Wednesday, April 30, 2014

TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT....

My mother use to say to us kids, that two wrongs
never made a right, when we tried to explain why
we did something against the other.. when one of
us acted badly.

The headlines and every media has been screaming
about a basketball owner name Sterling.. And let me
be clear... I find what the man did was despicable.
And it is behavior that should not have come as a surprise
to those who knew him. 

But I have a hard time understanding what I think is
over reaction of 90% of the people. And even of the
MBA.  Yes, they can ban him from basketball. Yes,
I guess they can legally make him sell his share of the
Clippers.  But to fine him?  I don't know about that as
I am not a sport person.  Some say there should be
legal action against him.  That is the part I don't
understand.  As despicable as his remarks were...
I have heard worse. A lot worse. He did not use the
N. word. He said blacks. And we do have the freedom
of speech thing going too. 

On the other hand, we have a former basketball player
who suggest that they have a solely black team, own
by a solely black owners.. and a solely black league. 

I wonder will there be the same reaction about his suggestions?
After all, isn't that a prejudice thing to say.. Isn't that a racist
thing to say?  Will he be ban from anything to do with
basketball? Will he be ban from getting into the Hall of Fame?
Will they take some kind of action against him.

As my mother said.. two wrongs don't make a right. But I
find both are on the same line.. just one has more or rather
I should say, had..more power than the other.

I don't see a lot of difference in the two. 

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Straw Bale Garden Phase 2

The bales are ready... the conditioning is
done.. I think...  That is where you keep
pouring fertilizer on it. With bone meal and
a few others.. feather meal and stuff I never
heard of before.
 here is the fun project....spacing seeds on a paper towel.


 This is where I tried to get rid of the straw grass
 and help bring in the heat from the sun ..strings are
for the future beans to climb.. got 2 more lines to go
 Here is the greenhouse going up... on top of the raised
gardens..
 and the last ground garden.


After that is done.. then it is time to put potting
soil on it. 3 inches deep.  Which I put on today.
The recent rains helped and hurt. Helped because
rain is always better than tap water. But hurt
because it got cold.  Suppose to be warm.
So I improvised.. by putting glass on top to
draw the sun.  Also .. I got a good case of
straw grass.. which I was upset about. But
they said in time that would die off.. and if
I was in a hurry, to take and wash the grass
down with vinegar water. So that is tomorrow.

With the coming 70's for Wednesday and Thursday
with high 60's for Tuesday.. and maybe Friday..
Well, it is promising I could get a few things in.
Got to get some onion buds. And also invest in
a soaker hose. As they said a soaker hose is 80%
better than water from a hose from above.

Got some of my seeds ready. Saw on one page..
"On those rainy cold days, and you don't have
anything to do.. here is a quick and fun  project
for you, to get things ready"...   I don't know about
the fun part. But figure it was worth a try.. as I hate
weaning out radishes.. as when I pull the weak ones..
the bigger one comes out as well, half the time.
So here we are.. at the starting gate of the experiment.

Also we have decided to enclose our raised garden in
a green house affair.  Which is leaving us only one on
the ground garden on the other side.  Also have a friend
who lives in North Carolina, and her husband has
large pots.. that sounds like one to try too... Which ever
one does the best will win for next year.  The Eden Project
garden that we started last year.. has produced some great
black dirt in the raised garden.. so excited to see how that goes.




Monday, April 28, 2014

Almost called in sick...

I almost called in sick for this post..
This weekend was the weekend from hell
for the King and I.

I was working in the yard on Friday. Everything
was fine... Ate dinner.. watch tv and went to bed.

At 2:44am.. all hell broke loose.. and I had a love
affair with the bathroom.  Not knowing what end
to put over the bowl, settling for the sitting and bag
in hand..  Every hour on the hour it seem like.
King was a saint.  Asking if he could help.. got
me 7-up... covering me over as I shivered.
By 9am it was letting up. and by 4 pm I figured
I was going to live after all.. 

The King was working out in the yard and in the
garage.. and came in about 3pm.. said he didn't
feel so good..  Then it was time to switch.  He was
the sick one in love with the bathroom, and me
handing washcloths, 7-up.. And getting the extra
covers.   

So by Sunday, we both were starting to be among the
living, but treading gently. I had not drank coffee for 2
days..(unheard of) I mean I didn't even want a cup. Drank
tea, and ate crackers all day.  The King ventured to whole
foods for dinner.. but still not feel completely right yet.

