Blogger Love……

This year has been a tough one for me with many health issues. So, when my husband came in the door the other day announcing “someone has sent you a package,” it really lifted my spirits!! It was from my blogger buddy, Kathleen, from Millinocket, Maine!! Her blog is Rural Maine. I was amazed and thrilled and overwhelmed! She made something for little old me with her crafty little hands! Here is the handmade booklet she made me above, which came with an awesome letter, hand written by her, and all wrapped up and fastened with a pretty pink ribbon! It was just like Christmas! She scrapped me a booklet with a vintage sewing theme. I just love it! She does wonderful work…..well take a look…. That’s the front page. And then we look inside….neat!

Each page is different.

A close up above. Love those dress form stickers! And the beautiful ribbons hanging from the binder rings…..and the lovely cards……. that are tucked down into a pocket in each page…. are decorated with vintage stickers……also have a lovely ribbon tied at the top of each one. Kathleen says you can write on these cards….your favorite pattern or supplies or whatever you choose to! This is stamped on one of the pages and I think that sums it up. Simply handmade…..(not so simply I am sure!) by my friend Kathleen…..all the way from Millinocket, Maine….sent with love….just for me!! What a lucky girl I am!!

Life is Good…………

Thanks Kathleen…………XO

This And Tat…….

  No that’s not a mistake in my spelling, although I do that quite often! My daughter Carissa calls me this morning. She says….. “Guess what I did mom!! I got a new tattoo!! And guess what it is!!??” I try to guess….. “A guitar…a banjo….another insect….(she already has a dragonfly on her shoulder)….someone’s name?”  “Oh my God!!”….she says….. “ I would NEVER have someone’s name tattooed on me!!” So…what is it Carissa?? “Well Mom….do you remember that song you used to sing and play on your guitar when we were young named What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor?”  “Yes I do Carissa.”  “Well I really dig old stuff and in the style of Joe ??? a tattoo artist friend of mine, I got an anchor with a flower and a bottle of corked wine. I downloaded the actual notes from the first line of that song, and sketched it out with what i wanted for my tattoo. I’ll send you an email with a picture of it.”  Here’s the picture I got this afternoon from her…….. It’s on her side and boy doesn’t that look sore! She had been to the beach the day before and had a sunburn on the OTHER side thank goodness. I guess she sat for three grueling hours and then went right to work without any down time! I used to sing all the versions of that song to the kids when they were little….they loved it. Their favorite lines were “Put Him In The Scuppers With A Hose Pipe On Him” and “Shave His Belly With A Rusty Razor”. We had a lot of fun with that song and apparently they did too!  I have NEVER had a tattoo, although I have always wanted one. Maybe I will get one. We’ll see. Do you have any tattoo’s? Let’s see them!! My son has two tribal tats and my husband has a double headed eagle on his arm. It seems to be the thing to do for young people today. The only thing is….once you get one….you are pretty much stuck with it! She got a really good deal on this one because the guy was an apprentice. You only have to tip him. Tattoo’s are quite expensive! My son got a good deal on his two combined for 175.00…..so he tells me. Generally that is what it would have been for each of them. I have a photo of each of them but the photos are not very good. I don’t like either one of these….especially the skull and bones one at the top. Oh well….I don’t have to sport them now do I!!!!

The Season Is Ending……

I took some photos of my garden today. It looks more like September out there and I am not sure why? Everything except for the tomatoes is winding down now. It still looks big and overgrown and that is something I will not do next year. The regular corn above is tasseling out but looking spindly to me. The popcorn has the coolest colored tassels that the camera cannot do justice. Here are a few photos of the colors and I am assuming the popcorn will be the same color but not sure? That is IF it develops at all!  

That one above is what they look like when they first start forming. The colors are bold, then they fade. The above one is a deep burgundy and the photo above that is pink. My sweet peppers on the deck are late and some just start to fruit and fall off.

 

Pumpkins and gourds are doing well. The pumpkin above it quite large and probably weighs between 8 and 10 pounds.

This small gourd is hanging from my sunflowers. It is cream colored on the top half and a light green on the bottom half. Cool huh?   Baby pumpkins and gourds amongst the corn above.

