Another new project

Karen Eubank talked me into becoming a blogger for Examiner.com. Thank you, Karen. After giving them some background and a sample article, they accepted me. Here's my first piece. Click on examiner to check out this site.

GIANT STICK TREES INVADE EAST DALLAS

June 11th, what seemed like a tornado swept through East Dallas. The hard rains began the night before and continued. Early Thursday morning our gentle giant trees swayed and bent to sheets of rain and wind. While we watched the dance on our street an old oak snapped in half and fell in slow motion away from our neighbor’s house. We turned to see another large tree snap and fall and another. Lightening. Yes, a large branch from our yard broke and fell completely covering our window view. Electricity flickered and out, for three days.

Walking through what seemed like a war zone that night, we saw so many of our beautiful 100 year old trees somehow morphed into a Stonehenge of odd stick soldier trees standing at attention. Mountains of debris obscure houses.

Perhaps East Dallas is the same, but the swirling wind and rain morphed me into a “Soldier Stick Tree” neighborhood that only resembles my ‘hood. Beam me back, Scotty.

Movies and Pictures

More Christmas pictures. Good looking people all dressed up and having a good time.

Bob and I went to see Body of Lies last night. I found it at the dollar movie. Simply awful. I came home and read the reviews again. Good reviews. Who are these reviewers? This show was a mismash with violence. By the end of this very long movie I was hoping they'd blow everyone up and we could applaud and leave. Remember I told you about James Randall and friends getting up and walking out of a movie over the holidays? Bob and I don't do that, just sit and hope. I will even read to the end a boring book - hoping. Years ago when Belle de Jour with Catherine ??? the beautiful French actress was rereleased we went, it was awful almost from the opening credits, but we didn't leave. I remember Marilyn told me she and Butch did get up and leave. Ridley Scott directed Body of Lies. I'm not giving up on him.

Speaking of books, did I mention the books Cynthia loaned me? Simply terrific. Fell in love with the first book and she dropped off book 2 and 3 for me this Saturday. Book 2 is - Lost in a Good Book, by Jasper Fforde. Our heroine, Thurday Next, is one of my favorites.

Prehaps some garden news since this is East Dallas Art Gardens? The Forest Hills Garden Club will be meeting at my house this Thursday. It's our holiday gift exchange. A fun time will be had. I've decided if I don't get the Christmas decorations down this week I can say I wanted the house to be festive for the Garden Club party. Sounds like a plan to me. We're having freezing rain today after very warm weekend days. Maybe I could spend that time putting Christmas away.

Forest Hills Garden Club

Finally on the East Dallas Art Gardens blog I have gardening news.

The Forest Hills Garden Club was a small gathering this month at Katrina's house, but we are cute.  Jane left before I remembered to ask Mark to take our picture.  Jane may be one of the most gracious women I know.  Here's Barb, Josephine (brand new member and my back yard neighbor), Mary, me and Katrina.  Why we didn't put Jessica in the middle I don't know.  Jessica is Katrina and Mark's darling baby girl and I think we should make her our official mascot.  Katrina's home looks like she's ready for a photo shoot for Architectural Digest.  

I am not standing next to Mary in any more pictures.  She makes me look 3 feet tall.  

All of our gardens will look better after today.  We've had light rain for quite a while and can only hope it lasts several days.  The girls were talking about continuing to water for the trees all winter.  I always take a tip home from the meetings.

My across the street neighbor had a tree cut down Friday.  I was out back welding and the constant of the chain saw noise all day gave me such a headache.  I wanted to go over there and tell them to just stop.  Of course I did go over after an inspected the logs.  Glo will question me on whether the tree needed to be cut or not.  I didn't see any obvious problems, but I'm not a tree specialist. I have volunteered to be handcuffed to a tree if a developer is cutting it down for no reason.  I'm not afraid of developers.  I proved I can stand them down when I stood in front of that electric company man's front loader.  No monk parrots lost nests that day.

But when it's a neighbor, how do you go over and act like the tree police?  I want to, but I'm a gutless wonder.  Maybe if Glo and I went together.  We will deserve our reputation "crazy tree ladies" in the neighborhood.

The name of the neighborhood is FOREST Hills.  Takes trees to be a FOREST, for goodness sakes.  Well, off the soapbox for now, good night.

Art doings

Jay and I went to the new animal shelter on Westmoreland to pick up our art pieces and Cynthia's.  Here we are delivering Cynthia's piece to her.  One would think she'd be appreciative enough to let me take her full face picture.  Jay was really good taking me with him to get his bells.  He took down my dragonfly (no easy feat).  You can see the dragonfly upside down totally exhausted in the back of the truck.  Now that Hardy and Mel are not my art installers (thank you very much) I'm fortunate to have Jay.  And for Jay's sake I'll be welding more manageable pieces.  Jay also explained how I can mount the dragonfly on the big tree stump in our front yard.  How cool will that be?  I may not have a great garden, but I can say I do attract dragonflies.

Dancing Lottie

Even with the rain, today was over 100 degrees, so I'm in a funk and can't post daily.  This is an old picture taken during the Garden Tour.  Don't we three look fabulous?  The sunglasses are hard to see, but they are guitars.  Sometimes I'm so chic I amaze myself.  We are in front of Mary's lovely home, the first on our preview tour and Barb is the first person Lola interviewed.  What I'm doing in the picture only heaven knows.  But I can assure you a good time was had.  As you can tell we three are ready for our closeup Mr. DeMille.