We hate being sick.. neither one of us does it well. But
at least it wasn't at the same time. Thank God and Greyhound
for that.




Thursday, April 24, 2014

And then there was 14...

Yesterday, in the very, very early morning hours.. this little girl
decided to come out and see what all the fuss was about..

She was expected sometime between the 3 and the 22 of April.
But she decided to miss all of her relatives birthdays.. aunt's
grandmother's, great grandmother's... and come on her own day.

And an entrance she did make... With grandpa and dad ready to
get to meet her... Then in the early morning sunlight.. she got
to meet her big brother.. who you can see.. holds her with pride.

This is our 14th great grandchild... meet Ms. Peyton.  May
you and your little brother be this close for ever and a day.




as you can see.. he takes this new job very seriously

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

taking a day off

Got to help a neighbor and have company so taking today off

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

EARTH DAY/Happy Birthday to my kid...

44 years ago.. those in charge somewhere... decided that
this date would be EARTH DAY...

44 years ago today.... on EARTH DAY.... I had a little
girl...at 6 something am... The final child of my tribe.

She loves being born on this day.. She loves to tell
others that SHE is AS OLD AS DIRT... and those of
you who are older than her? Well, you are older than
dirt.
Because of this.. I always know how old EARTH DAY is.

I was lucky to celebrate with her yesterday. She chose
to make it a 3 day weekend..so took off Monday,
and we went to Coeur d' Alene, just 45 miles south of us. 

We walked the boardwalk of the resort..IT IS LONG..
seem like it is about 3 blocks long in a square..
and I did pretty well.
Even made it up and down the stairs they have for
a bridge that the boats go under.  It was kind of over
cast day, but the water was calm.. just a nice day for
a walk.  Looked thru some shops, had lunch and at
the end of the afternoon, we headed north for home.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY.. jc...thanks for the exercise...
and thanks for the silly selfie... we did..
What is it about wax mustaches and lips that brings out

the kid in us all? 



Monday, April 21, 2014

Maybe Easter Sunday is not a good time to look for the sunrise..

We left here at 5:15AM (yes that is 5 am) .... stopped on the way to get coffee (good thing) and with blankets and camera 
in hand we went down to the city beach to watch the Easter day sunrise....
Knew my bench would be cold.... so laid one blanket out on the bench.. We sat down and put the other
on our lap... it was cold... and then the wind started to whip thru there...  damn it was cold...
the King was starting to get whiny... asked him.. where was his adventureizm? He glared at me.. 
As the wind started whipping up.. it got colder... and we were
hugging our coffee cups..

And these pictures show you what it looked like..  Told him .. if there was no possible sun by 6am
(suppose to be up by 5:45am) then we would head out... it started to rain.... we looked at each other..
and ran for the car... 

At 6:15am.. people started to arrive for what we gathered was a church service..
We left.. and I bet that as the rain started to get serious.. and all the black clouds.. that was one fast sunrise service.

I took the King out for breakfast. .it was the least I could do..
 no sunrise here...
 getting colder and wind whipping
 even the light on the Statue of Liberty is coming on. 

 The King getting ready to head out for the car...

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Racing in place....

This is the time of the year that I feel like I am
racing in place..  So much to do.. yet with rain,
wind and just the temps..  I can't do 80% of it.

So I pace myself with cleaning out sheds.. placing
different lawn art in places. Trying to change some
of it around..

In the mix of this is.. I can't do much around the out
side of the house itself...because we are going to paint
the house.  I have cut all the roses back, trying to keep
the climbers in check. Clematis and etc. 

First really decent day, I have to get serious about
clean and scrubbing and scraping off the old paint.
I have been peeling off paint, kind of in the same
fashion as popping bubble wrap.. Start in one place
then jump to another, while talking on the phone or
to someone visiting..  
Then comes the power wash and maybe some more
scraping.  I am trying to give us a goal of mid May.

Then find 4 days straight that is warm but not to hot..
no rain, no moisture at all.. so we can paint. Which
also brings us to what color.  We have an off white with
blue.. kind of a steel grey blue.  We are thinking of
light grey with dark grey around the trim.. But will we
like it for 10 years or more of that?

Here I sit.. with so much to do, yet can't really get
started.  After all, this is still just April, even if it
feels like May.



