The Home Stretch...of Summer

Sweet Autumn Clematis is just beginning to bloom...I let these ramble wherever they want, no pretty trellis for them. This one is crawling over the rock wall we have up by the road. Oh, and notice the newly fallen leaves in the area behind the rock wall. Autumn really is coming quickly! I mowed the grass this evening and the crickets are everywhere!

FINALLY, I got a Grandpa Ott Morning Glory to bloom! I was beginning to think these were never going to make it this season...the very first one bloomed on Monday. I love these things and can't believe it was still blooming this afternoon when I got home from work at 3:15...had to be the dark, overcast day and the cooler temps, right?

And, what is Summer's End without a bright Sunflower? This one is a volunteer in my garden...must be the birdseed... Check out those two happy bumblebees...I didn't notice them when I took the picture...I really did a double-take when I downloaded it!

Oreo's New Obsession -- A Snooter

What's a Snooter you ask? Why it's a beef or pig nose; dried and turned into a dog "chewie". They are kinda neat...for some reason, in these pics it is upside down and you can't see the nose holes very well.

Sniff, sniff...what's this, mom?


Somthing to play with???


Hmmm, OK, I'll have a bite of this...

Getting down to business...this thing is pretty good!

Ms. Oreo

...sure is getting big! And no, she didn't pee on the porch! That's what Billy said the second he seen this picture. What a kid! I was watering the potted plants and got things a little too wet. Oh well, clay pots...they'll be dry again in no time.

My dad has her so spoiled! She goes to "grandpa's" once a week and again on Sundays for Sunday Supper. He really looks forward to her coming. Last night he had all her toys (yes, he bought her toys) laid out and was sitting on the floor waiting for her with a bag of Beggin Treats!

Wonderful Goodies from my Knitting Sister Swapper

THANK YOU SHARON!

Sharon sent me a lovely package just filled with all the things I love most! Sock yarn and Celtic desgines by my favorite desginer! And the yarns are just the most perfect colors and are from one of my favorite suppliers. And, would you believe that I have never purchased any of these colors yet? Dancing is one of my favorite sock yarns...but I have not used this color yet. And that Simple Stripes! Oh my...I love purple, orange and lime green together! I have a jacket that these will match perfectly! My sister totally loves Celtic desgines...so I'm sure she'll pick something out of this pattern book for me to make her. Thanks so much, Sharon...I love absoultely everything! :)

What happens when you don't use the porch...

...due to working two jobs and keeping previously made commitments? Yup, it kinda overtook the rocking chair! The vine is covered with tine byab hops, but you can't see them very well in these pics. Here's one of the vine from the porch, this is above the rocking chair. If you look closely, on the left side of this pic, you can see some of the baby hops. I'll take another pic from the outside of the porch when the hops get bigger. Usually this plant just hangs heavy with hops. I've never used them...I just love the vine's appearance.

Where I've Been

...well, working! :) As some of you know I recently left the babysitting and childbirth education and doula businesses behind to enter the *normal* workforce. I've been working with the local Community Nurses as home support. THEN, I got an interview for a factory worker job (inspecting powder metal parts). I was offered the job on the spot. Sooo, I've spent the last two weeks working BOTH jobs! The Community Nurses required a two-weeks notice...so I've been working that out while working at the factory. The last three days have been BOTH jobs EACH day. I have had only one day off the whole time...and on that day I went out of town shopping for 16 hours!. Needless to say, I'm pooped! BUT, I have the weekend off from the factory and only work two 1 1/2 hour shifts for CN, one each day. Sooo, with that I'm pretty much finished with CN; just a few one hour shifts (for the same lady as this weekend...one of my favorite clients, I might add).

Now...pictures... These are my Brown-eyed Susans. Something bright and cheery. And as you can see...I really need to do some serious weeding and dead-heading; see all those Columbine seed heads?. The white daisy is really a very puny White Swan Coneflower. It doesn't like it there...so I'll be moving it this fall.

It's a sad day...so I'm trying to brighten it up with flowers

What else can I say...a dear friend's husband passed away yesterday...and I'm still feeling down. So here's some of my purple flowers...

