Cool this morning but look out later

I went out to take pictures before the afternoon heat wilted everything. This is Rubeckia. I got a small start from a friend and it has gone overboard. Have to thin this one out. The old Fashion Rose of Sharon. This is a perfect picture. The Japanese Beetles love these flowers.

Russian sage and Purple Cone flowers. I wish you could smell the Sage. It is heavenly.

See all the holes in the petals. Those Japanese Beetles love all the pretty flowers. Why can't they eat the weeds only.

Here is one of the pepper plants I started in the house. They are growing well.

This one is even turning red. I can't wait.

Today it is going to be to hot to be outside. The humidity and heat will be close to 100*F. So I think I am going to buy some more safety pins and pin baste a quilt top. The A/C will feel good today. Should mow, but to wet this morning to start and by the time it dries out it will be to hot. Today I will play with fabric. Yesterday my dryer went on the blink. Not sure if repairable. May have to shop for a new one. Towels and jeans are my big hangup. I can line dry everything else. But we can't have a clothesline where we live so on hangers in the bathrooms. Always a way. Chris

Another Purse

I worked all day yesterday sewing. I made tow purses. This is the one I think I made a mistake on. The tab in front has a dark flower base on a dark piece of denim. Lesson learned. I need to think through the color combinations. This is a gift for my neighbor's 81 year old mother. She will like it so I am not going to change it now. I have another purse made from a commercial pattern and I am frustrated with it.

It is a huge bag a Hobo bag and it doesn't look right to me. So today I rip it out and stat over with the pieces I have. Not sure how many more of these I am going to make. I need to find a quicker method of making them. I have been making them by doing the applique by hand. I guess need to brush up on my skills with the machine. I would like a black one for the winter. Maybe a little larger and have a matching smaller bag to slip in for quilting supplies while away from home.
I do like to take a project with me while waiting at an appointment. May have to brain storm on that one and see what kind of applique I can come up with for the main purse. Off to the sewing room and see what I can come up with. Chris

Garden pictures

Purple Cone flowers are everywhere this year. They multiplied before my eyes. They will have to be thinned out in the fall.

This is a type of Lily. It is called Freckle Faced Lilies. They have Iris like leaves.
This one is called Candy tuft. Same kind as the other lily. There are red ones and white ones but these are the only two I have.

This is a shot of the garden. The bushy stuff is the tomato plants. I think I planted them to close with the amount of rain we had they over produced all the foliage. I can pick my first batch of beans tomorrow. Can't wait.

Shasta Daisies. I have two clumps of them and the other one is dying out in the center. So I need to separate and move after they bloom.

Purple Cone flowers, but one white one. See it? I moved them to this spot and I had white ones in the spot where they came from so I must have gotten a piece of the root.



My hostas are about 30 inches high. The leaves I mean. The flowers are over 4ft high. They have only been there 4 years. They came as starts from the John Deere Historical site in Grand Detour, Illinois. My neighbor use to work there and they thinned them out 4 years ago. Never thought they would do this well.

Rose of Sharon Bush is in bloom it normally gets eaten by the Japanese Beetles, but I found a product that is systemic and no bugs eating it this year. Yipppppeeee!

Things are so dry now I am watering. We had almost 8 inches more rain than normal in the month of May and June. Now it is dry. Rain all around us. So everything is wilting because they were use to all the rain and nothing for days. Chris

Happy July Fourth

This is what it all means. Freedom. We have it and want to keep it. Pray for the Soldiers that are in harms way so we may be free. Chris Be Safe!

Happy Red White and Boom

Well the festivities start in some towns tonight and others tomorrow night. We have a town festival going on called the Petunia Festival. The streets in town are planted with Petunias along the road and next to the sidewalks. Also this is the year for a big Ronald Reagan festival going on also. Ronald Reagan was raised in Dixon, Illinois and was a lifeguard at the park. His boyhood home is open for the public. It is on the historical registry. I can see some of the fireworks from my living room so I think to escape the mosquitoes I will stay home. Chris

Sewing Treasures

Back in the day buttonholes were done by hand most of the time. Hence the term Buttonhole stitch. These were in my Grandmother's possessions.

She was a seamstress and did garments for people for hire. She would sew all week long and clean only on Fridays. I am sure this was the best attachment you could have for your sewing machine back in the 40-50's. This box says it is a 50th anniversary model. They weigh a lot and they have been used a lot also. Inside the box is a paper in my Grandmother' s handwriting saying she purchased it in March of 1952. That was a month after I was born. She probably paid about $5 for it and ordered it mail order from a magazine.
I found both of these in my Grandmother's sewing things. I never saw her use them. By the time I noticed her sewing she had a newer Singer Buttonholer for her machine. The machines they fit was an old Franklin with a bullet shuttle bobbin.

Chris

I am Woman

Today is going to be busy. I stripped the bed and washed the sheets. I did the dishes wiped off the counters and ready to get outside. My days of having cooler weather to get things done are over. It is after all July 1st. Where is the Summer going? The yard needs mowing, the weeds need pulling and the flower beds need mulch. Where do I begin? I have spent two days recovering from falling in the garden on my caboose. Why is it so hard to get started after the big 5-0? I am way past that now and it is harder every year to get up and get moving. I have lost some weight, but it is a struggle day to day. Plan on doing some hand stitching after I come back in and see if I can get some purses assembled this weekend. The weather is suppose to get hot and humid. Stay cool. I am off to see how far I get today. Chris