Hic...cup!!

Paperwhite narcissus are a popular bulb for holiday decorating, but one of their faults is that they can get floppy. A sure fire remedy for floppy paperwhites is a stiff drink. While a stiff drink makes me giggly and floppy, it has just the opposite effect on paperwhites. They stand up tall and straight when they share a cocktail with you. They are cheap drunks as you don't need the expensive stuff. Just plant your bulbs as usual and water...the plain stuff...until green shoots are about 1 to 2 inches tall. At that point begin hydrating with a solution of water and liquor about 1 part liquor to 7 parts water. If you need scientific research to convince you, check out this website. Cheers to you and your paperwhites...hic! Mom

The Last of the China Trip

I'm sure many of you are wondering if I ever made it back from my trip to China. Well, I did! It took me about two weeks of constant sleeping before I emerged from zombie land. And then of course I got sick, so I've been battling that. And now (a month later) I finally got around to blogging about the conclusion of my trip. Last I left off, we were in Guiling. Before we headed to Shanghai, we went to the Reed Flute Cave in Guiling, which was spectacular. Unfortunately we rushed through it, as we had a flight to catch.

Once in Shanghai, we drove to Zhouzhang, which our guide referred to as the Venice of the East. We left our hotel at 5 a.m., so that we could catch the sun rise over the canal city.

We even went on a gondola ride!

And the gondolier sang! (Unfortunately I am still new to video and cannot for the life of me figure out how to rotate it.)

Sadly, the waters around Zhouzhang are incredibly polluted. While we were there, people were throwing their cigarettes and garbage into the canal. Even more disturbing is the fact that people wash their clothes and food in this polluted water.

We ended our trip in Shanghai, which is such an unusual city. In between the skyscrapers and futuristic architecture, there are alleyways filled with drying laundry. It's the hum drum of every day life mixed with the elegance of big city living.

Our last adventure in China was on our last day. My mother-in-law and I decided to venture out by ourselves. With only a map to navigate us, I am very happy to report that I got us to our shopping destination relatively unharmed. But because we love to shop, afternoon quickly turned into night and sunshine quickly turned into rain. We needed to get back to our hotel and quick. Our guide had told us that we could easily catch a cab. All we had to do was hand them this little card that had the name and address of our hotel in Chinese. Well, we followed these simple instructions, and the cab driver started yelling at us in Chinese. He was so angry, he made shooing gestures. Not knowing what he could possibly be saying, Sheryle and I scampered from the taxi.

I wasn't very confident that I could navigate us back to the hotel in the dark. So we started walking and came across this rickety, old moped with a multicolored umbrella duct taped over a seat that looked like it could only safely hold one person. But being the adventurers that we are (and with no other option), both of us somehow got into the one-person seat and piled our bags on top of us. Well, the ride was intense to say the least. At one point we were driving toward a large truck head-on. Yes, head on. And at the last minute our Chinese driver swerved back into our lane. While I was on the moped, I was profusely sweating and questioning whether we would make it back to the hotel alive. When I got off all in one piece, I proudly patted myself on the back for being such a courageous adventurer.

The most hilarious part of the story is not that Sheryle and I were basically sitting in each other's laps, it was that both Sheryle and I argued with the Chinese moped driver when he dropped us off. We both contended that where he dropped us off was not our hotel while he adamantly said it was. Mind you, we were having this conversation in gestures and head shakes. After about five minutes of arguing, we resigned ourselves to our fate and paid the driver. Lo and behold we walk to the front of the building and what do you know it is our hotel! I would love to know what that little driver was thinking about those two blonde Americans! Daughter.

What A Trooper!

Remember this scene last month? 14 inches of snow and cold. It was a stern warning for plants to pull down their heads, shed their colors and enter into blissful sleep for the winter. Most of the plants in my garden took heed... all except for one rebel!


Scabiosa 'butterfly blue' has tossed her worries to the wind about taking cover from the wrath of old man winter. She is continuing to dress in her finery and toss her head about, pooh poohing snow, wind and cold. She is the lone bloomer amidst the downed leaves and browning stalks and even though she is small in stature she has a brave presentation.

Scabiosa or pincushion flower is one of my favorite flowers. She blooms all summer long with a little deadheading and although most sources say to keep her roots moist, mine survive and flourish with minimal watering. Pincushion flower is a perennial that likes full sun. You can't help but admire this flower with her saucy attitude! Mom

Scrappy Quilt finished

Finally finished the "scrappy strip quilt" I have been working on this summer and fall. It seems to take longer when the weather is pleasant and the garden beckons. This quilt took one roll of strip pieces and several others from my "stash". Just love using material I have on hand.
This is the back side, I used left over strips and had to purchase additional yardage for the border. I figure the cost of material in this quilt was close to $40.00 by using left over fabric from previous projects. I didn't keep track of the time in sewing it together, quilting and hand sewing but I estimate close to 10 hours at $7.00 (minimum wage) for a total of $70.00. So the entire quilt cost me $110.00. Now remember this is a throw size quilt (58"by 68"). I took time to figure the cost of this because I was going through some old clippings our parents had and came upon an article in the 1942 paper someone placed. It was an ad "Quilt For Sale", Double wedding ring, yellow background; extra large. Price, $15.00. I think that Double wedding ring quilt was a good buy. Grandmother

It's Simple...Really!!

A snowstorm that has knocked us right out of fall into winter before even the trees were ready

PLUS

so much accumulation that I had to shovel the driveway and sidewalk not just once but twice and now it is looking like yet a third time

EQUALS

a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate swirl brownie!!!

Mom

Everlasting Flowers

Outside it is nippy and grey and the kind of day where you just want to hunker down. I am sad to see summer go, but I do like having the change of seasons. With the approach of winter I can cross off all of the undone chores in the garden and tackle some of the projects waiting for me in the craft room.

I just made this wall hanging for a silent auction. It is from a pattern by Patch-Abilities designed by Julie Bohringer with a few changes. I liked this wall hanging so much I almost decided not to put it into the silent auction and wanted to keep it for myself. It was a deja vu moment as I flashed back to a childhood birthday party I was invited to. My mom (aka Grandmother) and I went shopping and we picked up some cute little Trolldolls for a gift. Trolldolls were all the rage then...ohhh so long ago. Anyway I liked the Trolldolls so much that I decided I wanted to keep them. Of course I was reasoning that Mom would let me keep them and then I could get something else for the party. But no! Mom didn't quite see it that way. Her sage advice to me was that I needed to make a decision. Either I kept the dolls and didn't go to the party or I wrapped up the dolls and gave them to the birthday girl. I was torn but in the end I wanted to go to the party so I gave up the dolls.

Now where was I going with this??? Oh right...the wall hanging...I ended up giving it as a silent auction item. But I can make one for myself and I will, just so I can hang it up and dream about flowers when I am up to my armpits in snow! Mom

Many colors of fall!

The greens of the trees and bushes are slowly changing to yellows, rusts, oranges, reds and brown. Fall is a colorful time of the year. This is a currant bush that has cast its green tint and changed to a reddish orange. The sun reflecting off the colorful leaves makes one stop and soak in the beauty all around. We live in an arid part of Colorado where we get very little rain or snow so the bushes and the trees we have we enjoy.
This is what they call "burning bush" around here and this year it has been a vivid pink turning to a vibrant red. What a kaleidoscope of colors this year. Grandmother