Best/Worse/What did I learn today?? Garden time, let’s sit and enjoy our gardens, decks and great company..all welcome!!

Todd is doing good. Therapist is gradually adding more resistance to his exercise routine. Some are pretty tough, but he gets through them.

Morning, cold out there,windy but no rain..feels like end of summer weather.

Glad to hear that Todd is able to get his Physical Therapy exercises done..you are seeing him gain strength. Have you both been out for a ride?

I have a little girl Phoebe who is making a book pillow bad, I’m hoping she a finished it this morning..she will be here from 9-11 then the day is mine. not sure what I will do to entertain myself, if it’s still cold I won’t be working in the gardens .. while ground is we is would be easy to hoe and edge some of the gardens.

What will all of you do today?

Betty, no, Todd hasn't left the house since we got home, accept for doctor visit.
We spend time out on the front porch in the morning watching the hummingbirds before it gets too hot. If we need food or other supplies, I run and get them.

Linda, I actually have some penstemon flowers here, but I did not recognize them in the bright pink. The bell shape of the blooms seems a little more pronounced in the pink than in my blue/purple. YEP, is a stunning flower! I grew some in Othello & then bought several plants here on clearance, they are doing fabulous this year.

Betty I add at least 4 inches on each side of the quilt to play in the margin to check tension etc. These are NOT big quilts. I went to Marie's again yesterday. Wound new bobbin (although I had checked bobbin tension with Tova), rethreaded the machine. It seemed to me the bobbin case spring was not behaving properly prior, who knows? I will put the binding on today & post a picture.

I would have no trouble getting a free motion quilt done now but I REALLY want to master the computer Panto. I still need to perfect technique. I noticed at the VERY end of the black & white that I had the beginnings of little puckers in the batting. I THOUGHT I had been keeping it smooth but obviously I still need to work on that. It will be even more critical with a bigger quilt, more opportunity for it go awry!

I have a dental appointment this afternoon. Besides watering, I will focus on getting bindings on some of these small practice quilt pieces & getting them delivered to the pet shelter.

Those longarm machines can be finicky, but when they work good, it's awesome to get a quilt done with no problems.

My penstemon flowers this year. I bought them for a $1 apiece last year at Home Depot, there were in SAD condition! I suspect the difference in the plant is also due to growing conditions. Mine have room to spread out and don't seem as tall (YET!)

I just cut them way back to rebloom. The daisies are now blooming & the Rose of Sharon is JUST starting, beautiful dark pink. All pics of the same area, 2&3 were taken yesterday, #1 was a month or 2 ago

Do any of you order from Keepsake? https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGpGnMhmQcXqbqvTBmHBmjDrsWT Every Wednesday they feature a different wide backing on good sale.

This message was edited Jul 6, 2022 4:08 PM

Your gardens are lovely Pat..must remember name penstemon as I so want them, then they came in different colours.you have a green thumb. My gardens are doing the vest due to weather AND i wanted a wild garden, short and tall, wherever and how they wanted to grow but now I am thinking I’d like it a little more manicured but that would mean sooo much more work. $1 wow what a deal. I’m going to start looking each time I go into town as the fall sales on perennials should be starting soon.

I’ll say like Lindakay, when machines want to work they work and when they want to be difficult nonsense fighting it. I’ve seen me leave it,not touch a thing and next morning it run without a hitch.

Betty, maybe it was a required Union break??? LOL. I keep telling myself and Marie, that soon it will be as natural as our sergers. We ROCK those! We know the settings for different techniques & stitches, can change thread in a heartbeat, so I keep telling myself it will just take time and persistence.

I happened to be in Home Depo when the woman in charge of the plants was there. I was taking some plants off clearance and mentioned that she had LOTS more that NO ONE was going to buy at full price since they looked so bad & asked when those were going to get marked down. She offered them up to me for a $1.White daisies, yellow daisies & the penstemon. Basically everything you see in that garden path except the Rose of Sharon & burning bushes. (I put lots more in other areas) I put them all in my cart & said "Too bad you don't have tall phlox on sale, she shoved a couple of those in too! I had a full cart at $1 a piece. Yep, I did the happy dance!

