Category: Uncategorized

When Vivika, a local quilt artist who I befriended during my Artisan Gallery days, commented on my DMV Pen post yesterday, I asked her if she had seen the pen machines when she was there.   This is her response, reposted with permission.   I had to laugh, but can you IMAGINE?

_________________________________________________________________________

Yes, the pen machine is there, and it was almost empty on my trip. The full day went like this:

12:15 Arrive and slide through the front door into a sardine can of people (Hamden was closed, so they all went to Old Saybrook). It was impossible to tell where the lines began.


12:30 Found the right line. Whew! Realize there are no forms, start to leave, nice lady gives us one. Score one for humanity.


3:10 Reach the front of the line and talk to DMV… finally. We watched handicapped, old and relatively young people nearly collapse from standing in line with no fresh air on a 90 degree day.


3:12 Get picture taken, sit in one open seat and wait for test. Watch the tattoo parade.


3:15 Doors are locked so no one else can get in. Man with the electronic ankle bracelet unwraps his legs from his girlfriend and takes his drivers test. New reality show is born.


4:15 Grace goes into room to take test. Airconditioning finally starts working.


4:16 People who arrived at 3:15 go in room to take test. I hate them! However, they exit first and stomp out of the DMV with no permit in hand. Score one for karma.


4:48 Grace leaves DMV with newly minted permission from the state of Connecticut to dent our cars and add $2000/year to our insurance policy…


It was a red letter day!

Vivika Hansen DeNegre
http://vdenegrequilts.blogspot.com/
http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/

You can’t make this stuff up

    The significant other went to the motor vehicle department here in Connecticut the other day to fill out registration paperwork.  When it came his turn to fill in some forms, he naturally went for the pen.  You know.. the kind that are attached to a string, stuck to the table?   All three on the forms table where dried up.  So he went to the counter to ask for a pen that writes. 

He said:   None of your pens on the form table are working, can I have a pen to fill out these forms?

She said:  I’m sorry, we don’t lend pens anymore. You’ll have to buy one over there at the pen machine for 50 cents.

He said:   Are ya kiddin?  I have to BUY a pen to fill out your forms?

She said:   That’s the way they’re doing things nowadays around here, sorry.

Other customer said to Him:   You can borrow my pen….. for 20 cents!

So, you Connecticut folks….. next time you have to head over to MV, make sure you bring a working pen.  Or two quarters for the machine.  Apparently.

The View

There’s a dreary rain falling
on one of my favorite events of the season..
The Durham Fair.

 candy apples!   fried dough!  The Lions club Corndogs!
 craft tents! The tractor pulls! (um, no not really)
The chickens, cows, goats!
Last year REO Speedwagon, tonight KC & the Sunshine band!!

Do I curse the rain?
Or do I get out there and dance in it…
Every single one of us knows
life will toss you lemons now and then.
And maybe even rocks. Big ones.
How we deal with those lemons and rocks..
says a lot about who we are…
Changes our life experience, even.
When faced with the metaphorical rainy day
do you still look for the beauty?

It’s there in the simplest of things….

So how about you….
are you taking the time to notice…
or are you just forging ahead,
making your way through.
I’ve noticed lately
that I’m doing too much forging,
not enough noticing.
It’s one of the things we do have the power to change…
our view.
And what a difference it can make.


facelift

 Because I like the convenience of letting my dogs out the side door into a fenced yard, every house we’ve lived in had this feature. It’s peace of mind at night or early morning when you can’t see what they’re doing at there, and the house sits close to the road.   In this case, the look added to a new/old house is, to put it mildly, unattractive and industrial. We also use the side walkway area as parking space, and so some of that has to stay.  The question has been how to soften that harsh industrial look to be more in tune with the old house.

 We decided on a boxwood hedge  in a slightly raised bed with packasandra (sp??)
 bordered by old granite blocks which Steve has been working on…

This is the back side , or interior yard, of the dog run out to their yard…
On this side I’ll continue the Perennial gardens.

 Across the driveway we will put PG tree hydrangea along that bare wall
with boxwood underneath.
Now is a good time to browse your garden centers for deals on their leftover
shrubbery, trees  and even perennials.

