My Head is Spinning...

This is the swamp sunflower, a member of the helianthus family.... I'm not really sure which one this is as it was given to me in the Ohio Valley Plant swap just after I moved here. It could be Helianthus angustifolius....but I don't think so...this is the problem with using "common names" over the Latin (or Greek ) name....you're never really sure what you're getting...despite the ribbing I get for speaking "that language."

While colorful, it is 6 feet tall (or more) blooming on multi-stems.....and it flops. I tied it up the first year, and the second...but this year I thought I'd put it outside the fence where it wasn't shaded by anything (as if in my garden anything gets any shade anyway). Wrong. It flops. Imagine a six foot, land-bound octopus. Oh....and did I mention? It runs. It seeds itself....its a mess. Pretty, but out of control. (see this article for more on the Helianthus angustifolia...which I think this is here

I am afraid it is going under the ax as I am not willing to put in the effort to control it....I have far too much to take care of to give in to my tenderness of heart for this plant....I must be strong....out it goes.

Tonight, it serves as a metaphor for my life. September is an usually busy month. Everyone and every organization I belong to decides that since the kids are back to school, we have to start up our yearly work. My husband's birthday was earlier this month and it was a significant birthday (read, I had to have a party). Cross Country running, my daughter's favorite activity, is in full swing with dinners every Thursday (I hosted 20 girls plus the coaches and their wives) for pasta on Sept. 3. I had an oncology appointment and my yearly physical to be included on my husband's insurance (a necessity, I assure you). I have to finish a quilt before Sept. 24. I was supposed to participate in another challenge which is due on Oct. 1. However, I'm going to Montana to visit with my parents and to help in harvest on Sept. 24 and coming back Oct. 6.

The tomatoes need canning. The peppers need freezing, the zucchini needs....whatever. The garden is overgrown with weeds and it is likely to frost while I'm gone. That means I have to bring in the alocassia, geraniums, papyrus and umbrella palm before I leave....or lose it. I had to clean the fish pond as it will likely be a cold task when I get back.

My neighbor decided today was the day to have the garage sale...and since I am drowning in things which need to be moved on...I buckled and did it.....only I had to get up extra early because they were giving the seasonal flu shots at my husbands workplace today and only today. 7:30 am I was at his workplace making available my right arm.

Last Wednesday I gave a lecture at the YWCA. My daughter was diagnosed with mononucleosis and needs extra care....and we've made a couple of trips to the doctors. Unfortunately, I am not sure if she's going to be able to run and she lives for cross country which makes life with daughter....ummm....stressfull.

At the last Art Quilt meeting, I agreed (sort of reluctantly) to share the responsibility for doing a program on resists for surface decoration on fabric (I'm doing vegetable resists)...so that has to be prepped.

I can't find my camera battery charger in the mess which is my studio. The other neighbor keeps on bringing me books to sell as she wants to get them out of her house... I have to follow up on some exhibition proposals...and I had to remember to do the ordinary stuff like pay bills, do the rudiments of cleaning house, feed the family, do the dishes...

I have GOT to learn to say NO before my head spins completely off or I am lifted up into the ether by the velocity of my spining....so...if you see a plump, brown-haired woman flying through the sky in your neck of the woods, you'll know it is me.