Christmas Break

Christmas is closing in fast and I have decided now would be a good time to shut down for the season. In a few short days my son will be here and I will want to spend my time with him and other members of the family. I'd like to wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah! (Also every other special day in the season)

I am having a giveaway of The Storyteller's Dusty Trunk II. In the U.S. The winner will get the physical book, but if by chance the winner is outside the U.S. of A. - I will email the PDF, which can be read on your computer. If you would like to be in the drawing, let me know in your comment and I will put your name in the hat. I'll have my son pick the winning slip on New Year's Day, before he leaves. I'll put it on my first post of the year and have you send me your address or email, if I don't already have it. This is open to anyone who reads my blog - anywhere.

Have a Merry, Merry, and a Happy, Happy!

From our house to yours!

Busy week ahead

I suppose it goes without saying much about it - I should have thrown the Steam Buggy in the trash today, but that sneaky fellow came before I woke up.

I took this picture of a Downy in my fig before the storm and big freeze Saturday night. You could still see the tiny figs that hadn't matured and the green tips of the new growth buds - I'm pretty sure they are frozen now, it was 14 F this morning. BTW, the bird feeder was totally obliterated during the storm.

 DH bought me some of these truffles - best I've ever had! Too bad there were only 20 of them in that tube. Doubt he will buy more - seeing that I bought 4 different boxes of jellied chocolates for the holidays.

 Progress report on Tom's produce. The fruits are ripening faster now, no matter the size. The lower sun shines directly on them for about 3 hours in the afternoon, I believe that's helping. Will have another sandwich before long!

 I'm anxious for Christmas now - DH ordered me a footed planter to put in front of the window and I've ordered some Tiny Tim cherry tomato seeds. Tom will have to hurry up and finish so I can start my little 'garden' by the window. Ha Ha.

There is one little glitch in all this ordering (Dog treats, dog toys, batteries, computer battery, and garden stuff. Son says not to open anything before Christmas. He has ordered gifts for us from Amazon too! With no way to tell what he sent ... we will have to wait to open anything unless we can devise some sort of plan. So glad that my chocolate jellies came today and I tracked it - was the only thing that came today!

Steam Buggy, part of one anyway ...

Last night, when I should have been going to sleep, I switched on the tube and sat dumbly watching some fool using what looked like a cheap steam cleaner and it looked like it worked. Hmm, I thought, I wonder if it would do a good job on my 'looks like a gas station restroom' bathroom. Then it hit me. I own one of those steam cleaning machines ............... somewhere .........

This afternoon, I tore into the back hall, which serves as our laundry, pantry, and storage space. I did find the old familiar Steam Buggy! I did not, however, find the nozzles or the brushes. I remember having a measuring cup for the water, no sign of that either. Soooo, I spent some time looking for something on the net that might lead me to the company so I might find out about getting new attachments. I couldn't find it. Found some on ebay, but the whole thing, not parts. There are other steam cleaners out there, just not my model. Can't even find a manual on line for it. I didn't think it was that old.

Wonder if it will work at all without attachments?

 I'm too tired out now to even try it out. (Plus I have to restack and repack all the junk I had to move, to get at it.) Hey! I did find my medium sized crock pot - so the day was not lost.

Rain is coming in, then thunderstorms, then when that passes, the temperature is going to drop 40 to 50 degrees with a chance of that wintery stuff. Oh, goody, I can hardly wait.

Last weekend for the shopping, folks. I hope you are all done with your preparations. Poor DH is going to have to get groceries in that awful weather, sigh. That song going through your head yet? You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why ...

DH had trouble sleeping ...

Until he came in here ...

Sleep tight, Daddy!

 

History

The big bright three are now history! DH and I couldn't stand it any longer and they were sacrificed for our lunch today. We each got 1 and a half BLT! (Plus extra bacon) Not sure if they were worth all of the expense, as the experiment was quite costly for a few tomatoes, but the experience is one I and most of my friends will not soon forget. The balance of the tomatoes are smaller and seem to be ripening anyway, so I imagine the plant will be out of here by Christmas. 