East Dallas Art Gardens

I have to brag, the rose and Japanese Maple are in my yard.  This is the Bobbi/Lola rose.  When they went to the rose emporium they brought it back for me.  When it blooms it takes my breath away.  The Japanese maple is the one Barb grew from SEED in her yard.  How impressive is that?  I kept the maple in the living room in the front window for months after she gave it to me.  I was going to put it in a pretty pot and leave it in the house, but decided to put it in a clay pot close to where I weld.  I check on it several times a day and it's fine outside.  Someday, I'll be able to plant it in the yard.  Like the roses from my Mother's, Grandmother's, Aunt Evelyn and Aunt Rita's gardens these two plants given to me by friends make me smile every day.  May you have "given" plants who do the same for you.

Tuesday Tip Day

I was talking to Bob about what to keep writing and he suggested a tip day.  So now Tuesday is Tip Day.  

JoAnn gave me this one.  She found this guy who gives tips on saving money.  He's Clark Howard and these tips are pretty cool.  At Cosco, marked down items end in 97.  At Sams, clearance items end in a penny amount like .73 or .47.  If the bar code number has the letter C after it, it's a clearance item.  I had no idea.  Picture me at my next Sam's visit with numbers shooting out of the top of my head as I try to remember this.  Not my best look.

East Dallas Art Gardens should have some garden tips, so here's some overlooked and underplanted perennials for our area.  These are from the Far East Dallas Garden Tour.  

Basket of Gold

Butterfly Weed

Heartleaf Bergenia

Golden Wave

Blanket Flower

Gayfeather

Beard Tongue

Gloriosa Daisy

Yellow Fall Crocus

Rain Lily

As a PS, my rock rose is blooming and is the only plant in my yard that will continue through the nasty nasty 100 degree weather we will endure during what will seem like 13 months of summer.  

Another great tip is log onto the Arboretum's website.  They change the pictures of the gardens often and you can just keep entertaining yourself with their beautiful pictures.

Now that Bob gave me Tuesday Tip Day idea I'll be looking for bizarre tips in the future.  Stay tuned.

Garden Club monthly meeting

Abbie, Dorinda, Katrina, Barb, Jolene, Barbara (the hostess) and Nancy, the Garden Club girls in Barbara's beautiful dining room in front of a most wonderful painting.  Don't the girls look terrific?  I didn't get the full tour since I only stopped in to take this picture for the blog.  They were all in the kitchen when I arrived (fabulous kitchen) and snacking on what looked and smelled like a foodie's idea of heaven.  Tonight was the last meeting before the summer break.  The girls were planning for next year.  I told Barbara to put me in something fun.  Wish I'd had time to take pictures of her beautiful yard.  This is the East Dallas Art Gardens blog after all.  

I had to go back to my own soiree in my back yard.  Karen, charter member of the Hot Flash Art Girls, was teaching the rest of us how to make an armatour.  That's not how you spell armatour, but my spell check is a miserable failure.  We desperately need light weight methods for the totem garden at the State Fair of Texas.  Karen taught us to sculpt in foam and we will take her teachings and run with them.  More on the art totem garden at the State Fair later, but I will let you know Barb will be knitting her totem.   Can't wait for that one.  

One last note, I stopped in Kwik Kar to have my car inspected this afternoon.  The owner was there.  When I introduced myself and thanked him for his support of Forest Hills, he said he hadn't been in the newsletter with his ad in a while and wants to get that started again.  Isn't it amazing people are now asking us?  Neoma said there's a waiting list for ads now.  She's the driving force and all the hard work that puts out our newsletter every month.  I think it's the best thing to happen to our neighborhood.  She's terrific.

Welding class tonight.  I arrived with a mission, cut out my house numbers on a 2' by 3' foot sheet of metal.  Class starts at 6:30.  The heat was out to get us.  Then the mosquitoes attacked my knees.  Yes, I had on shorts, it's 100 degrees!   What's a few metal burns compared to my hot flashes?  I grabbed a table down with the regulars and started drawing my numbers in chalk.  Maybe chalk's not my medium.  Finally got the numbers drawn on the metal and they look a lot like a 6 year old's drawings.  Cut the numbers with the torch - yes, let's add more heat.  But I think I melted any mosquitoes who were trying to snack on me.

Dan asked me if I sent Staci the picture we took last week.  (Staci who wears diamond drop earrings and a pink feather in her hair when she welds.  Gotta get a picture of her for you.)  Of course I forgot to send the picture to Staci.  I'm delighted I can remember I was at welding tonight.  I did put the picture on the blog last week so thought I'd put it up again tonight.  Told Dan I have a blog and was going to name it Women Who Weld.  He thought that was a great name.  Besides welders Cynthia and Arlene, he's the only other person who would possibly read a blog named Women Who Weld.  

Now that I think about it, Women Who Weld may appeal to a broader base than East Dallas Art Gardens.  Who knows about these things?

Hard to see in the picture, but I also have on diamond drop earrings in Staci's honor.  Maybe if they were real they'd show up better.  A pink feather certainly would.

Pictured left to right - Arlene, me, Dan and Cynthia  

Dan's such a great teacher it's time we made him an honorary "Women Who Weld" member.

I just looked at the picture again.  Now I'm worried JoAnn will be upset.  She might think this it a Sex in the City picture and she's not in it.  Not to worry, JoAnn, in your shorts with the clorox stains, you'd have blown us away with your style.