Thistles, Burdock, and Nettles

 

Lucky has been having a pretty good summer except for his problems with thistles, burdocks, and nettles.

"I don't like it, Sam-I-Am...and I don't like the removal of the burrs either. "  

Our biggest challenge is at my mother's house.  Behind the shed there is an area of brush and weeds that no one visits except the bunnies.  That's the problem.  Lucky has discovered they go back there and is always trying to sneak in despite it being fenced off.  And...he often succeeds.  It is nothing for him to surface from there with 40 burs on his face and even more on the rest of his body.

Mom's house has predominately thistles and burdock.  Burdock (above)  starts out with big leaves and then develops burs.

The nettles are a different matter.  We realized that they were very close to the sidewalk on our daily evening walk.  I just can't go that way anymore and that's a shame because we only see those neighbors sitting outside in the summer.  Nettles below:

What's interesting is that some people actually sow these plants.  They all have medicinal benefits and the nettles are actually beneficial to butterflies and moths.

I was wondering this morning why the Scottish national flower is the thistle.  My mom has sooooo much thistle jewelry because of her Scottish roots.  

One of the most interesting anecdotes was the Battle of Largs in the 13th century.  Apparently Norse invaders were hoping to attack sleeping Scottish warriors one evening and even took their shoes off to creep up on the lads.  One Norseman yelped as he stepped on thistles and woke the Scots who won the battle.  Thistles to the rescue...

Flower Friday is coming up and if you have any flowers to share, please email me the photo at allentownquilter@gmail.com

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: August 28, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!  It's difficult to believe that September is around the corner.  The kids have gone back to school, some of the leaves are falling and my chrysanthemum is starting to bud up with flowers.

My brother has become passionate about gardening.  Here is his canna in bloom!

Helene's anemones.  She said she thinks there are less flowers this year because of the drought.  I think that is happening at a lot of places.  They are still very pretty!

This flower is growing at my neighbor's.  I've been looking at it and thinking I used to grow this in my garden.  I couldn't remember the name so I used the google photo thing and learned it was obedience plant.  And yes, I did once grow that in my garden.

I already posted a different photo of my pink salvia but here it is back again...because I had a hummingbird at the flower and was trying to get a photo.  It's good to know they like the pink variety as well.

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Surgery Cancelled

 

At 6:25, the doctor's office called me.  All surgeries today are cancelled because the sterilizer is broken.

Stuff happens and at least I can have a big ol' cup of coffee today.  And I'll work in the garden and get some sewing done.  

Will keep you posted!

Thanks for all the nice emails and thoughts!  💖💖💖 Love you all!

Acorns

 

Well I didn't get as much done as I thought I would last week.  I was going to finish the Twinkle quilt but ran into a snag.

Before I start a major quilt project, I bring out my trusty notebook and record dimensions and numbers of blocks I will need.  For Twinkle, I wrote I needed 48 small blocks.  When I got around to making the small blocks, I looked at that number and thought..."what were you thinking?"  I looked back at the pattern and it said 14.

Except...I was making the lap quilt and the baby quilt said 14 blocks needed and the lap did indeed need 48.  I'll go with Bonnie Hunter on this one:

I put Twinkle aside for now.  I knew I wouldn't finish the remaining blocks in a week and I just needed a break.

So I pulled out some leader and ender blocks and started making a table runner with acorn fabric.

I did as much as I could.  I'm having two operations on Wednesday.  One is carpal tunnel.  And the other is a new surgery for severe thumb arthritis.  Anyway, the type of surgery is new and I'm number 26 in a study of 50 patients who get the new procedure.

Above:  How I've been cutting fabric for months.

The problem is that my thumb was measured by the PT office a variety of ways.  It was a little weird to find out that my thumb is only functioning in strength and dexterity at only 30 %.  Afterwards--and even today, all the moving around and measuring just hurt my hand more.  So I haven't really sewn at all since then.  

Tomorrow I'm going to write a post early for Flower 
Friday.  If you have any flowers to share, please email them to me today so I can include your photos.  I'm not really sure when I will be posting again after surgery.

Wishing you a happy and safe Monday!

It is what it is.  Meanwhile I've also cooked and frozen a lot of meals for the next few weeks.

Flower Friday: August 21, 2026

 

Welcome to Flower Friday!

It's hard to imagine that the kids are going back to school soon!  Our neighborhood kids start school on Monday!

Andrea sent me a photo of her zinnias.  I forgot how pretty they can be and wish I had grown some last year!

