Category: Uncategorized

A semi formal Conversation

   She stormed up the hill to where I was parked on campus.  A night of shopping and eating were planned, as the college girl has a semi formal to attend next week.  I knew from the fierceness of the gait there was something not quite right.

  Driving in the rain, silence..and stairing at text on other appendage iphone.  Do I dare wade into the dark and treacherous waters of young adult angst?

Me:  So, do you want to look at dresses first or eat?

CG:  I don’t care, whatever.

Me:  uh-huh…. um, something wrong?

CG:  Mom, I really don’t want to talk about it.  As a matter of fact, I appreciate that you drove up here, but I really don’t even want to go shopping… or eat. 

Me:  Really?  But this morning you were fine with it.  What happened?

CG:  Everything happened, OK?  Nothing happened, actually.  It’s just stupid..and I’m not telling you everything, so don’t even bother.

This is how the evening started, but it ended in a better place… atleast from where I was sitting.

We did find a pretty black cocktail dress….
I survived a few snide remarks and
she survived  a few disapproving glances

We both drooled over shoes…
Dinner at Texas Longhorn
While we were waiting for our table..
I found it utterly hilarious that everyone else who were waiting for tables
were staring at their cell phones. Everyone else.
Fiance of ghost of  boyfriend past happened to be waitressing too…
Really, Universe??
The food was great, although I did most of the eating.
The Sonoma Salad was awesome…
There were flurries of  furious texting…..

   I still find it strange and a bit sad that people do important things via text…. like fighting or breaking up or making up or reprimanding or … well…. any thing that would be much better represented face to face.  That can’t be a good trend for the future of humanity.

   I try to keep my opinion to myself, not one of my strong points.  I remember those days so clearly.  When it came to matters of the heart, did I want to hear the voice of reason?  Would it have made a difference in the outcome?  Probably not.  No… definitely not.

   It’s ironic that we eventually have the knowledge that sure would have helped when we were younger and making important decisions about the future.  I want my kids to benefit from things I learned through my own mistakes, but it doesn’t often work that way.

 Bottom line is… they still have to find their own way,
and sometimes we have to just
let..it..be.
Easier said than done. 

Have you Googled your piece of Earth lately?

 I did… and I gotta tell ya ….it disturbs me just a little that anyone can type your address in and virtually drive down your road and park in front of your house.   I was even able to pull in my driveway a little.  Yeah.. disturbing.

 However,  Google Earth has not yet updated our “street face”.   This is a really cool shot of the house in 2008, before we owned it and took over the renovation. You can see that the house was 40 feet closer to the road originally -notice the power lines at the road.  There was alot of overgrowth surrounding the house. The previous owner took down some beautiful trees before we were able to acquire it, broke my heart to see it happen…and If I had my druthers, we would have kept some of that overgrowth, including a big tree that was right next to the house.  Because of the extensive work we had to do, alot of that had to be removed.  I will probably spend the rest of our years here replenishing the “green”.

This is the face I fell in love with long ago….

 The arial view is an updated version.
We’re not really all that far out in the sticks…

Louie Part Two

 You remember Louie a few posts back, right?  Yesterday we took a trip over to Louie’s house so the husband could order more plants.   Oh yes, we need more vegetable plants… the 500 or so we are growing on my screen porch aren’t enough, apparently.

First, an update around here…
The two raised beds in the immediate backyard were supposed to be IT! REALLY!  NO MORE THAN THAT!  TOO MUCH WORK!…. NOT GOING THERE AGAIN!

Except… winter somehow erased that memory and now there is that big patch out in the lower field.  Seedlings are on my porch to the left.

  This is our first produce, last year’s dried  oregano ….. I had labels made for the farm too, but found that it’s expensive, not sure if I’ll do that again.

  These are by far the most comfortable garden/barn/work shoes I have ever worn.  I have always hated the look of crocs, so I didn’t fall into that fad.  However, I needed something for out in the garden and chicken coop and found these at our local True Value hardware.   I’m telling  ya, it’s like walking on clouds.  And they breathe! no sweating.

  On to Louie…
 When we arrived he was giving a neighbor some tomato plants..
His little green house, which we are replicating to some degree…

 He’s already got onions and broccoli rabe growing ( I know that’s spelled wrong, some italian I am)

   His neighbor, Egdio, is also from Italy and grows a mean garden of his own just across the creek.
Wouldn’t you love to have these two as neighbors?

 Egdio is helping Louie plant peas – which Louie says “You  can’t-a buy better peas..ooh nooo”.  Ofcourse, he wouldn’t let us buy his either.

   Now, Louie raises rabbits for food and fertilizer.
This never sits well with me..however… in Louie’s defense, the rabbits always have fresh water, large clean hutches and good hay, pellets and vegetables from his garden until their day of reckoning comes.
In my last Louie post I told you that I have “rescued” two of those rabbits before.
One, sadly, died at the paws of my barn cat. I built a large Bunny  yard as high as my shoulder and thought he’s be safe from preditors.   Not.
Needless to say I was horrified.
The other died in a heatwave when we had a week of near 100 degree days.
While my hutch was large and shaded, the vet said the rabbit probably needed a frozen liter soda bottle full of water in there to help him with the heat.  I had no idea that even though in the shade and able to get inside his hutch if he desired, a rabbit could still die of the heat if not assisted.
Live and learn, is all I can do.
A momma about to have babies….
These are a mix of flemmish giants.. HUGE rabbits

These babies are just two weeks old.. see how big they are already…

uh-oh.