Wednesday, April 16, 2014

technically difficulties,

For some reason.. my computer is fighting me.. 
It doesn't want to open the program that I use to 
make my blog with...  I usually type it all out on that
and then copy paste to here when I am satisfied with 
what is in it.  Lining up pictures and all that. 

But not today.. so due to technically difficulties,
this is a short  post for too day.. and hope I didn't 
make any mistakes either. 

So hoping I can get some more yard work done.
Actually I am cleaning all the stuff out of the garden
shed, that has been put in there... shoved in there..
In every nook and cranny.  

It is kind of like getting your summer clothes out
and putting away the winter... you get rid of some
of the stuff.. And replace some of the things in what
you hope is a reasonable order.  Then come winter
it is shove it all back into the shed and a mess once
again. 

Somethings never change. 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The Boys next door...

I have two little boys who live next door to me..
They are loud...and when I go over and talk to
them, they seem happy to see me and mellow out.

While outside, their antics make me laugh. I have
seen one decide to lay down in the grass.. to see
the other one run across the yard and jump on the
other's back... and then it becomes a tumbling act.

They will race around the yard, like race horses.. to
fall down .. all wore out.  I see one pester the other
one constantly, but not to be yelled at by that one being
tortured.

The neighbors are not fond of these boys. Too noisy they
say. Why doesn't some one do something about them?
Why don't they go inside and be loud?  We want quiet
in our yards in this neighborhood. Their patience is thin
when it comes to these two.

It isn't that they mean to be noisy.. at least I don't think so.
They just want to be noticed. Like I said, when I go over
and talk to them.. they seem very happy with the attention.


Besides they make me smile..

Mr. Click and Mr. Clack... the boys.... 


Monday, April 14, 2014

What is the message you would like to leave for your grandchildren?

For me?
90 % of what you worry about ... is wasted time... you will find out
that you never should have wasted your time on such small
stuff... and it is all small stuff.....  You will look back and
shake your head at how much drama YOU put into it... worry
about what is important.  The measure I had/have.. was to think about
the worse scenario and figure out what you would do if it happens.
And if it happens ...you are ready.. if it doesn't ... you didn't
waste time on it. And if it is a person.. that person doesn't know
the real you.. so don't bother with it.. As Eleanor Roosevelt put it,
no one get bug you.... UNLESS ... you let them..

Don't waste your time... don't be 60 years and look back and
"wish I had done..... xxxx'.  Do it now.. don't put it off until
you are older... or even old.. meaning after 55.  Find a way
to do it now, this year, or next year at the latest.
As long as it is legal... do it..

Dare to be different... be yourself... you are the only one
like you... your siblings are different.. we are all different.
Welcome it.. Don't let someone else decide for you.. map
out what YOU would like to do. Otherwise you miss out
on so many opportunities, because you are sidelined by
others.

You are wasting so much time on these 3 things.. time you
could have enjoyed...living life..



Happy Birthday, TS, Sh and DmG.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Tragedy, once again...

Now will they listen? 

Over the recent years of children and young adults
killing fields... the society screams about the guns.
But most of my friends feel it isn't the gun.. it is the
person.  Why aren't the powers that been concentrating
on the person.

Mental illness, and bulliness... They talk a big talk
about bulliness... but rarely is there really something
done about it. It takes a lot for a parent to get a
school to act on it.  Even today...even with all of
the ads and talk shows.. still there are slow acting
schools. I don't understand it.  And of course the
parent of the bully, is in denial... and some times you
can see why the child is like they are.. by seeing the
aggressive parent.

There is also the mental illness. Why else would a
man walk in to a theater and shoot? At the Mall or
even at the bases... like Fort Hood. Why isn't the
mental illness acted upon BEFORE the act?

Nothing upsets me more than to have the media
talk to people who say.. we thought he/she was
strange and acting weird.. Like the man who took
the young boy and went into pre planned hole in
the ground.  Even police have made note of people
they have had to engaged because of complaints,
have said the same.. acted strange.. talked to the
voices and etc.

I don't think every person needs to be institutionalized.
But certainly some action can be done..

And now.. will they listen? will they actually see it is
the person?  After all, this latest one .. there was not
a gun... it was a knife.  A KNIFE... something that can
be found in any kitchen.. or a pocket.. depending on
size.  It isn't the weapon of choice that is the issue..
it is the person... what drove them there to that point?
Isn't there something that can be done?  What are the
warning signs?  Surely it is better to have someone
talked to, looked into.. error on the wrong side, then
to keep going like we are now. 