I have been looking into aqua and hydroponics. Hmm. Interesting ...

My last book

I got an email from the copyright people a bit ago, seems I had forgotten to include the pictures for one of the short stories I had in it. They wanted to know where and what they were or I would have to start all over with the copyright process. I didn't want to do that - it costs more for a compilation of short stories than for a single story, even if there aren't as many pages. It had been nearly a year - and I had to look them up again. I admit that I am not the most organized person in the world.

I finally have it all done and can relax - nobody can steal my pictures, although I can't for the life of me understand why they would want to. I haven't sold a single copy of The Storyteller's Dusty Trunk II. Nor for that matter the first one, no, I may have sold one of the first one, I don't remember. I gave a bunch of various books away. Sigh.

Thought I would post the pictures from the short story Back to the Land. I'm sure some of you remember my posting a version of the story - way back when.

Summer '83

Me & Nipper Easter '83

Buddy and Rooster Summer 84

J and Gerty summer 84?

My last Christmas there '85, I'd lost Nipper and 20# or more.

Oh, to be that young again!

Argh!

Don't mind me ...

I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or maybe I am just plain worn out from the trip to the doctor. The new doctor is fine, he let me off the hook as far as testing etc goes. Maybe because I told the nurse that this visit was 'it' and I didn't want to come back for games. I don't know. He did order the steroid that I should have been taking ... I have to go back in 3 months (spring) if I'm still around.

Do you ever wake up crabby? I used to when I had hormones ... For some reason I feel as if I am having PMS. Everything is bothering me. Last night my media tower came and I barely had the strength to get it into the house. I thought to have the UPS driver bring it into the back hall, but the dogs were in their 'Hounds of Hell' mode and I didn't feel up to the battle. It's still in the back hall ...

Seems there is a mini disagreement over the value of fruitcake. Hmm, I love fruitcake and I hate fruitcake - or what some companies call that dry, bouncy, bleep they pass off for it. If I had the energy, I would make a batch and ship a loaf to the nay sayers. I read an article that said ladies made fruitcake for gifts to save money. Fruitcake (the real good stuff) is not cheap. It's also dry, because somebody doesn't take the time to wrap and soak their loaves in some fine rum or brandy at least once a week for a month.

My tomatoes seem to be ripening, no matter what their size. I already had one and it was FINE! (As in worth the wait)

I am also, ready for the feast, and then the plant to be out of my room. It simply is taking up too much space. As I said - I'm crabby.

Christmas shopping is at a standstill, after the debacle over the clunky wind chimes. I just can't seem to find anything that isn't a tin of popcorn and call it good enough. I sent one (1) package in the mail (not Christmas) and I am a bit disgusted over the fact that the package took a tour of Texas before they found the place. I am more impressed by UPS and the cost was probably about the same.

I'm sure Jack will appreciate when I get this stuff off the bed!

Waiting for it to be over! 

Doctor visit

I have a doctor's appointment today. I suppose it's about time, but I do avoid them like a plague. I don't know about you, but I am so tired of "Let's try this," only to have worse side effects than the problems. I am a bit cantankerous anymore when they say that. When my mind goes completely, I imagine I will be the old lady that no one wants to take care of in the nursing home. I'm always cold, I believe it it not just poor circulation, I think it's having cold air pumped into my lungs 24/7. I remember when I worked at the nursing home years ago, one particular old lady stole the toilet tissue from others bathrooms and stuffed it under her covers. She walked around complaining, "I'm cold, I'm cold!" I sure hope I don't end up like that.

Sparrow Hall and extension.