Wasn’t I some excited to find a dumpling squash that actually made it!! Actually I found two so far! One is above and the other looks just like it only smaller.

 

I was beside myself when I found this Turks Turban gourd above!! I know these look like overgrown summer squash but I didn’t grow any summer squash so I am thinking these are gourds? I planted a mixture packet.

     A couple of green striped gourds…..love these. Sunflowers are just starting to open. They got heavily attacked by copper beetles this year. And the birds love to knock the petals off and get to the seeds! I made a mistake in growing these Roma tomatoes. I should have done more research. They are supposed to be great for making tomato paste. How mush tomato paste can one make?? Next year I will go back to the Brandywine. The ones that taste just like an Amato’s tomato in an Italian sandwich!! You Mainers know what I’m talking about!!

  I don’t know if you can see it amongst the weeds but that’s a butternut squash above. I have quite a few of those. That’s my favorite squash. I will cook and freeze some for the holidays. So…that’s it for now….until the harvest in a couple of weeks!!

All Is Well On The Plains…..

Well I am alive and well. That is not me above in that contraption but I was in the same thing yesterday. It takes a 360 degree picture of your heart and also gives a reading as to how your blood is flowing through your heart. Here’s a link.    Stress Test

It was a good part of the day going back and forth to the hospital. I got the results last night and my heart is healthy! What a blessing that is. I am pretty sure my nausea was caused by my taking a medication called Metoprolol Tartrate. I was supposed to take 1/2 a pill in the morning and another 12 hours later. I was taking it all in the morning…about 3 to 4 hours apart. I didn’t know. It lowers your heart rate and it’s no wonder I was so nauseas and tired.

   More good news. My feet are finally feeling better. I still have some pain but nothing like it was. The plantar fasciitis seems to be lessening…thank God. It is a very painful thing. My new orthotics are working and I am not allergic.  I lost about 5 pounds this last week! It looks like things are looking up. I just have to be vigilant and start slowly exercising so I don’t aggravate that foot. It’s been a long summer trying to get through this foot problem and figure out why I seem to be allergic to the universe this year. I am getting closer.

   Boy do I have many lessons with my garden this year. I got greedy and planted way too much in too small of an area. I thought I had late blight but I don’t thank God! I did, however, get the giant tomato hornworms!! Those alien worms are baaaaaaaaaaack! Here’s what they look like…   My girlfriend Chandra came by to help me with my garden when I was sick. She just about jumped out of her skin when she saw this!! They are disgusting!!  And this is what it turns into!!!

I hate those bugs!! So all is well here on the plains. Things are getting back to normal. We still hate the heat and cannot wait until fall. My garden is in fall stage right now. It’s been an odd summer. We are one month ahead in the garden……it is like we are in September right now. Corn is tasseling,  squash and pumpkin are turning, gourds are done growing, cukes are finishing up and tomatoes are slow to turn red. What can I say? It’s a very weird year for the garden and for me!!

Got Side Tracked……

Hey all…..had a side trip on Friday to the above. Stayed the night and came home last night. I am fine. I have been having bouts of bad nausea  lately. As you know, I had that when I had my heart attack so they wanted to be sure i was alright. I was observed and poked and prodded and they took way too much of my blood. What did I find out? ….There’s no place like home….click click….there’s no place like home….especially one with a comfortable bed and a private bathroom! I guess I will live and have to go have a stress test on Wednesday. Will keep you posted…..

Home From Nashville……

   My brother Art and my nephew Adam are home from Nashville for a week. Saturday night, we all went to DiMillo’s restaurant in Portland, Me. It’s a famous seafood place that is actually on a boat. Anyone that lives around here knows about DiMillo’s. The food is a bit expensive but pretty good. The big deal with this restaurant is that it is on an old car ferry boat that is docked permanently on a long wharf. Many folks dock their big boats right there too. It’s an historical place for Portland.

The above photo is an entrance to the boat when the weather is bad. The menu has an array of great choices.     DiMillo's

  I had the broiled haddock with baked potato,  fresh filet green beans and a market salad, and Bobbie had the Scampi dish. We shared a calamari appetizer. The calamari was good but a bit greasy. The haddock was amazing and cooked just right. The baked potato was forgettable and the green beans should have been forgotten….they were not cooked. Bobbie loved his dish and I didn’t hear any complaints from anyone else. There was a bachelorette party of about 20 young women right next to us. That was interesting! They were drinking and passing a deck of cards around with naked young men on them! The bride to be was wearing a tiara and a big smile! My animated brother from Nashville just HAD to go over and find out what all the fuss was about! That’s how we knew what was what!