Betty, I LOVE your gardens, so full and lush, with tons of beautiful garden art. When we left Boise Idaho, I left a pickup load of garden art. I just could not afford another trip & didn't have room. It was mostly just stuff I had made or picked up free or cheap. Kitchen chairs (that I got free off craigslist) that I painted bright colors and cut seat out, pots hung inside. Old ladders with signs I nailed on them. Ceramic animals from thrift stores, (or old cookie jars), that kind of stuff. I spent more time in my garden & less sewing back then.

Just came in from outside and I am devastated. The deer have chewed down my flower garden - all of it. Nothing was spared. I found out the motion light wasn't on. I was so looking forward to seeing my pink and yellow Day lilies bloom.

Lovely day here. How about you Betty:?

Was able to get all the dirt back on my septic tank area. I used a rake rather than a shovel and it took less time. My back is spouting blue words though.

LK I was happy to read Todd got outside for a bit.

There was limited fireworks display this weekend.

Stay safe, well and happy.

Beautiful garden Pat.
Betty, I hope you can find some of what you are looking for.
Dianne, sorry to hear the dear ate your plants.

Well we submitted our offer. It was over the asking price, which BTW I do not agree with but seems to be what the trend is now. We have a preapproval and will have a goodly down payment. They decided to wait and see if they get a higher offer. I told our agent to withdraw our offer. As far as I am concerned, they are not acting in good faith and I refuse to play their games.

How disheartening Dianne, can’t imagine after working the gardens after a long winter to lose everything..someone once told me to ask Foodland for all the old fruit so i would be able to feed the deer that pass through, no way, know they would then come and eat all my pretties..the covering the septic is that because you had it pumped? Not a wonder you are hurting.


Karen, you must be so disappointed..think you did right by cancelling your offer, sounds like they would play games with you..someone up you, then you up them..know that goes on up here, some areas it goes as high as $200k as there is a lack of homes. Will you go look for something or stay with kids and take your time looking?

A union break lol. That is the trouble when you move, you have to leave your q plants behind, more so when you are moving to a cold zone..guess someone will benefit my garden art. Mel doesn’t garden so have no clue what will become of them.

Lindakay how did Todd make out today.

Drats, I’m hating this iPad, bet I don’t type more than a few words that all the words are without spaces.. ifthatwasntgoodenough grrr if that wasn’t enough my mail says I’ve 1,104 emails, when I open the boxes there are no emails or junk. I called Roger’s about it but recording says more than normal volume so I will call early in the morning. I will go to Apple in Barrie and see what the problem is Re no spaces a lot of the time. You have no idea how long it takes for me to write a post



was a beautiful day, i worked the gardens a little then Marie came over while i worked the front hosta garden, Can’t grow much there because it doesn’t get sun the big maple trees hide it actually even when it rains it seems that the rain can’t penetrate. We then sat on the front deck and grab the bed and I talked about the far trees right next to my neighbour the one that looks like a garbage dump and said if i cut some limbs off it would get sun and I could this spring plant some pretties vs just hostas..she no sooner went home I thought why couldn’t i cut some limbs, after i did cut a fair amount, now I know why they were there, what a mess i will have to look at when i sit out front grr

Karen, you need to ask your Realtor. If you offered more and had no exceptions in your offer, then they owe a commission to your Realtor even if they do not accept the offer. Prices are going down and they will get bit in the butt.

Betty, I do the same thing. Start thinning something out then all of a sudden I realize why it was there. OOPS. I cannot grow hostas here. I am still playing hid and seek every night with the tomato worms. Went from over 20 one night down to 0 and last night 5. but I found 5 this morning. Problem, the one I found this morning were small so they are still more hatching. I have the tomatoes and garlic roasted and simmering the onions, celery and carrots. Suppose to let everything cool, put in blender, add broth. Then reheat and add cream at last moment. Suppose to add spices. Going to punt on that.

Dianne, I would be having me some venison steaks about right now. My father used to say it was deer hunting season when the freezer was empty. You have your deer and I have my tomato worms.

Pat, your Rose of Sharon has large blooms. Mine, at our old home, had such small blooms I didn't move it to our new home. Great job on the $1 plants.