 I took this last week before the leaves finished falling off. If summer had held on a little longer, I would have had some ripe figs. Sigh, that would really have been pushing it. Not sure if you can see the tiny figs on it or not, would have made a nice bowlful. At least Sparrow hall has been rebuilt by nature and the birds have been enjoying it for quite some time. I'm glad I didn't have DH demolish it completely and fill it in. I do enjoy watching the visitors! (Mostly sparrows, house finches, and cardinals)

I need to get my act together - I really hate going ...

Letter from home - December 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

Where to start? I guess I better just jump in. It's the first of December already. How odd, even with a chill in the air, the days are flying by! Winter is definitely here, judging by the forecast for my area. It's time to check the light bulbs under the house - we don't need any frozen pipes.

 I received my new blanket and it isn't as warm as I expected. Sigh. I'll need additional something by the end of next week. I guess I should have bought a sleeping bag.

DH has been going to the doctors. Multiple. He's had this painful thing going on in his chest and back. It was suggested that he had pleurisy although nothing showed on his x-rays. Separated ribs was the next idea. No treatment. Went to chiropractor, twice, came home more miserable. Next trip, they did a CT scan, which showed a kidney stone and spots on his kidney and a couple spots on his lungs that they figured were nothing to worry about. Then he had an ultrasound on his kidneys - he is supposed to go in in six months to be checked again. He still hurt. By now, he had been having this horrible pain for almost 3 weeks. I noticed some spots like bites on his side, chest and back. It didn't really look like the rash I had when I had the shingles, but I mentioned it to him. Back to the doctor's office. SHINGLES! He got some pills supposedly for shingles. 3 days later, (yesterday) he went to a different doctor in a different town. Yep, shingles! He now has some ointment and pain pills. He is some better today. Seems some people don't break out as bad as others and the pain is more inside than out. Doctors! I just don't trust them.

I tried doing a little Christmas shopping online. I thought I found the perfect gift for my SILs at Teleflora and when I was filling out the information, the site had me check the dates - seems as I was ordering - they ran out! I can kinda tell that shopping isn't going to be a picnic. Good thing I started early. Now, to think up something else.

Either my puny tomatoes are ripening or rottening.

 I was surprised when I looked at the 'trimmings' from a couple of weeks ago. I had stuck them into a bottle of water with idiotic thoughts of sticking them into another pot of dirt. 

 Yes, there are five tiny tomatoes growing, I was sure the blossoms would be shocked from the cutting and fall off. Tough tomato plants!

As some of you know, my printer gave me grief over the new ink and refuses to print with it. My little dream of actually making and sending out a few Christmas cards, went down the drain. I have yet to get a different printer. DH bought me a few cards to send out and I sat on the bed making them out while watching the newest DVD of Poldark. 

Yes, the last Poldark for the season was broadcast. No more Call the Midwife for now. Jewel in the Crown finished, as well as Indian Summers and The Durrels of Corfu. Sigh ... I checked December programming - it isn't my kind of stuff. January looks promising.

I am getting excited about Christmas - because our youngest son will be flying in for the holidays! I hope I don't go overboard and get sick. I normally don't 'Do' Christmas, but with him coming and how bad I've missed him, well, I just can't help myself! I may even do up my little trees. I have no idea what to get him, or his dad for that matter, so I search the internet in hopes I can spot the perfect gifts.

All for now, sorry this is so long. Have a great day! 

Busy in Tennessee!

Not sure how many of you have heard about the fires in TN, or how many are familiar with Dollywood and Gatlinburg. Bad mess over there in East Tennessee! Between the tinder dry and the high winds the area is a disaster area. I sympathize with those who lost family and their homes on Monday.

Then too, we had tornadoes rip through a swath of MS, AL, and TN, last night. It was one wild ride. 5 people were killed. I think there were 23 tornadoes reported. Lots of damage. I was in the watch zone, but I didn't feel the danger I often do - nothing was that close. There are times when I wish I had an underground shelter though.

I hope this bad stuff doesn't deter visitors. Tennessee is a beautiful state and we're tough folk here. Prayers and good vibes are welcomed here at this time. Check the net for areas most desperately in need of your concern.

