A Little of this, a little of that

Thank You

2009-12-20T08:20:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to let you all know that we told Mom about your comments here and at my blog, and she did receive and read your cards. (Have you all seen Jen's cards at http://www.muddybootdreams.com/ - wow!!!)

While Mom would not allow for services to be held for her, I don't believe she would mind at all that her blog become a memorial of sorts to her wit, wisdom, and mad skills.

Here's one of Mom's favorite artists. I can't listen without crying (so I hope the quality is alright), but perhaps you can.

2009-12-19T08:51:00.003-05:00

Mom did not want to do another Ohio winter this year. Mother Nature, knowing better than to cross my mother, waited until we were leaving the hospice parking lot early this morning to start snowing.

Favorite Daughters

2009-12-12T07:41:00.003-05:00

Favorite Daughter #2 here, hijacking my mother's blog for a moment to direct you give you all over here for an update on Mom.

And, because it's required in every Flydragon post, have a pretty picture.

HOSPICE

2009-11-14T06:51:00.002-05:00

I know this doesn’t sound like it would be a title of one of my posts. I’m usually posting something a bit more witty, well I try to anyway, with a slightly? morbid sense of humor, (fortunately my family has the same sense of humor), up beat, making each other laugh, and generally having a good time, trying to out do each other. Well, this post doesn’t seem to be working that way this time.

That’s because this is not really a post about me . It is actually a comment ( a very long one) to one of Rudees from “A Knitting Nurse” that she posted last Saturday on Nov. 7th. I know it took me a while but I was so angry at the time, that I figured I’d better take time to think about it till I cooled off a bit and could at least try to sound a little bit rational. I’m not sure it worked, but at least I’m not taking all her comment page space up, and decided to take up my own space up instead.

I’ve never met Rudee, except through her blog, but I’ve gotten the idea that she is a nurse that is one of the ones that comes in at the later stages of the patients illness. I could be wrong of course, correct me if I am) and so far I have only met the nurses, social workers, and the doctor that are the ones that come in at the beginning. Since the middle of September of have met the most caring, friendly, courteous, wonderful, people that go out of their way to explain your illness to you, explain all your options to you, try to relieve all your and your familys anxieties, manage your pain levels until they find the right combinations, (which they definitely do) visit you sometimes daily to do this, and when they are not here, they are constantly calling you to see how you are, if you need anything. Aside from my own family, Hospice workers are second to none!!! I can’t say enough good things about each and every one of them.

From what I have read about patients in the care of Hospice, sometimes the different combinations of medications can alter the mental outlook and cause some mean, and obnoxious behaviorism through no fault of their own. But all Hospice nurses know that and I’m sure are quick to forgive this kind of behavior. But…when it’s a family member who treats the nurses this way, it is totally unacceptable!!!! Treating a nurse that way, swearing and abusing them, the one who is there for the sole purpose of taking care of your loved one, making sure they get the best of care in their final days, is deplorable.

While that is fresh in my mind, I will now write letters of apologizes to all my family members in case I start to act like that, ( I know they’ll forgive me, cause we’ve talked about this, and I know they will not treat any nurses in this abusive way either because I’ve already threatened to slap them up side the head if they do) and I’m sure the nurses will also do the same. Well maybe they won’t slap them, but they have my permission if they want to.

All that being said, my hats, ( which are plentiful at this time thanks to all family members) are raised to each and everyone of you who choose to pick this type of career, taking care of others in their time of need, and hopefully are always treated in the best possible way. You certainly deserve it!!

SICK OF THESE YET?

2009-09-25T17:41:00.003-04:00

I hear you nodding your head yes, but since I haven’t been out and about much lately you’re once again stuck with my own flowers.

First, the Illumination Begonias. The ones that I planted in the hanging baskets are pretty much done, and hanging limply in their containers. But not these. Planted in a large planter in the front, these are looking good as new. Better than new!!

And how about this Verbena. Not a spot of powdery mildew this year, and still looking terrific.

And when all other petunias have turned straggly and brown, how about this gorgeous Supertunia.

Oh, and by the way, I’m still blooming over here too. Maybe not as full and lush as I once was, maybe not actually blooming either, but hey, what do you expect at the end of September of 2009. But I’m still a little bit cute. Right?

Still Hanging In There

2009-08-18T09:34:00.009-04:00

A few surprises hanging in here in the middle of August.

The first is this Verbena. Usually by this time of year all my Verbenas are in the trash heap. Loaded with powdery mildew and totally wilted. But... looking good

How about this Lantana. Still full and healthy...

How about these window boxes. Still going like gangbusters..

And last... how about the view from my favorite sitting place....

Oh, and one more thing

Yes, I'm still hanging in there too.:))

Thirsty?

2009-06-29T14:23:00.003-04:00

How about a little Cola.
Better yet, how about a huge, oversized, colossal cola?

Last year this lily was 54” tall. This year it’s 6’ tall. Next year I plan on climbing it to grab the goose that lays the golden eggs and maybe the magic harp while I'm up there too.

Not thirsty…how about hungry?

Lollipop Lily. I love this little cutie.

Not hungry? How about just some eye candy then.
This delicate flower is on one heck of a strong climber. Mme. Julia Correvon Clematis.

This larger flower is on a weaker climber that requires a lot of tying, but worth it. And I don’t know the name of it because it was mis-labeled. It was supposed to be a double blue but I’m happy with the result (although I really did want a double blue).

This one I’m not so happy with. Bought last year, it didn’t bloom but instead spread out. Okay, I was a bit disappointed, but waited for this year to see it. Well, there are a ton of blooms this year, and I would be ecstatic except for one thing.

It was supposed to be CHERRY RED. %&&$$# What’s with these people and their labels??

I guess if you want to be sure you get the colors you want, you buy them already blooming. Thanks to Betty Boop and SisterNan, I have instant color in my back yard with this Supertunia "Bordeaux"

And this multi-colored Verbena

And last but certainly not least, this one is for Rose of Prairie Rose’s Garden. She mentioned in one of her posts that she couldn’t find an Illumination Begonia this year. Hey Rose, you’re certainly welcome to share one of mine.

Peanuts!! Camera!! Action!!

2009-06-22T07:15:00.009-04:00

All it takes is a platform feeder and a handful of peanuts….

First to arrive every morning and the last to call it a day at night is this tired looking fella.

Maybe because of these two fluffed up offspring waiting patiently on the trellis.

Well, maybe not too patiently because they’re squawking up a storm, until one decides she’s waited long enough and helps herself. Smart girl.

Yes mom does feed them too, but not as much as he does because after all, she did the hard part at the beginning, right?
Next to show up…

Stuffing his mouth to take to this little tailless fellow hunkering down in a corner by the little birdbath. Hey, you need water with those peanuts.

Last I saw of this little guy he was jumping through the back fence to hide in all the shrubs back there. Probably a good idea till his flying improves.

Soon to arrive is this handsome fella announcing his arrival by a rat-a-tat-tat on the gutter first.

His little one (not really that little now) is hugging the large oak tree in the back waiting for his share.

And this little downy is usually next.

Her little offspring is following so close behind her that he actually thumped into the window a few times before he finally learned to land on the trellis instead. No he wasn’t hurt.

How about this plump mama.

Since there’s no babies in sight, I don’t let her stay. An eating machine if I ever saw one. And when she’s done eating she’ll still park her fat self on here and sit forever!!!! So off she goes.

This is one that I never allow.

Wicked grackle. Killer of babies. Off with you!!!

And of course there’s Mr. Nose. He can smell a peanut a mile away. So far he hasn’t been able to figure out that all he has to do is jump up 2 feet and he’d be in peanut heaven. But I’m sure he’ll catch on pretty quick.

Unlike his larger rodent cousin, this guy had no problem scrambling up the side of the house and helping himself.

I guess that means I’ll have to be moving that feeder to a different place. Pain in the butt rodents, spoil all the fun..sigh..

Hey, She Likes It !!

2009-06-15T14:32:00.006-04:00

She first showed up last Tuesday and has been here every day since, which is unheard of in my backyard in June. If that's not a woohoo I don't know what is.

So...WOOHOO !!!!!!!

Weeds

2009-06-11T03:16:00.005-04:00

Did I ever mention that I hate to pull weeds? No? Well I will now then. I hate it, hate it, hate it. I’d rather be poking myself in the eye with a sharp stick instead of weeding. But eventually I do get around to it. Forcing myself to work a 4 foot section of flower bed at a time on a daily basis until it is finally done.

Well I kinda got behind this time. Waaaaay behind.

You wouldn’t think I’d have the nerve to call this a “flower” bed now would you? Poor little impatiens don’t stand a chance in that mess. Being crowded out before they even have a chance to grow.

Well, relax.

And how did I manage that? Well, "I" didn’t. The only person I know who says she actually likes to weed did that. The one who has flowers, and ONLY flowers, in her beds (yes I checked). The one who has been known to sit all afternoon in her lawn and patiently pull out every bit of clover because it really doesn’t belong there. The one who stopped by my house a few days previously and was accidentally shown the front bed which caused an immediate

And the statement “I’m coming back on Tuesday!!
And who might that be? Why that would be Bonkers Betty Boop of course.

Not only did she show up with all her garden tools, (hey I have tools too, and mine are sparkling clean and look like new for some reason) but she also brought a crispy, brown, tasty chicken for my lunch!!!

So guess what I was doing while she was slaving away out in front.
Well, you’re wrong!!! I was NOT in the house scarfing up the chicken. I was outside the whole time keeping her company AND doing a little fertilizing and watering (I like doing that) AND I even pulled a few weeds (guilt).

After she finally had enough fun for one day, and went on her way, I did indeed make short work of the chicken for dinner though.

Hmmmm, I wonder what she’s doing next week as I'm sure with a little watering and fertilizing I can get those weeds back in no time.

A Little Icing On The Cake

2009-06-07T14:14:00.003-04:00

While out and about with FD2 the other day, she said “Hey, let’s stop at Lowes because there’s a humming bird feeder there that you’re gonna love and have to have!!” Thinking, “I doubt it” but not wanting to put a damper on her enthusiasm, I agreed to go.

I also didn’t mention the box sitting in my closet, full of various old feeders. Feeders that I’ve used over the years trying to attract those little buggers to my back yard. Some feeders that were extremely hard to clean. Some that dripped constantly informing those nasty yellow jackets exactly where their food source was, (which can turn into a hairy situation when you decide to stand out there and try flicking them off with your fingernail) Feeders with ports so large that whenever it rained it would fill up and dilute the sugar water and you’d have to throw it out and start anew (hey 57cents worth of sugar is 57cents worth of sugar) Feeders with ports so small there’s no way you can stick a cotton swab in there to clean them out. And a few feeders that were just downright ugly. Yep, I’ve tried them all.

Hey, I hear you sighing out there about my saved stuff/junk/crap. This time it’s okay though, because I’m sighing a bit myself over this box.

But………..she was right of course. I loved it. Had to have it. It is now hanging from a hook, strategically placed by my back window so that I can see it from just about any chair in the downstairs. (One upside of a small condo, with a large back window. Come to think of it, the only upside)

Heavy, multi-colored glass, and my favorite…..A Hot Air Balloon!!!!

Have I seen a hummer since putting it up? Nope. Do I expect to see them zooming towards it in droves fighting each other as each one claims it as it’s own. Yeah, in my dreams. Do I enjoy looking at it even if they don’t show up? You betcha. And when one finally does shows up, and they will eventually, I’ll take it as just a little more icing on the cake.

Spidey's In My Bed!

2009-06-03T15:41:00.007-04:00

No, not this one

And not this plump momma chasing down her soon-to-be devoured mate. Hey, a girls’ gotta do, what a girls’ gotta do. Right?

I’m talking about these spiders

Spiderwort Tradescantia

A couple of years ago I was looking around the garden centers trying to find a nice little something to fill an empty space in my front flower bed. Not really that knowledgeable about plant life, even though I might accidently give the opposite impression sometimes, I finally gave up and just grabbed the last little 5” pot of something called Spiderwort. The picture on the tag looked promising but I certainly know how that can turn out sometimes, and I figured I could always move it to the back fence if it didn’t work out in front. That back fence sure has a lot of mis-matched, unknown, misc, plants/weeds springing up everywhere.

But it did work out. Once those long blooming little blue/lavender/purple flowers showed up, I was hooked, and I immediately went out to buy some more. Of course I couldn’t find any so I was doubly happy that I at least had this one. And this spring that lone plant was big enough to be divided into three and soon I will have masses and masses of free spideys in my bed!!

But for those of you who might find a different kind of spider waiting for you in your bed, I suggest you put the webbster on speed dial posthaste!!

Back To Normal

2009-05-30T16:26:00.002-04:00

As you can see, my floppy, fickle fingers are working just fine now. Leg weakness all gone too. Things are so good in fact, that I’m taking that pot of simmering stew I’ve been posting about and heaving it over the back fence. Waiting till dark of course. Don’t want the neighbors to see how I really dispose of my garbage.

I did want to put this little post up now though, because I think that Connie from Farside has some thunderstorms lurking around up there and I didn’t want her to get zapped before she had a chance to read it.

So it's back to normal (whatever that may be) in dragon land and posting will be back to it's usual nonsense, simple, misc. crap. But I wanted to tell you that all my plants are growing great, and did I mention that I now have a fridge full of people food instead of just bird food?
Whoo Hoo

Touchdown

2009-05-08T15:41:00.002-04:00

While making my twice weekly jaunt down to the corner building that passes itself off as a grocery/junk/crap discount store, I ran smack into their plants. This time of year they have 3 or 4 long racks sitting outside full of annuals and a few perennials. Now this store is not noted for the tender loving care that they give their plants. They can kill off every single plant out there faster than you can say “dead as a doornail” unless you get them the same day that they come off the truck. Well today I must have hit it just as the truck was pulling out of the drive because all those plants were looking pretty good to me. Forget the food, the TP, and yes, even the candy. This was much more important!

Fuchsia

Lantana
They always have Fuchsias but this is the first time they have had the Lantanas. I usually try to buy at least one Lantana every year because I love them and so do the hummingbirds but sometimes I’ll have to hit 3 or 4 stores before I can find one. I never could figure out why they were so hard to find, so of course I had to buy one since it practically fell into my lap. Literally, because as I was tugging the best looking one off the top shelf (of course) I lost my grip, but luckily managed to do a diving save, grabbing it with both hands and hugging it to my body as I gracefully plopped on the ground. (Talk about a pretty picture. At least the other customers were polite enough to avert their eyes) So there I went, happily trudging home with a hanging basket of color in each hand.
And speaking of hummingbirds…..NO, I haven’t seen any yet!!!

Q's & A's and Show & Tell

2009-05-02T10:23:00.004-04:00

First, we start with the Q's and A’s.
As per usual, I get to ask the questions and you get to answer them. Isn’t this fun??
Question #1….
This popped up in my flower bed and since I have never planted anything out there that even remotely looks like this 5” tall whatsits…..
.What the heck is it?

Question #2

No, I know what those are. What I don’t know is why, when I buy and plant primrose they start out with flowers the size of the silver dollar but the next year they’re the size of the nickel.

Any takers here? (not the coins….just the question)

Well that concludes the Q & A part. Aren’t you surprised that there’s only two this time? I know, I actually amazed myself. Now on to the show and tell.

Remember this? (I know that’s a question but it doesn’t require an answer)

Well, if you’ve been paying attention and actually reading this drivel that I post you’d remember that this was a little Illumination Begonia bud that I showed you a little while back.

Moving on

Ta Da

I think I’m going to like this plant.

Bragging Rights

2009-04-26T06:52:00.005-04:00

So my sister Betty calls me Saturday morning. It went something like this.

Betty Boop…"Hey, whatcha doing?"

Me…. "Nothing much, how about you?."

Baiting Boop….."I’m just calling to see if you put your hummingbird feeder up yet?" (Drat, I know exactly where this is going)

Me… "No not yet, why?" (feigning ignorance while swearing a blue streak under my breath).

Boastfull Boop…"Because we saw a hummer this morning, put our feeder up and are now watching the first hummer of the season. I just wanted to tell you so you would put yours out." (Yeah, sure, that’s exactly why you called. Uh huh, right. ) "Oh I’ve got another call, gotta go" (I could actually hear her smirking as she said goodby)

So once again Bratty Boop wins the annual "Nah, nah, I saw it first" contest. And while there’s no reward like a free lunch or anything like that involved (why would I ever agree to something like that when I have never, ever won this stupid contest) the winner does get bragging rights, which she takes full advantage of every chance she gets.

While we’re on the subject of show-offs and braggarts, here’s another one.

no, not this one

not this one either

Yep, this one

Now Cola definitely deserves those bragging rights!!

Looky What I Found

2009-04-23T17:46:00.004-04:00

The last time my youngest sent me an e-mail with that as the subject line, I kinda held my breath knowing something was coming that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see. Sure enough it was a picture of a very large RATTLESNAKE that she came across while she was hiking in the middle of nowhere in Arizona. And it wasn’t a far-off shot either. Too darn close for my liking and of course I proceeded to tell her so. (As usual, it went in one ear and out the other. I think she even went so far as to say she never got that ranting and raving e-mail that I sent her)

But I’m afraid there’s nothing as dramatic or exciting as that on my post. Sorry for those of you who were wishing there was. Nope, just some more of the same old, same old.

As you know, I transplanted my tumbling tom tomatoes into the hanging baskets and they are now too large to fit under the lights, so I had to put them by the windows hoping they get enough light until it’s time to take them outside.

But looky what I found

Now I know this can’t lead to anything because as far as I know there are no pollinators flying around in the house. Right? So should I pinch this cute little thing off? A little help here, please.

I also found this while checking the Illumination Begonias today

It doesn’t really look like the beginnings of a flower, but I’m not sure, so I would appreciate a little help with this also. Are you getting the idea that I have no idea whatsoever of what I’m doing here? Well, keep that idea because I’m also asking about these Cuphea.

