Are you a Triskaidekaphobic?

Then you better not get out of bed today.

I love that word-- triskaidekaphobia.

I learned it years ago and can even say and spell it properly. I rarely have the opportunity to use this word so I was quite giddy to realize that today is Friday, the 13th of April.

What is triskaidekaphobia?

So glad you asked.
It is fear of the number 13.

It is not fear of Friday, the 13th. That would be or friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskavedekatriaphobia. Don't ask me to pronounce that last one!

Just a little Friday trivia for you.

Today is also special in that it would have been my grandma's 92nd birthday. We are all thinking of you, Grandma...rest in peace.

If I Didn't Have to Work Today, This is What I Would Have Done

Made a Snow Bunny!

We got a lot of heavy wet snow and it would have been perfect to make another snowbunny like this one I made in late April of 1992. A snow sculptress I'm not, but it sure is fun to do if it's not too cold outside.

I told everyone at work that I wanted to go home to make one. I've been waiting for the opportunity. Too bad the snow didn't come on Saturday.

Who Remembers Black Cows?

Scoop some ice cream into a tall glass, preferably clear glass.

Pour in some root beer, preferably A & W.

Watch the bubbles rush to the top. Quickly get your mouth on the glass and slurp up the bubbles before they run down the sides.

Pour in more root beer.

Repeat the slurping step.

Refill with root beer.

Use a tall iced tea spoon to scoop a bit of ice cream and some soda. Do this over and over again until all you have left is a mix of melted ice cream and root beer.

Drink the luscious liquid through a straw.


Ah, that was good! It's been years since I've had a Black Cow.

After this comment from Susie,
Sounds yummy! Do you remember the A&W drive-ins with car hops? They would bring the ice cold mugs of root beer to your car. They had the cutest little minature mugs for kids!
:)
I had to come back and add this:

Not only do I remember the car hops, I WAS an A & W car hop!

This is me heading off to my first job. We had to wear brown pants, white shirt and the official A & W orange vest. Please forgive the poor quality. The picture itself is blurry and I had to take a picture of a picture.

I made .75/hr. + tips and had plenty of cash for all the things teenage girls want to buy. Those were the days!

Keep Page Open While You Look at Links

Doesn't it frustrate you when you click on a hyperlink (like one of links in red on the post below) to look at the picture. Then you hit the X to remove the picture to go back to reading the post and the blog is gone?

I never did figure out how to make a hyper link open in a new window. I found some code, but when I inserted it, it said it was not allowed.

So here is the next best thing. Right click on the red link and click "open in a new window". That way you can view the linked info, and still stay in the blog when you X it out. Once you get into the habit of doing this, it will save you a lot of frustrated surfing.

What Should I Plant in My Hanging Baskets This Year?

It's about time to start thinking about such things.I really loved last year's baskets. I bought them already planted so it saved me a lot of work and they gave instant color, but by July they were putting out less and less blooms. See how they are almost all green? The same thing happened two years ago

By the way does anyone know how to make it so that when you click on one of my hyperlinks above, it will open in a new window? Right now it opens in the same window and you have to hit the back button to get back to my post. If you hit the X you will go completely out.

I am wondering if I should go back to planting them myself. The plus side is that it will cost much less (I need to buy 8 large baskets) and they will give more color in August. The downside is that they won't look good at all until mid July.

Just typing this and remembering past years of looking at sparse baskets for 6 weeks, I think I am leaning toward spending the extra and buying them. I will enjoy the deck so much more with beautiful baskets in June. By mid July all my other stuff is looking pretty good, so it's no big deal if the basket flower less.

So I guess I just answered my own question! :) As long they are not outrageously expensive, I will probably buy them.


Last Saturday I was checking out the quilting books on Amazon. I was looking specifically for bird/animal paper-piecing pattern books. I found a couple that were not too expensive and I ordered them.


I did not pay extra for the fast shipping. They were scheduled to arrive on April 17-18, but I got them TODAY. I was thrilled! Ordered on Sat. and in my hands on Wednesday. I love technology!


I have only had a chance to give them a quick glance, but they look like exactly what I wanted. The one called "A Quilter's Ark" by Margaret Rolfe has a lot of different animals. Look at these chickens:



so cute! You all know how I love chickens! LOL. It looks like all these animals are tiny blocks, finishing at only 4 inches. I did not realize they were that tiny, but that's OK because they will make great centers for stars.

We are supposed to get something like six inches of snow today. I think I will hunker down with my new books.