OMG! It's raining!

I can hardly believe this, but it's raining, a soaking-in type of rain. Of course, we have some windy conditions with it and the dogs are upset about it. I see another good chance of rain coming up again real soon, so maybe the drought is over. (I also see a 30% chance of frozen precipitation one night. I hope not.)

 It really is about time. I wish it was bedtime so I could lie in bed and listen to the rain pitter-pattering on the window as I fall asleep. I imagine if it keeps up too long, I'll be griping about the gloomy days and damp, but we were quite far behind in the rain department and we really needed this.

Over the river and through the streets ...

This was my grandparent's home when I was growing up. It is a bit different now, the new owners have winterized the screen porch and only visitors can see the stained glass windows in the living room and dining rooms. The roof is a different color, I think it may have been brown. The house had the most god-awful paint - it was Flamingo - a popular dirty pink color that was so popular at the time. (1950s and early 1960s)

I came from a large extended family and holidays were spent there with Grandma and Grandpa. The house was packed, the tables filled with good food, every chair or space to sit was filled. 

I think they must have been in their late 50s in my earliest memories. Every time I was there, I took these people for granted. Grandma was always cooking, and catering to everyone. 

When I was a young newlywed, I asked my husband to take me for a visit every now and again. The house was empty, so different from the holidays. They were always happy to see us come. Something was off, though. The holidays weren't the same crowded affairs. I would ask if they had seen this one or that one and they said it had been a long time. They all had their own thing going on. Not even my uncles and aunts had been for a visit. The older relatives had passed on. Grandma would say someone had called. It felt so sad. We had rented a house nearby, so it was no big deal to run over for a visit. 

Kids (yes, I was essentially still a kid) look in the refrigerator. When I checked, it was pretty empty. Seems their income and bills didn't match. One day, we stopped and they were eating oatmeal. Of course, we weren't in much better financial shape. I remember being angry that one of their kids didn't bring food over or help with some of the repairs they needed. My father was disabled, but I had 3 uncles who could have come to help. They didn't. I knew they were able to pitch in. They didn't.

I suppose you are wondering what I'm getting at, huh? It would appear that the times do not change, just the aging people. Don't let the holidays be the only time you reach out to old Aunt Mable or old Uncle Richard. Maybe what goes around will come around for you. Don't let your life get too busy, you'll be old yourself, one day.

This and That

I suppose most of you are busy making pies and doing a little last minute cleaning. The holidays are definitely upon us, aren't they? Gotta face this with the bit in our teeth. Sigh.

First thing - I'm wondering about the stability of my tomato plant, a part of it collapsed. I don't think it's strong enough to support actual fully developed tomatoes. Lost a 'branch' and 4 little babies tomatoes. Sniffle ...

I have been feeling a shade better the last couple of days and decided that I could vacuum some of the dog hair if I did a little at a time. Ahah! The vacuum cleaner barely sucked. Oh, goody, now I know why he didn't finish (a long time ago) the living room. I greatly regretted throwing out the wire hangers and replacing them with plastic a couple years ago. I finally found one sad, bent wire hanger and began trying to straighten it out enough to hopefully clean out the obstruction. It was a fight, I was sweating and gasping. Who knew a simple wire hanger could cause so much trouble? And one of those little plastic bread closure things shaped like a tag with a hole in it had been sucked up and lodged in the flexible part of the hose. It took me forever to hook that thing and clear the blockage. Now I don't have any energy to even think of vacuuming.

While I was playing at repairman, a mouse trap snapped in the stove drawer. Yes, we are still fighting the mouse problem. I still haven't made the 5 gallon bucket mouse trap ... (which requires a straight wire coat hanger, btw) Now my hands are aching and it just isn't happening tonight. Maybe tomorrow or ?