Maybe to look like this

I’ve never tried these before but when the phrase in the catalogue says hummingbird magnet…..well, I can’t resist. Have any of you tried these? Good? Bad? Blah?
Okay, I guess I’ve picked your brains enough for one day.

Oh, looky what I found…

Nah, not really. This was just a little reward for hanging in there till the end.

Ready For An Update?

2009-04-15T16:20:00.004-04:00

The last time you saw my little seedlings was on March 30th. I know you’ve been dying to see how they’re coming along. Right? If you nodded yes, you’re in luck. If you shook your head no….well what can I say.

First we have the Bizarre Snapdragons. Not much to look at now, but just you wait a month or so.

Next we have Mini Bell Snapdragons. Unlike regular snaps that…well you all know what snaps look like... you can’t squeeze these little cheeks to open their mouths because they’re already open.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with mini bells here is a batch that I had growing back in 2006

Moving on.. how about these Tumbling Tom Tomatoes. First time you saw them they were about 2” tall.
They are now 10-11” tall.

I’m thinking I started these too early. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I mean thoughts about tomatoes, not those other ones that might be floating around in your head right about now.

Next we have the Illumination Begonias. Off to a slow start, they certainly made up for it because these are now 8-9” tall, and growing fast. Since we have at least 3 more weeks before I can start taking these outside to harden off I also hope I didn’t start these too soon.

Last but not least we have the monkeys (Mimulus). Plants are still fairly small, only about 2” tall but take a gander at these cuties. I know most of you would say to pinch them back, but I just can’t bear to pinch off their pretty heads. They make me smile and bring a little color when all the other seedlings are just a sea of green. And since they only take a month from planting to blooming and I have plenty of seeds left, I’m going to enjoy these while I can. Wouldn’t you?

Liar, Liar

2009-04-10T17:01:00.005-04:00

I know I said I wasn’t going to post a picture of my Tête-à-tête daffodils on here, but since they’re still blooming and pickings are pretty slim around here I’ve changed my mind. So I lied, so sue me.

I’m also going to show you my Cola lilies. Well the start of them anyhow. Looks like they’re going to be huge again just like last year. These were the ones that were advertised as being 24” – 36” tall and actually grew into 54” monsters. But what gorgeous monsters they were!!

Next we have the little bleeding heart that I bought new last year. A few weeks ago, Miss Goody Two-shoes aka sister Betty, stopped over and I was lamenting the fact that I thought I had lost this little plant over the winter. I had checked it out a few days prior and there was nothing, nada, coming up. Well, wouldn’t you know, Miss Smarty Pants pulled off all of last years dead leaves, I prefer thinking them as a blanket, and there it was. New little green shoots. Well, since then it’s been making up for lost time and this is what it looks like this morning.

Moving on, this is the Clove Currant shrub that the aforementioned Miss Goody…. Pants gave me as a 12” starter twig back in 2005 and which is now 6’ tall.

Soon to look like this

She didn’t know the name, I didn’t know the name and it wasn’t until we gave another starter twig to FD#2 a couple of years later that we finally found out what it was called. (she knows things like that) But what’s important about this one is the fragrance. WOW!!!!!!! Yep, it’s that good!!!
And in a few weeks this heavenly aroma will be filling the entire back yard

And last we have the iris. Not very large yet but I’m happy anything is still here since something has been chomping and gnawing on it ever since the new shoots started poking up through the…um..blanket.

I’m not sure what likes to chew on these. With all the squirrels around here and the rabbit I see running through the yard every morning it’s anybody’s guess.

Oh, no it wasn’t that one,
It was this one.

Destructive little rodents!

A Couple Of Firsts

2009-04-02T14:05:00.002-04:00

I know this is not April 1st, but there were a couple of firsts for me today. The first one is I finally got some blooms in the yard. My Tete a Tete daffodils finally showed their little faces. No picture here because everyone has their own to look at and I know you don’t need/want to see any more.

The second first is the first bee. Not sure why he showed up since the only thing blooming around here is the above mentioned daffy, and I don’t think they like those. Needless to say he didn’t stick around long. No picture because...well it's a bee.

The third first is a Rufous Sided Towhee in my backyard. No picture of him either because he was extremely skittish and immediately disappeared as soon as he saw me heading out the door with the camera, which is usually what happens anytime I try to take a picture of anything that flies, crawls, swims, or walks.

Next we have the first day it has hit the 70* mark, which also makes it the first day I have the windows wide open filling the house with something other than recycled heated air from the furnace. Yippee!! Cough, hack, sneeze, choke, gasp. Not used to this stuff!! Count your blessings there's no picture of that.

And finally, it is the first day I have taken the new cart for a walk down to the store. I know, I know, that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, but unfortunately it is a big deal for me. It actually took me 45 minutes to talk myself into it. For some unknown reason, I feel very conspicuous and self conscious walking down the street dragging this cart behind me. I know as soon as I walk out the door there will be dozens of people going by, gawking, honking, laughing, pointing and generally having a good time at my expense. I’m sure parades will spring up out of nowhere, television crews will show up and I’ll be the lead-in story on the 11:00 news.

Paranoid? Perhaps just a tad. Fact is, only 2 cars went by the whole time it took me to walk to the store, and neither one of them slowed down to look and laugh but I still felt uncomfortable the whole way. That is until I finished shopping and started home. Six heavy bags of groceries snug inside the cart, big wheels rolling effortlessly along, strolling down the sidewalk without strain, pain or aching arms. Ha, look who’s laughing and pointing now. I am!! Eat your hearts out passersby’s. You wish you had one of these, don’t you? Whoo hoo!!

If you want to see a picture of this, check your news channel. I think I might have seen a tv truck hiding in one of the side streets.

March Is On The March Outta Here

2009-03-30T13:41:00.002-04:00

Here it is the 30th day of March and there is still nothing blooming in my yard. Granted there are a few buds on my daffodils but buds are not blooms! The only bit of color out there is a bright green hose that fell off it’s holder and is now coiled on the ground. At least I think it’s the hose because as far as I know we have no snakes around here. Hmmm….maybe I should check it out…..no, I think not. I know it’s the hose!!! There is also a bright orange Reeses Peanut Butter Cup wrapper blowing back and forth in the wind. No it is not my wrapper. I might be a bit lax when it comes to cleaning up all the leaves and dead annuals in my beds, but I do not let my trash blow around. This is someone’s else’s trash. I wish they’d keep it in their own yard for a change, although it does bring a spot of color along with the snake, err I mean hose, to my otherwise drab backyard on this dreary day. It also gets me to thinking about chocolate………never mind!!

Since there is nothing outside, we’ll have to stay inside. I know you’re all dying to hear about my seedlings, right? I’ll take that big sigh as a yes. This is just a sampling of some of the larger ones. And if you think some of these are small, you should see some of the other ones I’m not forcing you to look at.

On the left is my Illumination Begonias. Before you ooooh and ahhhhh about these beauties?, bear in mind that out of 27 seeds that I planted, I only got 9 plants. And it took 2 months to get these buggers to this size. Next on top is Camelot Rose Foxgloves. I only ended up with 4 out of 12 seeds, but that’s okay because I’m hoping they’ll reseed for next year. Next to them is Tumbling Tom Tomatoes. All 8 seeds germinated and I had to thin them down to 4. Let’s hope all 4 of these make it since there are no more. Oh oh, maybe I shouldn’t have done that yet. Moving on…the gazanias are next. These are from the seeds I saved from last years favorites. The bottom three are Monkey Flowers, Blue Victoria Salvia, and Stock, in that order.

Now, wasn’t that a lot more fun, interesting and informative than you thought it would be?
Oh… okay this time I’ll take that sigh as a no.

It's Official

2009-03-26T20:02:00.002-04:00

There’s no denying it now. I’m definitely over, down and past the hill. Those of you who read this dribble, know that I walk to the stores, at least 90% of the time. Loading up my arms with bags of groceries, prancing home without a problem. At least I used to. This last year, the amount of bags I can carry has gradually decreased until I have had to limit myself to two for each hand. And depending on what I need to buy, and how heavy it is, sometimes not even that many. (Not including candy of course. I can still manage to carry LOTS of that)

But today I faced the truth. I’m an old, decrepit, weak armed ancient. No more walking briskly home, but instead going slower and slower weighed down by too many bags. Sooooo I finally folded.
And so does this for easy storage.

They say that with age comes wisdom. Too bad my age came too soon and my wisdom didn’t come soon enough. I think I could have saved myself some long, hard walks home, if it had.
Wow!! I can stuff a whole heck of a lot of candy in there and still have room for food!!

Hitting The Beds

2009-03-18T15:45:00.002-04:00

A little of this

Means a lot of this

Two flower beds down and two to go. And although the last two are begging for some clean up, they'll have to wait because I’m just too tuckered out and another bed is calling my name!
I’m sure you can guess which one.

Plump It Up

2009-03-13T20:12:00.003-04:00

I don’t know about your computers but lately everywhere I look on mine, I am bombarded with little ads for plumping it up. First there’s the lips. The easy, magical cure for those of us that suffer with thin lips. Rub this cream on my thin, ugly, (yes, it actually says I’m ugly,) lips and in no time at all, I will look as luscious as Angelina Jolie. And evidently men will be beating a path to my door, trying to give me a big fat kiss!! I’m not sure I could handle that.

Did I buy this product? No way. I’m not prone to buy from someone that is rude enough to call me ugly right off the bat.

Then there’s the ads for plumping up my hair. Secret, unknown ingredients in shampoos and conditioners that will have my thin, limp hair instantly becoming a wild, curly mane causing even the most stoic of men to start pushing and shoving just to be able to stand by my side. I’m not sure I even WANT to handle that.

Did I buy this product? Nope. I did try “Curly Shampoo” once. Not one curl showed up. So I won’t bother trying any of these "miracle" products either.

So what’s with all the “plump it up” ads lately? I never noticed them before. Maybe they were there but I didn't see them because I never thought I needed plumping up. And I don’t think I need it now either. I may be a little short in the lips and hair department, but that doesn’t mean I’m lacking in plump. Nosiree. I’ve got plump!! Plenty of it. So eat your heart out Angelina, I’ve got plump all over you….. and all over me.

So whoever's plastering all those ads on my computer, knock it off. I don't need or want any more plump! Why would I spend money for more of something I already have in abundance?

Wanna See A Picture?

2009-03-05T14:54:00.003-05:00

While at a party or out for a night on the town, did you ever run into one of those people who love to show you pictures? The ones who immediately grab that little leather, wallet sized thingy with a snap, that when opened drops a whole line of plastic clad photos down to the floor, and your stuck there as they show you every one, while explaining who they are, what they were doing, what they’re doing now etc, etc, etc…and although you’ve never met this person before in your entire life, and have no idea who all these people are, you can’t very well be rude and walk away, so you stay, listen, nod your head at the appropriate times while desperately wishing you were somewhere else?

You have? I haven’t. Not once. No one has ever asked me if I wanted to view pictures of their offspring or other family members. Not even the people that I’ve known for years. That might be because they either don’t have any kids, don’t carry pictures with them, or it might be because they usually have a cocktail, er I mean liquid refreshment in one hand and have their other hand stuck in a bowl of munchies, (don’t eat anything from that bowl) which makes it quite difficult to reach into one’s pockets. On the other hand, I’ve never been asked to show any pictures of my kids either. Probably because I also had my hands full of …..important stuff at the time. Or it could have been that they already had an inkling of what my kids looked like and didn’t need nor want to see a picture for proof.

But right now my hands are empty, and even though I wasn’t asked to, I am willing to show you a picture of my girls. And it’s only one picture so don’t be rude and walk away (or click away because I can tell when you do that) without at least a quick glance.

My kids always were a wild bunch.

And I guess I'm also a bit bored.

The Depressing Browns

2009-03-01T12:18:00.002-05:00

I’m not talking about the Cleveland Browns football team here, even though they certainly are depressing. Except for the new stadium that the die hard football fans voted to pay $300 million for in 1995 (and which I’m probably still paying for even though I’ve never set foot in the place) they have diddly squat.

1995 was the year when the owner of the old Browns decided that the city of Cleveland wasn’t playing nice and announced that he and the team were skedaddling to Baltimore because THAT city knew how to treat a team, notwithstanding the fact that in 1983 the Baltimore Colts had come to the conclusion that Baltimore was treating them poorly, and they actually snuck out in the middle of the night to avoid the wrath of extremely angry fans, and headed to Indianapolis, because THAT city knew how to treat a team……..
And since our “new” Browns team has fallen to the bottom of the pack most of the years since they started from scratch in 1999, they do tend to cause one to become depressed. But that’s over for now.

I’m not talking about this depressing brown matter either. Although he’s pretending to try to cheer me up by his “king of the hill” antics ( king of the trellis this time), I know he’s really up there to get a better view to see where he can start digging to find all his hidden acorns. And dig he will, and dig and dig and dig.

The brown that I’m talking about is much less complicated than either of those. It’s this.

Brown grass, brown vines, dead brown annuals from last year, dead brown leaves still strewn about, etc…. wherever I point the camera, this is what I see.

But hey, it’s March 1st and the worst is behind us now and in a few weeks I expect to be typing a post titled “Whoo Hoo..Green”. Well, hopefully not quite that lame but something to that effect. I think I’ll like that one a lot more than I like this one. But I know that a few weeks from now I still won’t be liking the Cleveland Browns or the furry tailed big brown rat. It’s going to take a heck of a lot longer than that.

You're Full Of......??

2009-02-24T08:03:00.004-05:00

While typing the “full of hot air” bit on my last post, I immediately thought of my mother. No, she wasn’t full of hot air, nor did she, as far as I know, have a secret desire to go soaring into the skies. Quite the opposite in fact. But a little background first. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it short.

My mom was a woman who didn’t talk a whole heck of a lot by the time all of us girls became the “terrible teenagers”. She probably figured she couldn’t get a word in edgewise when we were all running off at the mouth at the same time. When she got mad at us, for some imagined reason of course, she wouldn’t yell or rant like some mothers I know, (no need to mention names since I know who I am) but she would usually just say a few words then walk away looking disappointed and not talk to you for a while. And believe me that was very effective. There’s nothing like the silent treatment to make you feel totally guilty and ashamed of yourself for whatever it was that you had done. And did she cuss or swear? Never, don’t even think it. On the other side, we didn’t mouth off or yell at her either. At each other, constantly, but not to mom. I remember a neighbor girl who always talked back to her mother. I was totally shocked when I heard some of the things she said. And I’m not being facetious this time, I was actually shocked.

But back to the story. One day my sister Betty said something she shouldn’t have to my mother. And mom got mad. Very mad. I was standing close by, (not too close because there’s no use taking any chances) my mouth agape that Miss Goody Two Shoes would actually have the audacity to mouth off to mom. And doubly surprised that mom didn’t just walk away (my chin had to be on the floor by now). Nope, mom stood right there, looked at Betty (actually raised her voice slightly) and said something I had never heard her say before.
“You’re Full Of ……..Red Ants” Yep, that’s the worst she could come up with.

Now a little advice for some of you moms out there. Looking disappointed but saying nothing and walking away might shame your kids into doing the right thing, whereas saying “you’re full of red ants” will get you nothing but guffaws, snorts, snickers, and outright hysterical laughter.

Of course, I can’t close this out without a picture of my sweet talking mom.

Aw Shucks, You Shouldn't Have

2009-02-22T13:02:00.003-05:00

A very funny but very misguided blogger over at The Knitting Nurse has gone and done the unthinkable. She has included me in her list of bloggers to receive the Kreativ Blogger Award. What was she thinking, or not thinking in this case? Hey Rudee, are you on drugs?

As we all know when accepting awards, high fashion, impeccable make up and gorgeous hair-do's are not optional but required, not to mention cleanliness, as in taking a shower first. And since I am still sitting here in my robe, don’t have a Dior (or any other gown or even a dress in my wardrobe), and my hair is a definite hair-don’t, I’m afraid I cannot in good conscience, bad conscience, or any other state of consciousness, accept this honor. And if that isn’t enough, although it certainly should be, I also don’t have, nor can I think of, anything that even comes remotely close to an acceptance speech. So…when I said “You shouldn’t have” I meant that literally and decline I must.

But not to be outdone, I will in turn, give to her the “Full of hot air” award.

I think in this situation it just might fit, but if for some reason you don’t feel that you deserve this, you may of course immediately pass and just ignore it or send it to someone else. And there are no rules to follow for this one, seeing that I just made it up, although it wouldn’t surprise me if there really was one of these awards “floating” around out there somewhere.

February Boredom

2009-02-17T17:18:00.003-05:00

For being the shortest month of the year, February certainly seems to drag on forever, doesn’t it?, and it drags total boredom with it. Bored with the winter with everything brown and lifeless outside, and listless and lazy inside. Nothing in my head, my yard, my house or anyplace else to write about, so I’m going to have to pick on one of my kids. Let’s see….eeny, meeny, miney, moe…

You’re it

This is Florida brat or, as she likes to think of herself, FD#3. Don’t let the sweet looks fool you. I admit that although she did start out that way, always smiling and happy and willing to help with anything you needed, somewhere along the way she turned into the sarcastic, snippy, snide, kid that she is to this day. And I have no idea, no idea at all, where she got that from. Must be a bad gene in there somewhere.

Anyhow things were going along fine, school, college, job, marriage, house……. Then one day out of the blue, she said she and the old goat were moving to Florida. Florida, land of hurricanes, roaches the size of large dogs, surrounded by waters filled with alligators, sharks and who knows what else, all kinds of things to bite you, maim you, blow you into kingdom come, and they were leaving in a month. And they did.

