Karen’s Opinion

These past few weekends have taken a toll on me. I am so sore from pulling weeds and mowing grass. Last weekend I pulled weeds and didn’t wear gardening gloves. I have trouble feeling the weeds and getting them pulled by their roots when wearing gloves. My hands are still scabby from all the splinters and scratches. So, yesterday, I decided I would wear gloves, which, I am proud to say, were purchased using ShopWikii . They have everything from clothing to gardening supplies and they save me time by finding the best deals on the web. They don’t work like the regular search engines who get paid to list their sites. Their search encompasses thousands of websites! For instance, if I need a new pair of hedge trimmers, I simply use their website to find out what kind of hedge trimmers there are, then use their consumer search to see which ones are recommended as the best for my needs.

Anyway, I shook the gloves before I put them on in case any spiders had decided to make one their home. I was wearing the gloves while pushing rocks around and wouldn’t you know it, a bee flew into my glove and stung me. It stung me a few times before I realized what was happening. Ouch! If not for all the beautiful daffodils blooming around my work area, I would have thrown up my hands and said forget it.

I was moving rocks in order to lay some patio blocks down next to the sidewalk leading into our backyard. It is a muddy area that seems to always be dirty. I hope the patio blocks make the area stay cleaner.

I could not believe my ears when I heard the weather forecaster say it was supposed to snow today. Thankfully, I have not seen any flurries. I think I will cry if I do. This has been the longest winter I can remember. If it snows, my poor tree will suffer. Here is a picture of it and the river rock I had hauled in last week.

and here are a few flowers that survived the winter and bloomed this past week.

I know I will probably sound like Elmer Fudd as he yells at those “pesky wabbits” but they are making me mad. I only have a few tulips that come up and the rabbits eat them before I get to enjoy them. Pesky wabbits!

I am so excited to see how green things have become. We traveled to Van Wert, Ohio yesterday to visit my husband’s aunt. The un-mowed yards were just luscious and the flower beds were beaming with jonquils, daffodils and tulips.

Every year my husband and I bonk ourselves on the head for not putting out the flower bulbs we say we will plant come fall. Fall arrives and we forget! My husband reminded me this weekend that we have to get bulbs planted. We love the flowers and the feeling of renewal we get when we see them.
Henry Fields Seed Nursery has an online order form and I intend to get it filled out immediately. Does anyone know how to store flower bulbs until fall? I have a brown thumb and need all the advice I can get!

Do you believe in the boogie man? I try not to believe there are evil men lurking in the shadows but I have been nervous tonight. My husband is fishing at the strip pits in southern Indiana and I am home alone. I have been enjoying my days full of sewing and no cooking but the nights are nerve-racking.

Twice tonight, my dogs have broken into fierce barking that had the hair on my neck standing up. I don’t know what they heard but I felt paralyzed. I tried to tell myself to get up and see what they were barking at but I couldn’t get up out of my chair. It is times like these when I wished I had a wireless security system.

It is scary to sit and listen for noises. I make myself worry. The systems offered at Protect America are so affordable that it is silly for us not to have one installed. The system is warrantied for 20 years and their monitoring service is very reasonable. For example, their 3 entry level packages offer free systems and $29.95 – $34.95 monthly monitoring fees.

Their Gold package offers the most options that would meet our needs. They include:

* Talking Control Panel
* 12 Entry Points
* 1 Motion Detector
* Internal Siren and Door Chime
* Battery Backup
* One Button Arming
* 3 Window Decals
* 1 Yard Sign

All that for only $36.95 per month and by ordering using the 877-470-2751 phone number, we receive 2 keychain remotes ! I think hubby and I are going to talk about this when he gets home.

Two years ago, during a horrible storm, the siding on our house was damaged by golf ball sized hail. It made holes all over the siding. Since we had to have the siding on our house replaced, we decided it would be a good time to add that room we always wanted on the back of our house. We call it “the lodge room.” It has cedar siding, a vaulted ceiling with beams and rustic decorations. We love our room.

The only problem with our room was the electric bill that came with it. Our electric bill was very high because the sun beats into our room through 10 windows. We had to do something to keep the sun out but not detract from our beautiful view. We have deer, squirrels and birds of many kinds visiting our back yard. We love being able to watch for them out our windows.

We solved the problem with a unique window treatment, the Eco-Solar Shade. These shades don’t distract from our view at all. The folks at The Shade Store can help you figure out the size you need and are so anxious to help you that they are offering a special code ,IZEA01, which will allow you to save 15% on your purchase from them! Oh, and another thing, shipping is free on all orders during this promotion. Wow! Be sure to use the code: IZEA01.

Features of the Eco-Solar Shade include:

*heat absorbent
*protection from harmful UV Rays
*reduces glare
*materials are 100% recyclable (GreenGuard Certified)

These shades are so energy efficient that we were able to reduce the amount of time we ran our air conditioner. That saves us a lot of money. We are so glad to have found Eco-Solar Shades for our room. My mother in-law liked our shades so much that she had us order one for her kitchen window.