I can't help it:  as soon as I finish one, I have to start another one.  It's a quilting thing.

 

This is the pattern.  I'm only doing one star with a border.  It will finish at 38 inches square, and will go on the dining room table. But I'm not using these colors.  Here is my interpretation of this pattern:

 

 

See?  These colors suit me better.  They make me happy.  And that is the whole point of quilting anyway.

 

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

I don't know...does this look comfortable to you?  Yeah, me too.  

 

But this is how he spent a couple hours yesterday.  I guess to understand it, you have to be a cat...

 

 

HAPPY TIMES IN THE MOUNTAINS

 

Today when I was in the garden I saw a lot of caterpillar poop on the ground.  So I looked around and found this caterpillar on one of my hot pepper plants.  Of course I knew what it was, so I cut the branch and carried it back to the potting bench.

 

We have seen these before, and we try to keep them out of the garden.  Tomato Hornworms!!!

 

Jon asked me what kind of moth produces these larvae.  So I looked it up.  Manduca quinquemaculata, and Manduca sexta, the five-spotted hawk moth.  OK.  We still don't want them in the garden.

 

But I found this interesting:  Tomato hornworms and tobacco hornworms are closely related.  Just two different species.  The tomato hornworm has V shaped markings, and the tobacco hornworm has these hashmarks.  The tobacco hornworm is more likely to live in the southern US, and the tomato hornworm lives more up north.  

 

We have always called these tomato hornworms.  But now we know that they are tobacco hornworms.  OK.  Whatever we call them, we still don't want them in the garden.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Patty repainted the haybale on Saturday.  She is AWESOME!!!

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

OK, this is why you need to bring in your bird feeders (all of them) every night.

 

This little raccoon got into Sandy's hummingbird feeder, and left its little sticky footprints all over the deck.  

 

Cute, but...do you really want to encourage wildlife to come onto your deck?  I don't think so.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

As we entered the Walmart garden center, this is what we saw.  There were about three aisles filled with these adorable sunflowers.  They were in pots, and stood only about 12-16 inches tall. 

 

See?  I told you that sunflowers come in all sizes, for all size gardens.

 

I hope you plan to grow some sunflowers.  They are always good for a smile.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I saw this on Facebook, and laughed out loud.  THIS IS ME!!!

 

I'm glad to know that I am not alone in my garden obsession.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is my night-blooming Cereus at 8:15 pm on Wednesday night.  I knew she was going to bloom about two weeks ago when I saw a tiny flower bud.  Then when that bud got to be this big, I knew it would bloom that night.

 

So I set up my cushions next to her, and waited.  And sure enough, by 9:15 this is how it looked.

 

 

This bloom is about 8 inches across and so beautiful.  I wish I could impart her fragrance onto the screen for you, but you just had to be there.  Since you couldn't be there, I am sharing it with you now.  

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!!!

 

My friends sent me this picture of some ferns growing in their yard, and asked if I'd ever written a blog about it.

 

I just looked it up, and now I know WHY I've never written about it.  I understand the words when I'm reading about vascular plants.  But, when I read about ferns, I don't even understand the words!!!  Words like stipes, pinnae, like that.

 

Anyway, I love this fern growing in our woods too, so I looked it up again.  The stipes (stems) are shiny black, and the leaflets are arranged in a semi-circle, creating a very unusual looking fern.

 

Its botanical name is Adiantum pedatum, or northern maidenhair fern.  There are several varieties too, but let's just call it maidenhair fern, and enjoy it.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Not everybody can appreciate this, but I know that you can!!!  Oregano flowers for YOU!!!

 

When I went looking for flowers for you today, these were the best I could find:  oregano in bloom.

 

Or sure, I found a couple zinnias, a few marigolds, and a little basil, but when I saw the oregano in bloom, I thought that you would agree with me that they are very special.  Yes, they are.  They are pretty, they smell good, and they taste like oregano.

 

I would send you a bunch if I could.  But for now, a picture will have to do.  I love you.

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!