Maintenance

Sitting here with an ice pack on my knee, and when it's no longer cold will slip on my compression knee brace; I can't help thinking and wishing body maintenance was as easy as quality car maintenance. Now I don't claim to be well versed about things like a brake job, but read when metal hits metal as a result of your rotors and pads being shot you've got a problem. My knee isn't metal on metal, but isn't arthritis bone on bone? Anyway that's how I try to understand complicated car issues. I know if you don't get a brake job when you need it, you have bigger issues.

I have a friend who says her body doesn't work as well in extreme heat as it does other times. In my current state that reminded me of what I've learned reading about Houston Auto Repair. Extreme heat and humidity causes seals to falter, leaks to occur and fuse panels in your car not to work properly. I thought that was interesting and helpful information to have. I poked around further and found you can read what affiliations they have, what type of cars they work on, what they specialize in, how they're rated and get directions to the shop there in Houston. Well not just in Houston, plug in your city and find a reputable auto repair dealer near you. Read the reviews and find car care you can have confidence in.

Think about the time you spend in a car. Seriously; you depend on it to get you to work, to take you shopping, to pick up the kids from school and all their other activities. You depend on it to keep you and your loved ones safe. The health and welfare of your loved ones is important. Help your car take care of your family and friends by keeping it healthy. Take for example an oil change. Did you know that having your oil changed prolongs the life of your car, by removing heat from the internal engine componets to keep the engine "healthy"? Too bad I can't change the oil in my knee to keep it healthy, though the ice pack is removing the heat, lol. I don't understand or want to know much about gaskets, weights of oil or it's viscosity so am thrilled to have someone who knows what their doing tend to those important things for me.

Whether you drive an Acura TL, or other model car you no doubt have questions from time to time. Maybe you wonder about recalls, of if the problem you're having is a common one for that make and model autombile. By choosing your car, model and year you have at your finger tips a wealth of valuable and helpful information.

The car and I are alike, old and in need of maintenace.

Pretty Pretty Flowers

I love backyard flowers. I like lots of different colors and enjoy looking out the windows at them. Sometimes I think I should get rid of some of flower beds because as I get older the weeding, the mulching...get's to be a bit much. But I do really enjoy them. Many could be picked and brought indoors in a vase, but I rarely do that because they last so much longer outside. These pretty golden yellow Stella De Oro's bloom longer then many of the others in my yard. I like they way they clump and only grow about 2 feet tall, so they make it possible to have something taller behind them. I have these here and there in the yard and they really show up even on a cloudy day.


These Pink Lillie's are one of my favorites. I've babied these and this is the first year they've done this well. I moved them last year. They were close to the house because they have such a wonderful fragrance I wanted to be able to smell them easily. But the dang rabbits, and chipmunks kept eating them. When this plant is just popping it's head out of the ground it's young and tender and apparently they really like that. One year I kept something around it until it was ready to bloom to protect it. Then I removed the standard so it would be prettier and the very next day a rabbit went through and completely snapped it off. I was furious and ready to behead the pest. Some years they...chipmunks, squirrels, or rabbits...unsure which cause I didn't see the culprit actually dug up the bulbs. I kept replanting and everyday it would be dug up again. Anyone want to come hunt in my yard? Sooooooo last year I moved them and they've finally gotten thick enough they apparently don't taste good, as they've left it alone. However.........2 tiny off shoots near them I was looking forward to were completely eaten. errrrrrrrrrrrr Even my neighbor, Kevin remarks how nice these smell. He can enjoy them even from his backyard.

Daisies, love Shasta Daisies. Mine get so large they look more like a bush as time goes on. Some years I've actually had to tie them up for support because of all the blooms. They're really just starting in this photo. At night, just about dusk they look almost iridescent when I look out my window.