 

If you’re looking for a hearty rose, may I recommend the Julia Child variety
(perhaps Connie can tell me what exact kind of rose that is)
Because NOTHING wanted to grow next to the little greenhouse.
Not grass, which we tried by seed & hay…
not sod, which was even worse..
But the Julia Child Rose with stone underneath (ick, but it works)
is very, very happy.  Go figure.
So we’ve got more coming to surround that greenhouse and cover some
of that lovely stone.  (no offense, dear.)

Zinnia are getting a much bigger plot of land here next year.
They don’t complain, they continue to be showy in to the fall..
and need next to nothing of my attention.


 The wagon got a facelift too… a good soaking of Linseed oil
to protect it from the elements.
  I took the remaining pumpkins out of the field,
we had a lackluster pumpkin crop this year…
learning as we go, still learning 🙂

Two eggs and a big pile of dirt

Today I found TWO eggs in the coop!


And because Mike can never sit still or be without a project….
the back hayfield is being regraded because
when it’s mowed, you need to have an appointment already
set up with the chiropractor and immediately go there
upon completion of mowing of said field.
The subdivision neighbor who has not always been happy that
we restored the farm to working condition?…
Well, hopefully they’ll appreciate that
the dirt pile will fortify the fields and garden again… next summer.
Hey, atleast it’s not chicken sh*t.
Steve is back to do some more stonework too…
There is no shortage of stone around these parts.
As I take these pics, it’s about the time when I switch the big and little horses so
Coady and Lacey get some grass time out in the field.
He’s trying to tell me I’m running late.

Rise & Shine

A typical morning at This Old House
5:00 am (no good reason, just always up at that hour)
Light, no sugar.
Dogs go out…
(are you seriously taking a picture??  I gotta go!!!)
Dogs fed & watered
The Man is already at his desk with lists for the day…
The bear needs to be poked to get ready for school…

Breakfast of Champions, complete with lunch money
Chickens fed…
Horses grained, hayed, turned out and watered…

 See that bus up ahead?
 It’s the one we missed  this morning because I was out taking Rise & Shine pictures.
No, I didn’t make him run for it.
So I drove the rest of the way to school,
passed the bus on the highway, even.
Because sometimes, thats how we roll.
*sigh*
 (it’s dress-down day. For $5, you, too, can dress casual! )
What does your typical morning look like?
Tomorrow AM, if you’re so inclined to join me,
post a pic or two or ten that catches the essence of your typical morning.
I’ll post it here if you let me know the link.
Title your post “Rise & Shine”.


Love is…

If you’ve been reading my blurbs here
at This Old House for a while
you will remember Jeff.
He’s my husband’s dear friend
and This Old House’s restoration guru.
His lovely wife
threw a 50th birthday party for him last night
in a building he made for her behind their lovely home
She has a way with this sort of thing…

There was a basket of these for all…
She calls him her Viking
because of his nordic heritage
and he kinda looks like one too.

They’ve been together since their High School days…
raised a business and a family together
Had their share of sh*t hitting the fan
and still…
love each other with reckless abandon.
 Happy 50th  Birthday, Jeff

Things that make me angry

  Why is it still acceptable to sell goldfish at fairs/carnivals?  The kind where they are hanging around in either a big tank with a gazillion fish that are all struggling to breathe, or they are in individual baggies.  How many of those fish are gonna live beyond the rest of the weekend?  If you’re thinking… hey, it’s just a fish…. apparently you’re not alone.  And I think it’s really sad that so many of us still condone this practice.

  My son came home from the Guilford Fair last night with a fish in a cup.  Yes, a cup…the paper soda kind.   Apparently a family had won the fish, and the bag began leaking as they were getting in their car.  They decided to throw the bag with the fish on the ground outside the car and depart.   My son and his friends were standing nearby waiting for their ride, so they scooped up the fish-in-the-bag and dumped him in an empty soda cup.     

 The only thing we have at home is a goldfish bowl that used to house a beta.  So here he sits, looking very lonely and unhappy in such small confines.  I don’t blame him.  Not sure how long he’ll last, but atleast he is not embedded in a tire tread in a now empty grass lot. 

  When will we regard ALL living things as something to be respected?  When will we all give a damn enough so that this stupid stuff doesn’t happen?  It’s not just the idea of the fish… we all know it goes way beyond that.