Linda, I watched th news today abut the invasion of Texas. Just cannot wrap my head around this problem. I keep asking myself when are they going to do something about this. I am so pleased Todd is doing better each day.

Time for Emma's afternoon walk. You all have a wonderful night.

Here, basically there are NO homes under $350K and they expect the prices to continue to rise another 20%. I have been looking online for homes. ALL homes have basically doubled in price since 2018!! Can you imagine? YIKES.

Betty, when you said you were cutting limbs, I was thinking "didn't they block the view of the dumpy place next door?" then I read on LOL.

Marie's son's chickens attacked all her beautiful patio flowerpots. Broke off plants, etc, she was sooooo upset. Deer, dogs & chickens or my SIL's bane, the neighbor's cat. We all work too hard to have someone or something maim our plants.

My soaker hose sprung a leak & created geyser & HUGE pond, water running off my roof! Guess we know how tall minimal height of the geyser was! I am grateful the area has slab cement; the rest of the house has crawl space, and it would have flooded. I will let it dry until tomorrow at least and then see if I can find the problem. I am NOT trying to walk thru that mud!

Dianne - that's terrible!! What happened with the motion light - burn out?
Pat - what a find! $1 apiece - wow!!
Betty - did you find everything you needed/wanted? Hope so.

Remember the counsellor I had for Anger Management? Well, very shortly after I started meeting with her via Zoom, she realized that I took responsibility for slapping Bob & she sent me a book on breaking free of abuse. She & I had a meeting hours after Bob choked me, so she's trying to help me through this. She contacted me via email & asked me if I was getting counselling & if it was helping. She's agreed to meet with me again, at no charge, so I'm just waiting to find out what time will work for both of us.

Good morning everyone.
Glad to hear she reached out to you Susan.
Pat, hope you can get your hose fixed.
Todd continues to improve daily. Hardest thing for him is sleeping at night. He stays up with no naps during the day, and he's so tired when he goes to bed. Then he is awake 2 to 3 hours later. I will ask the nurse about something to help him sleep.

Good to hear from you Susan & I am impressed that the counselor is offering some free service, good for her! And smart of you to take her up on it.

AC guy comes AGAIN today to do the deep cleaning & I want to just take a pain pill & use an ice pack and try to sleep. THAT's not going to happen... Oh well. Yesterday's DDS appointment did me in. Only 3 more dental appointments THIS month... plus one more next month, and the implant will be done & all 3 crowns.

Ouch. My mouth hurts just hearing what you are going through. Praying it heals quickly.

It is 2 and all is well. I am just letting bacon get cool for a BLT with vadila onion. Hot but breezy so it is tolerable.

Granddaughter and hubby are settled in and their two french bulldogs love the back yard. They are overwhelmed how large the home is after being in an apartment for over 5 years. 2500 sq feet. They are currently picking up their new car and then dropping by to pick some tomatoes. They sold Hannah's car, which she got on her 16th birthday. She is now 30. My niece is second in command at the Honda dealership so she always gets family members a good price. Honda Accord.

I am currently sitting on the back patio watching two red dragonflies and a blue damsel. Three hummers in the back area trying to chase away each other.

Pat, I do not like the torture for crowns or implants. Never had implants but Vern did. I have many crowns. Having the hose break like that sounds like something that would happen to me. Thank goodness there was not water damage. I actually go outside in my pj's right before I go to bed to search for the worms with my black light. My tomato garden is about 25 steps away from the side door that comes off my bedroom. I actually have two doors in my bedroom that exit into the back landscape. Found three very large ones and 2 small.

Betty, you sound very mellow for you. I have two bunches of grapes on my grape vine. This vine showed up about 5 years ago in a pot. We always though it was a grape vine but never put on grapes. Planted by a bird. Tasted one today and it is still not quite sweet. Have a purple tinge and has 2 small seeds.

Susan, very nice of the counselor to call you and check on you. And accepting is the right step toward getting Bob out of your head and life.

I will return later in the day.

Here I am, perfect day out there, wind is up so that is a plus.