Porch Planters

These are probably my favorites... I love elephant ears, the most tropical looking foliage I can grown i this climate. The gree one on the right...I keep that pot from year to year. Once it freezes, I cut it back to a couple inches above the bulbs and put it in the fruit cellar over the winter. No water, no light, just a cool, damp, dark enviroment. I pull it out in March, drag that dang heavy pot (what on earth was I thinking planting it in clay?) over to the cellar door where the light is the brightest...and I water it. In a couple weeks I have green shoots coming out of the bulbs! Now, that "black" one...it never comes back, no matter what I try. This year I'm going to try diging the bulb after the frost and then replanting it in March. Mabye that'll help. And, I love sweetpotato vines...which is planted with the dark one. Vinca vines are in the other pot with the green one.

Just a bunch of vining plants I bought to punt in a two-tiered planter, which kinda got lost amongst the plants! My favorite in this pot is the Creeping Jenny (or is that Creeping Charlie?) on the bottom right.

My biggest Kong Coleus...but it's not half as big as they grew last year! I'm really dissapointed with these this year. And just ingore the peeling paint and scratched up weather stripping, OK? AC lets us know when she wants in! :)

Weeds...well, some of the Nice Ones!

Queen Ann's Lace...is my favorite wild flower around here. As kids, we use to pick this and put it in a tall vase of food colored water...they sucked up the food coloring and were beautiful!

Chickweed...what's not to like about this very determined plant? Well, it's pretty invasive in certain situtations, but it's easy to kill...and besides, you can eat it and infuse it in oil for herbal remedies! Good thing I make herbal stuff! :)

The Dogs...

I'm always showing off AC...and Oreo...but we do have another dog! Honey-Mutt...she's a Terrier / Lab mix we rescued from the SPCA (the animal shelter) 12 years ago. She's an "outside" dog by her choice...she hated it in the house and always begged to go out and had to be coaxed in. Anyway....she has this big rock that she's excavating a "dirt room" underneath it. In this pic, she's standing on top of the rock...and yes, that's a front axel from a vehicle that her front paws are on. Don't ask...that was here when I moved in 21 years ago... Yes, I'm serious! And...just so you have some comparison...here's a pic of Oreo...sitting in the driveway, looking cute!

Some other unusual photos

I love the late summer sun...it is so rich and adds a wonderful hue to everything. Just look at these two pictrues and you'll see what I mean...one is with a flash and the other is without a flash. And...these cone flowers just fell over and landed right on this rock all by themselves. I walked past this sight while feeding the birds and immediatley went for my camera. Some things are just so pretty they way nature lets them happen...

Yesterday's Lily Pictures

Red Lilies

I just love the color of these lilies; the evening sunlight was all around them, they were in the shade. The lighting is so perfect...and I didn't even try to do it!

OK...blogger is being a PIA and won't post pics...I'll add them later...OK??? :)

Pictures for Becky! :)

Becky wanted pictures...so here's pictures...not of what she wanted...but at least they are current pictures!

Oreo...sleeping in the kitchen. She's getting big...and bad! Full of energy and lots of sharp little teeth. I woke her up, got her a bedtime snack and then we went outside for a short walk.

And what should we find on the back porch? AC...looking rather annoyed at having a puppy chase her up on the railing! I swear, with some of her glaring looks, she literally thinks the puppy is a stinking filthy mutt. :) And poor Oreo...you know how most dogs love cat food and scarf it up before you can chase them away from it? Not Oreo...she sniffs it and you can literally see her nose curl up and you know she's thinking, "Phew, this stuff stinks!"

Down off the porch we go...and AC still doesn't look very happy from her vantage point! Don't worry, by the time I have the dog in the basement in her "kennel", AC is more than over her glaring fit...and ready to come in for her bedtime snack. She stays in the house then until Billy goes to bed...which is usually sometime around 2:30 a.m. or so (don't ask!)

Since I had the camera out, and since Becky loves flower pictures...here's the cone flowers in the dark. Most of the White Swan stayed white...but four or five stalks of the plant produced powdery pink tinted blooms that gradually darkened to be the same as the other cone flowers. The flower on the far left, in the front, is from the White Swan plant...definitely pink!

Miss O...all ready for bed...in her Kennel. See that nice sheepskin pad? I went shopping last weekend...for water bed sheets and stopped at PetCo...and got a crate pad. Lord it was funny, you should have heard Bill! He *assumed* I was just getting a rubber mat or a tiny hunk of foam for her crate...and I came home with this big sheepskin "bed"! After 21 years, the man should know better!

