A few outdoor photos

Above is the railing on one side of my deck. You can see a few of the birdhouses I've been collecting and a planter with impatiens, just planted Sunday. They will fill the planter by summer's end. This spot never gets much sun, so it's ideal for impatiens.

The first photo below is of one of the dogwood trees down by the stream, behind and below my house. It's hard to see it from my house, except from upstairs. However, I love the glimpse of it I get from my kitchen window. If I can't have more flowering trees in my yard (thanks to the homeowners' association), at least I can enjoy the ones on common property.

The other photo is a couple of doves, not doing and 'billing and cooing', but just sitting there back to back. Doves are ground feeders and don't usually get up on the decks, so I was intrigued by them. I think they must have had a quarrel and each is waiting for the other to make the first apology! LOL They let me get quite close and just ignored me.

8 things.....

This blog comes courtesy of Pat, who nominated me to do it. Pat seems to really like these things and it's fun to read hers, but I'm not sure it's fun to be nominated to do one. Anyway, I won't be nominating anyone because I read very few blogs and I know of at least one person (my daughter) who does NOT want to be nominated. So you are all safe.

8 things I am looking forward to:
- visiting my grandkids (and daughter and son-in-law) in England this summer
- getting my GERD under control so that I can eat good tasting food again
- going to my 50th class reunion in October
- going to yard sales next weekend with Patty
- buying more plants to fill the pots on my deck
- summer time when church choir is over and I can skip church without feeling guilty
- going to the art show next weekend, where some of my friend Lynne's art is on display
- going to lunch with my friends on Friday

8 things I did yesterday:
- read my email
- went to church
- sang in the choir
- helped set up and clean up after the salad luncheon at church
- read the Sunday paper
- talked on the phone to Andy (my ex-husband)
- talked on the phone to Kate
- finished reading "the Dead Room" by Heather Graham (not recommended - unrealistic)

8 things I wish I could do
- dig up the grass and put flower beds and ground cover all over my front yard
- go on a cruise and land tour of Alaska
- put a greenhouse window in my kitchen
- find an Internet provider that offers inexpensive DSL
- buy a new computer (mine is old and sooo slow)
- expand my house so that I have more walls to display art and ceramic stuff
- eat pizza, chocolate and wine - and all those other forbidden foods
- draw and paint

8 TV shows - I never watch TV, so I will pass on this

8 blogs to tag - as explained above - will pass on this as well

a taste of summer

We're having summer weather this weekend. It's in the 80s - sunny and hot. Quite lovely, actually, although almost too hot to work outside, at least in the sun. I really don't have much outdoor work to do so far this spring. I could buy some more summer plants and perhaps I will on my way home from church today. I have made a list of what colors and some plants that I want to put in various pots on the deck. The flower beds in my yard are so crowded already that they really can't absorb many more plants, so the pots are the only thing that change from year to year. Anyway, this bit of summer in April is delightful and not really unusual. I still remember a number of years ago when we were gone for a weekend in late April. Our lilac was still in bud when we left on Friday. When we got home on Sunday, it had bloomed and was finished! At first, I wondered what had happened, but then I realized that it had been in the high 80s all weekend and that compressed all the blooming into a few days. I don't have room for lilacs here in this tiny yard, but Patty (two doors down) has a dwarf one. It is just about to burst into bloom and will smell delightful. Many flowering trees are in bloom, so our entire neighborhood is very colorful and sweet smelling these days.

Today, we are having a "salad luncheon" after church. In the winter we have 'soup luncheons', and last year we tried a salad luncheon - it was a big hit. I've made a Greek salad with chicken, salad dressing on the side. It may be the only thing there that I can eat, as I am on a very restrictive diet until my acid reflux problem clears up. The list of things I cannot eat includes just about everything I enjoy. (no pizza, no chocolate, no wine, no citrus, no spices) Talk about bland diets! I am trying to keep my sense of humor about this diet - it is rather amusing - but it is also very frustrating. I've been carefully reading the labels on store bought baked goods, salad dressings and so forth. Probably a mistake, as when you see what is in all those products it makes you want to NEVER buy them ever again! Better not to know what we are eating.