Where to start, Sharon, so happy that all are settled in, not a wonder they are in 7th heaven, that is a wonderful size for a family and furries.bet you are thrilled to have good tenants and a plus to have them nearby..how far from you are they? Mellow?the entire world is going crazy..can tell you when it’s my time to go I’ll not be sad, people just aren’t the same..where we gathered always there is no more, family getting older and busy, many friends who used to come to sew/crafts have passed on or getting to old to come out and play..miss my Roadtrips..aren’t I a boundless of joy..I’m just mellow, adjusting to this new way of life.

Ohh maybe Sharon you can make grape jelly, with the sugar wouldn’t taste bitter. Marie and i moved my container gardens to a place with more sun, we will see if I get anything..the container with yellow beans I am sure I will have a feast.

Small leak in my pond, very small so just adding water, sat out near the pond after I cut grass..tomorrow morning I will pick up the limbs should have done it today but gave my shoulder a rest.

Susan that is good news and am glad you will take advantage of her offer..how are your gardens doing? Susan wasn’t doing well for awhile, has she recuperated? Glad you have her friendship.

Pat, I hate the thoughts of a denturist let alone a dentist. I’m in need of new dentures and hate the thoughts of it but seeing I was under 20 and only replaced them once guess I can’t complain..think I paid about $800 for last ones, can’t imagine what they charge nowadays. With waiting for a new roof and window that about does my $$ in but will check how much and go from there. Too bad seniors don’t get coverage, wouldn’t that be nice? Are you covered for all dentistry procedures?

Yep
Someone is at the door

I’m back was a minister from Baptist Church doing rounds..very interesting person, been in area 24 years and originally from North Carolina.

Where was I,

Pat, is your A/C fixed?

Here is hoping Lindakay you can get sleeping pills for Todd, he needs more rest than a few hours sleep.bet you are by his side continually, was quite a shock for you to see him so I’ll..guess you haven’t been meeting with your quilting friend, was going to say are you going to quilting shop? But then I remember she sold it to her son and up went the prices, have you heard if he is still there.

How are you doing Deb and Liz

Dianne, when i walked the gardens tonight I thought of you and your gardens, feel badly for you..hope you had my weather today.

Karen, did realtor yours or theirs have any feedback? Know you are disappointed, maybe it’s for the best.

Worked on Sharon’s sg piece, added 5 rocks, broke 2 .. I will put water in my saw tomorrow and cut them out..

been dying for some sweets, the strawberry vanilla pudding I Just had isn’t doing the trick..sure glad it’s shopping day tomorrow.

Think I will head to bed before I start baking..bread pudding would only take 15 minutes but if I bake it I will eat it all.

My insurance did not cover any of the crown for the implant, all total out of pocket on that was about $4000. the other crowns are covered and only cost me about $150 each.
Our first long arm project that was not just scrap/ practice type stuff. We did get a small whole cloth baby quilt done earlier but this is STARTING to make progress. 50 x 60. A friend made the diagonal blocks in a serger class and did not want it. I took off 2 rows of blocks as the proportions were all wrong, very long & skinny. I added 2 borders, we quilted it Monday & I got the bindings on today. I will do another throw size & then start Carrie's 90 x 90. wish us luck!

Quilt shop has been closed for about 3 months. Her grandson was asked by a friend to bring fabric to Arizona to an Indian reservation as there was no fabric within 300 miles. So he borrowed grandma's truck, packed up most of the fabric, and drove out there, supposedly for a week. That was 3 months ago. She has been calling him to bring back her truck, and he told her to go jump in a lake. She finally called the police, they found her truck in Oregon with no keys, and a broken windshield. She is in the process of working with her insurance to get the truck back to Texas. If he is ever found, he will go to jail. She has no idea where all the fabric went too. She lost everything.

ouch - that's quite the bill, Pat!

Today I started to weed my veggie garden. Lots growing of the good & the bad lol
There was a tornado warning today, so I left my mobile & went to the basement of the Arena where we have the library & Wellness meetings. I had a lot of books to put in the spinners, and ate my dinner there. When I found the bad weather had passed us by, I came back home. I contacted others in our Park, but none of them came to the Library. The door was open for them, but I can't force people to take cover.