This is my Religion

 I try to stay away from religious and political posts, mainly because those subjects are riddled with landmines and tend to attract the crazies. I don’t like to offend people either – I don’t believe my views should be yours too.  Today’s post is an exception.

 I was raised a Catholic, as were my parents and their parents. While I have the education and the rites of passage,  I believe something a little different than what I was taught.  I would say I am a spiritual person, but I am not religious.  I see much hypocrisy and I don’t believe in a fear-based structure, which is prevalent in religious history.  I did give my children the opportunity to grow up in the Catholic community so that they could make decisions for themselves, untainted by my feelings on the matter. I think that’s only fair.

 Last night at my son and nephew’s confirmation ceremony, I saw and felt and was drawn to the reason people go to church on Sunday.  Families together, an uplifting sermon, music that soothed the soul. There were tears in my eyes  as my sister and son, nephew and  uncle stood before the Priest during the anointing.

Souls together under one roof, taking comfort in each others presence, rejoicing. Now there’s a religion I can abide. If only it were all about that.

 

Misery Loves Company

 So I have been sick for the past two days-

  – coughing.and.sneezing.and.achy muscles.sorethroat.sleepless.and.generally.miserable and last night I had to leave a meeting because the wave of coughs and sneezing were about to drown everyone in the room so I did the only thing acceptable and left almost rudely right in the middle of someone’s speech.   Not cool.   Tonight my son is making his confirmation and I don’t think I can shut it long enough to sit through the ceremony.  Not cool at all. 

But you know… I’m not really complaining, because it’s just a stupid cold and there are worse things in life, don’t we all know it.

 So, in light of the fact that I might be up for the third night in a row at 3am reading your blogs… I’m putting something fun in this post that will help you to help entertain ME when you’re sleeping and I’m probably not.   ( I’m not complaining tho, really! )

  I saw this idea on another blog and although his was more challenging (he’s got a macro lens, I don’t yet)… here’s my version.   See if you can guess correctly what all of the items below are…

and PS>>>>  do not click on the pictures to make them bigger… a reader informed me that I (stupidly!) titled the pictures by what they were and you will see that if you click. SO.. no cheating. 

                                                                        1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Next day : Birdseed,  waterbottle,  candle wick, hose, qtips, shell, toilet paper.  Next time I won’t title the pic 😉

Rude

 I drove five hours –with my mother!- to go pick him up from his birth place in Pennsylvania.  Each Way!  We’re talking a 10 hour car ride – with my mother!

  When we finally got there, he was brought into the exam room and literally leaped into my arms, which was quite an accomplishment because he only weighed about three lbs at 10 weeks old and didn’t know me at all!  My mother said it was a sign that he was meant to be mine, he just knew I would be his mother.   Or something.

 We intended to call him Chandler – I couldn’t tell you why. But Rudy was brought up as a possibility and I have never been drawn to the name, but for some reason it seemed to fit him. 

I shoulda read into that sign.

 He barks incessantly, he has bitten, he is a wuss when the wind blows and he pees on everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING. He drank Christmas tree stand water once and was poisoned so badly he spent two weeks at the veterinarian  looking yellow.  $1,000.  later his liver was fixed.   Merry Christmas indeed.

 Chicken Coop complete!
     Rudy does his thing…  

Apple and pear trees planted…
Rudy’s keeping up…

Since we’re talking potty talk here…
Remember the pile of chicken sh*t in the back field? Well, half of it’s still there
because the manure spreader died right before the snow flew.
The remainder is being spread this coming weekend if weather permits
and we will NEVER EVER EVER get chicken sh*t for fertilizer again.
Ever.

However…. take note of Exhibit A below…
  The field on the left of the stone wall has not yet been fortified with chicken sh*t
The field on the right has. 
In this case, the grass is definitely greener on the other side.
**********
Mrs. N.’s cabin on the hill – a very charming place and she’s agreed to another tour –
Despite the cold rainy days, things are starting to green up and the trees have
their red bud haze….

My blueberry and raspberry bushes arrived…

And soon the garden plot in the lower field will have a cedar post and mesh fence to keep deer out –
 He is a pisser.

Answering Questions on Comments

 I love your comments, and sometimes I’d love to reply or thank you for your kind words or, in particular, answer a question.  Someone wants to know where I found my garden mouse tealight holders on the mantle… I got them at a hardware store, but they are also available online here…

http://www.kitchenkaboodle.com/product_detail2.php?sku=470269%21890&multi=0

 I would have answered directly, but when I tried, I got the no-reply comment blogger response from blogger.  SO.. for all of you who occasionally comment and don’t mind a back-and-forth banter, please un-hide your e-mail address so we can chat or I can thank you or answer your questions, etc.

Here’s how you do that…

You can set up your profile to allow people to click “reply” and respond via email back to you. If you’d like to change your settings, then here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your Blogger Dashboard and click on Edit Profile.

2. When the window pops up, make sure and click the box “show my email address.”
3. Enter your email address.
4. Then make sure to click SAVE PROFILE at the bottom of the page.

Tomato, Mozzarella & Avocado Salad

I found this recipe on Val’s blog and made it today for lunch.
It’s soooo good, very easy to throw together, very refreshing AND..
Good For You!
(my kids hate when I say that)
Mozzarella, Tomato and Avocado Salad

1 container cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 carton fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, drained

1 avocado, peeled and diced

1/3 cup basil, julienned

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

baguette-optional

1) In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and parsley, Set aside.

2) In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Pour over tomato

mixture. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

3) Just before serving the salad, stir in the chopped avocados. Serve salad with

slotted spoon and toasty bread.

4) Goes perfect with a glass of Pinot Grigio ; )  – Val