The nights are cooler now that summer has succumbed to winter in a day. My fluffy blanket is just not warm enough. I searched Amazon for one of those cozy Vellux blankets, I picked one out and decided to wait until I checked to see what else I needed to order. Four hours later, I ordered some personal items and went to order the blanket. Gone! So I ordered something different. When they say 'Only two left' I guess they mean it. Argh.

Well, y'all, I am going to put the vacuum away for now, and try to get that mouse in the bucket so I can do some reading before I sleep. Have a nice Thanksgiving and whatever!



 

One shot, multiple subjects

How many can you spot?

Tomato, again, sorry ...

You have to forgive me for harping on my tomato plant. For the last 10 days or so, I feel as if I had the stuffing knocked out of me. There is nothing new really happening - I planned on making a 5 gallon bucket mouse trap, because Ruth said hers worked so well. I got as far as getting the supplies together, and then I went to bed. Sigh ...

I did massacre 'Tom' and I couldn't figure out how much foliage to keep to feed the plant sunshine and the grow light. It is sitting in my bedroom and I didn't want it to look like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

 

From first blossoms to now. (A month) Tomato watching is getting pretty boring. I want them to fill out and get ripe already! I wonder if it's taking so long because I'm watching it or if it just takes this long and I was busy with other things before.

Nothing else to report. I'm glad that I got to see my oldest boy and take a couple pictures, but the whole thing was just too sad. Looking at his picture, I see my dad. He's the only one of my kids with his features, I guess that's kind of nice. None of the grandkids look like him, and there's a bunch of them. I never thought about it before.

Bought new ink to make some Christmas cards and postal labels - new ink cartridge is not being accepted by the bleep printer. I don't understand it, same brand, same everything, but the printer doesn't think so and just sits there acting ugly. It's a HP printer. I messed with it 2 days before throwing up my hands in surrender. Bleep technology! Takes the fun out of my plans ...

Guess I came back from my break too soon. If I don't see you before then, have a nice Thanksgiving!

Hard to believe

One of the bloggers on my list posted that bowling as we know it is a thing of the past. Now, I have never seen the 'bumpers' he spoke of, but I haven't been to the bowling alley for about 10 years.

Read Cranky old man's post here http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/

I used to bowl on two leagues, one was in the morning with the girls. I was given a trophy after my second year - "Most Consistent Bowler" yeah, my scores averaged 111. Try not to laugh too hard, Cranky. On Friday nights I bowled with mixed doubles and I did better then, I would get a Black Russian from the bar and relax. One year, the girls  went to the tournaments and I relaxed and then my handicap helped us win! We played the last game slightly hung over, but then, so were the other teams. Good Times! 

Short visit

My oldest son, Daniel, drove down from MN for Dan's funeral. He came by for a short visit to sort out some family things as long as he was here. It was good to see him - lousy timing though.

I am emotionally exhausted. Later, folks.

Good-Bye

I spent most of the day going through my pictures looking for a certain picture of my son-in-law. I know I saw it recently because I thought how cute he looked in it. This is Dan with two of his kids at a family Christmas gathering, a long time ago. The kids are grown up now, of course, but the picture is all Dan, a real great family man and one hell of a nice guy. 
He passed away yesterday morning in a car accident. Any extra warm thoughts or prayers you have would be welcomed by his family.

Little Shop of Horrors

So, okay, yesterday, I hacked off some of the leaf fronds to ease up on the weight, it wasn't enough. Tom is getting too big. It's listing and I fear for my plant. On one hand, I consider hacking off the top half to let the tomatoes that are present grow up and ripen - On the other hand, I'm greedy and want to see more of those blossoms turn into tomatoes. What to do? You can see some of my Grandma Engineering - pony tail bands turned bungee cords to support to chair and curtain rod. It is not enough. DH suggested cutting a hole in the seat of the chair for the pot and 2x4's attached to the chair seat to trellis the rapidly growing plant. I looked for a cheap set-up on Amazon. I really don't want a broken chair (and it would be) and 2x4's in my bedroom - no matter how bad I want those BLTs!