"Hunker down".....where did that word come from? I don't believe I have ever said "hunker down" in my life and yet it just popped into my typing fingers. I must look it up before I post this..........o.k. it says its often used to mean "take shelter", so I guess it works since we are in a winter storm warning.

Hopefully you are all having much nicer weather. If not I hope you are also hunkering down! :)

The Big Bunny Did Find Me!

Last night I was lamenting the fact that I had not had one single piece of Easter candy this year.

When I came to work this morning, I opened my desk drawer and found this.

What a sweet bunny!

Have You Ever Seen Birds Dig Through Snow Looking for Food?

I was so surprised when I looked out my living room window and saw birds all over the sidewalk using their feet to kick the fluffy snow away to find food.
What a mess they are making!

Easter Tablescape

I decided this morning to cook an Easter dinner after all. It will be just me, DH and my Mom and Dad.

We are going to brunch with all of DH's family earlier in the day.

I thought I would do a pastel Easter table, but DH came home with this very bright bouquet of flowers so I had to rethink my table. I rummaged through my table linens and found this piece of fabric I bought last summer to use on the deck. I ended up returning those orange dishes I bought to go with this fabric, so it's never been used.

I thought these flowers just cried out for this fabric. The resulting table will not be for the faint of heart (smile).

I set about looking for a vase, dishes, etc.

After about an hour, this is what I ended up with:

I've had a pretty full day at home today. We just finished dinner. I made a roast chicken. It turned out nice and moist.

I have this little secret about roasting chicken. I may have shared this with you before. I cut an orange in half and stuff it in the cavity with an onion for flavor. The citric acid in the orange seems to help keep it moist.

I rubbed salt, pepper, paprika and olive oil into the skin, then roasted it at 400 degrees for about 1.75 hours (the bird was a bit over 5 lbs.)

I think I will use the left over chicken for some chicken and dumpling soup.





Early this morning I finished the 4.5 inch border on my quilt and gave it a trial run on the bed top. It's a good thing I tested it out first because the finishing border I had intended to do would not have worked. In order for the stars to lay across the pillows like this

I need to add a much larger section at the top (9 - 10 inches) than on the bottom and sides. The sides only need another 5 inches.
The bottom does not even need another border. So now I have to figure out something different for the top and sides. I am planning more bird blocks on the edges so I can tie in more of the lighter blue color. I am not sure what else yet. All I know is I need some light blue across the middle of the top. I'll think more about it later.

Hope everyone is ready for the bunny tomorrow!

So why do I publish my everyday musings?

Sissy tagged me for the “Why Do You Blog” meme. I've spent some time and a zillion thought ions trying to figure out why.

I’ve decided it’s quite simple.

I started blogging to share my gardening experiences with other like souls—people who loved, but took a light-hearted approach to gardening. I am not really that interested in what the proper latin name of a plant is. I am more interested in the pleasure derived from creating a summer vacation spot in my own backyard. I like the whole process--digging the dirt, weeding, deadheading and just sitting on the deck taking in the efforts of my labors. BB (before blogging) I had a garden web site. It seemed like it would be easier to update and to have human connections on Blogger so I moved here.

I never had grandiose ideas of increasing the world knowledge bank or becoming another Gertrude Jekyll or Vita Sackville-West. I just wanted to find others who planted old sleds to add atmosphere to their summer deck, or dug up their yard and used the rocks to make an amateur rockwall. (BTW, I have yet to find another person who used an old sled as a planter.) But I have found many other people who willing share their gardening expertise and have taught me many things (gardening and otherwise). Though not friends in the normal sense (I've never met nor talked to any of them), they all enhance my daily life.

In the beginning anonymity was appealing. Of course, that has changed. One by one people who know me in real life have found my blog, so, even with the fake name, I am no longer anonymous. I am so comfortable with that now that I have even plastered my own mug all over the blog. That is not really a wise thing to do, but most of us have. I know I enjoy a blog more when I know what the author looks like.

Since I started blogging, I have noticed an increase in awareness of everything around me. It's strange how that happens, but almost everything I do these days is fodder for a blog entry so I pay closer attention to details. I like that.

Along the way my blog has developed its own personality and has garnered a small band of loyal readers. It is a good feeling to know that others enjoy stopping by to read my posts. Let face it—if nobody ever came in to read what I wrote, I would most certainly stop posting. So once again I would like to thank all of you who pop in to visit me--I know many of you have never left a comment, and that's fine. I just hope you find something of interest you when you stop by.