By the way, maybe some self defense in such cases as
knives.. like using the school chairs to defend and disarm.

And remember the family of the aggressor are part of that
tragic act.  I am sure the parents of that young man were
horrified, as they heard what was going on at the school..
worried about their son.. until the words no parent wants to
hear.. "it was your son/daughter".


Wednesday, April 09, 2014

OPINIONS...everyone has them..

I am not anti-opinion.
I go to other's blogs to read what they have
to say. I go there to see what their take is
on any given subject..

Some are on the times and some are on politics.
Some are on the daily living.. some are on a
particular subject. Like one of the ones on my
list is about R.I.  Mainly for those of us who
grew up in R.I. and now live across the USA.
Even mine is ... just that.. mine opinion. 

But when it comes to news.. Meaning newscast
of the local and national ones... I don't want
opinions.  To quote Sgt. Friday, I want the facts,
nothing but the facts.

My daily routine during the week is to watch
the local news.. usually the last half hour as I
haven't been getting up as early as I use to.
And then I would watch GOOD MORNING AMERICA.
For the news. Which is far and less...

When Lara Spenser came on the show.. I thought
well, maybe they will keep her to one little section.
I really like Sam Champion as I thought he did a
great job of the weather.. especially when he did
it on scene with the hurricanes and winter storms.
I also like Josh Elliot. He would have a straight
forward reading of the news... Yes, he did the cute
play of the day.. but for the most part it was the news.
Even Robin and George did, but Robin also filled in
for what ever entertainer they had too.George, well,
it feels like they took the stuffing out of him. 

But news was starting to get a back seat. And then Sam
was gone. Went to Weather Channel.. which Direct tv
so nicely dumped for a poor man's weather channel
called Weather Nation.. sad replacement.  
And now Josh is gone too.  And his replacement, who
is probably a very nice gal.. but lacks authority or
command of reading the news. 

So now I have to find another daily routine.
Which may not be so hard, as the weather gets
better.  I can watch the local, read the paper and be
outside by 7am.  But I will miss real news. Seems like
over the past several years we get what that channel
or network wants us to know.. in their view. Not just
the facts.  Even CNN which seem to me to start out as
a strictly news.. now is one opinion reporter after another.


Maybe I am just getting old and grouchy...  

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

This is what I have been up to lately...

April 8, 2014
This is what I have been up to lately...


With the weather getting warmer.. we have been working in
the yard... First we expanded our flower garden to include
the tree area...

Next ... we have been interested in straw bales garden.
So we thought we would try that this year..

We will have 3 types of gardens this year. The standard
ground garden.  The Eden project type of garden, that we
tried out last year in our raised garden beds. That turn out
pretty good.  It is where you lay newspapers down, and then
compost for about 4 inches.. with wood chips on top of that.
It lessens weeds. And that turn out to be true.  The straw
bales are suppose to be weed free.

Also we have thought it over and want to turn our raised
beds into a greenhouse... We figured while the beds are
starting this year.. we would take the time to build the
green house around them.. and in hopes to extend our
garden time.. having the green house finished by fall.

We were able to get our hands on some older windows
that are doubled.. and hope to incorporated them into the
green house.

So that is what we have been up to.. and the start of

the garden time of year.  
 the starting of the greenhouse..doing sides first and front & back...top in fall
 these are the window we got...laying on the bed ..for now..
 here are the bales, we started out with 5 for starters...doubling 4 of them and one single.
 this is the flower bed we enlarged to include the tree area



Happy Birthday, Emily

Monday, April 07, 2014

SO... THIS IS 74?

I turned 74 this past Saturday...
74 ... not quite what I thought it would be.
Better actually. I cross my fingers and
knock on wood... that I am blessed with
pretty good health.  So this isn't bad.
And you know... I don't feel any different
than I did last week..

The King's birthday is the day before mine.
So we do dinner on his birthday and breakfast
on mine. But this year we did both on his birthday.
And I spent mine with a morning with my youngest
daughter and her husband.. Nothing really special,
but a special time..

So this is 74, huh? Well, all of you who are 60
something and are getting anxious about your
70's... it is a piece of cake.

