Sassy & Sweet Notes

I made the mistake...

...of looking at our 10-day forecast. Ugh.

Happy Sunday!

Alan and I have been having a nice, relaxing weekend. I must have needed some sleep, because yesterday I took a LONG nap. It was like I was drugged, and just couldn't keep my eyes open. I slept so well. And now I feel so refreshed!

For the card, I used my Patriotic Flowers image along with a sentiment from my Love at Home cling set. You probably can't see it in the photo, but I added a layer of Glossy Accents to the water in the jar so it is nice and shiney! Fun!

What have you been up to this weekend?

Horn Worms Make Great Duck Snacks! (Video)

This year the bugs are out of control in the garden. Today I went on a tobacco horn worm hunt (which I've done three times previously earlier this month)!

Real life gummy worm duck snacks! *grin*

If you have trouble viewing the video on the blog (or want to see it larger), you can check it out here on YouTube.

Quack, quack!!

Transmitting Birthday Greetings

There's a challenge being hosted on the High Hopes Stamps blog this week, and the theme is BIRTHDAY! Check it out!  I chose to use Jumping Party Robot for my card, and decked him out in full color! Participate in the challenge and enter to win free stamps! The challenge is open until August 8th. Details here.

Temptations Treats Coupon

Mom and Dad have two cats...

Tippy...

and Streak.

And as you might have guessed, they're spoiled rotten.

I thought of them today when I came across a coupon for their FAVORITE treats! Temptations (Tasty Chicken flavor only, please) by Whiskas.

Want your own coupons? Go HERE and fill in their info form. Upon submitting the completed form you'll be presented with a coupon for $1 off two bags. The coupon prints via coupons.com, and if you've never printed a coupon using the coupons.com "coupon printer", you'll need to install their printer application prior to printing the coupons. But it's easy ... follow the instructions, and before you know it, you'll be printing up your own Temptations coupons!

Once the first coupon prints, press the BACKSPACE key on your keyboard, and then click the "resend" button on the pop-up message to reload the print page and print a second coupon. And don't worry, you're allowed two coupons. Just not any more than two. *grin*

Sneak Peek!

How about another sneak peek of one of my new images for Whipper Snapper's Fall/Winter release! Inspiration for this image was from a pretty antique blue Ball jar of wildflowers I had in my kitchen window this spring. Here's hoping we get LOTS of rain this winter to give next spring's wildflowers lots of reason to grow!

Happy Sunday!

Brief Garden Update...

And I say brief, because, well... there's just not a lot to report on. As you can see, the heat, lack of rain, and bugs have done a fine job of bringing our summer garden to an end. There is a tomato plant in the blue tub on the right of the photo. It has yet to produce any tomatoes. There's also a large tomato plant at the back of the garden that has yet to produce a single tomato, either. Just too hot for the flowers to set.

The tomatoes in front of the chicken house are doing their best... the front bed has given us 2 tomatoes. The back bed has given us LOADS of them, and has been by far the best producing bed this year. And don't let those bright green zinnia plants fool you -- they look like they're doing good from a distance, but when you look closer you can see that the grasshoppers have eaten off all of the bloom tops. No flowers. Just naked stems.

There are three okra plants, not quite knee high. (You can see them in the first photo, just to the left of the blue container.) I've clipped a quarter pound of okra off of them, total. Hopefully they keep on producing, because if we can't even grow okra in Texas, there's something seriously wrong... There's one pod there now that needs harvesting. The okra gets watered daily too, but is fairly wilted down in the afternoon from the heat.

The aphids won the battle on the cucumber beds... ...and the patty pan & eight ball zuc bed. I left a couple of the fruit in the bed to fully mature, so I can pull some seeds from them. I thought it might be interesting to see what they produce next year.

The pepper plants are loaded w/ little peppers, but they don't manage to get much larger than a golf ball before the heat shrivels them up. And this is with daily watering.

Here is what is left of my beautiful zucchini bed.

And when it's 106*, I feel pretty much like this.

The rattlesnake pole beans that I had such high expectations for never really made much of themselves. Of course, the grasshoppers chomped them down faster than they could grow... eventually I just stopped watering what was left of the bare stems. And how about those "sunny" sunflowers in the background along the fence... aren't they cheery?