Not content to just leave, after they got settled in she constantly had to tell me about all the sun, the warmth, the flowers that bloom all year long, sitting in the lanai, going fishing, and just rubbing it in every chance she got and there were many. But then along came Charley in August of 2004. Roaring up the Gulf Coast and causing big time major damage and mayhem not far from where she and the old goat lived. Fortunately, their area was spared the worst of it, but it did give me a chance to have a little pay back. So I sent her this

Didn’t do any good though. She’s still there, and still tells me about the wonderful life down there. To be honest, she does constantly invite me down, and tries to talk me into it by telling me how much I would love it and all the things we could do and the places we could go, but then in the next sentence she mentions something about taking me gator hunting. Hmmmm……I wonder what they’re planning to use for bait…….. Maybe I’ll just stay up here and be bored for a little while.

Happy Candy Day

2009-02-14T11:56:00.004-05:00

My favorite nonessential special day right after Halloween…. for obvious reasons, of course.
And believe it or not, I did not go out and buy a new stash. I have had these for a whopping 12 days now. In fact, right after I finish posting this I am going to contact Ripley’s because I have just broken all of my old records.

Seems like someone did manage to get into them before I could take this picture though. You’d think they could have waited just a few more minutes, wouldn’t you.

Everyone have a good, (and I mean good as in yummy) Valentines Day.

Let There Be..Illumination

2009-02-08T07:21:00.003-05:00

No I did not have a revelation nor have I “seen the light” as this title might suggest. It’s also not about any “light at the end of the tunnel”, a light bulb perched above my head, or anything to do with the electric company because that is the bill I always tend to pay first so I can be on here, doing this.

Anyway, to shed some light on the subject, ha, I’m talking about a Begonia. (A big let-down for ya here?) Scouring through one of my seed catalogues a few weeks ago, I came across this good looking plant. I’ve started various begonias from seed before and usually have fairly decent luck with them, but have never tried this one. I was debating on whether to give it a shot when lo and behold, (how often do you get to say that) Rose from Prairie Rose’s Garden had a post that included this very same plant, although a different color. What a coincidence, and since she said that it was one of her favorite annuals last year, that cinched it for me. I ordered some seeds.

A few days later and I’m all set to plant. There were 25 pelleted seeds in the pack. Pelleted for dummies like me that otherwise can’t tell a tiny seed from a speck of dust on their fingertip and therefore usually end up with nothing. And since those seeds are so small how do they get that coating on each one, and how many of them are really coated dust particles instead? Is that why only half of them germinate?

Ten days later and here they are. Yes, they’re in there although you might need a magnifying glass to see them.

With a lot of luck, a ton of patience, and some TLC, there should be at least some Illumination in my garden this summer.

Oh Oh

2009-02-03T08:34:00.002-05:00

You all know by now, how this cold, cold, cold, snowy weather affects me. When the temps. don’t manage to climb above freezing but one day out of 10. The only day I’m willing to trudge down to the store. (Walking down the middle of the street because the sidewalks are still impassable and yes, the car’s still stuck)

Bad girl, bad girl
Whatcha gonna do
Whatcha gonna do
When it gets to you

Spring Has Sprung

2009-01-31T10:53:00.003-05:00

No not that spring, and from the looks of it that won’t be happening for quite some time yet.

Yes that’s my super duper snow gauge aka yardstick stuck in there. There was a time when stores appreciated your business and would give away handy dandy freebies like that. Those days are long gone, at least around here. And that ancient snow gauge shows that there is 18” of snow in my backyard. Arrrgh!!!!

Anyhow, the spring I’m talking about is in here,

This old clock has 3 springs that need to be wound with a key every seven days. One for the hour chime, one for the pendulum and one for the quarter chime. It’s the quarter chime that is sprung. Instead of the seven day windup, this spring has to be wound up every 2 days if I want to hear the chime on the quarter hour. Which is no big thing, because the clock still works fine without the quarter hour chime. Until recently that is.

Now there’s another problem. The pendulum stops, which means everything stops. Glancing at the clock while walking by I’m startled to see it’s only 3:00 when it’s pitch black outside. And I know it’s not 3:00 a.m., because rarely am I walking around downstairs at that time of the morning. Okay, sometimes, but usually when I’m awake at that ungodly hour, I stay in bed and toss and turn, while mumbling and complaining for a few hours instead of just getting up and doing some work around here like cleaning the darn house. (Yeah, that’s gonna happen.)

But back to the clock. Opening the door I reset the hands and give the pendulum a little nudge and we’re back in business. Next day, same thing. This time when I go to reset the hands I see that the minute hand has fallen off and is now lying down on the base. Hmmmm?? Re-attach the hand, reset the time, nudge the pendulum (maybe a little harder this time). Okay. Couple of days later, same scenario. Stupid clock.

But then I thought about that old clock. I’ve had it for a long time. So what if it’s getting a little worn out, so am I. What does it matter if it doesn’t work as well as it used to, I don't either. So a hand falls off once in a while, whoops, no that hasn’t happened to me but sometimes they don’t work quite as smoothly as they used to. For all of it’s age, it’s still a nice looking old thing, as am I. (Hey, beauty is in the eye/mind of the beholder, and I’m the only beholder in my house and the fact that I have all my mirrors covered with sheets means nothing)

I do wish I had a key to wind myself up every couple of days though, because I think my spring has sprung too.

Sisterhood At Its Finest

2009-01-26T10:13:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that my two sisters both had birthdays during January and posted a picture of the two of them together. Betty’s was on the 2nd. and although I didn’t show a picture of her by herself, she won’t mind that I am now going to single out Nan. In fact I’m quite sure she’s very happy about that, but hey Betty, if you like, I can always find another picture of you by yourself that I’ll be glad to post on here. Let me know.

I wasn’t around when this picture of Nan was taken, because of course I hadn’t been born yet, or as my mother used to say, “I was picking daisies”. How she came up with that expression when I would ask why I wasn’t in any of these pictures is beyond me. I remember getting a little teary eyed when she told me that though, because I didn’t want to be out picking any daisies, I wanted to be in the pictures too. Now of course I just snicker about that.

But anyhow, without further ado, here she is. And except for the fact that she is now much taller, a little?? older, a lot?? wiser, has gray hair instead of brown, keeps both feet firmly on the ground instead of on benches, (not sure about that one because I saw a picture of her dancing around in red shoes not too long ago), she looks exactly the same as she did those many years ago. Uh huh.

And isn’t she just the cutest little thing?

Hope you have a Happy Birthday tomorrow, Nan.
Hope you enjoy your birthday cake.
Hope you don’t plan on lighting all those candles on that cake.
Hope your smoke alarm has a new battery.
Hope all the firemen are as good looking as they are in their calendars.

Progress?

2009-01-23T13:13:00.002-05:00

You’ll be happy to know (or not) that I finally got that blanket of white crap off of my car. However since it is still totally surrounded by that lovely stuff, (I work in stages) the car isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

You’ll also notice that I am now the only one who is still stuck. Everyone else has been up and running for days. The reason for that could be that they are all in better physical condition and more energetic than I am, or, and this is the one I prefer, even though they’re weak and puny, they had no choice because they had to get to work.

Anyhow, since I was running out of a few things, I decided to walk down to the store, which is no biggie, because 99% of the time that’s what I do anyway. The only time I take the car to go shopping is when I have to stock up and can’t carry it all home, or when the temps are way too low which has been the case until today. Today it is 40* F. Forty!!!!!! It feels positively balmy.

To make a long story short, when I got to the store my eyes were a lot bigger than my brain, (surprise, surprise) and I ended up with quite a few “necessities?” Needless to say, that ¼ mile walk back home felt more like a 5 mile uphill hike against a 30mph headwind while carrying a small car, and took a lot longer than expected. But I have to admit, this is the first time in weeks that I actually felt toasty when outside. I also rewarded myself with a bag of Hershey’s truffle kisses. Okay, maybe it was 2 bags, but the temperatures are supposed to plummet again tomorrow so they were definitely a necessity.

Cabin Fever

2009-01-20T16:17:00.004-05:00

Since my car has now added 4 more inches to it’s thick blanket of ugly insulation I am still stuck at home, and in my boredom my thoughts have started to turn inward as in “Who am I”. Now I know that’s dangerous territory to be getting into, but cabin fever tends to do that, right before you go completely crazy and start trashing everything in sight.

So, who am I? No, I’m not asking you, I’m asking myself. I already know what you think by some of your sometimes candid, sometimes thinly veiled comments on various posts. At times you think I’m witchy, snotty, sarcastic, uncaring, a bit lacking in the personality department, and that sometimes I have no idea what I’m talking about (as in dumb). I actually kinda thought I was pretty much like that too, but not anymore because after much soul searching and contemplation I have had a revelation. I have finally found the true, the only, the “real” me.

Now that I'm done running and flopping around outside, and I'm wet and freezing, I have this very strong urge to start throwing things. Wonder what that means...

No Pretty Pictures Here

2009-01-15T12:01:00.002-05:00

Checking around on all the other blogs, I see picture after picture of gorgeous snow scenes. Wide open spaces of quiet, serene, drifting snow. Pictures of frozen little red berries with tiny snow caps. Tree branches loaded with the white clingy stuff, transforming them into works of art. Frozen ponds glistening in the sunlight. Big fluffly snowflakes softly floating down under street lights. That’s what I see on other blogs. That’s not what I see here. I have the ugly snow. Flat, uninteresting, plain old pain in the butt snow, that I can hardly bear to look at let alone take a picture of.

So no, I will not bore you with a picture of my ugly snow. I will however, bore you with a picture of my ugly car.

Past It's Prime

2009-01-12T08:01:00.003-05:00

First, I’ll say that my bratty kids will immediately think (while smirking) that this post is about me, but my favorite kids wouldn’t even consider that and will probably think it’s about my car. And although my car is 10 years old and could qualify, it isn’t about that either.

This happens to be about something that has become my constant companion since I’ve started blogging. The one item that can get me out of a jam and make me appear at least fairly intelligent and coherent most of the time, although it hasn’t always kept me from making a fool of myself. And even though it was second hand when I bought it, it was in much better shape than the tattered, torn, yellow-page, stained, taped together specimen that you see here today.

But that’s not the problem. This edition was published in 1961 and we all know there’s a zillion new words that have been added to the English language since then, so yes this book is way out of date. And unlike some things that get better with age (me, wine, cheese) this isn’t one of them, so does that mean I’ll be throwing this old, decrepit one out with the trash? Nope. It still comes in handy, like just now for instance when I looked up decrepit. (I, for one, find that spell/check isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be), and if I can’t find what I’m looking for in here, I can always go to Webster on line.

So, I’ll be hanging on to this old, worn out, ratty looking thing even though it’s not quite as useful as it once was. Even though it’s past it’s prime.

Hmmm…come to think of it, some of this does sound as though it could be about me.

Not Again!!!!

2009-01-08T09:22:00.003-05:00

Right around Christmas I started having problems with the keyboard on this evil machine. I would be typing along nice as could be when all of a sudden I would see something like this …wago ot cntfge wng kop... Whaaaat?? The keyboard evidently was tired and would only work when it wanted to, not when I wanted it to. Not liking where this was heading I immediately e-mailed FD#4, aka Computer Whiz, looking for a little help. Actually a lot of help. That message looked something like this. “Hlp. Keboad nt wkg”.

Being the astute, caring daughter that she is, she immediately called me (when she got around to reading her messages) thinking that dear old mom was having a stroke. When I explained that I wasn’t the one having the stroke, the computer was, she gave a huge sigh of relief. Or maybe it was a huge sigh of exasperation that I was needing help with the stupid thing again. The jury’s still out on that one.

So anyway, here’s me in Ohio expecting a one click fix, (she is the Whiz after all) and there’s her in Arizona not being able to see what I’m trying to tell her. After going through the obvious fixes (obvious for her of course but not obvious for me, since obviously I would had tried those first before bothering her) and nothing is working. After much clicking and turning off and starting and offing and a lot of this, that, and the other thing she finally said she would have to do some research and call me back.

While waiting over on this side, I checked through the manual and could find nothing even remotely close to “when keyboard is acting like a pain in the butt, try this”. Throwing down the manual, I decided to clean the keyboard instead. Vacuum, wipe, brush, vacuum, compressed air, vacuum……….finally giving up and turning the darn thing off completely.

A short while later, not content to just sit it out and wait, (although I have many virtues, patience is not one of them) I turned the THING back on again and the keyboard was now working. Typing very slowly, I tried all the keys and they all worked. Not really believing it, I kept typing and typing. Still working. I then sent the Whiz? another e-mail telling her the good news. She could stop researching, everything was working fine now, no more problems, and although I couldn’t hear the sigh this time, I’m pretty sure there was one.

This morning…sdg giou thnt cpue dnko donwk stdp….

So if you don’t hear anything from me for a while, or I post comments on your blogs that don’t make any sense, you’ll know why.
#%$$#^@## COMPUTER (that one was me, not the keyboard)

EEEEK, A Mouse In The House

2009-01-06T11:30:00.005-05:00

I’m always reluctant to admit that I occasionally have a mouse in the house as though it will cast aspersions on my house cleaning. (Don’t even go there) I know that it isn’t really any fault of mine. I’ve searched all over outside looking for the teeny, tiny space that they squeeze into in order to set up residence in the cupboard under my kitchen sink. Nothing. So I accept the fact that once in a while I will hear the tiptoeing of tiny feet making their way around the bottles of cleaners and the box of brillo pads, looking for even a speck of cracker crumb that isn’t there.

Long ago, (but not so far away) I lived in a house with a basement. Knowing that basements have a zillion places for little mice to run and hide, I always set up a few traps down there. Once in a while though, a mouse would make it's way upstairs to play in the kitchen drawers. Never actually seeing one walking up the stairs like normal visitors do, I assumed they made their way up through the walls somehow, and not wanting to set traps in the drawers on the chance that I would forget and reach my hand in…….I did the next best thing. When hearing a little rustling in the drawer I would call the dog. A little Yorkshire Terrier named Jiggs, who was the best mouser you have ever seen. Unlike cats who tend to play around with their catch, tossing it up in the air a few times, ewww, Jiggs got right down to business. All I would have to do is call him over, “hear that Jiggs? now get ready on three” and yank the drawer open as fast as I could so the mouse would be startled just long enough for Jiggs to grab him. Worked every time!! Of course, I immediately had to say “lets go outside Jiggs, and bring your new toy with you”.

But back to the present. No basement and sadly no little Jiggs anymore. Now it’s strictly trap times. And although mice don’t scare me and I don’t yell eeeek and jump on a chair, and I actually think some of them are kinda cute, that doesn’t mean that I want them to raise their family and their family's family in my cupboards. So….I set a little trap with their favorite cheddar cheese (hey, their last meal should at least be a good one) and put it in the right spot and wait.

The next morning I take the trap with it’s sad little addition and empty it on the back lawn so that at least Harry the hawk can benefit from the little mouse’s misfortune.
And no I did not take an after picture. That would be a bit much, even for me.

Food For Thought

2009-01-05T12:38:00.002-05:00

Food for the birdfeeders

Food for the feeder of the birds

I’m thinking something is definitely cockeyed over here.
Hmmmm. I wonder what suet and safflowers seeds taste like.

Running On Empty

2009-01-02T13:47:00.002-05:00

Well, not exactly running. The only thing running around here is my nose, the rest of me is more like a slow shuffle. On this second day of the new year my calendar is empty, my mind is empty, and even my coffee cup is empty.

(Notice the dragon on there?)

Well, at least I can fix that one right away, so hold on a minute.

Now for the calendar. Come to think of it, that’s not totally empty. Today is my older sister Betty’s birthday. My other older sister Nan also has a birthday later this month, so in honor of them both, here they are in all their glory. Don’t let the smiles fool you, they’re nowhere near as sweet as they might look. And did I happen to mention that they’re both older than I am? (snicker, snort, chortle, guffaw)

Next, on to the empty mind. …………Ummmm…………nope, nothing there………no thoughts, witticisms, jokes, or ideas floating around in there. The only thing bouncing around in there now is the nagging suspicion that this month is going to be pretty slow when it comes to blogging. Or anything else for that matter. Oh oh, now what am I going to do.

"In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb"

2008-12-31T12:35:00.003-05:00

I know that little saying is usually used for the month of March, but I figured it should be good for other times as well. So this time I’m applying it for the whole year of 2008.

January 1, 2008 came in like a lion, with very cold temperatures, strong winds, and 6 inches of snow so of course I’m expecting the year to go out like a lamb. (Yes, I believe all those little sayings, old wives tales, and even a few little ditties I made up myself)

But something seems to be very wrong this time. Roaring winds gusting up to 40 mph, weather advisory till late this afternoon scrolling across the bottom of the weather channel, 4-6 inches of snow expected, and the high temp. only expected to reach 21 deg. I don’t even want to think of the wind chill factor!

So what the heck happened? Where’s the mild temperatures, the sun, the peaceful end to the old year? I’ll tell you what happened!! Sometime during the year, the lion ate that cute little, tasty lamb. Gobbled him right up when he wandered a little too close. Stupid little lamb. Smart, smug, satisfied, stuffed old lion.

And so ends 2008. In like a lion, out like a lion.

Maybe we should change that original saying just a little bit. How about “in like a lion, out like a goat”. This little fellow is just as cute as a little lamb, and better yet, he looks like he might have a better chance of escaping a chance encounter with “the big hairy one”. And the weather would then do what it's supposed to!!

"Blue Skies Smiling At Me"

2008-12-29T11:34:00.002-05:00

I used to sing that song to myself quite a bit, also sometimes out loud at the top of my lungs, just because it’s fun, ….but a word of caution here. If you don’t normally break into a loud song all of a sudden, better check around first to see that nobody is standing there with a cup of hot coffee in their hands. Ahhh, such fun memories.

Anyhow, I never really appreciate the words to that song until the month of December rolls around and we hardly ever see blue skies. I read somewhere that here in northeast Ohio, December is the cloudiest, gloomiest, dreariest month of the year. I may be wrong about that, (I doubt it), but on the slim chance that I am, I’m sure someone out there will be jumping at the chance to correct me in record time.

But today is not gloomy and cloudy.
Today it’s....