Our neighbor, Mary Louise puts together really interesting groups of annuals.  This year the combo is pinks and purples.  So pretty!

Last of all, the sedum is beginning to bloom.  We have to be careful around them as the bees LOVE them.  Last week Lucky and I both got stung and poor Lucky didn't understand it all :(

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Sewcation!

 

I'm writing this on Sunday.  If all goes well, family members are picking up my Mom today and taking her to the beach for a week.  Some of the family decided to give my brother and I a break; so for the next 5 days we will be taking care of ourselves and having some fun.

I intend to sew a lot this week.  My next hand surgery is on August 26.  I'd like to get my "Twinkle" top assembled and a baby quilt as well for Katie (neighbor).

What will be really nice will be that my most energetic times are in the morning but that is when I have Mom duty.  My brother takes over in the afternoon. So it will be really nice for the two of us.

Today (Monday) is also a good day.  For about 15 years, our dishwasher has been broken.  My husband always balked at replacing it because we can just wash our dishes by hand (translation:  I can wash all the dishes).  I mentioned to him that after my surgery he'll probably be washing dishes for weeks.

Suddenly purchasing a dishwasher was really REALLY important and our new appliance arrives today.

I'll be back for Flower Friday but in the meantime...

have a great week!

Flower Friday: August 7, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!  How is you garden doing?

Andrea sent a photo of her sedum, so pretty!  I didn't know there was a sedum that came with such striking and dark leaves!  Thank you Andrea!

Swan Hydrangea:

The pink salvia has self-sown and is blooming again!

Russian Sage:

Tomatoes are still coming in but a critter did get one the other night.  Brad was upset because it was an heirloom and those are our favorites.  The heirlooms have been huge tomatoes, especially in comparison with our other varieties.  This was eaten over night so we know it wasn't a squirrel.  Maybe a groundhog or raccoon?  Brad wants to put the trail cam up to check.  More on that later!

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Flower Friday: August 7, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!

Sue sent a photo of her pretty phlox growing outside her vegetable garden:

Sue also shared her lovely violet that is blooming indoors:

Annie sent a photo of her St. John's Wort:

Crepe Myrtle is blooming around our neighborhood.  This is a plant I don't remember seeing during childhood.  The first time I saw this was down south.  Now there seems to be a variety of these that can tolerate our cold winters:

Have a safe and happy weekend!

What's New...

 

I haven't posted much because things have been busy!

But here is some good news:  my first tomato!

My husband thought I was crazy to buy 9 plants but it was the only way to insure we get some tomatoes.  The squirrels tend to eat them as soon as they ripen.  This year, I pluck the fruit as they begin to ripen and let them finish in the house.

The two on the far left are heirlooms.  One is Cherokee Purple and the other is Brandywine Yellow.

I'm on the hunt for a specific Salvia now.  The only hummingbirds I've seen this year are at a Red Salvia plant that looks like this:

Two weeks ago, I spent most of any free time in the garden.  The weather was good and perfect for weeding and clearing out.  Now it's hot again and I try to sew in the attic when it is cool enough up there.  

I'm assembling the Twinkle blocks now.  It will be a scrappy Christmas quilt.

I haven't finished the 18 large stars and I still have 14 of the small stars to complete.

I'm really enjoying making this quilt even though it's time consuming.  Whenever I make a project with the sew and flip method for triangles, I try to save the small triangles right away.  My can is getting pretty full and I have to start thinking about what I will do with these.

That's it for now.  What have you been working on?  I hope you are having a good summer.  Hard to believe it is already August!

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: July 31, 2026

 

Greetings and welcome to another Flower Friday!

It seems odd that it is the last day of July!

Sue sent these lovely photos of her perinneal amaryllis 

(AKA naked ladies):

Linda the cat also enjoys the amaryllis!

I think that Linda is as pretty as the flower.  She's adorable!

From Jim's Garden:

Coneflowers and Blanket Flower:

And his Fern Leaf Coreopsis:

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Flower Friday: July 24, 2026

 

Happy Flower Friday!

It's that time of the summer when we are aware that the days are getting slightly shorter and autumn is around the corner.  Around here all the gardening is focused on weeding, watering, deadheading, repeat.

My perinneal hibiscus bloomed this week:

And the Swan Hydrangea is blooming now as well:

We are finally seeing some butterflies visit.  Just in time as the butterfly bush started blooming!

And the pretty cleome has begun to bloom:

Have a safe and happy weekend!