Oh, yea.. the King always jokes about ...do
we get a party with a pony for pony rides..
Answer is always no.. BUT... I got the horse..
After his plant is done, I will find him a special
place in the garden or yard.. Thank, JC... 



Thursday, April 03, 2014

Oh, my aching back...

I took on the first project of the summer.
The King said, let's increase the little flower
garden we have next to the regular garden beds.

Let's bring it out to where the tree is.  And then
we will have a place for the butterfly bush he
wants to get.

Out came the tiles I had around the little garden.
Got the sticks and string out, so I could make sure
it was even.. When the King got home, I had him
till it all up even the older little section.

On Wednesday, I swung by Home Depot and
got some mulch bark. 10 bags... loaded them up
on the wagon by myself... In fact I looked at two
different kinds. One I could barely move and the
other I could lift. Both 2c yards.. I bought the one
I could lift.  Brought them home.. wheel barrowed
them over to the area.  Then proceeded to rake
the area as level as I could.

By that time, the King had came home from work,
we spread the weed barrier sheets with overlap.
I had him spread the 10 bags of mulch bark.
Not quite enough. Back the store and got 8 more.
Looked pretty good.  Too soon for flowers. But
it will look nice for the while.. we wait. at least a
month..

Came in and fixed dinner... sat..and then I got
up.. kind of... my back, my hip, my leg... I feel
90... glad I am going to be 74 on Saturday..
because 90 was not good...

Now I got to figure out what is my next project.
It will have to wait for next week when we get
the temps of 60+. Only rain forecasted for the

weekend.

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

What would you do, if you could change it?

If you could go back.. (those who are retired) or if
by a magic wand... you could change the job you
have now.. What would you switch your job to?

What person is inside of you still, from when you were 20
and decided to do the line of work you have done all your
working years...  If at that moment when you chose... what
if you could have gone on to do? What was in your heart, but
knew it wouldn't earn you a good living.. or you weren't good
enough at it, to have it be your passion??

I was a late bloomer, as I didn't get a career of sorts..meaning
a job of many years until I was 46 and a widow, so it was by
necessity of survival.  Not that I didn't like what I did.. but a
passion? I don't know... 

So if I could have thrown caution to the wind.. what would
I have been doing?  A drummer.. I love drums..but I have
no rhythm at all... but if God had given me rhythm.. yea..
The other one I had, was a dancer.. not tap, but like Cyd
Charisse. But there I go again.. no rhythm.. Or maybe
something to fill the passion I have for planes.. giving me
courage to fly.. lol.. but it is the sound and seeing them
in the sky... guess that would throw me into being a
mechanic on one.. Which by the way.. when I took that
attitude career test in the 8th grade... the two main high
lights was mechanic and writer... Which I joked around
and said.. guess I could be a writer for Popular Mechanics.
Which at that time was the only real mechanic type
magazine.

So my question is to you... What passion did you have,
that you wished you could have gone into for a career,
when you were between 20 and 50?
What do you do now, and is it close to what you wanted?
And did you ever act on it.. in a hobby type way..
or a side job?  

  

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

HELLO APRIL


 THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE IT HAS A CROC OR HIPPO BEHIND THEM UNDER THE WATER





What a wonderful day... even yesterday was great.
Love the sunshine.. so much to do.. so little time..lol
As we all know, once the weather turns to warm and
sunshine.. we get started.. and next thing we know..
it is all over and fall comes..

So today, I am going to enjoy each moment.. be it digging
up old plants and replacing them.. or just picking up the
mess of winter....

This past weekend we had our yearly visitors... they
must use our alley for a stop over as they stay for
a day or two and off they go again.. Sadly they don't
return in the fall as they head south.

Looking to see if out other visitor comes as well.. He
(as they say the pretty colored ones are male) comes
once a year as well... and one time he brought a friend
or a son.. as the newer one was smaller.. It is a yellow
headed black bird.. He comes for a couple of days and
is gone as well... First year he was here, my daughter
and I were looking thru all my bird books and on line
trying to find out what he was... and out of exasperation
she typed in yellow headed black bird in google.. And
lo and behold.. up came the picture of my visitor.  and
the name?  YELLOW HEADED BLACK BIRD.. lol..some
time the oblivious it too hard to find.

Feeling bad for the folks back home who are still getting
snow in their area and lots of rain.. hope they get to

enjoy the warmer weather soon.