The garden is loaded w/ garden spiders, so at least they've been successful this year. (See the little male garden spider on the backside of her web? Alan noticed him in the photo.) If the little fella is lucky, she won't kill him for being on her web..... ha!

Here is a grasshopper. I could take at least a thousand photos of grasshoppers, and not repeat a single critter. When I walk through the garden, they bounce off of my head, ricochet off of my shirt, zing past my ears. (JKinColorado, care to walk through the garden w/ me!? *hehehee*)

There are praying mantis everywhere, all various sizes and colors. This guy is nearly 3" long. I like his camo!

Time for another dip in the pool... Bottoms Up!!

Monday, monday...

Thought I'd share a sneak peek with you today of one of my upcoming new releases with Whipper Snapper. They're gearing up for the Fall/Winter release; you'll find details on their Facebook page where they've been sharing more sneak peeks of images in the release. How exciting!!

There are 166 full days remaining in the year (off topic, do you count down to Christmas?), and it looks like what's about left of July is going to be nothing but HOT. Unfortunately for us, August promises to be just as hot, or hotter. Maybe September will show us some mercy... 

It's been difficult to keep the garden alive in this drought. In fact, I'm failing. I've got tomatoes still hanging on, but it's so hot that even though they are flowering, they aren't producing any tomatoes and they're starting to look rather tired. The okra is trying to produce, but even it wilts down in the sun (even with daily waterings). Then there are the ants, the aphids, the cucumber beetles, and the grasshoppers ... all doing their part in causing problems. I tell ya, it's exhausting. I'm planning on putting in a "fall" garden, and if I stick to schedule I should be starting tomato plant seeds about now, and getting ready to plant other seeds around August 1. But I'm not sure it will be possible to keep anything alive then, either!

How's the weather where you live?

 

The Nightly Lockdown! (Video)

I decided I would take some video clips last night while I was locking up the chickens. Join me in the fun!

If you're having trouble viewing the video here on the blog, you can check it out here on YouTube.

Happy FRIDAY!!

Fun in the Sun!

There's a challenge being hosted on the High Hopes Stamps blog this week called "Fun in the Sun". Check it out!  I chose to use Andy with Kite for my card, and decked him out in complete July celebration colors. A little faux stitching on the base of the card gives just a hint of detail to ordinary cardstock.

Thanks to the High Hopes family for inviting me to join the fun!

Plum Jam

Yesterday morning I went to the grocery store and found plums on sale. Soooo, I brought some home and made some yummy plum jam!

I simply followed the recipe in the pectin box, and it was easy as can be. There's no need to peel plums when you make jam, and that really cuts down on the prep time.If you decide to make some for yourself, be sure to choose ripe fruit without blemishes, bruises, rot, or mold.

We enjoyed some at lunch today with Alan's parents, and mmmmm-mmm was it ever good!

A Celebration! (Video)

Sweet little Ginger has been sitting on some eggs, and what do ya know, but we've got some babies!

If you have trouble viewing this video here on the blog, you can check it out here on YouTube! Enjoy!

Photo from the Archives: Ranunculus

Because we all need a little SUNSHINE in our life, here's a sunny Ranunculus for you.

Happy Thursday!

2011 On the Farm Calendar WINNER(s)!!

I have two, not one, but TWO winners to announce for a copy of the 2011 On the Farm calendar! Yup, I have a second spare calendar here to give away. So, I did two random.org numbers to select the winners...

Congrats to #10 Diana Gibbs, and #36 Nicky Taylor!

Get in touch with me ladies, and I'll get your calendar mailed out to you right away!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the drawing. There's still time for you to get your own copy of the 2011 calendar ... and like I said, stay tuned for details on the 2012 version. Yahooo!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

July on the Calendar

It's official ... happy July! This is the July image in the 2011 On the Farm calendar, and it reminds me of all the hard work that goes into a garden, and the labors of putting up harvest for enjoyment during the winter months.

I happened to find an extra 2011 On the Farm calendar on my desk's shelf, and would like to mail it to one lucky reader. It's the small calendar size (5x7ish). If you'd like to be entered into the drawing, leave me a note on this post. I'll select one name from all entries on Sunday, July 3rd.

I'm also starting to work on the 2012 calendar, so stay tuned for those details in the next few months!

CHEERS to the weekend!!

 

UPDATE: Comments on this give-away are now closed. Thank you!