I Felt Sorry For 'Em

I've been admiring the drifts of Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susans) in many yards right now and wishing

I had some.  I kind of poked around the lilies I bought at ShopKo a couple weeks back but didn't find any.  Today, however, I stopped at the same ShopKo to get my glasses adjusted (so the left bow quit digging into my skull) and there were four of the most bedraggled, on-their-last-legs Rudbeckia plants ever.  BUT they were on clearance and I talked the manager into giving me an additional 10% off so while they were more expensive than the lilies, they were within my budget.  I poured all the water I had in the car on them as soon as I got them in there and then drove around the back of the store because I know that there's a drinking fountain close to the back entrance.  I filled up all three bottles I had and went out and gave them some more to drink.  They've had a big hose drenching since then so I have high hopes that they'll perk up.  I put them where I can see them from the table and expect to see them all perked up by morning.  Sad looking, aren't they?  However I am optimistic.  (side note: this ShopKo store is the reason I live in Green Bay, WI.  This was the first ShopKo store and Dad managed the men's department when it opened.)

On Thursday afternoon I zoomed to the grocery because we were out of eggs (I had exactly enough to make the banana bread) and on the way I drove through the nearby shopping plaza parking lot to see if the BBQ food truck was there.  It was.  So on the way back home I stopped and got a Pork-n-a-cow sandwich and some fries for us to split for supper.  It's an 8 oz. burger topped with cheese, bacon, slaw, pulled pork, and your choice of sauce.  I chose the sweet sauce and asked for the slaw on the side.  Next time I'll skip the fries, they were overcooked, limp, and way too salty but the sandwich was good.  No way either of us could have eaten a whole one but we might split one again.







It's another gray drizzly day but Mrs. Hummingbird came for breakfast and stayed long enough for me to take her picture.  Later I noticed OJ's best pal, the chipmunk, up on the corn glaring down at me.  









In an effort to have something creative to show you I went downstairs around lunchtime for a round of "how fast can you sew?" and put this t-shirt together in about an hour. (it was already cut out)  A lot of the knit tops I saw in the stores this summer didn't have the bottoms or the sleeves hemmed so I didn't hem these.  Saved time and if I hate it or it bugs the living daylights out of me I can always just go down there, measure and pin the hems, and sew them.  Low risk, possible stylish look.  (what am I saying?  I am the antithesis of stylish.) 




August 27--Alfred Bierstadt, Last of the Buffalo.  The thing was as big as a Smart Car, maybe bigger, and it stood in the middle of the road.  Traffic was stopped in both directions for at least a mile and people from the near vehicles got out wielding cameras if they would shield them.  The bison's breath came out in snorts as if it was doing its best to control its temper but was losing.

I am confident there was more to that but after the last line there was a squiggle about the size of my thumbnail and that was all she wrote.  Hey, today would have been my Grandma Babe's birthday.  She'd have been 111 today.  Happy birthday, Grandma.  I miss you.


Love, Barbara Sue