   

I wasn't even sure if they would ship them at this time of year, but they did and thanks to their careful packaging, the plants arrived in good condition.

I have them planted already...and I'll have to remember to keep them watered.

This is a little embarrassing...delivery trucks lined up in the driveway!  Am I too lazy to go to the store?  Well,sometimes.

I tried a new muffin recipe...Almond Poppy Seed Muffins.  They are good!

The recipe is from my quilt group's fundraising cookbook.  When I saw the recipe was one that Pat contributed, I knew it would be good. She always brings such yummy dishes to the potlucks.

I cut the recipe back to 1/3...and it made nine medium sized muffins.  Quick to put together and no need to even use the mixer.

I also tried a Greek style chicken recipe...Chicken Souvlaki, but I forgot to take photos.  It was okay...Lonnie did a good job with grilling marinated chicken breasts...but it seemed a bit lacking in flavor.  I've only eaten Greek food a couple of times so not a lot to compare it with.
I will probably try again with a different recipe.