These are yellow Buttercups, they're pretty but beware....they'll take over your whole flower bed. I've pulled most of these up and have only left a few plants out in the very back of the yard. That particular flower bed is less manicured and has a more wild look to it. Hope you've enjoyed some of the color from my back yard. And maybe next year, you all can come over and help me weed and mulch! lol

Fun Funky ALP Feza

This was so much fun to make, it kept changing right before my very eyes as I knitted. Knitted this lengthwise on 2 different sized needles and really like the way it turned out. Might have liked it to be just a couple of rows wider; but I knit my brains out until there was no more to knit with. Alp Feza is 247 yards and is a bit pricey at $39.95 a skein, so it's a one skein decorative scarf. It's super light weight and airy which I'm not sure you see from the picture.

I really must keep my eyes open to see if they ever put this on sale. This would work well for someone in a warm climate or someone who wears scarves in a cool air conditioned office in the summer.

Mom, Red, White and Blue

Happy 4th of July one and all. As I think about the 4th of July I think of Mom. No she wasn't in the military; but she always made a point to wear something special...something red, white, and blue at our family picnics. More than that she sewed and when I was young often made us new red, white and blue outfits special for The 4th of July.

We'd get up early put on our special clothes, and head to The Parade. It was great fun and very patriotic. Everyone cheering as The Fife and Drum made it's way down the street. This signaled the parade had started. It was fun, festive and always very traditional. We kids always had little flags to proudly wave. We snacked off and on throughout the day as we watched the slowly cooking meat on the spic. We played family games and sometimes went to a neighborhood 4th of July festival. After the delicious dinner and clean up we'd head to the fireworks. Generally we were hot and thirsty afterward so the watermelon that had been iced in a galvanized tub all day long tasted fabulous.

Mom loved the 4th and I'll think of her this year again; though she's not with us; as we honor those who made this holiday possible.

I'll proudly wear something Red, White, and Blue. How bout you?

Art Festivals

This is the 2nd year in a row I've been able to attend The Columbus Arts Festival with my SIL's and I wanted to share a little bit of the fun with you all.

I love scuptures, particularly metal ones. There were others, but so many people around them I couldn't get pictures. Aren't they fantastic!

This was just plain fun, that's a real person not a sculpture! Some folks would walk by and really think it was a statue and he'd slowly grab them...what a hoot. I posed with him but someone walked right in front when my SIL, Jan and Julie snapped the picture....errrrrrrr. This might have been one of my favorite parts. We watched for quite a while.

Look at this marvelous old camera. The booth held wonderful black and whites from this artist.

It's a fun way to see lots of different kinds of art, to support hard working artist. Last year I purchased a jacket which I still love. She was there again this year, and quess what...yep I bought another one of her special jackets. Will get photo of it later.

Going out of Business, SALE

Recently was able to purchase some awesome fibers/yarn from a LYS that is no longer in business. How sad to see them go, as it was such a fun and funky place to visit. Everyone there, workers and shoppers were fun. They do plan to have an on line store; but I don't think that will work for me. I don't know fibers and yarns well by name, I need to see and touch them to determine what I want or what I like. How bout you?

I am pretty excited though about this purchase. Just before scheduling this post I rolled this awesome Ozark Opulent which is 65% Mohair and 35% Wool. The color is Salmon and there's about 50 yards. I've eyed this before but thought it a bit pricey so was happy to get it at 25% off; though I don't remember now what I paid for it, though I think it was $25.00? This is dyed and handspun wonderful fun. The opulent usually paired with this was gone. After looking alot and sharing brains with the awesome clerk I landed on Shale Loop-d-Loop made in Italy color 003 which is 73 yards of 35% mohair, 30%acrylic, 20% nylon, and 15% viscose. I got 3 skeins of this which were $10.00 a piece less the 25% discount. I'll have some left no doubt.

Sometimes you get really excited about a purchase...this is one of those sometimes! I have a pattern that says I should be able to make a wrap with this. Stay tuned. I've been itching to start this; but have been trying to finish a scarf for a charity first.