Betty - Susan is recovering, but is still at home and taking PT. Her Dr doesn't want her to drive yet, putting weight on her foot. She's hoping to get her vaccinations so she can come across the border to visit, but she'll have to wait 28 days after her first shot to have her 2nd shot and then wait the 2 weeks more to be considered fully vaccinnated. I frankly don't see it happening, but she says she wants to come visit me. We'll see. Thanks for asking about her :)

This message was edited Jul 7, 2022 11:42 PM

Linda, that grandson is quite a piece of work! How terrible to treat his grandmother like that. It must break her heart. Family --- sometimes we are blessed, some people are NOT.

Another practice piece, it is whole cloth & we were really fortunate to have the binding & backing in Marie's stash. I was really pleased with the binding & backing, could not have asked for better color to use. The printed quilt top was purchased at a thrift store, so was the batting! A cheap but cute practice piece that will get donated. .

It was very sad the woman was done that way by her grandson. I'm so blessed with my family. Any of our grands will do anything to help us any time. They are already calling to see when to come help us with the move.

Beautiful quilt Pat. Well done.

Karen, you are blessed. I remember so many family projects. That is NOT the way of my sons now. I miss that so much.
Linda, thanks! I was pleased with it.

Love the quilts Pat, can see you are progressing well, you will both be pro’s before long

Roger’s tv, phones,internet ,cel phones were down since last night right across Canada, just came on but is off and on..went to midland shopping, lucky i had cash but had to put some purchases on credit card as all purchases were either cash or credit card, not sure how come Cc could work..this was Roger’s all over Canada..am sure there will be hell to pay..businesses couldn’t operate nor 911

Susan must use different provider, not sure about Dianne, hope she is ok

That is a pretty big deal..I’ll watch news at 11 and see if they were hacked.


I did my shopping using Cc now i will transfer funds to cover what I used. Shouldn’t have stopped at Gayle’s stained glass, $101.97..thank god i love Sharon as she wanted a lighter blue for sky, glad i love her lol

Service is going off and on so best i post just incase

Morning, perfect day for working and playing out side
Just need it to warm out a tad

What are you all up to today?

Pat, what was the deadline date for you to get your house back to yourself?

How many worms did you pick lady ninth Sharon

Someone is enjoying summer

Good morning.
He is such a cutie.
Judy finally had her surgery on her carotid arteries yesterday. She said it went well, but blood pressure went really high. They will keep her in the hospital at least overnight to watch it.
We aren't doing much. We have 100+ temperatures all week, and predicted for at least 10 more days. It was 98 at 9 last night. 83 right now at 6:30 am.

This message was edited Jul 9, 2022 6:27 AM

He is such a cutie, Betty!!

It's going to be a busy weekend. The rain we had overnight on Monday flooded my basement. I haven't had water in here in almost 35 years, and then, it was because the street was flooded up to the house, and water came in the windows. Had plumbers out, second one determined that city sewer was blocked. Got the city to come out and water went down quickly, but everything down there is wet and gross. Water was almost 5" deep across the entire floor. I had to turn off the gas to the water heater, because where the pilot light is was underwater. Just got that relit yesterday afternoon. Weekend of going through things seeing what I can save, and filling my garbage can. I haven't tried the washer and dryer, yet. Keep your fingers crossed for that!

Oh wow Deb, I’ve been through that a few times and it’s mega work, more than we women should be doing on our own..you will be throwing a lot out..do you have fans? Might be worth going to Home Depot and renting a few hire powered ones, they really make a difference in the drying.my heart is going out to you. Could up you put in an insurance claim, much of what was wet would be replaced and a team coming in to do all and you could just sit and relax..that being said because of flooring,drywall being replaced is did take them about 3 months to get it done, ours area was hit so most homes flooded, maybe if you are one of the few you will it will not take as long.

Thanks for Judy’s update Lindakay, hope this is the end of her surgeries.Steve and the kids must have been quite worried, you can identify with that..prayers and hugs.

I was watching cnn while working on Stained Glass piece (sky) until it warms up and they were giving temperatures for most southern states..Lordy it will be an inside day for most of you..

