Fertilizer Friday, October 22

  I want to thank everyone for being so polite on my last post about my wringer washer; not even one person said they thought I was a total loony tune!

Well, after washing all of the bedding yesterday morning and hanging it out to dry in the sunshine, I was feeling pretty good about my progress for the day.  I took two of the bedspreads up to Mom's to dry on her lines since mine were full.  I felt confident everything would dry with the clear, blue weather we'd been having, until I talked to Carl at lunchtime from his job.

"You washed all the blankets today?  Didn't you hear it's going to rain?" he said.  "Check the radar online."

"No, it's not supposed to rain," I argued.  "I saw the weather forecast last night and they didn't mention anything about rain."

But when I navigated to the weather site, sure enough, there was a band of showers headed directly for us.  Ok, there's an argument to be had for owning a dryer, you've all got me there.  I forgot to mention too, that in the winter, I hang all the laundry in the basement since it doesn't do much good to hang wet clothes outside on the washline and then bring them back in, frozen solid, unless you enjoy setting up amusing scenes with your clothing standing around with no one in them. (Yes, I've done that in the past; when the boys were little they used to get such a kick out of seeing their jeans propped up against the wall until they defrosted.  Hey, I was a stay-at-home mom, and it's cheap entertainment.)

So, there I was on Wednesday, with my washlines full of all the blankets we own from all three bedrooms and when I looked out the window, the western horizon was white with approaching rain.  What's there to do?  Nothing.  I left everything outside for another rinse cycle, courtesy of Mother Nature.  Joel slept in his sleeping bag on top of his bed last night and the rest of us found random afghans to cover up with.  We survived.

I wanted to show off something else Mom has made for us over the years; when she was around 70 years old, Mom's late friend, Beatrice, taught her how to crochet.  Mom was so taken with the hobby and only learned two stitches? (is that what they call them?  Sorry, I never learned to crochet, either..but anyway, shortly after she learned how, she set to making bedspreads for us as keepsakes.  The one she crocheted for our bed was a queen size and was meant to be a birthday surprise for me.  She worked on it for months and thought she  was done until Carl saw it one day and told her she should make it a bit bigger so it would hang down to the floor on our bed.  I still don't know how she did it, but she managed to add on width and lengrh to make the bedspread well over king-sized.  She and I both wish she hadn't listened to Carl.

Though I love the bedspread very much, it is huge and very difficult to wash, not to mention cram through a wringer.  When I took it up there yesterday, Mom insisted on helping me hoist it over the washlines and I almost knocked her down when she tried to catch her end.  She gasped and then started to giggle, "I can see the headlines now, 'Elderly Woman Killed By Bedspread'."  (Now you know where I get my sense of humor from!)

I walked up to get a tractor again today and took a picture of the two bedspreads on Mom's washlines:

Just look at the color---I love blue!

This bedspread is over 20 years old already and is the warmest, most cozy cover ever, we just love it.  Mom said, "You'll probably be glad when this thing wears out, so you can get rid of it," but I assured her, I hope it NEVER wears out.  Every stitch was done with love.

When Joel was little, he loved bright colors, so Mom made him a keepsake bedspread too:

 Our youngest son, Dave, hasn't got one yet, and I hope Mom does make one for him, too.  She always pooh-poohs her talent at crocheting, supposedly (according to her) this stitch is a beginner's stitch and not that big of a deal.  Well, they are to us!

Mom even made chair cushions (which she insists on putting down on the floor for Pudding and Teddy gets his cushion up on his special window seat when they visit Grandma's house with me-those dogs are so spoiled by her!) 

 Teddy on his cushion

And I'm happy to report that today (Thursday) every bit of the bedding dried wonderfully and we all have nice 'Autumn Fresh' beds.

It's getting late again, and approaching midnight, it's time to flaunt for Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday.  I am afraid this will be way too long for most people, and also afraid tonight will be the end of my annuals as it is supposed to be in the low 30's.  I debated covering things again, but it is nearing the end of October, so though I hate to give up, it's time for Nature to take it's course.  

So here's the last hurrah :

 Knockout Roses

Thuja occidentalis 'Yellow Ribbon' with Chrysanthemums in distance

 'Indian Summer' rudbeckia volunteer--the foliage looks better on this one than on most of them from earlier in the season.

Mums with morning dew

Waterlilies in Quarry Pond

Screech and the Rudbeckias (Sounds like a band.)

 

Yes, the cat follows me all over the yard, he is a total ham.

Looking east from the dome.

Hello, it's me again.

I liked the reflection in the pink granite (my 'gravestone', some of you may recall)

 

Ok, just got back from an unplanned, early (1AM!) trip to the hospital again, but not for me, this time it was Joel.  He volunteers at a haunted house, his 'job' is to scare people in the woods.  (More about that in a upcoming post!) So, on his way out of the woods, Joel walked into a tree branch and jammed a part of the  stick in his eye.  OUCH, indeed!  He said after hitting the branch, he fell backward over a split-rail fence.  Then he had to stand up and pull the end of the twig out of his eye.  He said it hurt tremendously but he thought he was ok (sort of)  until he was on his way home and the pain started to get worse. 

So, I drove Joel in and the doctor worked for a long time fishing debris out of Joel's eye.  The doc said he should be fine, but he has to follow up with a specialist tomorrow.  So this post is kind of goofed up again, due to me being really, really tired.
 Thank goodness for smart doctors!
  Hope you have a great weekend!