   Unfortunately, two regretful things happened, the most important had to do with my brother Arthur. He was suffering from either a bacterial infection, the flu, or latent food poisoning. (You would never know from reading the above would you?) He had been sick a good part of the day and almost didn’t come. He did not eat but insisted we all go and that we all eat. He also, without our knowledge, picked up the tab and the tip for 8 of us!! We were upset about that but neither he nor the waitress would budge!!  I guess it was his way of thanking all of us for the fund raiser we put on for him. Awe……:) The other regretful thing that happened, was that I forgot to charge my batteries in my camera! The only photos I got  were of my niece Karen and one shot of her beautiful kitchen before we left for Portland! She and her husband were the ones that let us use their golf club  a while back for the fund raiser for my brother. Here’s a link to that.  Toody Brook  And here are the only two photos I got at my nieces place….Gosh her place is huge and gorgeous! I’ll get some at another time. You just wouldn’t even believe it!

And then it died! But!! I did get some of the barbecue we had the next day at my brother Denny’s home!! We sat out on the back deck….it was a beautiful day. That’s my husband bob and my sister in law Mary Ellen, my brother Denny’s wife. She has one of those “new” screen doors that squeak when opened and SLAM when shut that sound just like an “old” camp door. I guess that is all the rage now! The kids certainly kept that thing a slammin!

That’s my brother Denny getting ready to grill. “What Mary Ellen? I need my what??”  

“Oh….my apron! I’ll just stand here and act like i like wearing this thing!” Did I not get the phone call or the memo regarding plaid/striped shorts day?? Hold that apron up there Den!! Robert Anderson above left, my niece Karen’s husband and co-owner of Toddy Brook. Then my brother Steve shows up…. That’s him on the far left…..again with the striped shorts?? Is it a golf thing?? Whoops….my niece Jennifer’s husband Trevor on the far right apparently did NOT get the memo.

We had the standard appetizer plates and Denny cooked us all some great burgers and hot dogs with a huge tinfoil container of steamed onions and peppers to go on top! They were great! And we had many salads. I made a creamy pasta salad that I MUST share with you all in another post because it was AWESOME. I got it from a blog! And we also had THESE….well in between handsome Nolan ( my niece Karen’s son) on the left who was bored stiff and Chase (my niece Jennifer’s son) on the right who is adorable and younger.A closer picture of these beauties….. My brother Denny got lazy and cooked these lobsters with the bands on the claws! Robert told him it was not a good idea as the taste of the bands may come through….to which my brother replied….. “Oh no one would taste that….I added a can of beer to the cooking water!” Adam didn’t mind that any. He dug right in. Along with the rest of the crew. My husband was smacking his lips! My niece Jennifer’s adorable children….Amella and Chase. And then Chase wanted me to see his new bracelets that all the kids are wearing now…. Isn’t he just the cutest? I wandered around for a little while and came across this… It’s the right side of my brother Denny’s garage. He has ALWAYS been a car NUT! This garage used to have a huge hat collection. Now it’s apparently filling up with old license plates…..makes sense. His office is filled with old car memorabilia. I took these out of the garden and brought them with me to give to family. I have been averaging about 5 to 6 every other day for about a week or so now. God they are so much nicer than store bought! Fresh and juicy! We don’t eat bread but I must find some good bread so I can make myself a cucumber sandwich! The weekend was full….I got a chance to spend some time with my brother Art and my nephew Adam. We had a little bit of music from them as they each brought a guitar with them. And Bobbie and I left with a full stomach and a full heart. It was a good day. Poor Obie was at home waiting for us but we had one more stop to make before heading home…..work for just a few minutes. In front of our work is a wonderful stone I have admired for sometime. Here it is…. It is in a flower garden by the front door. Isn’t that cool? And behind that rock is this…..                The smaller rock above it says…….

  PEACE

             Isn’t that nice?