“Blue skies smiling at me”

“Nothing but blue skies do I see”.

Almost got blinded taking that first shot but...
Ain’t it grand!!!

The Dreaded James Gang

2008-12-26T06:55:00.002-05:00

You’ve heard of them. Jesse, his brother Frank, and the rest of the robbers, thieves, and thugs that rode from town to town robbing banks, trains, stagecoaches and generally causing mischief and mayhem and sometimes worse, wherever they went. The sight of the James gang appearing on the edge of town was enough to cause all others to tremble in fear, running to take refuge wherever they could until finally the gang were all caught and jailed or hanging from various trees.

The James gang is long gone of course, but over the years new gangs have always sprung up to take their place. And now it’s a gang of 8 or so swooping into neighborhoods, taking whatever strikes their fancy and claiming it as their own. A gang of thieves that uses coercion, intimidation and fear to get what they want, showing little or no regard for others or their property and scattering the residents into their hiding places to wait it out until the thugs have had their fill and decide to move on to greener, richer pastures.

Hearing rumors of this new gang and wanting to get proof of their raids, I lie in wait with my camera. Like all gangs, they can’t get along with each other and are not willing to share the spoils (no honor among thieves) but I did manage to get one picture of three of them in that nano-second when they weren’t fighting with each other. And if you’ve ever seen a picture of the James gang, you’ll remember that they are definitely not good looking, with their un-bathed bodies, dirty clothing, and ratty looking hats covering even rattier looking hair. But these modern day gang members are quite the opposite. All decked out in their finest colors when they decide to pillage, all wanting to look their best in case they get caught on film.

The Dreaded Jays Gang

Speaking Of Chocolate

2008-12-19T08:41:00.003-05:00

Oh, c’mon, I know someone out there is talking about chocolate. If not talking about it, they’re thinking about it, or better yet, they’re eating it right now!! I mean someone other than me. I know for sure I’m not the only one that enjoys a nice little chocolate for breakfast.

So speaking of chocolate, first I’ll say that Hershey’s is one of my favorites. You know, the 8oz. super duper bar. The one I have on the night stand in case I need just a little taste before I go to sleep. Break off one or two squares. Okay, sometimes more than just one or two. I also have a fondness for Dove chocolate. Very creamy. But…….the very best, the absolute top of my list is the “TRIPLE FRENCH TRUFFLE” . (Yes, it deserves the capitals) This is the perfect chocolate.

A candy store not far from my house (too far to walk unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you’re looking at it) carries this creamy, smooth, melt in your mouth, piece of perfection. A store that my sister and I usually stop in after our little excursions. A store that I’ve been known to spend more in than the grocery store. Hey, this chocolate ain't cheap.

Anyhow, the other day while sitting by the window, I see Betty come walking up the sidewalk heading toward my back door. Making one of my snap decisions and deciding not to try to dash upstairs and change out of my robe (yes, that one) before she covers the last 15 feet to the door, because after all this is my sister and she won’t say anything about it, I let her in. “Hey, hi, come on in”. “Hi. I see you’re still in your robe”. So much for sweet sisters…..but all is forgiven in an instant because she was a sister bearing gifts. A box of “TRIPLE FRENCH TRUFFLES”.

Not offering her any because #1. I knew she had her own stash in the car, #2. I’m a selfish little pig, and #3. I’m still thinking a little bit about the robe remark, I wait until she leaves before I take my first piece. AHHHHHHHHHH.

OH NO. How'd that happen? Where'd they all go? What am I going to do now?

Hey Betty. Whatcha doing? Want to come over for a cup of tea? And on your way, since you drive right by it………………….

What Are The Odds?

2008-12-17T08:16:00.002-05:00

Since it’s that time of year again/already, I thought I would tell a little tale about my oldest daughter and the Christmas gift.

One year while roaming around the shops searching for something she would like, I wandered into a bookstore. Although I knew she loved to read, I had never bought her a book since she was an adult, but I thought I would have a go at it and maybe come up with one she would like. I love books, too. I can spend a heck of a lot of time browsing around in a bookstore. And I can usually tell after reading the first few paragraphs or pages if it would be something I would like. Not always, (I have ended up with a few clunkers) but most of the time it does work. In fact I try to do that with these posts. Try to grab your attention at the beginning so you keep reading instead of sighing with boredom while moving on to someone else. Maybe I should go back to the top and start over with “It was a dark and stormy night…” but no, it’s too late now, you’re either going to keep reading or you’re not.

So there I was checking out all the books, seeing a lot that I would like but not quite sure if she would. After looking around for a while trying to find something really different and interesting, I ended up in the back of the store where the books were just in a pile on a table. No best sellers here. No authors that I had ever heard of. Books just scattered here and there. Books that nobody else was probably interested in, and there it was. A book about Dragons. It immediately caught my interest (“Flydragon”? ). I thumbed through and loved it. All about dragons, no photos (don’t know why) but lots of great colorful drawings, lots of fairy tale and dashing knights info, so much fun, what’s not to like?

After debating with myself for awhile, “would she, wouldn’t she” I decided to buy it pretty sure that she would like it but on the off chance that she didn’t, I would tell her she could give it back and I would get her something else. I mean I knew she wouldn’t sit there and say “I hate this book”, but would instead just smile and say thanks whether she meant it or not, and she could always give it back with some excuse like “Oh I love it but I don’t have any room left on the bookshelf”, or “Oh I already have this one”. ( Well, she wouldn’t try that one because she would know there would be no way I would ever believe that cockamamie excuse, although she did come up with some weird excuses when she was a kid that she thought I would fall for.)

So, it’s Christmas. After much eating and drinking (sodas) it was time to open the gifts. When she removed the wrapping from the book, she starting laughing. Really laughing. Okay, she liked it! That was a relief!! Then I opened the gift she had given me and I found out the real reason she was laughing. Yep, believe it or not, she had given me the exact… same…. book. Now the odds on that happening with a book about dragons by an author that neither one of us had ever heard of have to be astronomical to say the least. To this day, I don’t know if she liked it or not, but at least it still causes laughter.

I course I can’t end this post without a little picture of her for all the world to see…. maybe not the whole world but at least the 12 or so people that read this post….. well at least the 6 people (family) that made it all the way through to the end.

This was taken when she was about 2 1/2 years old, and although she has her little party skirt and hat on, she does not look too happy. Maybe because she found out we were just telling her a little story and there really wasn’t any party? And although she tells me that she reads and likes this blog, she has never once left a comment. If this post doesn’t bring forth a comment from her, then maybe she is just telling me a little story………….

Up, Up, And Away

2008-12-14T14:02:00.002-05:00

While meandering around in blogger land, I kept noticing all the different styles and templates that were popping up. I’ve wanted to put a picture on the top of my blog as so many others have done, but couldn’t figure out how to do it. I thought about asking one of you out there but I didn’t want to appear any dumber than I already do, so I nixed that. Then I thought of asking FD#2 because she has one on the top of her blog, but then I remembered my previous post “Go Away, Don’t Bother Me” and thought, well maybe not. I was on my own.

After searching all the help topics on blogger help, and coming up with nothing, I finally noticed the word “layout” on the dashboard. Thinking that sounded like something I needed, I went there and was on “page elements” and stared at it for awhile. Not seeing anything that said “click here to add a picture to the top of your blog” (I need things spelled out exactly) I finally saw the little word “edit” in all the different boxes. Hmmmm, is that what I want? Clicking on the “edit” in the title box, a new box popped up, “Configure Header” Whoo hoo, I was there. Well, not exactly right there but I was a lot closer than I had been before.

After much going back and forth to my picture file, adding, no not that one, deleting, adding, nope too big, deleting, adding, nope too small, deleting I finally came up with one I liked. Only then did I notice that there was also a preview button that I could have been using instead of going back and forth to the blog itself. What a time saver that would have been if I had noticed it sooner. Why don’t they put BIG, RED, FLASHING ARROWS with a loud BONG sound on things like that?

Being extremely proud of myself (no, it doesn’t take much) I then noticed the next tab that said “fonts and colors” and thought I would check it out since I was on a roll now. Heaven!! I was in heaven! All kinds of goodies to play around with!! BIG letters, small letters, black, white, blue, red, a multitude of different colors. I didn’t know what to change first, so of course I changed them all.

Later, (much later), I noticed the next tab that said “edit HTML”. Checked it out. Wow, what the heck is that? Nope, don’t even think about doing anything with that. Get out of this place before you really screw something up. Stop now while you’re still ahead.

I did notice the next tab after that though. “pick new template” I’ll have to check that one out later, I’ve had enough excitement for one day.

Go Away, Don't Bother Me

2008-12-12T09:33:00.002-05:00

Sound familiar? Men say this to women, women say this to men. Parents say this to kids, kids say it to parents. Whoever is saying it at the time, it usually only means that you shouldn’t bother them for a short time. Men, while they’re watching the game. Women while they’re trying to get all the things done that nobody else is doing. Kids, when they reach a certain age, all the time period, unless they’re hungry. And when these kids get to be adults, although they might not say it out loud, you know they’re still thinking it.

But this guy says it all winter long. And he means it. Don’t bother me. Don’t come near me. Don’t even be in the same yard that I’m in. From October till April it’s “get away from me, I don’t want you anywhere near me, and don’t even think you’re going to land on that feeder when I’m around”.

And who’s he treating this way?

Yep, the love of his life. Well, summer life anyhow. The one that, come April, he’s wooing and cooing, telling her how pretty she is, giving her the food right out of his mouth, and trying to get all cozy and sweet with. Serenading her with songs of love and togetherness. Trying to show her how thoughtful he is by helping her build a strong nest. Zooming in to protect and defend her from another male who makes a mistake and comes within a hundred yards of her. Trying to make up for the nasty, selfish attitude that he had for all those months.

And wouldn’t you know, she falls for it every time. Or does she? Is she just pretending to forgive him for the way he treated her? I’ve seen her sitting on the feeder eating but still demanding that he feed her too. I’ve heard her when she’s sitting on the nest, letting out a squawk just so that he’ll come running…er flying over…to save her from some unseen danger. I’ve seen her taking a bath and preening her feathers while he frantically flies around trying to feed two squawking kids. So, did she really forgive him, or is she just thinking, “Ok buddy, it’s payback time”.

Okay, Okay. The Infamous Robe

2008-12-08T13:36:00.002-05:00

For some perverse reason some of you made a point of wanting to see me in my “wear around the house all day when I’m not going outside robe”. Why any of you would ever want to see this is way beyond my comprehension. Some quirk in your nature? Some little hint of voyeurism perhaps? When you take a stroll through your neighborhood at night, do you hope everyone else has their drapes and blinds open and their lights on so that you can see inside? Oh…I do that. So there’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t necessarily want to see them walking around in their robes, as some of you seem to want. That’s the difference between us.

So whatever the reasons that are lurking in your brains, I decided to do as you wish and take a photo of myself wearing “THE ROBE”. Keep in mind that since I couldn’t stretch my arm out in front of me far enough to get a shot of anything other than my nose, I had to take this picture while looking in the mirror. And since I couldn’t use the flash, it didn’t come out quite as clear as I would have liked. The shutter speed is a bit slower without the flash and I’m not known for having the steadiest of hands.

And since I wanted to be squeaky clean for this event, I took a shower first and that is why the towel is wrapped around my wet hair. Also, just so you know, while I was taking a shower the curtain kept sliding down the wall. I have one of those spring tension rods and evidently the spring is sprung and the curtain kept sliding down, one time falling completely off and landing on the floor. That was fun. I’m just mentioning this part so you know the trouble I went through to get you this picture that you so desperately wanted to see.

Those of you who know me personally already know what I look like of course and will not be the least surprised by this picture. Those of you who think you know how I might look just by the tone of my blog (you know who you are), will probably not be surprised either. The rest of you….well, you’ll see.

With all that being said……..drum roll please

Everybody happy now?

Neighbor Comes a Calling

2008-12-06T09:31:00.005-05:00

It’s been extra cold and very quiet around here the last few days. No snow to speak of (just some flurries) but colder than normal for this time of year. Don’t see anybody out and about except for a few hardy souls taking their dogs for their daily exercise walk. Or rather a run, trying to get back home and out of the instant face numbing wind as soon as possible. Days when it’s much easier and warmer to stay wrapped up in your robe. Is there really any need to change when you have no intention of going outside except to fill up the bird feeders and that's something that can be done in your robe if you quickly scurry in and out, checking first to see that no one else is around. I mean, there’s really no point in changing just for that, agreed? Fortunately those dog runners did bother to change out of their robes, although that might have been a bit more entertaining for us watchers if they hadn’t.

I did have one visitor come calling though. I didn’t hear the knocking on the door, but I did hear the scratching on the window. I don’t remember the one-sided conversation verbatim but it went something like this.

“Hi there. I’m your friendly furry neighbor who’s decided to pay you a visit. I know I look warm and fuzzy with my winter coat on, but it’s freezing out here. How about letting me in for a little while just till I get warm. We can have a nice little chat and maybe you can offer small refreshments.

How about if I move to this side without the screen. Can you see me better now?

Yoo Hoo!!….. Hellllloooo!! ….. Hey lady. Yes, you with the camera! I’m talking to you!! You do know that I can see you, right? You can’t very well pretend you’re not home this time, now can you?
If you don’t want to invite me in then how about handing some small treats out? What’s it gonna take to get a few peanuts out here? A little show of my acrobatic skills?

How about my Spiderman imitation?

Hey, this is a lot harder than it looks. Don't think so? You come out here and give it a try, and if you can do it, I'll give you the peanut!

Nothing?? Well jeeze lady, some fine neighbor you turned out to be. I’m sure you don’t treat all your other neighbors this way….. or do you? When you hear someone knocking on your door (or scratching on your window), do you always try to hide while peeking around the corner to see who it is, hoping they won’t see you because you’re still in your robe? Yes, I noticed that. Is that the reason you’re ignoring me? Are you embarrassed to let it be known that you’re still dressed like that at one o’clock in the afternoon? No problem, I’ll come back when you’re decent, if you’ll tell me when that might be. I mean, it will be sometime today, right? Right?”

Wrong.

Laid Up For A Little While

2008-12-02T16:35:00.008-05:00

Favorite daughter #4 will be stuck at home for a few weeks, which is no picnic anytime, anyplace, but if it has to happen, better in the Arizona sun instead of the Ohio snow. Or so she says. I did try to talk her into coming home for this event but she refused. (Funny that when I say her home I mean here, and when she says her home she means there.) But she does have a point. At least she will be able to pass the time in great weather, sitting in the sun by the pool, (also getting stung by bees and scorpions and other nasty things, instead of being here, being waited on hand and foot, being fed all her favorite foods, and being fussed over when she gets bored and cranky.) Okay, okay, so I’m a poor loser.

Anyhow… since she is usually very active she is going to be bored silly so she told me I will have to post something every day, so that she has something to read. Now this is no easy task for me. I’m lucky if I can think of anything to blog about twice a week let alone every day. And I’m not one of those people who thrive under pressure. It has the totally opposite effect on me. My mind is suddenly completely blank and empty. A vast wasteland of nothingness. Yes, more so than usual.

Any ideas I was mentally saving for future posts have completely disappeared from my head now that she told me I had a job to do. I warned her that if I couldn’t come up with anything else, I would have to start posting pictures. Pictures of her. And I would have to start telling stories about some of the things she did when she was growing up. She quickly suggested that I should post pictures and tell stories about her sisters instead. Much more to work with since they were the bad seeds, while she of course was the good one. (Her words girls, not mine, so if you’re thinking of picking a bone, direct it that-a-way and not this-a-way)

Oh good.…..one down, and since she probably won’t be reading this one for a few days yet, I only have a few more dozen to go. Piece of cake. But just in case, I am also open to suggestions. Help!!

Comes In Threes?

2008-11-30T16:29:00.003-05:00

That’s what they say. Bad things happen in threes. Well not really bad things, just pain in the neck things. First it was my computer speakers. Turned out nothing was wrong at all and it wasn’t a big pain. Next it was the camera. That also turned out to be easily fixed. Easy for me of course, not as easy for FD#4 since she was the one who had to look everything up and explain it to me over the phone. But that too turned out to be not such a big pain after all.

This time it’s the telephone. I very seldom use the phone, but I admit it is one of the necessity of life. The phone rang this morning, I picked it up, heard FD#4 say “hello” and then it went dead. Thinking she accidentally cut us off, I waited for her to call back. She did. I picked it up but nothing was there. Total silence. Hmmm. Another ring. But this time instead of ring, pause, ring, pause, it was just one long riiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnngg. Even after I picked it up, it kept right on riiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnging. Well, this can’t be good. It finally did stop ringing but then I couldn’t get a dial tone. Nothing.

A little background. When FD#4 first moved in here with me, she also bought her cordless phone. Since she always used a cell phone, we hooked her other one up for me to use. It was the first time I had used a handset instead of being tethered to the phone by a cord. I liked being able to walk around the house or even the yard while talking to someone on the phone. I got spoiled. When hers finally bit the dust, I went out and bought a new one. This time with the extra handset to use upstairs. Neat.

Now this one that is only 2 years old is broken, dead, kaput. What the heck? Only 2 years old!!!
No easy fix here this time…… I take that back. I might not be able to fix that one, but I still have this one that I never got rid of which I will now hook up by my computer desk.

I bought this quite a few years ago when that crap started where anytime you tried calling any business, you had to press 1 for this, 2 for this and etc. This set-up was easier than trying to push the buttons that were in the receiver while you were trying to listen at the same time.

What dodo came up with that idea? I will now use this one upstairs since I don’t plan on calling any businesses from my bed.

And if/when the time comes that both of those go the way of the cordless wonder, I also still have two of these that I’ve been saving in the closet.

As you can tell, I have had this for umpteen years. And they both still work just like new. They sure don’t make things like they used to, do they?

The only downside now is on that rare occasion that I am on the phone, I’ll have to say “Hey, can you hold on a minute? I want to get a cup of coffee” If you don’t want to wait, well then just hang up. If it was important, I’m sure you’ll call me back.

