Happy Saturday!
Mario is off to Bellingham, WA (about 2 hours north of here) for the LPTs। LPT= League Placement Tournament। It is a big deal for Select soccer teams। It basically ranks your team। The higher your ranking, the more likely college scouts will come to see you play. That, hopefully leads to college scholarships.

The team's name is Ajax (pronounce Eye-ax) named after Holland's national team। This is Mario's 2nd year with the team.

We won 3 games last weekend in Bellingham and lost a heartbreaker. We played a team 2 ranks above us, had WAY more shots on goal but it went into double overtime. Then to PK's (penalty kicks). We lost by 1 after more than 2 hours. We were SO proud of all the boys!


OK, enough of that....let's talk gardening tips!

I never buy insecticides or pesticides! It is amazing and wonderful what you can make with stuff in your cupboards. Things that are not toxic to your family or the environment.

Here are some recipes I use:


Aphids: smash 3 cloves of garlic. Add to 2 cups of boiling water. Add red pepper flakes to the water. (Save those packets of pepper flakes you get with your delivered pizzas!). Remove from heat and steep overnight. The next morning, strain the mix into spray bottles.

****Important to remember is that you MUST spray aphids at least 3 days in a row or it won't do any good. As I have said before, aphids are born pregnant. Be glad you are not an aphid. :)

Blackspot and rust: 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 T canola oil, 1/2 tsp liquid dish soap, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 gallon water. Mix all together and pour into spray bottle. Shake well before each use and spray top and undersides of leaves. Works on roses and hollyhocks. Be sure to remove and throw away (not in your compost bin!) all diseased leaves.

Rose tonic: This is great for powdery mildew and black spot. Stays on the leaves for a few months. 2 tsp baking soda, 2 quarts water, 1/2 tsp liquid soap or Murphy's Oil Soap. Mix well and add to spray bottle. The soap increases the moisture on the leaves so no spores can germinate.

I know everyone is bustin' their tails to get all of the weeding done. Would be nice to have some warm sunny days to make that job easier and maybe a little more enjoyable. So I am wishing you sunshine, weeds that just jump out of your gardens and an amzing weekend!

Back again...finally

Wow! The days just fly by! I have been swamped with fundraising for the senior class graduation party. What a huge success! I am now known as the "procurement queen" at Nathan Hale high school. 5 moms have been working on this for 2 years and we are being told that this will be the best Spree (the name of the party) ever! More students will attend and we have so many extra goodies for the kids that no other class has had. I am now the procurement chair for the class of 2010. Whatever will I do when Mario graduates and I have no more kids in school? Maybe start a bon bon addiction?

I love teens and would be so happy to help anyone who is working to fundraise for their school.

My oldest, Nick, will graduate next Friday, the 13th. Told him he will never forget that day. I attended the senior breakfast yestrday at Salty's at Alki in West Seattle. What a wonderful event! About 30 kids won awards. Nick won "most changed since 9th grade". Boy has he! The winners all got fun gold crowns. There was a fun video that had been produced at school interviewing basically all of the students and they all received their yearbooks. Great job Hale on the books...they are awesome!

Mario, my youngest who will be 16 next week, is in Bellingham for the 2nd week in a row for a Select soccer tournament. I had a blast last week but, am staying home this weekend because I am so far behind on my plant sales. The weather has been no help at all. Fingers crossed for sunshine tomorrow for the soccer games and the plant sales.

I have started posting on www.usfreeads.com also. So far, just a recipe for the most amazing lasagna. I will have links to other companies as an affiliate to help make some extra pennies.

Wishing everyone the most awesome weekend!