And...some new shoes for my new job! I'm positive these are going to hurt like hell...my poor feet! I can't get over how heavy these steel toed shoes are! I always thought Bill's were heavy because he wears BOOTS...nope, these sneakers are just as heavy! And...my feet...they are so short and the lenght of the steel toe is "standard" in all steel toed shoes...three inch toe pocket. The steel toe comes back 2/3 of the way back my foot! I literally can't bend my foot! Walking is a real hoot! I can't wait to see/feel the blisters these puppies create!

OK, Becky...did I get enough pictures for now??? I'll be sure to take my camera to the Elk County Fair on Thursday night...and get pics of the Cow Pie Bingo fundraiser that the high school marching band is doing...OK???

Jobs

As some of you know, I've been looking for a job. I've been working with the Community Nurses as a Home Health Aide. The fun began on Tuesday when a local factory called for an interview. I was given a tour, their normal hire lecture and told the job was mine if I wanted it. Ahhh, yes... It's officially a part time job...no benefits, insurance, etc...but it's 40 hours a week. It's close to home (ten minute drive), fairly nice as far as the local factories go in comparison, and not having to pay in towards hospitalization easily makes up for the no paid vacation. Bill's hospitalization is good and it works out for the best that I am not offered it at this job...otherwise Bill would be forced to drop me off his hospitalization.

I was going in to hand in my formal letter of resignation yesterday with the Community Nurses. Ahhh, that didn't exactly go as planned! :) As in, I didn't officially quit the community nurses job. They offered me part time to stay; which I immediately turned down. Part time is more hours than I was getting but not as many as the factory...and with part time I would have to rotate working holidays for them. I am a per diem employee, working "as needed" and this doesn't require working ANY holidays, just every other weekend. After talking with the employee manager and my scheduler for a while...we all agreed that I would stay on as VERY temporary. I would only have to work one shift a month to stay "active". So I said I would do that...I love doing that work...but around here it's so wide spread you can't make enough money to use it as a "job". Anyway, that's my saga for the week.

Tonight we're off to the fair again...going to see Poison (an 80's hair band...Billy's guitar god, CC DeVille...and my BIL's childhood friend, Rikki Rocket, as their drummer). Oh, and food...I'm going to be so stuffed tonight I'm sure I'll be in misery! Funnel Cakes, Crabby Sandwich, French fires, candy apples, deep-fried Oreos...all the good stuff!

Oh, and pictures...I'll get pictures as soon as I find some AA batteries in this house! I swear those things grow legs and crawl out of the silverware drawer where we keep them!

Knitting

Sis's Sweater if FINISHED! Don't look April! :))

All done...and laid out in the best Disco dance pose I could think of!

Isn't this the coolest "gift" box? It's a lined wicker basket with a covered lid! I was looking for something like a hat box for her to store her sweater in...gotta keep my Niece's white and orange fur off the pretty dark green sweater! I found this basket at Michael's...on clearance for only $7!

Here's an upclose of the neck line and the yoke pattern. She loves cables and I was so intimidated by them...this was easy! Much eaiser than that blasted double moss stitch center pannel!

You know...getting a job really cuts down on computer time! I can't beleive it's been this long since I've updated my blog! I have been planning some Christmas presents...knitted ones. I placed a few orders and am almost ready to get started...but first, a baby blanket for a little girl due in October.This color is a bit darker than I wanted; almost the same shade as Barney! It wasn't this dark on the monitor when I ordered it...the color name is "wisteria". Now, I love wisteria...and I've never seen any this shade of purple...well, at least not around here!

and the Christmas present yarn...a pair of felted clogs for mom; a kitty bed for my "niece" and four throw pillows; two each for my aunt and my MIL. Guess I better get knitting. Oh...and I forgot...a lace shawl for my sister...I wonder where I put that yarn? It came in this box...here's hoping MY cat didn't find it! It's a fluffy angora/cashmere...at $25 a skein...that blasted AC had better not have found it! Phew, I see it...sitting on the rocking chair...must have fallen out of the box! You know, I honestly don't know how they cram that much yarn in the box. This stuff was wedged in and packed down. As soon as I cut the strapping tape, the box flaps popped right up and the yarn came swelling out the opening! I swear it was screaming, "me, me...knit with me first!"