By the way, do good things come in threes, too? If I win the lottery, does that mean I’ll win it two more times? Do you think I should break down and go buy a ticket?

Pigeon Pie

2008-11-28T13:25:00.002-05:00

There’s a flock of pigeons, numbering about 15, that makes the rounds of the neighborhood, stopping at those homes where birdfeeders don’t have trays attached to catch the falling seeds. I learned a long time ago, that feeders without trays draw too many unwanted critters and birds to your yard. And pigeons fall into the unwanted category. (Sorry Pigeon Lovers but did you ever make a mistake and look up when they’re flying overhead or walk/slide under a bridge where they love to roost? Ewwww…. Yucky….Bleche!!!

And since pigeons are slow to get off the ground once they’re on it, they make for easier prey for predators than the other faster, smarter birds. (Now take it easy PL’s. Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’m not saying pigeons are slow and stupid, I’m just saying all other birds are faster and smarter)

Now hawks on the other hand are very welcome in my yard. Taking care of some of the aforementioned unwanted critters and thinning the flock of pigeons to a tolerable level. (Yes, PL’s, that means eating them) In the last 2 weeks, “Harry” has landed in my yard 4 or 5 times to snack on pigeon. Harry keeps getting plumper and the flock keeps getting thinner. Twice, I’ve managed to get pretty close to take his picture but since my camera wasn’t working very well at the time, (stop with the ha, ha’s PL’s) none of the shots came out except this grainy one that I managed to get of Harry up in the tree, pigeon clutched in his fat little feet.

Right now as I’m typing this, Harry is sitting quietly, high up in the large oak tree in my backyard. He’s been sitting there quite a while so I figure he’s already had dinner. Maybe he’s just resting a bit before he has dessert. Hey, who’s ready for a piece of pigeon pie? (Now, now PL’s, you know it’s survival of the fittest out there, and I’m not saying pigeons aren’t fit for anything but hawk food but……. Oh who am I kidding, that’s exactly what I’m saying.)

Room With A View

2008-11-25T07:48:00.003-05:00

I have a large window by my kitchen table where I sit to enjoy my morning coffee. I sit there to look outside at my garden, at all the flowers that are in bloom, the birds as they come to the feeders and the multitude of squirrels climbing up and down the trees and chasing each other across the back neighbors garage roof.

Of course at this time of year, there are no flowers or gardens to look at but I still enjoy watching the other stuff that’s happening out there. I still enjoy the view. Until yesterday, that is.

Oh,oh. Grabbing my camera just in case one of those guys takes an extra step to the side…..In case you’re wondering, yes I also grabbed the phone in order to call 911 if necessary, but no use letting a good shot go to waste if…….

Fortunately for them, but a tad disappointing for me, no accidents occurred and they finished the job in no time. And now I get to sit and look out my window at this huge, ugly, blue thingy. And you can’t notice anything else. Talk about right in your face!!

The least they could have done was to pick a different color. Something in gray, perhaps? Maybe a nice paisley camouflage? A floral print? Anything other than this monstrosity?

The only upside that I can see in this at all, is when it gets a little icy up there and those squirrels that are chasing each other end up tobogganing down the slope. I’ll be sitting here with my camera just in case…….

So far today though, only one squirrel has dared to get on that giant sea of blue, gingerly tip toeing his way across the peak of the roof until making it safely to the tree at the other end. That’s okay. I can wait.

Can't Get Away From Mom

2008-11-23T17:22:00.002-05:00

No matter where my kids moved to try to get away from their pesky mom, it wasn’t far enough. I can still bother them. Although it’s with e-mails now instead of face to face bothering. They could pretend they never received the e-mails, but they don’t. Well, I think Fla. Brat did once but she swears she didn’t. Since she swears quite a bit, I’m not sure if I believe her. (My sister Betty swears she didn’t get an e-mail from me one time too, and she never swears but I don’t believe her either)

Anyhow…..last week it was the computer. I was having a problem with the speakers and since this is actually Ariz. Brats computer I figured I would pester her about it. I e-mailed her my problem and she called me to see what’s up. I told her the speakers were silent. She told me that she always turns her speakers off because she doesn’t like to hear anything while she’s on her computer. If she thought it was going to be that easy and that was going to work for me she had another think coming. I like my little beeps, bings, dings, tones, bells and whistles and every other little noise to accompany me while I’m playing.

Since I know absolutely nothing about computers, she was going to have a tough time telling me what to do over the phone. But she bravely started out with “click on start”,… “click on what?“… “where it says start and then control panel”,… “ where does it say that? Oh, okay, I found it”… “then click on where it says…”, “I don’t see where it says that”….
Well you get the idea, right? So after much clicking and unclicking with nothing working to get the speakers speaking again she paused for a minute and then said, “when was the last time you rebooted the computer?”…. “You mean turn it off and then on again?” …. “Yes” (I could hear her sighing in the background). …. “A couple of days ago” …. “Well lets try that” …. “Okay, I know how to do that”. So I did, and when it came back on there it was. The little tune coming out of the speakers. “Hey, it’s fixed. Hear that?”… “Yes, I can hear it” sigh… “Thank you, thank you.”.. “Anytime”

This week it was the camera. For a couple of weeks now every picture I tried to take was turning out way too light. I know as much about cameras as I know about computers. And since this is Ariz. Brats camera that she left here…etc. Another e-mail, another phone call. This time it took a little longer because she hasn’t seen the camera for three years and couldn’t remember the ins and outs of it. And this time I was trying to hold the phone and the camera at the same time while pushing little buttons, and turning tiny knobs, dropping the phone once or twice, (but not the camera fortunately). After three phone calls and much fiddling and fussing, it’s fixed!!! Eureka!! Not only is the amount of light fixed but I can now take more pictures than the 16 that were on the card originally, what ever that means. And when I download/upload ?? them to the computer, I also can hear the little bong that tells me it’s working. Life is good!!

So thank you FD#4. Everything is working great now. And don’t be changing your e-mail address so you can honestly say you didn’t receive it the next time I need to bother you.

The Bird In A Gilded Cage

2008-11-20T16:06:00.004-05:00

Well it’s not really gilded in any sense of the word, but it is a cage, sort of, and there is a bird in it.

And although you can’t tell by his expression right now, this is one happy Chickadee. He sings constantly. He sings to announce his arrival. He sings when he finds that his feeder is full of his favorite seeds and peanuts. He also sings when he takes those favorites and stuffs them into all the cracks and crevices on the house. (Song or no song, I wish he wouldn’t do that)

But all that singing comes to a screeching halt when big blue notices all the commotion and decides to check it out. And although there is a large feeder with peanuts not more than 4 feet away for the blues,

there is always one in the bunch that has to stick his neck through the bars to steal all the peanuts out of this one.

Poor little chickadee’s not singing now.

Smarty Pants

2008-11-18T08:56:00.002-05:00

After reading my post “I’m A Keeper”, my sister Nan couldn’t resist rubbing it in and sent me this little book.

How do I know she wasn’t being helpful, and was instead being a smarty pants? Well aside from the fact that this book was written for children between the ages of 8 to 10, she also tucked a little note in it that said “couldn’t resist” and it had a very large smiley face drawn on it. And we all know that the bigger the smiley the bigger the rub.

Little did Nan know that I just might find something useful in here to get rid of some or all of my saved umm… stuff. From collages, mosaics and mobiles, to sculptures, prints and masks (that one should come in handy). And one neat idea involves a whole bunch of pull rings from cans. Since I haven’t saved any of those I’ll have to go buy a lot of beer, er…I mean soda, so I can get busy on that project. Oh what sacrifices we artists have to make. And as soon as I finish something… anything… I’m sending it off.

So thanks Nan, and be expecting a package, maybe two or three, in the mail any day now. I know you’re going to love my art. After all, you know what they say. “One sister’s trash is another sister’s treasure.”

Well It's About Bloomin Time!

2008-11-17T07:46:00.003-05:00

Ah, the Christmas cactus. Every year about this time, you see them in the stores with bright green foliage and beautiful red, pink or white flowers in full bloom, and think “They’re so gorgeous, I just have to have one”. You buy it, take it home, and a few days later all those pretty flowers have fallen off and are strewn all over the floor, and that bright green foliage is now starting to look a little brown and curled. I’m not totally surprised because all plants do that when moved from the perfect environment of the greenhouse to the dry, unappealing atmosphere of my home, but I nevertheless feel disappointed and let down, and I try to console myself with the thought that it will get used to the stale air in my house (hey, I survive in here okay), and will soon perk up and make itself at home. And next year it will again look beautiful with an abundance of red blooms just like it did when I bought it.

So all year I took care of this baby, waiting for the amazing transformation that would occur in the fall. Buds started forming in early November and started falling off a week later. Little unopened buds littered the floor. What the heck? What went wrong? After ending up with only about 5 flowers, I was determined that next year would be different. Next year it would be loaded with blooms! I figured maybe now would be a good time to actually read the instructions for growing this cactus.

So after reading about light/dark periods, wet/dry periods, fertilize/don’t fertilize periods (jeeze, what a pain in the butt), I set about to do the right thing and nurture this finicky plant to it’s final beauty. Being careful to follow the directions about watering and fertilizing all spring and summer, it was finally the time to start it’s dark/light cycle. I would take it upstairs to the closet at 6:00 p.m. and bring it back down at 6:00 a.m. Needless to say, after a few days I got pretty tired of hauling this now rather heavy pot up and down the stairs, so I decided to leave it downstairs and put a garbage bag over it’s head for the required 12 hours of darkness, and although this is a practice that is not recommended for people, I think I have read somewhere that it is acceptable for cacti. I did this until little buds finally formed. Lots of little buds. A few days later I noticed a couple of buds on the floor. A few days after that a lot more buds on the floor and a lot less on the plant. After all my caring and diligence I ended up with the same amount of flowers that I had the year before. What a waste of time. What a poor result after a lot of work. What a stupid cactus.

Okay, that’s it, buddy. You’re on your own. No more coddling or attention. You want to stick around, fine. You want to be tossed out, that’s fine too. And all this year I ignored it. Watering only when I happened to notice the foliage was hanging down like some over-cooked spinach lasagna noodles. No more dark/light schedules, or bags, or trips to the closet. Whatever happens, happens. I could care less!!

Maybe I will keep it around for another year.

IWDJFBTCCTMH

2008-11-11T14:31:00.001-05:00

Which, as everyone knows, stands for “I Was Doing Just Fine Before The Computer Came To My House”.

In the fall of 2003 or thereabouts, FD#4 (favorite daughter number 4) stopped by to chat and asked if I would be willing to put up with her for a while because she was going to be homeless and living out of her car if I didn’t. Not wanting to see my youngest living out on the streets or under the bridge, I graciously said yes and she moved into the spare bedroom.

How she managed to fit a bed, dresser, desk, bicycle, exercise equipment, filing cabinets, television, dvd player, computer, printer, and a lot more toys and gadgets into that 10 by 12 foot space, and still have room to walk around amazed me. Seeing all that stuff, I’m thinking the homeless and living out of her car story was just a ploy and it never would have happened. What’s really going on??

So anyway, there we were. Happy as two peas in a pod. Well, I was anyway, I’m not sure about her. Then a couple of weeks later the subject of the computer came up.
FD#4…”want to learn to use the computer?”
DOM (dear old mom), “no thanks, not interested, I’ve never used one before, I don’t need to use one now and besides I’d just break it”
#4, “you’d have fun and you can’t break it”
DOM “ha, you don’t know me, I know I could break it in no time.”
#4, “no you wouldn’t, c’mon, I’ll show you how”
DOM “you’ll be sorry”. Little did I know then that I would be the sorry one.

So after a lot of trials and a ton of errors there I was. Using the SC (scary computer). After learning how to log on and off and play a game or two, I graduated to email. The other FD’s all had computers except for FD#1. She was as backwards as I was when it came to TD’s (technological devices). But eureka, I was using email. I could talk to the others without actually talking. Hey. I have email, send me something!! I was so proud!!

After about a month or two of trudging upstairs a couple of times a day to play around with the SC, I casually mentioned to #4 that I really didn’t feel comfortable going into her bedroom to use it, because I felt that I was kinda invading her private space, and did she maybe want to move it downstairs. She agreed, I know she was smirking, and off we went to get a computer desk for the living room. A while later it was all set up. A computer in my living room. Who’d of thunk it. I could use it anytime during the day while #4 was at work (That’s another thing. She always had a good paying job and could afford to live anyplace. Homeless? I think not)

Ahead 6 months. After getting tired of trying to wrestle me away from the computer so she could spend some time on it, #4 got herself a laptop and we moved up to high speed internet. No more dial up. No more busy signals when someone was trying to call “I don’t know why it was busy, maybe #4 was on the computer”. “I thought she was working” “Oh, then maybe I accidentally left the receiver off the hook”. And now we both could be on our own computer at the same time. Yes, I was beginning to think of this one as mine now.

Ahead 6 more months. #4 “It sure gets dusty in here, doesn’t it?” DOM “Tell me about it. I’m amazed at all that dust and can’t figure out where it comes from. Oh, and if you’re hungry there’s some Stouffers in the freezer. Just pop it in the microwave. And look at this neat trick that I just figured out how to do with this program” I was beginning the downward spiral.

Now it’s the fall of 2006 FD#4 starts talking about the upcoming winter. How she hates snow and is thinking about moving somewhere warmer. Like Arizona. WHAT? A little snow never hurt anybody and you should stay here in Ohio where you belong. None of this moving across the country, like Fla. brat (formerly known as FD#3) did when she moved down south. Nope, you’re not going, it ain’t gonna happen.

January 6, 2007. She’s all packed up. Car loaded to the hilt and 2 bicycles strapped to the back. Car so full that nothing else could possibly fit. No room for my EC (evil computer) so that will have to stay here. Then off she goes, driving into the wild blue yonder, on her way to new and exciting adventures in the Arizona sun, leaving me here, alone, with that monster in my living room.

Present day. So here I sit, dust swirling around me, bed unmade, dirty laundry piling up, dishes in the sink, and I’m practically glued to the EC. I guess it didn’t think I spent enough time on it before, because this last June it even made me start blogging. When this EC finally blows a gasket, which it’s sure to do one of these days, I’ll be free at last. Back to the good old days when my life wasn’t ruled by a @#$%&!$CTHMII&@#$#@&EC. (you’ll have to figure that one out for yourself) Or maybe I’ll be calling FD#2 and asking her to come over and fix the darn thing ASAP.

(I never did figure out why Ariz. brat (formerly known as FD#4) wanted to stay here with me for a while, and except for the part where she forced me to get hooked on the computer, everything else was great fun)

Someone Is Not Doing Their Job

2008-11-10T11:51:00.002-05:00

Yes, this is a picture of our first snow. And yes, those are leaves under that snow in the front yard. And since I live in a condo, someone else is supposed to be raking those leaves BEFORE it snows.

The only reason I rake the leaves out of my backyard flower beds myself is so nobody else stomps, tramples or squishes all my plants. I prefer to do all the squashing myself. And no I did not take a picture of the back. There’s nothing of interest back there, nothing for you to see, and anyhow, this is about the front yard and SOMEONE ELSE not doing THEIR job.

I'm A Keeper

2008-11-07T16:42:00.002-05:00

And I don’t mean that in the good way you might be thinking. I mean I’m a keeper of things, junk, crap, filling up drawers, closets, boxes, coffee cans and anything else I can find to stuff stuff into.

I have check registers dating back to when I opened up my first checking account. I can look up and tell you what my utilities cost me way back when, with the name of a bank that is no longer in existence. I’m sure I’m going to be needing that information anytime now.

I have clothes in my closet that I haven’t worn for 10 years. Maybe they’ll come back in style, but my new and improved body shape wouldn’t be able to squeeze into them no way, no how. I think it’s time for them to go. Maybe.

I have a large box full of old birdfeeders. When I see a new one that catches my eye, the old one goes into the box. Never mind that the feeder holes are a little too large now, and the top is cracked and leaks water into the seeds. Never mind that the birds didn’t really like it to begin with because the perches were awkward to land on. Into the box it goes.

I have a drawer full of old make-up. Eye shadow of every color that’s so old it would surely make me go blind if I used it now. Mascara that is so stiff that the little handle comes off the brush when you try to remove it from the goop. Liquids and powders that I wouldn’t dare put on my face for fear of immediate burning and peeling and a trip to the ER. If I think about it for a little while, I’m sure I can find another use for those things.

I have a couple of 3lb coffee cans full of a zillion nuts, bolts, screws, nails, hooks, eyes, wires, string, doodads and thingamajigs. And I know if I get rid of even one of those, I will need it tomorrow.

Need batteries? The ones that no longer work in the camera are saved to use in the clock because they’re not completely dead and will power the clock for a couple of weeks. That’s not being cheap, that’s being frugal. So I have a small drawer full of batteries. New and used sometimes get mixed up and a little bit of swearing occurs when I put the wrong ones in the camera and lose a chance at a great shot.

Yes, I am a keeper, but at least I only keep those things that I know I’ll be needing any day now.

Still Hanging On

2008-11-06T06:41:00.003-05:00

The Asarinas are still hanging on, blooming like there’s no tomorrow. But of course for them, tomorrow is just around the corner. They just don't know it yet.

Some Geraniums are also hanging on. They’ll last longer than the asarinas but a hard freeze and the few bright blooms that are left will be looking like little sputniks floating in mid air with antennas sticking out every which way.

Then there’s this hanger-on-er. Hanging on by one little finger... toe?... digit?...appendage?

No, of course this is not one of mine, (I should be so good) but when you're talking about hanging on, it certainly has to be included.

Why In The World Did I Do That?

2008-11-03T08:18:00.004-05:00

I like to think that I know myself fairly well. I always thought I had a pretty good idea of how I would react or what I would say to the little things that go on in my life. I’m not talking about some big decision making event, just about those small occurrences that pop up in normal everyday living. And most of the time I do react as I think I will but sometimes, for some unknown reason, I do a complete flip-flop and do the un-expected.