I hope spring has arrived at your house too. Summer is on the way. Enjoy!

electricity is strange

I think I might have blogged about this problem when it first occurred, several weeks ago, so I'll try to be brief. After a hard rain, the circuit that carries the outdoor and bathroom outlets went out. I tried everything, including carefully wiping the outside outlets dry. No luck. Then, after a few days, the circuit worked again. T'was a mystery. Well, a couple of days ago, we had another hard rain and wind and (you guessed it!) the circuit was off again. This time, I did NOT consider calling an electrician or asking my friendly handyman, Mike, to come by to take a look. I just waited and sure enough, last night, the circuit was working. Therefore, I have concluded that somehow when the wind blows just right (just wrong?) during a hard rain, water gets onto one of the outside outlets. This trips the GFI on the circuit. After it dries off, I can reset the circuit. Weird, but whatever works. At least I haven't yet needed an electrician.

Not much happening lately. One really big thing is that I finally (after 3 hours on the computer) found a reasonably priced ticket to England for my July trip. I've been searching for weeks - going on the Internet for hours at a time and not finding anything convenient. I'm trying to go as cheaply as possible, of course, but there are time constraints as to when I arrive in England, unless I want to pay a lot of money for a taxi. Anyway, I've booked a trip and that is DONE! It will not be a non-stop flight, unfortunately, so the trip will be longer. Going over, the stop is Newark, NJ, which is in the right direction and just a short layover. Coming back, the best I could get was through Cleveland, Ohio! Crazy, isn't it? At this point, I'm just glad I have it done. If anyone reading this knows of cheaper flights - DON'T TELL ME!

I cut my grass a few days ago - first time this spring. It was very long and shaggy. Now it is just shaggy. This is because I use one of those string trimmers to cut the grass. Did I ever say how small my front yard is? About 12x13 feet. I have a reel lawnmower - the kind that runs on people power. However, it needs sharpening and I just haven't found a place that will sharpen it. Maybe this summer, I will get it sharpened - or maybe not. It's almost more trouble to carry the mower through the house or push it around the end of the building (my place is in the middle of a row of eight townhomes) than it's worth. Anyway, I was the next-to-last household in our row to mow the grass this spring. We all have nice, trimmed grass now, although mine is not quite as even as some! "If I had my druthers," as my grandmother used to say, I would not have any grass out front (or anywhere else) and just put in ground cover and flower beds. Unfortunately, our homeowners' association, with whom I fight often, won't allow me to get rid of all the grass. I already have less than the approved amount. Yes, there is a rule about the percentage of one's yard that must be in grass! I'm hoping for approval this spring to enlarge a flower bed, but that will reduce even more my grass total, so I'm not optimistic about my chances.

After all our rain, today promises to stay sunny and will perhaps be warm. Unfortunately, I'll be inside all day at the hospital gift shop. Oh well, there will be other sunny days. By mid-summer, I'll be ready to go to England for some cool, cloudy weather!

"That's the way the money goes"

Here are some photos of recent acquisitions. The plants aren't much to look at yet, but they will fill the pots in a few months. As you can see, I seem to be into purple and red this year.

I am working on an art quilt for the ALQS that Kate is hosting this summer. The process is rather new to me, but hopefully, I'll produce something interesting and someone will want it. I already have the fabric for this quilt and I went to JoAnn's just to get two clear plastic rulers and maybe some little things to use on that quilt and on future creations. Of course, there was a sale(JoAnn's has a sale nearly every week) - this time 40 percent off on most cotton fabric. As you can see, I just couldn't resist. I got one real bargain - the trees on the orange fabric - originally $11.60 a yard - on sale and then marked down again because it was the last of the

bolt. I got 3/4 yard for $2.10. Now that's a bargain! Here are the little things. Cute, aren't they?

rain, rain, go away

I know we can use the rain, but it's a rainy, bleak Monday and I find the rain depressing. It's also windy. A plastic chair I keep out front has blown over (this is not a really light-weight chair, either!). My little plum tree is blowing every which way. I may have to tie it again, using soft ties to anchor it to the four metal poles I have in the ground surrounding it. Last summer and fall, the tree tipped almost to the ground a couple of times. It must be really shallow rooted. During the winter, it's fine because there are no leaves, so the wind just blows right through the branches. Now that it's leafed out, the leaves catch the wind and the tree leans. If the ground gets thoroughly soaked, then over goes the tree! However, the rain is good for the plants I transplanted and potter on Saturday, so I don't really want it to stop.