I also find this blog to be a wealth of memory aiding information. I am always going back to the archives to find out something. Last week it was the chicken fingers I made earlier this year. I could not remember how I had seasoned them so I went back to find out.

A few weeks ago I was kicking around the idea of giving up this almost daily blogging habit. I've noticed a few of the blogs I used to read have quit this year. I've been doing it for over two years. It's getting tough to post new topics. My life just isn't all that exciting! I do pretty much the same thing every year. When my garden begins to bloom, it will look pretty much like it has for the past two years.

I've decided I am not quite ready to delete the old blog. I'm pretty attached to it. So for now I shall continue to try to find something to post about for as long as it remains fun to do.

I am not going to tag anyone, but feel free to take this as a topic if you have the desire. I will warn you, it's harder than you may think! It took a long time to do this post, but it was fun!

Sissy asked me if it snowed here.

Here's what it looks like outside my computer room right now. Not a lot of snow, but it's going to continue all weekend.

It's Snowing and 0 Degrees Windchill

What are the Space Limitations on Blogger?

Wandering Chopsticks asked me a question in a comment below about how much space you can use on Blogger. She was concerned because she had already used 33% of her space.

That's a great question, Chopsticks.

My understanding is that there is no limit...however, there is a limit to how much you can put on one page. The limit is 1 MB.

If you have your opening page set up to show a lot of posts, you could run out of space for that page. Luckily, it's very easy to correct.

Just go into "Settings", then "Formatting" and set a lower number of posts to show on the front page. Mine is set at 7.




Have you ever gone to a blog without music or video, yet it took a long time to load?The odds are pretty good that the blogger was allowing an entire month (or even more!) of posts to load on the front page. It can be very frustrating for readers with a slow connection.

Chopsticks, where did you see how much you have used?

Was it while you were posting like this? (you may have to click on it to read)



Because I think this just shows what is left for that page.

I am not 100% positive about all of this so if anyone knows more, please jump right in and give us the scoop!

Ever Have One of Those Days

When you just couldn't find anything to wear?

Nothing I put on this morning felt right. I would put it on, take it off and toss it in the pile.

Even the shoes.

These little pointed toe shoes used to be very comfortable. I didn't wear them much because I thought the heel was too low. When I put them on today, they were tight and not comfy at all. (proof that when y0u gain weight, even your feet get fatter). I decided I could not get through an entire day with them ever again. I tossed them into the garbage.

I hate mornings like this.

Every Now and Then I Find it Interesting to See What People have Searched For and Found My Blog

I always wonder if they were disappointed when whatever they were looking for sent them to my lowly little spot in cyberspace.

Most of these searches are topics I do write about, except for "the crabapple bakery cupcake cookbook". I don't recall ever writing about that, so I guess they were disappointed.

These are my last 43 searches:
Num Perc. Search Term
4 9.30% easter tablescapes
2 4.65% making barrel planter
2 4.65% duggar floor plan
2 4.65% persian shield bloom
2 4.65% tablescapes
2 4.65% how to arrange calla lillies
1 2.33% red branches with prickers
1 2.33% windex use on bathroom countertops
1 2.33% the crabapple bakery cupcake cookbook
1 2.33% spare ribs gone bad
1 2.33% paeonia festiva maxima
1 2.33% side gardens
1 2.33% tablescapes for easter
1 2.33% arranging dishes in a china cabinet
1 2.33% calla lillies plants
1 2.33% country spare ribs
1 2.33% napkins folded to look like a bunny
1 2.33% best kolache recipe
1 2.33% paper peiced blocks
1 2.33% czech recipe kolache
1 2.33% persian shields
1 2.33% how big will phlox get
1 2.33% globe thistle not blooming
1 2.33% allium molly
1 2.33% do deer like cannas
1 2.33% what does sedum look like
1 2.33% simple floral arrangements using tulips
1 2.33% deer and rabbit repellent recipe
1 2.33% will creeping phlox work in a window box
1 2.33% tablescapes for easter and spring
1 2.33% spring cleanup perennial garden
1 2.33% fire king/peach lustre
1 2.33% easter table settings
1 2.33% tulip fat leaves only
1 2.33% duggar family
43 100.00%

9 out of the 43 were looking for an Easter or spring tablescape. I am amazed at how quickly the word "tablescape" is finding its way into the vocabulary of mainstream society. (I actually printed this out earlier today. (When I just rechecked the count was 15 out of 60--or 25% of my searches).

