Winding Ways in Black and White with a Little Red Pizazz

Another quilt top is done and hanging on the wall, ready for further finishing (translate the actual quilting process). I love this pattern, because it creates all sorts of optical illusions. Be sure to enlarge the pictures so that you can see what happens as you look at the blocks. I apologize for the keystoning effect in the picture. I would have to be in the middle of the bed in this room in order to get a straight-on picture - and the footboard of the antique bed in that room gets in the way, anyhow. I originally thought this quilt would be all black and white, but it certainly sparked it up to have red added.

Zinnias - Undisputably Easy to Grow

Next year, there will be plenty of zinnias in my annual beds. These are different from the pom-pom, big flowered zinnias that I have growing in the garden. The plant is compact, uncomplicated, and continues to bloom even when I'm not busy deadheading the spent flowers. Sorry these pictures are a little fuzzy, but you get my drift. I'm aiming towards easy summer care, and petunias, with their constant need to be deadheaded, are becoming less favorite!

Red bellflower (?)

In the spring, I often plant my big pots with unusual plants. Wish I had kept the label for this one. The plant is about 2-1/2 feet tall, and is just loaded with these bell-like flowers - they hang down, making them look very bell-like.

Sara, the Runner

Dorothy sent this picture of a magazine cover that granddaughter Sara (Baumer) Flores posed for. She really means business in this picture. But I do miss the smile. Sara is a most determined young lady - in her spare time (?) she is a very busy R.N.

Back to Posies

Ice Plant - what pretty colors in the flowers.

This is my pyramid pot - thunbergia (black-eyed susan) is the climbing vine.

This pot, by the front door steps houses losts of different flowers - Veronica, snapdragons, a bell flower, varioius greens, and tiny fern, spikey dracenea, and pansies - plus an interesting grass that has little accents on the end of each spike.

Fun to have the different textures in one pot! We really enjoy our summer flowers, because we know they won't last too long, now that we are nearing the end of August.

More BD

I did something wrong and couldn't add words! Cindy, Ken and Sherry Krull, and other of Andrea's friends did most (all) the work in pulling this together to celebrate the 50th birthday of Andrea. Her great friend Janet even flew in from Utah and spent ? days here in Oly. Many other of Andrea's many, many friends came, brought food (Cindy did the most,) gifts, love, chocolate and we had a wonderful BD on a beautiful day at a beautiful home on the water and just celebrated Andrea and got to know each other more. Some of us stayed until about midnight (?.) We just talked and enjoyed our blessings of everything...it was very a special night, so I thought you all should share it with us. I'll add a few more pictures. Hope it's not too many. Wish you all could have been there. It wont let me add more pictures, maybe tommorow.

Andreas 50th BD

Square Foot Garden Run Amok

There are three (3) square foot gardens under all this foliage. The pole bean (like a Maypole) pyramid in the middle of the top picture is not in a box. Things I've learned: Do not plant bush the following in the little square foot sections: (1) bush scalloped squash (sometimes known as pattipan), (2) cucumbers (they want to run all over, as do the (3) eggplant. Tomatoes planted in a corner do okay, because they sort of hang over the edges. Swiss chard grows great big. Peas do their thing, give lots of food, and then expire. Lettuce turns to seed by the end of July-put the plants in the compost. Carrots do well, as do beets. All in all, it's nice to be eating green beans and carrots for lunch.

Scallop or Pattipan Summer Squash

The symmetry of nature's offerings to us in the plant world is really wonderful. This perfect little squash is a little distorted because of the angle of the picture, but in reality, it seems like the scallops are evenly divided around the perimeter of the fruit. From the first formation of these little scallops to the final vegetable, the growth is fun to watch; the scallops are perfectly formed from the tiniest beginning.

Summertime and the livin is .....

There is no reason for combining these two photos - One was taken early in the morning from our friend's back yard in Jackson a couple of weeks ago. The scene is always beautiful as the sun comes through the V in the hills. The town of Jackson is beyond that cleft - This is a much more peaceful scene.

Another gladioli to enjoy.

Gladiola in numbers

I said that I was frustrated because I accidentally set something on my camera that made each picture repeat itself in multiples. It's an interesting visual, if that's what you're aiming for. Obviously, I am not - so, I finally broke down and read my instruction manual. One little flick of a button on the camera case that is located with a couple of other little buttons, and all of a sudden the multiples went away. This is the last one - now I can either choose to have my image multiplied - or not. Progress! Who says you can't teach an old "dog" new tricks?

Mia Walks!

So I thought I would share the good news; my daughter walked for the first time on Saturday morning! She's taken a total of about 12 steps now. Yippee! This opens up a whole new world of injury. But it also puts her closer to being on equal footing with her brother!

What's in the Sky? Or Not?

Do you ever feel totally frustrated with your camera? I have been fiddling with mine, instruction manual in hand, but occasionally, I wing it, and come up with some unusual pictures. This morning, the clouds lay very low against the ground, mostly obscuring the Bear River Range - it was quite a picture. But...my fiddling produced the multiple picture above (unintentionally). Now, I have to find out what setting I used, and go from there. The picture below is one that I cropped from the one up above. You can see the apple orchard just below the clouds. These clouds followed a pretty heavy rain this morning - the first we've had in weeks.

This was the sky we saw on Thursday in late afternoon. Actually, the sky looked pretty much like this all day. There were very strong winds, first coming from the south, then swinging around to the north, and later back again from the south west. There fires over the mountains near Tremonton, farther south in Tooele county, and the biggie by the Salt Lake airport. It sure turned our sky ugly - don't know how we would react if we had to have this color of sky every day in place of our blue.

Geraniums of all Kinds

It amazes me when I see the different varieties of geraniums. Actually, the one on the top is pink, but I took it in subdued light without the proper camera setting - I actually like a blue geranium. The middle one looks like little pansies, and the bottom one is totally exotic. The plant gets filled with these white and red blossoms - quite a sight. Mother usually had a geranium in the house in later years, so I have a real fondness for their cheerful attitude and outlook on life. Geraniums are not tempermental, they don't need a lot of fertilizer or water. You can forget about them for a day or two and they will survive. Hardy, like the pioneers.

Lilies in the Garden

Last year I planted two bulbs that are supposed to grow lilies that increase in height and beauty each year. (I fall for advertising very easily.) In fact, the claim is that in a few years, the plant will be 6' tall, and the stem strong enough to support a bicycle. We'll see. However, this year, the blooms on this particular plant are magnificent - the show is worth the price of the bulb. Love the lilies....