The first one I really remember is when I was about 10 years old and I went to stay with my relatives for about a week. This was the first time I had ever gone anywhere without the rest of the family. Granted, at that age there were probably a lot of things I didn’t really know about myself, but I certainly knew what I liked and what I didn’t like.

Everything was going along swimmingly until I went to spend a few days with my Grandma L. who lived in a big, old house. When asked if I wanted to sleep in an upstairs bedroom or down in the basement, I promptly said basement. WHAT??? I hated basements. I was afraid of the dark back then and basements were dark, dreary, scary places and I hated them. I knew I hated them, and yet I picked the basement to sleep in!!!!! And not only that, after being scared the first night down there I was asked if everything was okay and if I wanted to sleep upstairs the next night. I said, you guessed it, no, everything was fine and I’d sleep in the basement again. I remember that incident very vividly and to this day, I still have no idea why I would do such a thing.

Another time that sticks in my mind is the one about the anchovy, of all things.
This time I was an adult (supposedly) and we were about to buy a new house. The sellers invited us over for a little get together and served crackers with cheese, crackers with other goodies, and crackers with anchovies. Yep, I hate anchovies. I don’t like the taste or texture of the smelly, salty little critters. When she came around with the tray of assorted crackers, I passed over all my favorites and picked up the one with the anchovy, and I immediately thought “what the hell did you just do?” I sat there holding this cracker in my hand, staring at that ugly little thing lying on top and didn’t quite know what to do about it.

I sat like that for a little while but I knew I would have to eat it eventually because there was no house plant nearby to hide it under, and I couldn’t very well hand it back and say that I changed my mind and didn’t really want this disgusting thing. So, I gritted my teeth, swallowed hard, popped it into my mouth, and chewed as fast as I could while holding my breath. (I had read somewhere that if you didn’t breathe you couldn’t taste.) But that little trick didn’t work this time because I could still feel that hairy thing on my tongue and I swear I could still taste that yuck. And no, I did not repeat that one. When she came over again with that tray, I did not pick the little fishy. I did ask for some more wine though, (of course that was just to get rid of the taste).

So, how well do I know myself? Are there instances in life where I am not who I think I am, but instead somebody completely opposite? Could it be that I have multiple personalities, and the naughty one shows up sometimes to make me scare myself silly, and the mischievous one pops out to embarrass me in front of strangers and yes, even my own family? Hey, I kinda like the idea. That would mean there is also one in there who is snide, sarcastic, snippy, with a dark sense of humor, and who is totally unlike the sweet, smiling, kind, true me, and therefore none of the weird stuff is really MY fault.
I / we can live with that.

They're Baaaaaack

2008-11-01T12:21:00.002-04:00

Before I got my first bird book, I used to call the little birds that spent the winter here, “skunk heads”, (because of the white stripes on their heads) “bibbed birdies”, (because it looked like they were wearing little bibs around their neck) and “lightening tail” (because when they fly you can see the white tail feathers flash underneath the gray)

What they really are of course are White Crowned Sparrows, White Throated Sparrows and Juncos. I think I like my names better. And I like watching them fight and chase each other all around the yard. What I don’t like about them is the “why” they show up. And they are here now. Juncos were the last to arrive a few days ago. So I know what’s coming next.

BUT…… yesterday was in the 60’s and today will be close to that. And the forecast for next week looks pretty darned good too.

So, out I go. I have things to do, places to go, sidewalks to walk, leaves to rake, well maybe I’ll pass on the leaves. So… sorry birdies, I’m not being unfriendly but I’m going to ignore you. I’m not going to look at you. You are not here!! And fall will last till spring!!

Why didn’t I think to do this last year?

Halloween Stories Your Mother Shouldn't Tell You

2008-10-31T09:05:00.003-04:00

But she did. I give credit to the unknown author and apologize for any mistakes.

Little orphan Annie came to our house to stay,
To wash the cups and saucers and brush the crumbs away,
And shoo the chickens off the porch and dust the hearth and sweep
And make the fire and bake the bread to earn her board and keep.

And all us other children, when the supper things were done
Used to sit around the fire and have the mostest fun
Listening to the witch tales that Annie told about
And the goblins will get you, if you don’t watch out.

There was a little boy who wouldn’t say his prayers
And when he went to bed at night, a waaaay upstairs,
His momma heard him holler, his daddy heard him bawl
But when they turned the covers down, he wasn’t there at all.

They seeked him in the rafter room, the cubby hole and press
Even up the chimney flue and everywhere I guess
But all they ever found was his pants around about
And the goblins will get you if you don’t watch out

There was a little girl who always mocked and grinned
Who made fun of everyone, even blood and kin
One day there was company and old folks were there
She mocked them and she shocked them and she said she didn’t care

But when she turned around to run away and hide
There were two big black things standing by her side
They snatched her through the ceiling fore she knew what was about
And the goblins will get you, if you don’t watch out

Little orphan Annie says when the day is through
And the lamp wick flutters and the wind goes wooooooo
And the crickets are quiet and the moon is gray
And the lighting bugs are all squinched away

You better mind your parents and your teachers fond and dear
And cherish those that love you and dry the little orphan’s tear
And help the poor and needy as they cluster round about
Or the goblins will get you, if you don’t watch out.

Pumpkin, Scarecrow & Witch, Oh My

2008-10-28T14:48:00.009-04:00

I know, I know, the first line of this little ditty has been used a million times before but I’m using it anyhow.

It’s a dark stormy night
In this spooky old town
The thunder and lightening
Keep crashing down
Winds are a howling
Streetlamps go out
And there's too many monsters
Around and about.

So run to your homes,
Lock doors and windows up tight
Because goblins and ghosts
Abound on this night.
There are witches and ghouls
Hiding here, lurking there
But the scariest spooks
Are up in the air

What???…. in the air????

Yep, one of those uglies is me.

The Changing of The Guard...en tools

2008-10-26T15:45:00.006-04:00

Say goodnight pruners, trowels, claws, diggers, and hose nozzles. You are now finished for the year and can hide in the shed (and you’re very good at that, aren’t you?) until spring comes around once again.

I’ll have to say none of you did a very good job the few times you actually decided to go to work but at least you managed to keep from getting lost in the bushes this year as so many have done before. So get yourselves cleaned up and oiled and into the bucket with you.

And as for you, it's your turn now.

For the next few weeks you will be working almost daily trying to keep up with the zillion leaves that blow into your yard. It’s not my fault that your yard is in the wrong place and that the wind whips all the leaves from yours, and all of your neighbors trees, smack up against the back of the house. And those that are not by the house are piled high against the back fence.

I hope your work habits have improved since last year because you were a totally lazy good-for-nothing back then. And if you don’t do your job this fall, I can promise you that you will be working your butt off raking up those leaves in the spring.

HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE??
GET BACK IN THAT SHED!!

With any luck I won’t have to be dealing with your work ethics for a while yet.
Stupid snow shovel.

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-24T10:44:00.003-04:00

We all have our own idea of what home sweet home is.

Some like a little witchy log house with a pointy roof complete with it’s own resident mouse standing in the doorway to welcome them home. It also comes with its own canoe in case of flooding and a hatchet for when it needs to replace the parts that get eaten by termites. I have no idea why that armadillo is hanging around the front steps. I kinda like this house even with the mouse.

Others like a cold damp house. The ones who live here are so vain they even had statues of themselves attached to their house so everyone could admire their good looks and handsome bodies. I think I know some people like that.

Still others prefer a double decker with balconies and railings and with a warm cozy fireplace inside. This house also includes it’s own spiders to keep the insects away. Lots and lots of spiders. I think the other residents moved out of this house. I know I would.

And then of course there are those who like to live dangerously. They build their house in the lofty branches of the highest tree, held together by the thinnest of weaves, rocking back and forth in even the faintest breezes. It makes for an exciting night when the wind is howling and the occupants are holding on for dear life. These houses also need a lot of remodeling and renovations all year long. Sometimes complete walls have to be rebuilt. This is a never-ending job for the ones who choose this type of house. Not for me, thank you very much!!

Ribbit

2008-10-22T08:15:00.003-04:00

I’m afraid it’s that time of year. Time to bring the froggies in that have been hiding in the garden all summer and put them on the kitchen shelf before the frost nips at their little webbed toes.

First is Nan’s frog. I stole him from her garden when Betty and I went to visit her one year. I think he looks better in mine and he must like it here since he never tried to leave.

Next we have “The Thinker”. I never knew what he was thinking about, but it looks pretty serious.

Fatty here was pretty skinny when I first got him, but certainly made up for it in no time. I must have had a lot more slugs in my garden than I was aware of.

Three sisters. I’m the cute one. Don’t be kissing these frogs because I don’t know what we would turn into, although I’m quite sure it won’t be princesses.

Whoa, not you big fella. Sorry but you have to stay outside. There’s no room on the shelf for you.

Dancing The Bunny Hop

2008-10-18T12:21:00.002-04:00

Glancing out the window yesterday, I noticed a rabbit backed all the way up to the chain link fence that separates my yard from my neighbors. And he was dancing. All four feet jumping up and down to the beat of some song only he could hear, not unlike the way I dance around the house when I’m alone. Oh, c’mon, I know you do that too!!

It took a second or two for my brain to tell me that rabbits probably don’t dance very much, duh, and I realized that his little butt was actually stuck under the fence where he tried to crawl through and that there was a large black and white cat on the other side. And that cat was batting at his fluffy white tail with it’s two front paws. As I was getting set to run out there to try to help the poor little fella, he danced a little harder, squeezed the rest of his body through and off he went, none the worse for wear.

The cat just sat there and stared at him as he hopped away, stared at me as if to say “I was only playing”, then carefully washed his paws before he slowly sauntered back through the bushes and went back home.

For not dancing very often, that rabbit had some pretty good moves. I’m going to have to add some of those to my routine.

History Lesson #1 Via Lake View Cemetery

2008-10-16T19:16:00.004-04:00

The other day Betty and I decided to go on a little excursion to the cemetery. Not to purchase or plan anything mind you, but just to look at some of the notable's monuments and headstones.

And Cleveland’s Lake View Cemetery has a whole slew of them. From humungous mausoleums and monuments down to the smallest of tombstones and grave markers. From huge names like Garfield (I’m talking about the President here not the cat) and Rockefeller to the unknown (to me anyway) names like Raymond Chapman.

Chapman was a Cleveland Indians shortstop from 1912-1920. While playing the New York Yankees in New York on August 16, 1920, Chapman was hit in the head with a ball thrown by pitcher, Carl Mays, and died 12 hours later. Chapman is the only major league baseball player to die due to an injury during a game. Dedicating the season in memory of "Chappie", the Indians won the league and world championship for the first time. I know that players have had to quit the game because of injuries but I never knew of one that was fatal. See what you can learn?

So anyway, after walking around a bit, taking a few photos, and marveling at the fact that some people will spend huge amounts of money for something they’re just going to lie around and decay in over the next hundred years, or less if an asteroid does indeed plop down on us and we’re all obliterated, I decided to post about a man that is known by everyone. Well, maybe not everyone, but a whole lot of people.

Eliot Ness
Anyone out there who doesn’t know of Eliot Ness? For those of you who don’t, he was the law enforcement officer who brought down Al Capone. Anyone out there who doesn’t know who Al Capone was? Watch some old movies.

Anyhow after being responsible for sending the biggest mob boss in the country to jail on income tax evasion, (thought to have been responsible for a few dozen murders, but could only get him on tax evasion) Ness came to Cleveland and became their safety director in 1935, cleaning up a very corrupt police department, (most big cities had that problem in the thirties), modernizing the police department by developing two-way communications between police cars and their police stations, and developing the Emergency Medical System. Ness also took Cleveland's worst traffic fatality record in the nation and turned it around to twice win the National Safety Council's award for reduction of traffic deaths. But problems were looming on the horizon. Along came the infamous Kingsbury Run Murders, “The Torso Murders” is what one newspaper called them, because… well… the torsos were cut up and there were…um… no heads.

This was the American equivalent of the gruesome crime spree of Jack the Ripper. Like the Ripper case, the murders left a number of mutilated victims behind and they remain unsolved to this day. It was a series of killings that started in 1935 and lasted until 1938 and had a total of about 12 victims, (they weren’t sure of the exact count because….well you know). Obviously it terrified the city and the ensuing newspaper coverage eventually destroyed the career of the once untouchable Ness. (Get it? Thinking Robert Stack? Kevin Costner? No? geeze, what’s it gonna take?)
Later, Ness said he believed that he knew who the killer was and this suspect continued to taunt Ness for years after the killings had stopped, but sadly, the Kingsbury Run murders really began the downturn of his earlier illustrious career.

He never really got over the taint that the murders left on his reputation and the fact they were never solved. The last decade of his life was full of poverty and frequent disappointment and he passed away in 1957 at the age of only 54. Ironically, considering his destruction of the Prohibition bootlegging gangs, Ness became a heavy drinker and suffered from poor health. He resigned from the position of Cleveland’s public safety director in 1941, after a scandal involving a hit-and-run accident, and in 1947 was badly defeated in a run for the Cleveland mayor’s office.

In 1953, after five years of poverty and obscurity, he became involved with a papermaking company and through a friend at the company, he had a chance meeting with a journalist named Oscar Fraley. The two men would later collaborate on a book entitled The Untouchables. It came out in 1957 and was an immense success, becoming a bestseller and inspiring two television series and a popular film. Tragically, Ness would never learn of this success as he died of a heart attack on May 16, 1957, six months before The Untouchables was published. His ashes were scattered in one of the many small ponds in the cemetery, and that reminds me of one of the old mob sayings “he sleeps with the fishes”. A bit ironic wouldn’t you say?

A little more than you really wanted to know about Eliot Ness? Just wait until the next history lesson.

Monkey Shines

2008-10-15T08:14:00.006-04:00

I have no idea why they call this a Monkey Flower. I can see no resemblance to a monkey no matter which way I look at it. Backwards, forward, sideways, upside-down, or inside-out (yes, I tried that).....nope, no monkey. I have to admit when I first bought these seeds, I did it mainly to say, "I have monkey flowers and you don't, nah nah" Also because I love the way they look.

Every year I start these from seed and put them in hanging baskets for the shady part of my garden. And every year they make me smile until the weather gets really hot, and they get leggy and ugly. But.....cut them back and they will start all over again.

Now in October all hanging baskets are finished, kaput, brown and ugly. All except one little plant with 2 little monkey blooms.

Earlier in the year, I cut some for a little vase on my windowsill.

See any monkeys in there?

I don't. The only monkey I see is the one on the other side of the camera. I beat you to it, nah, nah.

Seeing Is Believing??

2008-10-13T09:36:00.005-04:00

While watching the almost full moon come up last night, I noticed the halo around it and thought it would make a great photo.

Mmmmm......Both of them

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm almost positive Earth only has one moon.

Just goes to show, you can't believe everything you see.

The Pond Swans

2008-10-11T10:06:00.003-04:00

You all know how disappointed I was when my sister and I took that little road trip the other day and the batteries in my camera died before I could get a picture of the swans. So my sister, even after I made the crack about her driving, and maybe mentioning the fact that perhaps she might not be all that knowledgeable when it comes to computers, put all that aside and went back to Grangers Pond, braving the bugs, snakes and whatever else was lurking in the bushes, to capture these for me.

Knowing her, she was probably knee deep in water trying to get the best shot. Well, maybe not knee deep….. probably not even ankle deep….. maybe just the soles of her shoes got slightly damp if anything, but nevertheless, here is what she got.

First some pictures of the “Pond”. Not a pond at all as you can see. Isn’t it gorgeous there?

And now……. drum roll please……..

They’re just so regal and elegant

Don’t they look as if they think they own the place

I’m surprised they aren’t wearing little crowns on their little heads.

So, great job Betty. And although I’m still pretty sure you had someone else get them from the camera to the computer and send them in the e-mail, I won’t mention it. As far as anyone else knows, it was all you!!

Friend Or Foe

2008-10-09T15:09:00.002-04:00

I probably use the word hate more than I should. “I hate that” “I hate when that happens”, “I hate those stupid things”. Hate is a very strong word and I actually hate very little. What I really mean is that I intensely dislike that, those things, when that happens, but to save time and typing I will use the word hate in this post.

I hate yellow jackets. Not the wearable kind to keep you warm, although I myself would not wear a yellow jacket because I’m not a yellow wearer kind of person and yellow just does not look good on me. For those of you out there who have a yellow jacket, I’m sure you look gorgeous!! The yellow jackets that I hate are the little ones that fly around your head when you’re outside deciding whether they should sting you or not. In August when they become twice as aggressive as usual, which is aggressive enough thank you, it’s almost impossible to go any where outside without a couple of them dive bombing you and sending you scurrying back into the house. All summer long they continually fly around the oriole feeders trying to get to the sugar water inside and I have to keep putting a little oil around the ports to keep them out. (It works) They drive me absolutely crazy!! So yes, I hate yellow jackets.

Another thing that I hate are the crane flies. Those who follow my posts know that I have been bombarded with these insects this year since the end of September. And they’re still here. Still swarming all over the place, still in my hair, still sneaking in the house when I'm not looking and generally making pests of themselves. So yes, I hate crane flies.

Now to get to the point of this little story. Today I went outside to cut down the four o’clocks. They only had a few flowers left, and I would rather do it on a nice day like today instead of waiting too long and freezing my butt off, which I have done more than once. There was one yellow jacket out there buzzing around my head, and making a nuisance of himself but not really threatening, so I pretty much ignored him. There were, of course, also a bunch of crane flies out there keeping me company which I could have done without.