When I started this blog a little over two years ago, it was rare to find "tablescape" in the searches. This little observation is probably of no interest to anybody but me, so I shall move on.

It is still too cold to work outside. The local weather lady is predicting cold and snow for the rest of the week which is fine with me. I don't really feel like doing all that clean up work just yet.

Hope you 've all had a great Monday. I am off to read a few blogs... which brings up a recent sore spot with me.

Last week I took the time to comment on three new blogs (all quilting blogs) and not one of the authors even acknowledged my existence. I didn't expect a big drum roll, but a quick tapping of the keyboard could have produced at least "thanks for stopping by Zoey". The same thing happened on a couple of other quilt blogs (months ago). I guess I will just go back to lurking on the quilt blogs.

Do you all think I am being too sensitive?

A Good Day for a Little Cleaning

And that's no April foolin'.

I was up on the ladder cleaning the ceiling light when I glanced over to this area above my storage cupboards.

I screeched out loud, "Look at all that Dust!"

Since I had the ladder right there, it was the time to take everything down, wash it and put it all back. This is a bit of a chore, as I have to take one piece at a time, climb down the ladder. carry it over to the sink, climb back up the ladder, get another piece, etc. etc.

I had a picture of me up there on the ladder. But it is Sunday, I have not showered and I have not done a thing to my hair....Need I say more? LOL.

Just imagine me up there.

Here it is all freshly washed.
I have to do this once every quarter, or 4 times per year to keep it clean.

I also rearranged the family room to open up the access to the deck. This is easy to do. I move 1 loveseat and 2 side chairs, and one end table.

I switched out the holiday quilt for this blue 'Jacob's Ladder', which I think has a more spring-like feel.

I moved the mini quilt rack up here to display the little house quilt I made this winter. The duck is holding today's Palm Sunday frond.

Speaking of palm fronds, here's a few facts I found at floridatoday.com:

A semi-load of palm fronds carries about $14,000 to $30,000 worth of fronds, depending on the size of frond ordered.Large fronds are bundled in sets of 25 while fronds from dwarf palms number about 100 to 200 in each burlap bag.Sold in counts of 1,000, the fronds cost more as Palm Sunday nears.

This is the first time I've ever really considered that someone makes money off the fronds you get in church on Palm Sunday.

I have a beef roast and carrots in the oven with potatoes all peeled just waiting for the proper time to cook them.

I did no outside work this weekend, which is just fine. We usually have snow the first of April so I am used to not getting to it until mid-April.

I finished half of the 80 blocks for the quilt border. I ran out of the red fabric, so will have to change to something else for the other half. That is not a major problem. I will make it look like I planned it that way. I am amazed at how much fabric I have used on this quilt. I don't even know exactly how much, but it's well over 12 yards and I am not even finished.

Has anyone else ever noticed that paper-piecing uses a lot of extra fabric?

The Weather is Not Cooperating

It's too cold and rainy to work outside.

Luckily I had a back up plan.

I figured out my next border for the cardinal quilt. This is the 4.5 inch block I will use.

I needed something nice and simple so it won't look too busy. I think this one will work just fine.
I need to make 80 of these.

Yes, that is 8 - 0. Eighty. This is only 11.

This is what the border will look like when I sew them together.

So, if nothing else, I will at least get some sewing done this weekend.

I was thinking of gettng out the Easter decorations, but I decided to forget about them this year. We are going out for brunch on Easter with my inlaws so I see no need to decorate. It's way too much work to do for only a week anyway. I usually do it about 4-6 weeks ahead so I can enjoy it. This year time just went by too fast!

It's been three days and still no skunk (or anything else) on the camera. I guess nothing is living under the shed.

Anybody doing anything exciting this weekend?

I Hope It's Outdoor Working Weather This Weekend

Because I've sure got a lot of work to do!

Just look at all of these areas. In addition to the other two I showed earlier, there's about 6 areas that I did not even photograph.
This rockwall area will be the easiest because I cleaned it up pretty good in the fall.



The main Arbor Gardens will take the most time just because they are HUGE (this side goes all the way down to that pile of topsoil) and I didn't do much fall cleanup


The roadside of the Arbor Gardens. There are 4 smaller individual gardens with grass paths. All are surrounded by Sedum Autumn Joy and it all needs to be cut down. This is where I start to get blisters from the scissors.


