I’m Watching you, too!

There is a local car dealership nearby that has had a tradition of putting large inflatables on its roof. There have been snowmen and Santa Clauses at Christmas, an Easter bunny, monsters at Halloween and patriotic clad characters around other holidays. My favorite was the giant hamster.   

The dealership is right next to the highway in a commercial area that is highly trafficked. Apparently there are some in this little township that have something against these inflatables. They find them cheesey or tacky or distracting. So a battle has begun between the dealership and the township trustees in an attempt to limit and/or remove them. The trustees created a law, when read, is obvious in its intent. No inflatables are permitted with so many feet of a highway – almost exactly the distance the dealership is from it.  

Of course the dealership is fighting this regulation. And they seem to have a great sense of humor about it. I just love their latest “resident”.

 

AMDG

I’m Watching you!

When we put the new, expanded garden in last year I really wanted to put in a scarecrow. Just doing the basics of getting the new garden up and running took too much time. This year I got my wish, and, if I do say so myself, he came out pretty good.

Except for his hat, he was put together with things we had around the house and yard. The pole he is attached to as well as his “skeleton” are branches from a River Birch that we cut down after bugs munched all the leaves off.

His elbows are hinged allowing them to swing in the breeze and the hat is attached to his hand so it can go on and off his head as he/we see fit. He even has googly eyes!

The only thing he is missing is a name. Any suggestions?

PS.  It wouldn't have been a project without an injury.  I managed to slice my finger when cutting the cross bar for his shoulders.  Nothing bad, though, just enough to make it an official project!


AMDG

It would have been golden

If mom was still with us we would have celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary this past Saturday. As it was, we all went to mass together and then out to dinner. It seemed like too important of a date not to be acknowledged. When I think about it, fifty years ago was the start of our family. It was the beginning of something bigger than just two people. It was the beginning of our family history.

My parents met at a dance at the university my father attended. He was riding the rapid to the school and saw my mom on it, dressed up, sitting with her friends. He was immediately smitten and figured she was headed to the same place. Once they got there, he looked for her at the dance. They dated for two years, some of that long distance while dad was away at ROTC summer camp. He proposed in September of ’62 and they married following his graduation in ’63. After a three week honeymoon out west they began married life in Virginia on a military base where my dad was stationed for the next two years. 

They took their vows seriously and saw each other through good times and bad, sickness and health. They had shared values that they tried to instill in us; faith and family were what was important. Adversity seemed to strengthen them rather than pull them apart. When the steel company that dad worked for went out of business and he was unemployed, mom provided both moral and financial support. Mom’s diagnosis of cancer brought out a tenderness and protectiveness in my father like we had never seen prior.

After communion on Saturday, I was so very grateful. As I glanced at my dad to my left and Himself, Sis, BIL and baby Sara on my right I realized that this is what they started fifty years ago, this family. That’s what love started.

AMDG

The Sand Pail Report - v1

 

 

Am I ever so glad we created our Sand Pail List!  We have been having a great summer discovering new things, some just right around the corner and others a little further away. 

 

After almost nine years of driving past the local ice cream haunt we finally stopped.  Actually, we've gone there twice.  It's good, cheap ice cream and we've gotten to enjoy the local scenery.  The first time we walked across the street and sat at the ball diamond.  The second time we were entertained by two littles of a family that shared our table.  The eighteen-month-old was enjoying both his and his dad's treats while the two month old baby ogled her mama's!



In our quest to visit a new-to-us state park we took a drive to Malabar Farm.  I knew nothing of this park other than it was a reasonable drive away.  On the tour of "The Big House" we got a history lesson about author Louis Bromfield.  He was a prolific writer with a keen interest in land preservation.  He became friends with Humphrey Bogart when they were both "nobodies" and was best man in two of his weddings, the second of which was to Lauren Bacall, which was held at the farm.  I can see us going back to this park as we only scratched the surface of what is to be discovered there.

The Big House

Mama goat and babies





Barns






Bromfield's study

How does he feel?

 

A couple of weeks ago Himself and the Hairy Beast went for their weekly hike at a local county park.   As they were leaving a couple of women drove up and proceeded to let their dogs out of their car off leash.  Just as Himself started backing out one of the dogs ran behind his car.  Luckily he saw it and stopped in time.  He rolled down his window and pointed out to the women that park rules require all pets be leashed.  They proceeded to spew a vile tirade at him and told him to mind his own business.

Last Thursday, at 5:30 in the morning, there was a terrible car crash on a road about two miles from our house.  A car went left of center and hit another head on.  One car burst into flames and the driver had to be rescued by a passerby before the rescue personnel arrived.  Both drivers were life-flighted to a local trauma hospital where they were listed in serious condition, and, unfortunately, the passenger in the car that was hit did not survive. 


Thursday evening I spent some time out in the yard mulching the dahlia garden.  As I went to toss a pitchfork of mulch between the plants something caught my eye.  At the end of the fork was a toad.  I shook it off, dropped the tool and squealed like a little girl as I ran away screeching “I killed a toad!”  When I got some nerve to go back and check him out, he was staring at me with his beady little eyes, stunned but apparently okay.  He had gotten shoveled up but not stabbed.

 

I know, I know.  What do each of these things have to do with the other?  I promise, there is something, at least to me. 