Speaking of plants in pots. Pat suggested I post photos of my recent acquisitions. I will try to do so, but not today. It's just too wet to be out there taking pictures. Frankly, the pots don't look like much because the plants are small. I didn't try to do anything fancy, using a variety of plants (I will do a couple like that, come summer), but just put red and purple plants into medium sized pots.

Yesterday was an exhaustively busy day. I was at church from 8:30 until 2:00, working at the library book sale, singing in the choir, helping to set up and clean up for coffee hour, and, oh yes, attending the church service. Then in the evening, I went to a show at the Olney Theater. Friends of mine have season tickets there and whenever they have an extra ticket, they invite me to come along. We saw "The Call of the Wild". This play is a musical, based loosely (VERY LOOSELY) on Jack London's books. It was a rather odd musical. The music was great - not something that sticks in your head, but beautiful to listen to. Unfortunately, the story line was very confusing and, frankly, peculiar. The same actors played both dogs and wolves and people and sometimes it was hard to determine which part they were playing. The dancing and other movement on stage was lively and very acrobatic. However, we (three little old ladies) agreed that it probably won't make Broadway. Still I'm glad I went.

Here's another reason I'm unhappy about today's rain. I have a strange electrical problem at my house. It happened once a few weeks ago and then again today (or last night). I have three outdoor electric outlets and three in bathrooms, all of which are on one circuit. This circuit has a ground fault interrupter in the basement, near the breaker box. When one of the outlets gets wet, the circuit turns off automatically. This is good, of course, as it prevents electric shock from a wet outlet. The problem seems to be that one or more of the outdoor outlets gets water into it when we get just the right combination of wind and rain. I'm sure that this is the problem, because when it happened a few weeks ago, I tried everything and finally dried off the outside outlets. The next day, the circuit could be reset. However, knowing what is happening and fixing it is another story. I will try to see if I can determine which outlet is getting wet, but I'm not sure I will be able to do this. I really hate to pay for an electrician to come. He/she will have to test the outlets and may not be able to tell which ones are causing the problem. This will no doubt take time and time is money, especially when one is paying electricians! I imagine all three outdoor outlets will have to be replaced - more time and more money. I am NOT looking forward to having this done. It does seem as if my car and my house are conspiring against me this year!

the temptations of lovely spring weather

Yesterday, Patty and I went to Home Depot. She wanted to 'look' at plants and I needed some potting soil and hummus. You will note that I did NOT say I was going to even 'look' at plants. I suspect you already know what happened. Yeah, the same thing that always happens when Patty and I go shopping - I bought my potting soil and hummus and 9 plants! Patty did about the same. I know that it's too early for summer annuals. We may still have a frost. Early May is safe, but April is always iffy. I even took a greater chance and put those plants into pots on my front steps and on the deck in the back. If frost is predicted, I will have to bring them all inside or cover them with newspapers. Luckily for me, the lows for the next 5 days are all in the 40s or higher. Still, I will check the weather each evening, just to be sure. I seem to be in a red and purple mood these days - at least I was yesterday. I bought red petunias, red geraniums, red begonias, and two shades of purple petunias. My newly planted pots look very cheerful.

Since I was in gardening mode, I also cleaned up some sticks, leaves, etc. that were littering the back yard and dug up some plants in the front that Patty wanted. She gave me some that she was getting rid of, too. A couple of years ago, I transplanted some Queen Anne's Lace from a vacant lot. This was probably a mistake. I am finding that wild flowers are very strong and aggressive, probably because they have to be to survive on their own. However, this means that they reproduce prolifically and are very hard to keep under control. I dug up about 10 of the QAL and still have some left. Somehow they ended up in the front of the flower bed, which is the wrong place for plants that grow to be 4 foot tall! I probably should move the remaining plants to the back of the border, but since that space is pretty well filled with lilies, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Ah, the joys of gardening!

I have to leave for church in a few minutes, as our interfaith library is having it's semi-annual book sale. We ask people to donate books and then we sell them to back to some of the same people! Actually, it isn't quite that bad. Our small Methodist/Presbyterian congregations shares space in an Interfaith Center with a huge Catholic congregation and an Hispanic Catholic congregation. Most of our donated books come from our congregation, but people from the other congregations buy a lot of the books. S0, we get some money to buy new books, people get cheap books to read and everybody is happy. Anyway, we are putting books out on tables this morning, starting at 8:30, so I have to leave now.