I finished my coffee, time to do my floors then put a sweater on, yes a sweater as it’s quite cool, we will have a high of 72.. will work outside for a few hours,

Roger’s is still acting up a little this morning

Hoping all our ducks will fall into their rows on Monday. It's when buyers here are required to accept inspection and we get a closing date. Also when we are supposed to hear if our offer was accepted on place we like.
We've been busy packing, still trying to find boxes in garage for my Emmet Kellys and red glass. They are most likely in the attic and it's been beastly hot up there. Coat closet is packed , also both of our clothes closets.

Looking at the temps Karen it’s like an oven for all of you..best you don’t go into the attic and that you don’t do too much today.I’ll add my prayers that the inspection goes well..did you find another place and put an offer in?..

Sharon is making appointment so that Inuk will cross over the rainbow bridge, not sure how she will deal with that,,the vet will come to her home and then take Inuk to be cremated in that new (to me) water cremation..

Inuk has been her life, not sure how she will handle this

Deb, I would think that your insurance should take care of it. Surely everything that the water was in contact with would be considered contaminated and in need of sterilization, or replacement. Your insurance could then go after the city for reimbursement as 3rd party claim. My only flooding was our own fault. A faucet got turned on & left on until the area next to house was saturated and flooded into window of basement, that was over 20 years ago!

When blasting for construction of new highway cracked foundations & drywall where we lived, my home owners paid for the repair. The other home owners filed class action suit against construction company for repairs, I guess those owners didn't press their own home policy to pay, I did. .

I can't believe how big Grayson is!!! he can't be that old already! LOL

Good news about Todd's continued improvement. Are YOU starting to recover Linda? I know how hard it can be on the spouse.

Let's pray for good news all around for Monday Karen.

The deadline for moving that I gave my son & family is August 31. Basically, I gave them 4 months & planned it for AFTER grandson returned from his mothers for the summer. Adam will have been on the new job for 5 months.

We cross posted Betty. I am so sorry about Inuk, our pets are so important to us and a long life is never long enough for our hearts.

Good afternoon. A lovely day here with temps in the low 70's. Yes a sweater is in order.

Managed to get to the market this morning - only 4 stalls but I got some tasty butter tarts, new potatoes and a loaf of rye bread. The strawberries were amazing so I shared some with my American neighbours. There was just too many for me. I bought some and the guy said "Oh here take some more" There was only me and 1 other person looking around. Maybe it was too early for some.

The mosquitoes are horrid. They drove Chaos and I home. Poor Chaos his back was covered in deer flies and skeeters. I had to brush them all off before he could come into the house.

Oh Deb that's an awful mess you were left with. A lot of hours of extra work for you.

Betty, Grayson is going to be a big boy. I can't get over how much he has grown. How old is he now ?

The Rogers blackout didn't affect me as I have Bell for everything except my cell. My cell is Rogers but I can't tell you the last time I used it. I only got it because people were worried about me walking out in the bush and what if I fell and hurt myself. I have fallen a couple of times usually on ice. Once I knocked myself right out and woke to 2 very concerned dogs licking my face.

I had to go to another village 'Sydenham' to get something for Chaos so I dropped into the Foodland there. Prices were even higher than here in the village.

LK thanks for letting us know how Judy is doing. Continuing to send positive thoughts for you and Todd.

Susan I am sure you will appreciate the extra help that was offered you. Sometimes you need an extra ear just to talk things out.

Sharon to coin a phrase used around here "I am so envious of you I could spit". I am a tomato lover. Did you plant any tomatillos? I planted them 1 year by mistake but it turned out to be an excellent mistake.

Think I will go out and weed for a bit. My knee has been so bad I can't get down to weed. I get a cortisone shot in it on Monday. I chose that over surgery. My name was put on the list for surgery anyway but it will probably be years before my name comes to the top of the list.

Stay safe, well and happy.

Sorry to hear about your flooding Deb. The city is at fault, and I would send them the bill for everything you have to throw out, clothes, appliances...
Judy sent me a text this morning, she is home, going to take to rest and get well.
Betty, sorry to hear about Inuk. I have never heard of water cremation.
Karen, good luck with your inspection and offer on new place.

Oh Betty, Hugs to Sharon on losing Inuk. I have so enjoyed following his awesome career.
Today is a bit more temperate, just 84. Started the day with heavy rain.