After the toad incident I got to thinking about how bothered I was by the thought of killing it.  And I began to wonder how the twenty year old driver of the car that went left of center was going to feel when he woke up in the hospital to find out he had killed someone with his car.  Would he care?  How much would it bother him? 

Had Himself hit and injured (or worse) one of those dogs he would have been beside himself.  I would have been crushed knowing that I speared that toad.  I’m sure it would have kept me awake.  But both of those things would have been completely accidental and unforeseen. 

How does one feel when they do something that knowingly could be harmful to another and it turns out it is?  You see, the state highway patrol reported that alcohol was involved in this accident and the car was stolen.

The women whose dogs were running loose wanted us to think if we minded our own business all would be okay.  This time it was.  But next time?

I'm still wondering, how does he feel?


AMDG

Funny Foto - #7

I did the following search and got more than I bargained for.  Check out the last result.

So is it free or is it on sale???

AMDG



Need a laugh?

A friend sent this to me the other day.  Some of them had me laughing so hard I was crying.  Enjoy!

Did  I read that sign correctly?  TOILET  OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR  BELOW           In a Laundromat: AUTOMATIC  WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES  OUT   In a London department store: BARGAIN  BASEMENT UPSTAIRS   In  an office: WOULD  THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK  OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN   In  an office: AFTER  TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE  DRAINING BOARD     Outside  a secondhand shop: WE  EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING  YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?   Notice in health food shop window: CLOSED  DUE TO ILLNESS   Spotted in a safari park:(I sure hope so) ELEPHANTS  PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR   Seen during a conference: FOR  ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON  THE 1ST FLOOR Notice in a farmer's field: THE  FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL  CHARGES   Message on a leaflet: IF  YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET  LESSONS   On  a repair shop door: WE  CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR - THE BELL  DOESN'T WORK)   **********************************************************    Proofreading  is a dying art,wouldn't you say?   Man  Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter  This  one I caught in the SGV ( San Gabriel Valley ) Tribune the other  day, called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this.  It took  two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was  reading was impossible!!! They  put in a correction the next day. I just couldn't help but send this  along. Too funny.     Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says  Really?  Ya think?    Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers  Now  that's taking things a bit far!    Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over  What  a guy!    Miners Refuse to Work after Death  No-good-for-nothing'  lazy so-and-so's!    Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant  See  if that works any better than a fair trial!    If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile  Ya  think?!    Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures  Who  would have thought!    Enfield  ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide  They  may be on to something!    Man  Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge  He  probably IS the battery charge!    New Study of Obesity Looks for LargerTest Group  Weren't  they fat enough?!    Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft That's  what he gets for eating those beans!   Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half  Chainsaw  Massacre all over again!    Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors  Boy,  are they tall!    And  the winner is....   Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead  Did  I read that right?

One more row

As I mentioned in the last post, we got the veggie garden planted this past weekend. When we finished we found we have about a row and a half of extra space. I don’t know what to put in there. Any suggestions?

This is what we have so far:

• Tomatoes – 6 varieties
• Peppers – 5 varieties
• Squash – butternut, acorn, zuchinni
• Beans – green, wax, lima
• Carrots – orange, mixed color
• Beets – red & yellow
• Watermelon
• Pumpkins
• Peanuts
• Peas
• Onions, shallots & leeks
• Potatoes – Yukon Gold & red
• Broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant

Last year we grew cabbage and honeydew melons. We never ate the cabbage even though we had three nice heads and the honeydew just didn’t taste right.  

Given the chance, what else would you plant?

AMDG

I’m in a hurry

Do you ever get the feeling that the faster you go the “behinder” you get? I’ve been feeling that way the last couple of weeks about the yard and garden. So much mulch so little time. Such a big vegetable garden and not enough hours in the day.

I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

In actuality, we’re doing rather well with the spring chores. The first pile of mulch, all five yards of it, is nearly gone. Last year that took me until the middle of July to complete. Himself and I got the veggie garden planted Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, just in time for a much needed and well-timed rain shower.

Don't know why I have to drive so fast
My car has nothing to prove
It's not new
But it'll do zero to sixty in five point two

We expanded the garden, not so much in size, but in scope of what we put in. Last year we probably didn’t use thirty percent of the space we prepared. This year we’re using all of it, with much more thought and planning. We’ve added additional kinds of peppers, carrots and beets. I’m giving lima beans and wax beans a try as well as peanuts. And we’ve cut back the number of tomato plants, down to 26 plants from the 40 we had last year.

I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

 

I need to build a couple of trellises for the pole beans and cucumbers and I’d like to add a scarecrow this year. Those things aren’t pressing at the moment. 

 

Can't be late, I leave in plenty of time
Shakin' hands with the clock
I can't stop
I'm on a roll and I'm ready to rock

 

What we do get to do now is wait and watch. Seeds take time to germinate. Fruit on the vine takes time to develop and grow and ripen. The fun now is in the discovery of what and how things are proceeding. Have the beans sprouted yet? Do we have any peppers on the plants?

I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

 

I refuse to rush and rush until life’s no fun. I have a Sand Pail list of items that I want to do. I have blogger friends I want to visit and meet. There’s a wren building a nest in the bird box that I want to listen to sing its glorious song. There are beers to be had on the patio while watching the clouds go by. 

Oh, I hear a voice
That says I'm running behind
Better pick up my pace
It's a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place

 

Oh shut up! I’m not behind. I am just where I am supposed to be.


AMDG