The one really small area I have by the side of the garage. This will only take 10 minutes. I think I will do it first to get a sense of accomplishment. DH necds to try out the power washer I got him for Christmas on this sidewalk.

The Crabapple tree garden in the front yard. The two Alberta Sruce trees are turning brown. Nothing likes to grow in this acidic heavily-rooted area.

The Woodland area.

The other side of the Arbor gardens. All of those pine tree trunks you see have dropped a ton of needles that I need to rake out. Raking pine needles is the part I HATE.

Let's just hope the weather cooperates so I can at least get a few projects done.

And I Thought My DH and I Looked Strange Standing Side by Side

Bao Xishun (R), 56, a seven feet, nine inches herdsman listed by the Guinness World Records as the tallest living man, stands with his bride, Xia Shujuan, 29, a mere five feet, five inches, as they pose for the photographer during their wedding ceremony in Chifeng, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region March 27, 2007. REUTERS/China Daily







By the way, the camera did not capture anything last night. I was very surprised. You would think that whatever is under there would have had to come out to find food.

Maybe the thing just dug a hole, checked out the living quarters and decided to find the higher rent district???

Come Out, Come Out, Little Skunky.....

Or Whatever you are!

The camera is all set up just waiting for whatever critter made the hole under the shed (see post a few down) to come out.

It will be so exciting to see what it is and what time it comes out and goes back in (the camera will post the time on the picture).

I should know by this afternoon when I come home and download the chip.

You know it's so darn handy to have a blog. To refresh my memory of what I planted last year, I was reading through my label "Deck gardens", and I found these. I had forgotten that I bought them last summer. I really don't know at the moment where I will put them, but it will be fun to figure it all out. I am sure I can fit them in someplace among my 70+ containers I fill every year!

Tropicanna Siblings

When sunlight streams through its huge leaves, my original Tropicanna canna lily has the most stunning foliage I have ever seen. It is brazenly bold with its striped foliage in orange, yellow, burgundy, and green with just a hint of pink.

Last year I discovered Tropicanna Gold with green/yellow striped leaves
and a flower that is a more yellowish orange color with a speckled throat. Nice foliage, but not nearly as wonderful as my original. (I know, I know, a mother should not favor her first born, but I just can't help it! *grin*)


I was thrilled when I found that a new color -- Tropicanna Black --came

out in 2006. I realize that this looks an awful lot like the old ho-hum cannas. But, judging from its siblings, I have to believe that there is something wonderful about this new one. The flower is a very reddish orange, which I like a lot.

My mission this year will be to find one of these.

Here are close-ups of the flowers of each Tropicanna:
Tropicanna Black flower
Tropicanna flower
Tropicanna Gold flower


Can’t you just imagine all three of the Tropicannas together?

Oh, heck, why waste your brain cells trying to imagine it?

I made a little collage to give you an idea of what the three would look like together.

I am beginning to get excited about the new gardening season!

I have so many container combos to plan.....must go check last year's pictures to rustle up some new ideas for this year.

I Got a Little Dirt Under My Nails Today

Silly me. I was removing all of this without wearing gloves. I had not planned to be digging in the dirt, that's why I had no gloves on. Before I knew it, my hands were right down there pulling out plants and my nails were stuffed full of good black soil. Good thing tomorrow is nail day!

I got this whole wheelbarrow full just from this tiny area around the tree. I am digging out an invasive creeping sedum.

Just look at this side mess.



This is only a small portion of the dozen or so areas I need to clean out.

My plan is to remove most of the plants from this side of the deck so I have a sunny place to plant sunflower seeds.

It's overwhelming to think of all the work that must be done, so I just take a little bit at a time.

See this?
I think it's a skunk hole under my shed. It was not there yesterday. I need to get that camera again to see if I can capture what's crawling in/out.





When I finished digging, I went inside to sew the last star border on my quilt.
It's so big now that I had to take it outside to get a full picture.
As you can see here, I decided to use the other bird blocks I made for each corner. I made them fit by adding the green border all around. I am so glad I got to use them as they took quite some time to make.
The quilt is still not big enough for a king bed, so I have to add another border. At the moment I have no idea what it will be--no stars as I am quite SICK of making stars! I need to figure it out soon so I can get it done before the full gardening season begins. If I leave it until fall, I will forget the block size, where the fabric is I am using, etc. It will save a lot of headaches to just get it all pieced now. The actual quilting will wait until next winter.

Geez, this is my third post today. I go for a week with nothing and then 3 in one day. I should have saved it for tomorrow.