Garden Update

Plants Growing Slowly

Pictures are so much better than words for this:

Baby Maties

Kale-soon to be chips cuz Lynda loves chips !~! 

More tomatoes-mmmmm ...

 

See the zookie babies ?~!

Altho the other gardens in the common area appear to be growing much better and bigger, this little experiment in watering and looking at the weeds provides fun, fills time and hopefully the produce will taste good.

I'll keep you posted...

May Nearly Half Gone...

The first couple weeks of May have been busy and the weather just perfect for Springtime activities and evening walks under the meteor showers.

I have completed a few projects I'd like to share with you...

A Field Bag of gray linen, lined with same, decorated with strips of "coins" that I use for Leader-Ender projects every time I sew.

Measuring 12.5 by 7.5 by 2.5 inches it will carry everything needed for a day.
The shoulder strap is braided bias tape.

Branching out the other night, I put together a fabric mosaic. Something totally different from my regular work. Ormond named it Golden Ladies.

Fabric mosaic--cotton fabrics glued to heavy linen.

Littles Come to Visit Regularly

Wyatt is here most days; Ginger has stopped by a couple times and Scout spent five hours with us today. She told her mom on the way here that "Lynda and Ormond keep the toys in drawers." She's right, we do and they all know where to find their stuff and what to leave alone. They are so good - all of them.

Wyatt's expression just thrills me every time
I see this picture of my two favorite guys.

Big-eyed boy looking to get off the couch and into the game !~!

They Don't Make 'Em Like this Woman Anymore

One of my sisters-of -another-mother has a blog of her own: 'Merican Yankee freezing off my Key West tan  Somewhere I cannot find on that Googles!~! and shares the Best Info. Today I had to bring it to all four of my readers--I appreciate each of you and thank you for choosing to fly Qantas!~! Our newborn koalas poop the yummiest hors deovres. Let's try to keep that just amongst ourselves tho, kay ?~!

Here's Phyllis in a few of my favorite pics of her and then her blog post from this week with great info about bugs and how to convince them to go elsewhere to  live, breed, feed and die: (confession, I edited a few minor jokes and none of the important stuff.)

My first memories of Phyllis are these.
We each had our own dinghy; it was a source of pride
to have a nice, clean, fast, pretty boat for that commute
between the back deck and the dock.

American Yankee above the ice shelf and the tree line !~!
Her rescued girl, Gracie Goo, provides love, affection
and an excuse to get outta the chair once or twice an hour.

Tractor pulls have been child's play for this woman
who cans like there's no tomorrow.
And it is ALL delectable and frequently beyond description.
Accept invites that include home cooking
or any opportunity to enjoy her baked goods.

It's that time of year again !~! Share this fascinating information with your family and friends!

10 Ways To "Put Them to Sleep, Sweetie"(Kill) Ants… Organically

1. Baking soda is poisonous to ants, spinkle it around your plants to encourage the ant scouting team to seek out less hostile pastures.

2. Flour & Baby Powder will keep ants from reaching your plants; ants will not cross the powder – encircle your plants with it.

3. Also useful are coffee grounds, chili powder, cinnamon, peppermint and/or black pepper. All deter ants and if you pour coffee grounds directly on an anthill, they will eat the coffee grounds and explode.

4. Grits, instant rice & cream of wheat can be sprinkled around plants. Ants will eat whatever you sprinkle. They they drink water and the grain expands and kills the ant. Win all around, esp for ant morticians...

5. Fill a spray bottle with 1 part vinegar and an equal amount of water and spray the mix on plants. The acid in vinegar will kill ants.

6. Mix one-third cup of molasses, six tablespoons of sugar, and six tablespoons of active dry yeast into a smooth paste. Coat strips of cardboard. Keep out of reach of pets and small children. You can leave mixture on a saucer outside anthill and they’ll eat it and die. Dumber than the dirt they crawl thru about some things, no ?~!

7. Fold contact paper into donut, sticky side out. Make a circle around base of plant. The ants get stuck to the paper – problem solved; complete with viewings, haha !~!

8. Cut off the bottom of a paper cup, cut a slit up the side of the cup and coat outside with vaseline and place around base of plant. You can also use packing tape.

9. Mix one cup of borax, two-thirds a cup sugar and one cup water. Dip cotton balls in the solution and place in areas near your anthill. Ants will leave the plants alone and ingest the sweet mixture. The borax kills the ants.

10. Diatomaceous Earth is a commonly sold organic pesticide that will destroy the insects outer skeletons, causing the pests to die from dehydration.

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So my friends and readers, in case you don't overlap, I hope you can get some use from this reprint with my jokes flung like monkey rejected food into the wheels and gears.

This last picture shows my beloved Phyllis a month or two ago. Chemo and radiation done. She's returned to work and taking good care of her co-workers makes her feel as much a part of the team as she always was.