Shades of 'Little Shop of Horrors'

 I would ask you what you would do in my situation, but I believe you wouldn't even do such a thing in your bedroom. Am I wrong?

Feelings Hurt?

DH brought this home from work, guess it is making the rounds. Occasionally the little boys there get silly and I hear about it.

 I hope you can read it okay. If this offends you ... I'm sorry.

Update Tomato Experiment

My tomato experiment:

I really didn’t think this thing through. Actually, I didn’t even know what kind of tomato I was playing with. It started when I saw this thing on Facebook about planting a slice of a ripe tomato. There was a part of one on the cupboard waiting to draw fruit flies and I thought, “Why not?” I had an old hanging planter, filled it with potting soil, stuck the slice in it, and covered it up. In just a few days, I had the beginnings of a promising experiment. It got to be about 1.5” tall and something broke it off. There was another one coming up though, so I let it grow – it was about maybe 5-6” tall and something broke it off. (Wind, curious cat or dog)

Now, it really was getting too late to be playing with a tomato outside, so I wasn’t too hopeful for results from a pip coming out of the soil in the first week of September. I decided I wouldn’t get my hopes up and just watered it when I watered my flowers. If this one broke off, at least I knew that this method would work.

Fast forward to October 13 – There was a frost warning for our area and I decided to bring “Tom” into the house. I had a grow light on order, as I had blossoms! Now, what BLT loving woman isn’t going to buy a grow light and Miracle Grow for her roommate? Yes, I will admit that whatever “crop” I get - will very expensive per bite and I will have a long wait before it enters my mouth. (Barring unforeseen circumstances like it breaking off or it goes crashing to the floor)

I have learned a lot about tomatoes. This one is an ‘indeterminate’ tomato, which means it’s a vine and as long as the growing season keeps up so does it. I will not let it get that carried away. It is already starting to take over and if it weren’t for those blossoms, I would have put an end to it before now. Next time, if there is one, I will find a ‘determinate’ or bush type tomato to keep it short. Thinking a cherry tomato might be more manageable. A better pot would be a good idea too. I like having ‘Tom’ here, because green is my favorite color. It is quite interesting too, watching the leaves twist and contort to take advantage of the light. Some of them don’t really resemble tomato fronds anymore – almost exotic looking.

Still on a break ... TOM

Tom now has two tiny tomatoes, the size of peas. Not all blossoms are making 'fruit' - Oh well. Still lots of blossoms. Tom is now over 3' tall.

 

Taking a blog break

Back whenever he gets on days again and my system adjusts.

Autumn Gold

Autumn leaves, they seem to be changing on the one pecan that I figure is more masculine - very little nuts. (I realize that is a bit bass ackwards) The other two trees have more nuts and they are hardly changing color as of yet. 
After our non-rainy days, the clouds are gone and we are back to spectacular weather.

Have a great week!

Rain, at last!

I did this at lunch - doubtful we got any appreciable rain at all, we were on the very edge of this as it went sliding by. (Not the 1.35" stated in the stats.) We did have one good crack of thunder. No chance to hear rain pitter-patting on the metal roof and going back to sleep. You can see we are in transition, but seems like the bottom will fall out soon and it will really feel like October. We have yet to turn the heat on, soon, it will be soon, probably after next Tuesday or Wednesday.

I'm still working on Julia, I've changed it some and shortened it some. More to chop.

Have a great weekend!

Tomatoes?

Okay, I have given the tomato plant a stay of execution. I ordered a grow light for *Tom* and he will come into the house. Where? I'm not sure yet, probably in my room where everything else seems to be. I do have a south facing window and I have a grow light on order.

 I see there are more blossom buds forming.

Feeling screwed ...