After cleaning up the plants, I sat down to take a break. There on the chair next to mine was a large crane fly. I guess he thought he needed a little rest too, after pestering me all that time. While I was debating whether I should just reach over and swat him, the yellow jacket flew over and grabbed him. Wrestled him right off that chair and onto the ground. They were both rolling around for a minute or so and then the yellow jacket grabbed tighter and flew off with him. I sat there dumbfounded almost not believing. I have never, ever seen anything like that before. Have I been wrong about the yellow jackets all this time?? Are they here to help instead of hurt?? Are they not my foes but instead my friends?? No, I can’t really say I believe that. Maybe for 2 minutes I didn’t dislike him as much as I did before, but that’s about it.

On The Road Again

2008-10-08T13:12:00.005-04:00

Leaving Fairport Harbor and the lighthouses behind, we traveled over to Mentor Lagoons planning to take a little electric cart on the numerous trails, but when we got there they told us the cart season was over (of course it is) and we would have to hoof it. Not having any idea of which trail would lead us to the most wildlife we decided instead to head over to a place called Grangers Pond. (Pond is a definite understatement) This place is very close to Betty’s house and she knows every inch of it, so we got back in the car and headed out.

When Betty drives she has a habit of looking out the windows at the scenery. When I ride with her, I have a habit of looking at the road in front (someone has to watch where we’re going). So on the way out of the lagoons, she yells “Look”. “What?”, “There”, “Where?” She stops the car and sure enough on the side of the road not more than 8 feet away from me, was this scene just begging for a picture.

He stood there for quite a while as I fiddled with the camera, patiently waiting for me to get it right.

I could tell the geese were muttering to each other about the lame brain taking forever to get the right shot. Geese do that. When they’re not making snide remarks about your camera capabilities, they’re chasing after you, wings flapping, necks outstretched, and honking as loudly as they can. You can also see in this photo that they’re pretending to be totally uninterested in having their picture taken, but they also didn’t leave until they were sure I had a good one so they're not fooling me.

So on to Grangers. We could hear them quacking as soon as we got out of the car. There are signs posted saying "do not feed the wildlife", but the way these ducks immediately came over looking for a handout you know a lot of people out there must not be able to read.

I just love ducks.

Betty said that the last time she was here she saw the swans and a blue heron so we went looking. Sure enough there they were. Five swans! Four in the water and one on a little island. They were pretty far away and I was trying to get them in the camera lens when all of a sudden my batteries died. Oh no!!. Sometimes if you turn the camera off for a few minutes, then turn it back on you can get enough juice to take one more shot. Not this time. Totally dead. AARRGGGGGHHHHH. And there’s the heron too!! #$$#%%&##

Betty said she thought she got a pretty good picture of the swan on her camera. I asked her to upload it to her computer and send it to me. Hey Betty, you know I was only kidding when I made that remark about watching the road, right? You’re an excellent driver and I really don’t feel the need to watch where we’re going. I was just making a joke. You’re laughing, right? So send the picture.

"I've Seen The Light"

2008-10-07T20:05:00.005-04:00

Lighthouse that is. Two of them in fact.

My sister and I decided to take a drive to the nice little town of Fairport Harbor. On the shores of Lake Erie, Fairport Harbor is a old town in which the lighthouse sits at the end of the main street, protecting the mouth of the Grand River since 1825. Didn’t want all those ships making a wrong turn and come chugging up the river right into downtown.

Due to the first light keeper’s strong views on abolition, the light has served as a guide for runaway slaves, marking a stop on The Underground Railroad to Canada. In 1871, the current tower which is 70 feet tall, was built to replace the deteriorating first one. This lighthouse is believed to be haunted by a gray cat, which was a former pet to a bedridden wife of a past keeper. Some claim to have seen a ghost cat whisking about upstairs, describing it as a gray puff of smoke. Interestingly, a mummified cat was found by a worker years later.

No, we did not see a gray cat, or any other cat for that matter. No animals of any kind. No cats, dogs, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks……..hmmmm...I wonder if they know something we don’t. And although it didn’t show up in this picture, I’m sure I saw this kind of eerie glow at the very top…..

That lighthouse served until 1925 when a new lighthouse was built on the breakwall jutting out into the lake. This lighthouse is actually still working.

Standing on the beach for this shot I then just swiveled to my right and took a picture of the new technology right after the old. Quite a comparison, wouldn’t you say? Not a lighthouse, but it certainly lights up houses.

The lighthouse is still working after 83 years, with no pollution. The nuclear power plant started up in 1987. Any bets on whether it will still be working in 2070? And since the handling, disposal and storage of spent radioactive fuel, that is toxic for centuries, is a major concern, any guesses on the amount of pollution it will be adding to our planets’ environment?

Whoops. How did I get up on that soapbox? Well I’ll get right back off and will continue this little road trip on a lighter note at a later time.

Crafty Crows

2008-10-04T11:56:00.009-04:00

No, I’m not talking about myself or my sisters this time. Although I have been called “the old crow” on numerous occasions, as far as I know I’ve never been called “crafty” so this post is about the feathered kind.

There have always been quite a few crows around my yard. At times I have seen up to 20 of them hanging out together, cawing and cackling in the trees, chasing each other and generally having a fun time while planning their next caper.

And they do plan these things. Once, they spotted a chipmunk under a large forsythia bush in the front yard. Four of them flew down and surrounded the bush. Thinking that they had him cornered, they closed in but the little devil was too fast for them this time and scooted out. Crows are very smart, but chipmunks are very fast.

When you decide it’s finally time to get rid of that stale bread you’ve been saving in your kitchen for some unknown reason, tear it into small pieces and scatter it in your backyard. They will come down and take each piece one at a time, put it into a big pile, then stuff that pile into their mouths and fly off. If it’s a little too stale and hard, they will first stick it in the birdbath to soften it up before taking it away. I wonder if they like that little green stuff that’s growing on the crust.

Besides being the best birth controllers of bugs and small rodents, they are also one of natures great clean-up crews. Once, after having a small roasted chicken for dinner, (you know the ones in the grocery store, already cooked, still steaming, crispy brown skin, mmmm) I thought I would set the carcass outside to see what would happen. Didn’t take long. Down they came landing about 6 feet away from it. Not quite sure what to make of this featherless, almost meatless, bony bird, they circled it, slowly inching closer and closer until one was finally near enough to stretch out and take a small bite. Since it didn’t bite back, the rest of them moved in and picked that carcass clean. I figured when there was no more meat left, I would go out there, pick up the bones and throw them in the trash, but before I could do that, one of them picked up the skeleton and flew off with it!! It was as big as he was!! Where he took it, I have no idea, but I’m sure someone around here wondered where in the world that chicken skeleton came from that was lying in their front yard. Sorry about that.

Then the West Nile Virus came to the U.S. First mentioned in the news in 1999, it didn’t seem to affect the crows in this area until about 2001. Then every year there were fewer and fewer crows, until there were only 3 or 4 of these great birds in my trees. I would look at them and think, “Come on guys, you can do it, fight this stupid, deadly virus. Mice and chipmunk populations are getting out of control, bugs are rampant, nature is askew. We need you”

Fast forward to yesterday morning. Hearing a lot of squawking and screeching and wondering what the heck…… I went outside and there they were. Fourteen crows (yes, I counted them) in my tree. Cawing and cackling and chasing each other from branch to branch just like old times. Down to the ground to eat the craneflys that are now numbering in the zillions (no, I did not count them). Crows flying from the back to the front, to the neighbors and back again. Whoo hoo!!!! Welcome back guys, and if you eat all those craneflys I’ll give you a chicken for dessert.

Thank You

2008-10-02T14:55:00.002-04:00

I would like to thank all the bloggers out there that I visit on a daily basis and those that visit me. Those of you who gave me the inspiration to finally get out there and clean up my flower beds. With your work ethics and sense of pride in your gardens, you finally forced me to work in mine. Mostly out of guilt. Okay…totally out of guilt.

So today I went out there armed to the teeth to do a good job. With pruners, gloves, knee mats, rakes, hoes, trash bags, trowels, and shovels I stood there and surveyed the site. Geeeze, this is going to be a huge job, and it would be a lot easier if I had someone to help me. Looking around I see that the 2 neighbors who were outside just moments ago, have now conveniently disappeared (I’m not saying that they’re now hiding inside, but I’m pretty sure that window shade was up before) There is now no one in sight that I might rope into giving me a hand, and I resign myself to the fact that it is just me, all alone in that tangled mess, no one caring if I’m in over my head, sob, sob.

So where do I start? At the beginning I guess, and so I did. Starting right at my feet I began to move slowly forward. Pulling, pushing, muttering some bad words, cutting, digging, cussing, tying, raking, outright swearing, kneeling, standing and kicking. That’s kicking myself for not keeping up with this mess all along so I wouldn’t be in this situation now. Oh oh, be careful in this corner because one year something here caused me to break out in hives (never figured out what), make sure you pull these that are hiding under here and over there and don’t try to pretend that’s a plant because you know it isn’t so dig it out!!

Finally after too many hours I looked upon a clean and neat flower bed. Do I feel a sense of pride, of accomplishment, a good feeling of a job well done? NO. I feel cold, exhausted, sore and cranky. And this was only one flower bed. One out of four. SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

So thank you people. Thank you for the sore arms, back, knees and hands. Thank you for the dirty, torn fingernails and the dirty, torn jeans (the mats and gloves got discarded somewhere along the way). Thank you for the sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes. And since sore muscles always feel worse the next day, thank you for tomorrow. When I’m moaning and groaning as I try to get out of bed you can bet I’ll be thinking of you. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Surprises for Slackers

2008-10-01T10:26:00.004-04:00

I am a slacker. Yes, I admit it. This time of year I am totally devoid of the energy and diligence to attend to my flower beds. The grass that started growing in the beds a few weeks ago is now twice as nice as the grass in the lawn. Twice as high too. I kinda like it.

And the weeds. It’s hard to tell where the plants stop and the weeds begin. I like to think of them as some new ground cover, because they certainly do cover the ground and the mulch that I put down this spring. At least I think I put mulch down. I’m not quite sure since I can’t see any of it now.

From a distance the beds look great. Nice and green and healthy. What you don’t want to do is get too close because then the nice, lush green stuff looks like what it really is, weeds. So of course the solution is to either pull the weeds or stand back. Guess which one I chose.

And I’m glad I did. If I would have been keeping up with the grass and the weeds all this time look at what I would have missed seeing.

A little impatiens popping up in the middle of nowhere

A little blue wave petunia and a larger pink one

And a pretty little snapdragon whose seeds had to have been hiding for at least 2 years

So, slackers do sometimes get rewarded.
Works for me.

Buggy Bombardment

2008-09-29T08:30:00.002-04:00

I fully expect to see the invasion of midges in the spring. It happens every year and while I don’t like them, I do expect them. Zillions of midges. All over the doors, windows and totally filling the numerous spider webs that pop up overnight and get caught in your face and hair when you venture outside.

I do not expect to get bombarded by bugs in the fall. Especially bugs that I don’t normally see here in vast numbers and don’t want to see here, thank you. Sneaking in when you open the door so that they can attach themselves to your curtains, sofa, and everything else they can find. They don’t bite, but can hurt you nonetheless when you twist your ankle jumping back off the chair that you climbed on to swat them when they decided they liked to hang upside-down on your ceiling.

I know the midges are one of the disadvantages of living close to the lake. Are these 2 inch long bugs also?

Are these the insect version of the Daddy Long Legs spider? Momma Long Legs perhaps? And if they are water bugs, what are they doing on and in my house? There hasn’t been any rain around here for days!!

So go away bug. Go back to the lake. I don’t want you here. Scat. Shoo. Be gone. Fly away home. Oh I know that last one’s for a different bug but I thought I’d try it anyway.

Ducks, Dodos And Loony Birds

2008-09-27T08:06:00.007-04:00

The same day my sister and I went on our little cheese run, we also decided to go on a duck hunt. I live about a quarter mile from the shores of Lake Erie, so after we got back from the cheese house with our bags of goodies, we went down to the lake to find some ducks.

We walked down the hill and out onto the pier. Not a duck in sight. Only then did it dawn on me that maybe the end of September is not the best time to be looking for the little quackers, (duh dodo) soooo, disappointed and not wanting to go home empty handed or in this case, empty cameraed, I took one picture of the lake.

And being that it was very windy and quite nippy that close to the water we decided to head back walking along the beach and there they were……Loony Birds.
Two of them. On the beach in plain sight. Not trying to hide at all. Not wanting to miss this, I quickly snapped a couple of pictures as they strutted around on the sand. Then one decided to lie down in the water almost submerged, and wait for the wind to lift him up. It did and off he went. And here he is out on the water riding the wind and the waves

To give you a better idea of how big this sail was I circled the loony as he was standing on the beach before he decided to take the plunge. (I didn't actually circle the loony as he was standing there, I put a circle around him in the photo.)

I have to admit that guy knew exactly what he was doing. When we thought he was so far out that he might be on his way to Canada, he laid down and twisted that sail so that it turned and blew him right back in again. But you can see in these pictures that there are no boats out there. No helicopter hovering nearby. No waiting rescue just in case. He was totally alone on the water. And he had to be cold. Maybe his shoes, long pants, and jacket were water repellent but he still had to be cold. The other guy stayed on the beach the whole time. No need for both of them to be lost at sea and one of them had to be able to call 911 with a dry cell phone if the need arose.

After watching for awhile, we finally left them to their fun and headed back up to the car. On the way we did run into a duck and a couple of seagulls and of course I took their picture.

So although we weren’t successful in our search of real ducks, we did find something a lot more entertaining and throughly enjoyed ourselves. At least I did because I had a jacket on but my sister didn’t. She had to be a little cold herself. Dodo.

Say Cheese

2008-09-25T18:39:00.004-04:00

I love cheese. All kinds of cheese except for the smelly limburger and the blue.
( I know why I don’t like the limburger but I’m not quite sure why I dislike the blue. Maybe I had a bad experience at one time with blue cheese?)
So anyway, when my sister called and asked if I was interested in driving, actually I was only riding because she always drives, out to The Middlefield Cheese House, I immediately said “when?”.

Middlefield is in the heart of Amish country so of course I took along my camera. Had to be something interesting I could get a shot of. And there was….
Lots of these out there, all sizes, shapes and colors, but mostly red and some white. This one looks like it’s been used a bit, which is why I liked it. Reminds me of me.

I like barns. Always wanted to live in the country mainly so I could have a barn. Along with the mice, and the cats to take care of the mice, and the dog to keep the cats in line, and of course the hay loft. Climbing up the ladder to snooze on the bales of hay, looking out the loft door spying on…probably nothing since you’re out in the middle of nowhere, not thinking of all the work involved getting that hay up there by someone other than me, naturally.

I knew we would see the famous Amish horse and buggy, and we did see quite a few of them on the roads, but when we slowly drove by them all I got in the picture was a horses thigh, or butt. I thought if we could pass enough of them I would take different photos of different parts and would finally have enough to piece them together. Luckily we happened to see one pull into a library parking lot of all things, and managed to get these.

Now this one is a little different. Standing tall and stiff out in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea who built it or why, but it certainly is interesting.

I know, I know , what about the cheese. Well here it is. Some baby swiss, provolone, muenster, and one of my favorites, butter cheese aka havarti. My other sister turned me on to that one when she came up for a visit quite a few years ago. Thanks Nan. Along with the cheese, I of course had to have some pepperoni, and some mini pepperoni rolls. And I can never pass up cherry preserves. The little bag of cheddar sesame sticks was just because they taste so good.

So thanks Betty, had a great time, and sorry Nan but if you lived a little closer we would have picked you up and you could have had a great time too.

Now, where’s my little cheese slicer?

Lacking Cents, Sense and Scents

2008-09-23T10:15:00.004-04:00

There have been times when I’ve been lacking in the cash department, or a little lacking in the common sense my mother gave me (not the evening I met up with my little black and white friend though, whoo hoo), but today is neither of those times. Today, I’m lacking scents.

Those of you who take the time to visit me here, know that I enjoy going outside in the early morning to drink my coffee, to listen to the quiet sounds of nature and the far off sounds of the trains, and to be surrounded by the sights and scents of the numerous flowers that I plant every year just for that reason. Well, these mornings when I go outside although the birds are still chirping and calling to one another, and the trains are still blowing their whistles and chugging along on their way to wherever it is they’re going, the air is no longer filled with the smells of jasmine, stocks, freesia, tuberose, stargazer lilies, or autumn clematis. Not even the purple petunias, which I think have the faint aroma of wood smoke (and I like that smell), are still here.

I can still enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass, or even the smell of the damp soil when I water the plants (we need rain again), but those smells don’t hang around very long and that also entails work, which I’m not particularly fond of so early in the day, or even later in the day if you want to know the truth.

So now, while I still have some of the pleasures for the eyes, (the anemones, impatiens gazanias, geraniums, and zinnias are still blooming but not for much longer, I'm afraid), and for the ears, there is nothing for the nose. From the last weeks of September to the beginning weeks of April it is scentless here and when I go outside I think I miss enjoying that sense most of all.

A Little Snobbery On The Sedum?

2008-09-19T13:31:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, when the sedum flowers were still pink instead of the very dark rose they are now, the little ladies in the neighborhood decided to all get together for an afternoon of friendly chit chat and a little snack.

They were all gathered on one side gossiping away and didn't notice that another visitor had decided to snack alone on the other side.

Once they saw her, they flew over to her numerous times to invite her to join them but each time, Ms. Hoity Toity stuck up her nose and in her best Greta Garbo imitation of "I vant to be alone", moved to another spot, totally ignoring them.

And although she constantly moved away from them when they tried to get friendly, she didn't leave, because Ms. Snooty Prissy Pants really enjoyed being the center of their attention as all snobs do of course.

That Empty Feeling

2008-09-17T13:16:00.003-04:00

One of the saddest sights in my garden is the empty plant pole. I know they’re really called Shepherd Hooks, but since I’ve never had any sheep and don’t see any in my near future, I prefer to call them hanging basket holder poles, aka birdfeeder holder upper poles, aka birdhouse holder poles or just simply poles which I will use here because it makes for a lot less typing.