Do you remember last month when I donated my little car for auction at APT? Boy, never again! Somebody wanted that little 2 owner car with less than 98K miles on it, they wanted it for a song. The Blue Book was $1,800 for it in the condition it was in. You've all seen it. I thought for a fund raising auction, they would get a good price for her. Year, sure. I was WRONG! It just seemed a little fishy. It turns out that some auto salvage place gets the cars and sells them for junk or parts. I'm sure the buyer won't, but he will make a nice profit off of me and obviously APT knows it. They could have told me! I was offered 1,500 for it, but thought they would get more for it than that for a tax deduction. I am disgusted, disheartened, unhappy, and pissed!

I'll bet the buyer was chuckling up his sleeve when he drove her off the lot for a measly $600! No comments please, I am upset enough about this, I don't need your pity or whatever. Just thought you might think twice before you donate anything like a car for a 'good cause.' 

Monday, again -

No biggies again, well, not for me. DH's car died on the way home from work - not my beloved Buick, but his Sebring Convertible. He talked about just leaving it ... He was just upset, it has 4 nearly new tires on it, and it just needs to be repaired. A part died on it that had gone bad last year. Sigh, it's sitting at a garage down in Alabama.

No Poldark tonight because of the debate. Sigh ... I could have used some excitement. Ha Ha.

There's a nip in the air tonight. I suppose we will be turning that heat on soon. Average date to fire it up is October 7, so we're doing pretty good. I checked on the tomato plant and could smell the crispness, almost like snow. Well, it had to come didn't it? I will have to decide what to do with that plant. One of the buds opened up. I have no clue if a bee will find it or not. Trying to decide what to do - do I just let it dry up or do I hunt for a paint brush and go for the gold? Sigh, such a little problem ...

Problems with reworking Julia  - I start looking and soon I'm reading and forgetting what I'm supposed to be doing. I still think it's a dandy story, I can't help it. At this rate I will never get it done.

Heaven help me, I'm boring!   

Have a good week!

Old Picture

Not much

Time flying. Not much happening here. I'm trying to work on Julia some more. DH took a couple days off to go to AR for a funeral in the family. He's back home and back to working nights. My days and nights are so messed up. I am a literal rag. 

 Looks big? In reality is only about a 2.5" leg span. He was on the ceiling the other day.
 See? I told you, nothing big happening big around here. Seems I am stuck in Same old Same old here. Maybe that's a good thing.

Have a great weekend!

Show and Tell

Not sure if this was mockingbird nest or not. Close to front steps.

Time to bring at least one of the impatiens in!

Tacky likes to keep me company when I'm on the porch.

Remember when something broke my little tomato plant off? Well, at the time, there was one little one just coming through the dirt. Here are pictures of that pip now. I noticed that some of the leaves looked as if a mold or disease had it. I couldn't see anything. Today, as I sat outside with Tacky, I looked the plant over and saw a very small tomato worm! It was about 3/8" long and busy eating on one of the leaves. Ah-hah! I searched the plant over and found more, each smaller than the next. The pic shows the smallest - 3/16th of an inch and going like a house afire! I'll have to look and keep watching. I picked off about ten of those nasty things, funny, they don't seem half as icky when they are so tiny. LOL! In the final pic, you can see that it is getting blossom buds! I figure the plant must be about a month old. If the other plants would have made it, I may have had tomatoes before frost using the ripe tomato slice method. I have to say that this was the most successful experiment of the summer!

I hope you are having a bright start to your week!

Why the oceans are blue.

Rainbow at night, full moonlight!

I might have known this and forgot, but then again I may never have known why the oceans are blue. I was watching PBS tonight and they were talking about light. It seems that blue is the only color that can go into the depths. They had scuba divers checking how far down they could go and what colors they saw. The blue protons were the top winner. I guess that is why the sky is blue, somehow.