Living in a condo with limited garden space, going up is the only option when you’re looking through seed catalogues and you just have to have one of these, one of those and oh, 2 of these, maybe some of this and some of that, and most certainly some of these gorgeous “new this year” ones.

So in order to cram as many flowers, and a few birdhouses and birdfeeders, into my space as possible I now have 12 of these poles in and around my gardens. No, that’s not a typo, I said 12. Some with single hooks, some double, tall, short, you name it, I got it.

All summer long these sturdy poles are working hard, sometimes being used as a living fence, lined up between my yard and my neighbors holding blue wave petunias.

Sometimes used as a way to hide the gas meters

And sometimes just to brighten up a dark corner

But now, in the middle of September, these poor poles no longer have a job. Except for the 2 by the back fence holding the birdhouses, the rest are laid off, standing bare and idle, looking forlorn and sad

Until next May, when once again they will be put to good use holding oriole and hummingbird feeders, and the new generation of must have plants, looking gorgeous and making me happy, until the wind blows real hard and I have to run out there and take everything down, and wonder why in the world I have so many of these darn things.

Ike-ette Comes A Calling

2008-09-15T11:26:00.003-04:00

Last night the tattered remains of Ike decided to visit us up here in north east Ohio. While nowhere near as nasty as he was when he came ashore down south, he still packed 60 mph. wind gusts, enough to topple trees and cause widespread power outages.

As I ventured outside a few times, and listened to him howl and moan, watching the trees bend over, shedding a zillion leaves and hundreds of small twigs all over the place, I thought “how in the world could anyone go through a full force hurricane for hours and still want to live there”. (Florida brat?). I know if I lived in that area and saw a monster heading my way, I’d be outta there before they could finish that dreaded sentence “evacuations are advised for……”

Although I didn’t hunker down in the closet this time (which I have been known to do from time to time), it was scary enough. And I kept a close eye on the huge trees surrounding my house hoping that they wouldn’t be falling on my roof or be coming through my windows, (as if watching them could hold them upright) and hoping that the power wouldn’t go out (it didn’t). We did have a storm quite a few years ago, with straight line winds of 70 mph, that took down half of the trees in the entire city, including one in my back yard, sent a huge limb through my front window, and left us without power for a week. Believe me I was in the closet that afternoon!!

So this morning at first light, after all the hullabaloo was over, I walked around the neighborhood to check things out. Aside from a few fairly large branches in the streets, (the city trucks were already out here cleaning up) and numerous small branches everywhere, everything else seemed pretty much okay.
The only casualty in my yard.

My poor little trellis got tired of standing up against the wind and decided to lie down. Unfortunatly his little legs are broken so he won’t be getting back up. Gives me an opportunity to try something new. Just not sure what.

Dodging The Bullet

2008-09-13T18:23:00.002-04:00

Last night just after dark, I decided to go outside for awhile, knowing that these nice warm evenings won’t be around much longer. So I opened the door and was halfway out before I saw him, not more than 2 feet away, directly in front of me, the light from the doorway shining on his up-turned face.

Looking down at him, I said in the calmest, softest voice I could manage considering the circumstances, “Well hello Mr. Skunk. How are you this evening?” He stood there, tail at half mast, looking up at me and at the foot that was poised in mid-air almost directly above his head (hey, statues have nothing on me when it’s a matter of remaining fragrance free). Then he slowly turned around (gulp, watch that tail, watch that tail) and being a perfect gentleman this time, he lowered that tail as he waddled off next door to see if he could find a nice little snack over there.

Watching those bright white racing stripes fade off into the darkness, I finally came all the way out and reminded myself that at this time of year, at this time of night, look outside BEFORE you just bounce out willy nilly.

And no, I did not get a picture. I must admit that there for a fleeting moment I did consider running to get the camera hoping that he would “hold that pose” and not be startled enough to spray my door, my house, and the entire neighborhood, but common sense prevailed this time and I remained still. So no picture. It think it was a wise choice, but I’m also thinking that one of these days, if I’m not careful, that camera is going to get me into a whole heap of trouble.

No Rodents?? How Can This Be??

2008-09-12T09:26:00.005-04:00

I'm always amazed when someone says they don't have squirrels or chipmunks in their yard. How can you not have these pesky little rodents? If you even have just one plant in your yard, you should have something digging it up.

One of my sisters lives in West Virginia and has told me she doesn't have any squirrels or chipmunks running around. This is West Virginia, with all it's mountains and forests for petes' sake!! She has lots of trees and flower beds but has never seen one of these trouble makers in her yard. She does live right next to a large river and the other side is a huge wooded area, so maybe they all decided to stay on that side. But I know that even if I lived next to a roaring, raging, river with rapids, those little devils would have learned how to build a raft and I would have them in my yard in no time, digging up my garden.

And make no mistake about it, chipmunks are just as bad as their larger cousins. They might be a lot smaller but they have all the same bad habits. The only thing different about chipmunks is that they don't build their nests in trees. They much prefer your shed. They will flatten their bodies enough to squeeze through that 1/2 inch opening under the door, bring in their food stash and set up housekeeping next to your garden supplies. And when you open that door to get to your pruning shears, they delight in scaring the bejeezes out of you by scurrying right past your hand. You can hear them snickering in the corner when you let out a loud yelp.

And they build tunnels. While sweeping off my front stoop one day, one ran right past me and into my mass of four o'clocks. I decided to give chase, broom in hand, thinking I'd sweep him right out of my yard. Got that picture in your mind? The neighbor who happened to be walking down the sidewalk did. Anyhow, I searched all through the plants and couldn't find him anywhere. Then I noticed a small hole in the ground. I immediately stuck a nearby rock in the hole and thought "Okay, I got you now". But then I saw him emerge from another hole farther down and race away. I thought about continuing the chase but since the neighbor was now standing still, staring at me intently, I decided to give up the pursuit, gave her a small wave, (hopefully not with the hand holding the broom) and went back into the house.

So, for any of you out there who feel you are missing out on all this fun, and would like to have some of these sweet little critters in and around your yard, let me know. I'll be glad to FedX some by overnight express and you can be having a great time in no time.

Ahhh, The Mighty Oak

2008-09-11T08:29:00.006-04:00

Some of the oak trees in and around my yard are very old and tower above all others, casting their shadows over the yard and driveway at various times of the day, keeping the house and car cool during the hot summer afternoons.

They also cast thousands of these

In the fall it's a constant symphony of sounds as they hit the lawn, rooftops, car and driveway. Plop, thud, ping, thunk.

Which in turn, attracts way too many of these

At times, I have seen up to 10 of these over-sized furry rodents scrambling around eating their fill and trying to bury the rest of this sudden abundance of food. Digging holes in the lawn, flower beds, containers, window boxes, anyplace they can dig a hole they will, to bury what they can for the coming winter months. And all winter long they crawl out of their nests that they built in these oak trees, out of oak leaves, and dig through the snow to get to the acorns that they had so painstakingly buried just a few months before.

But they never find them all so in the spring and all summer long these pop up, sometimes in the strangest of places

And if left un-pulled or un-mowed, they will eventually grow big enough to produce their own acorns, enough to attract all the squirrels in the city, the county, maybe even the whole state, to my backyard. Lucky me.

Lost In The Crowd

2008-09-10T08:09:00.008-04:00

Some are very good at blending in, happily going about their business, feeling safe and secure in their ability to get lost in the crowd

Until some dodo with a camera comes along, accidently gets lucky, and blows their cover

Clackety Clack

2008-09-08T07:35:00.003-04:00

The railroad tracks slice right through the middle of this city, so no matter where you live you are never more than 3-1/2 miles from them and therefore nobody "lives on the wrong side of the tracks". Or everybody "lives on the wrong side" depending on how you look at it. I look at it as the former. I love trains.

Sitting outside on a quiet morning you can hear the train whistle as it nears every crossing, warning cars that it's on it's way and since it's sooooo much bigger than you are, don't try to sneak around the gates to get to the other side, taking a risky chance that it won't catch you and squish you into scrap metal.

The whistle cadence is always the same. Whoooooooooo Whoooooooooo Whoo Whoooooooooo. Granted it sounds a lot better than it looks but you know what I mean. And when the breeze is blowing just the right way, you can also hear the clackety clack, clackety clack, as each wheel travels over each joint that connect the rails together. It sounds a lot better....etc. etc. etc. (At least my attempt at trying to convert words into sounds is better than some bird books I've read. Call is a low, harsh "cruck", a raspy "wreent", a dry, buzzy, staccato "ti-keer" ????)

The reason I love trains is because of my dad. He was a railroad man, waaaay back when, and passenger trains were in abundance, unlike now. Not the "glamorous" job of engineer, not the conductor who came down the aisle and punched your ticket (do they still do that?), but the behind the scenes electrician who helped keep them running. And best of all, he, and we, got to ride for free. A good thing because railroads were not known for their generous pay practices and I'm sure we never could have afforded to take the train as much as we did. At least once a year, sometimes more, we would go the Terminal Tower to catch a train to visit our relatives in Indiana.

I haven't been to that building for years and years, and have no idea what it's like now, but back then, to a childs' mind at least, it was amazing!! All shiny, clean, vast open spaces, with wide marble steps leading down to the boarding platforms. And then the train!!! The HUGE train with engines roaring and steam belching, coming through the tunnel, very scary and exciting at the same time, and causing a little girl to put a death grip on the hand that was holding hers.

Once safely inside, getting underway and sitting in a window seat, I was hypnotized by the scenery speeding by (probably lasted for a whopping 5 minutes before my attention turned to other things). I remember somebody walking down the aisle with a tray of sandwiches wrapped in wax paper for anyone who was hungry, and of course all of us kids were suddenly starving and had to have one. I remember the little restrooms which we also all had to use, and when you pushed the flush handle the bottom opened up and you could see the ground and railroad ties rushing past. I know I pushed that handle quite a few more times than was necessary because that was just fascinating to me, until we were finally taken back to our seats. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things that has been changed over the years.

The rest of the trip was spent jockeying around so someone else could sit by the window, being scolded for arguing, running back and forth to that restroom, and whatever else a bunch of young kids could get into. And then we were there and after a few days of visiting over here, over there, over here again, (ALL our relatives lived there) we got to do it all over again.

Over the years many memories fade and feelings change but my love of trains has stayed the same. Even now if I can get really close to one, I still get that sense of awe and excitement as I did when I was a child. I hope that never changes.

This, of course, is my favorite wind chime

This Story Is Full Of Holes

2008-09-06T08:36:00.009-04:00

Large, medium, small or tiny, holes are all over the place. Everywhere you look, you'll find some kind of hole. My neighbors strawberry pot.

It's full of holes. Big holes. Mostly empty holes except for the hen & chicks that are stuck in a few. (Not bragging at all but I think I might have done a little better job if it was my pot of holes)

Then there's this medium sized hole.

I was very careful when I drilled this hole into the side of this fragile gourd. I sure could have used a hole the size of the strawberry pot when trying to remove the insides without cracking the walls, but I finally got them all out and then I carefully sanded the edges smooth so the birds wouldn't scratch themselves as they went in and out. Three years now and no birds have ever scratched themselves on this hole. Because three years now and no birds have ever gone in or out. Maybe it's the wrong sized hole.

Some holes are small.

I have no idea why this hole is in the side of my house where holes should never be, so I immediately stuffed a wooden dowel in it right after I took this picture. Keep the little critters out until I can fill it with something a little more permanent, maybe a larger wooden dowel. I'm glad it's just a small hole.

Some holes are used for very important things like food storage.

The red headed woodpecker uses this telephone pole as his food pantry. He especially likes to store peanuts and bagels in these tiny holes. (Yes, bagels, but that's a different post for a later time.)

Some holes are used for buried treasure such as acorns, only to be dug up and then re-buried somewhere else, dug up, re-buried, dug up, re-buried.....so many times that your nice little patch of green that you tend to so faithfully begins to resemble a field of miniature craters

Pesky squirrels. They fill in the holes when they bury their stash, the least they could do is fill it back in when they dig it up.

Then there are the little holes that gradually grow into big holes. I hate when little gnats or whatever they are, bite my ankles, so I always wear socks when I go outside. Trouble is, I don't always wear shoes. So eventually most of my socks look like this.

But I still wear them. Hey the rest of the sock is fine so why throw the whole sock away when it's just a small part that's bad. Besides I have to save my un-holey socks for when company comes. ("Hey, Hi, How are you, Come on in, Hold on just a sec.", dash upstairs and change my socks. Never mind the opened mail strewn across the table, the few dirty cups in the sink, a bit of dust on the furniture. Priorities, you know) Anyhow, I'm just going to wear them in my own yard. The little problem occurs when I'm outside and my neighbors call me over.

Walking up to them is not the problem. The toes of my socks look perfectly fine. The problem is when it's time to leave. You don't want them to see your heels so you have to back away. I find that if you slowly walk backwards, talking all the while so they think you are just continuing the conversation, and then when you get close to your own door, just kinda slide sideways until you get inside, they'll never know. They might think you're a little weird, but they'll never accuse you of wearing holey socks.

And lastly, my favorite holes. The only reason they're my favorite holes is because they happen to be in my favorite shirt.

My big, soft, cozy, comfortable shirt. The shirt I wear around the house when it starts to get a little cool, the long sleeves warm and fuzzy against my arms, except for the left elbow where there is another large hole. The shirt I wear when I curl up in my favorite chair to read a good book. The shirt that took me years to get to the perfect feel. No way I'm getting rid of these holes.

Wow, this post is longer than I thought it was going to be. Hope nobody got so bored that they fell asleep halfway through. Unless they're reading it at night of course. Then I'll just say "you're welcome"

A Little Bit of Nothing

2008-09-05T08:12:00.008-04:00

"Red sky at night, sailors delight,
Red sky in the morning, sailors warning"
I don't know where this quote comes from, but my mom used to say it.

Fortunately for the sailors this was a night sky.

They might have been doing a happy dance when they saw this, but it still looks very eerie to me.

I don't know what the sailors have to say about these, but I like them.

None of these were taken lately because we haven't had any rain for quite a while. Just a few sprinkles during the last 4 weeks. I can smell the dust hanging in the air and on the bushes, and see the coating on the roofs and cars. The weather forcast is saying a 50% chance of rain today and tonight. I hope so. We need a good drenching!!!

Busy As A Bee

2008-09-03T10:37:00.003-04:00

Bumble Bee that is. They are all over the place. Unlike the honey bee that had been declining the last few years, but is now making a slow recovery, bumbles are multiplying like there's no tomorrow. At least in my yard.

On the late blooming Japanese Anemone

Backing out of an Asarina bloom with yellow pollen clinging to his legs

On the only Cosmo that I have (these did not do well this year)

A blurry bee coming in for a landing on the Autumn Clematis

And last but not least, on the sedum.

They love this plant, which is why I have moved it to the back of the yard. Waaay back. When the nights start to be a little chilly, I come out here in the early morning before it warms up and this bush is totally loaded with them. I guess they decided to make it their bed when spending the night.

"A Rose By Any Other Name".. Must Be A Sharon

2008-09-02T07:29:00.005-04:00

Rose of Sharons make a great screen, which is why I planted them alongside the neighbors garage. They grew to about 8 feet and covered a multitude of sins. Although the bushes themselves didn't look terrific this year, the individual flowers did, so that is what you will be seeing.

This is of course the single

Next we have the double

And this one hasn't quite made up its mind yet

Determined Or Just Plain Stubborn?

2008-08-30T08:16:00.011-04:00

This morning I had a plan. I would fill up the birdfeeder with lots of goodies, hide myself in the corner of the kitchen and finally get lots of pictures of the many birds that come to eat breakfast. This is being determined!!

So first I made sure I had dark clothing on (one time I tried to blend in not realizing I was wearing a bright orange t-shirt. That really worked well)

Then I got my coffee ready. Can't sit still for long without my morning coffee. Figured I'd use a long straw so I wouldn't have to raise the cup to my mouth while holding the camera. (Trying to cover all bases.)

Then I perched on the kitchen counter under the pot rack, hoping my face would look like just another frying pan, ( I'm sure it did.)

Then I brought the camera up to my face. This shouldn't take too long because they usually come within minutes after I fill it up.

I waited. After a few minutes I began to think this might take longer than I had planned on. But I was going to stay there no matter how long it took. This is being stubborn!!! Finally after about 20 minutes with aching arms and back I climbed down from the counter to upload the results of my morning endeavors.

That's right. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch. No need to click on this picture because there's nothing hiding in the background either. Of all days to go elsewhere for breakfast, they had to choose today.

There's Good, And Then There's Great!!

2008-08-29T08:15:00.004-04:00

All day yesterday, a little hummer was flitting around my feeders, teasing me as I was trying to take his picture. I must have taken 20 shots before I finally got one that was half way decent.

At least I thought it was decent until I looked at some that Laura had taken a couple of years ago.

Look at his little feet curled up as he uses the Orioles' feeder.

Coming in for a landing

Enjoying the cardinal flowers

Now those are some GREAT pictures!!!

Hiding Spot

2008-08-27T13:48:00.004-04:00

I have a couple of chairs outside close to my back door where I have my morning coffee. About 5 feet in front of these chairs is a trellis covered with one clematis and some annual Asarina. Don't let the delicate stems and little flowers fool you, this is one tough little climber and fills in the trellis completely.

Since my back yard is fairly open to others, I sit behind this trellis and am completely hidden from view. My own little hiding spot, seeing others but not being seen, feeling like a kid again while I spy on birds and critters and anything else that wanders through the backyards.

And then I discovered that I'm not the only one using my hiding spot, seeing others but not being seen. He was watching me the whole time I was taking these pics but I never saw him at all.

Not until I uploaded them to the computer and zoomed in for a closer look. Click on the last picture and get a better close up view.

I wonder how many other eyes are watching me out there. Spying on me, as I spy on them.