Well, okay, y'all probably knew all that, right? I was NOT aware though, that we can't really see color at night, even in the moonlight. The color protons don't bounce back at us without good old Mr. Sun. The scientist/photographer went out in the wilderness to this beautiful falls, at night. The moon was full, (I think he worried that the clouds could be a problem) but it came out for some beautiful footage. I was amazed at the rainbow. I thought, if anything, it be washed out or not all there. Sorry about my picture, taking a picture of a TV screen is not always the best. I just wanted to show y'all.

If I could, I would love to try this out during a full moon, with the sprinkler, a spray bottle and somewhere in the yard with no neighbor lights. I do apologize for such a 'little kid's excitement' over something so simple, but I was excited.

Enjoy your Sunday! (Maybe Monday)

Caution - Misguided Opinion Ahead.

First of all, I must tell you that I hate politics! Hate is not a strong enough word, but it will do. I have been trying to ignore the whole thing, it is ridiculous, beyond ridiculous really. In the whole United States, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were the best people we could come up with? We have made ourselves the laughingstock of the planet. 

I've looked up the other candidates, but I realize that voting for them is the same as not voting. Not enough of the "Big" people are behind them. They cannot afford to campaign the way they should be able to. That anyone can grow up to be President is the biggest joke. I know how Trump got his money, but I am not at all sure where Clinton got hers - probably in a similar fashion of lying and deception. 

I have not formed my opinions from any of the worst mud slinging I have ever seen in my life. That garbage never quits. I have often wondered why Trump wasn't in jail for the debts he incurred and we (the people) have eventually paid for. That man has some serious issues with entitlement. When her husband was unfaithful (and got caught) and Clinton "couldn't believe" I say "Bull!" She weighed her options and decided she liked living in the White House and the limelight. Big deal, she made Bill sleep on the couch for 3 months. I bet that was a lie too. No woman worth her salt, who claims to be for women, would put up with his philandering - unless there was something in it for her. On the other hand, if she could be bamboozled that easily ...

I could go on and on, but it comes down to what we are going to do. Do we vote for an unstable, blowhard or someone that turns a blind eye to things that are just plain wrong?  They are both incessant liars who will bring the White House down, either in shame or shambles. 

Please no arguments, these are just my opinions. If you want to debate there are websites for that. Better to not even comment if you do. Thanks for respecting my right to agree or disagree with what is going on in my country. Your views may vary.

Have a nice weekend! 

Old Photo - Wet Hen

Jogging the memories

Jack

Taking pictures and looking at them years later, brings back memories you hadn't thought about in years. Even the lousy shots that you didn't think were worth keeping because of the extra junk in the picture.

This is a picture of Jack, about two weeks after we found him on the road, sick, scared and alone. We believe he was 'dumped off' far from houses where he could have been found. He had been eating leaves and twigs as was evident in his diarrhea for the next two days. I don't think he would have lasted much longer.

Back to the picture. He's wearing the cat's harness, and laying nearby is the red leash we used to take him for his necessary walks and get him used to the yard. (Also the cat's - I miss her) On the floor behind him - that dull yellow thing - is a rubber snake, one of a bag of them I bought to put in the grapevines to scare away the birds. Shown is the packing slip from eBay. I was heavy into eBay back then, I bought things for the household and sold jewelry. I no longer want anything to do with eBay, the company or some of the participants. Then there is the small doll in front of him. He was much loved by Jack. We named it Geppeto and Jack dragged and ragged on that poor doll. One day, Jack had another bout of the diarrhea and Geppeto caught the worst of it. There was no washing it, so I threw it away. Poor Jack, he missed it for a couple of days, however he was not at a loss for toys. I still have two crates of puppy toys that the two dogs still go 'shopping' in and string them all over. The nasty old carpet is a thing of the past, replaced by washable flooring. How I hated that ugly carpet.

So, you see, this is not just a picture of Jack. It's a journal of the past and things I had shelved in my memory. Take any old picture and see how many things it brings to your memory.

While going through my files, I recollected how old the TV was, how long ago we remodeled the kitchen (thus the flooring change), and a million other little tidbits I hadn't thought about.

Have a good day!