Wit and Wisdom

Friday evening, DS and DDIL and I journeyed to the Peoria Civic Center to see Red Green's Wit and Wisdom show.  I'm finding many of you don't know of this Red Green person.  His real name is Steve Smith, and together with his wife, conceived of this funny show way back when.  The show was on our local PBS station and during DS's growing up years, was a family favorite.  It is just silliness, and duct tape and it's many uses has a prominent role.  It's a very redneck approach to home/auto repairs, etc.  There weren't many women on the show through the years, mostly men and they held meetings at the "Possum Lodge."  Their motto was "Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati", which is  Latin, loosely translated to mean, "If all else fails, play dead.".  The men's pledge was "I'm a man, but I can change, I think, if I have to.".   It was a wonderful show for the formative years of a young son, when the rest of the world was mostly offering ugliness and profanity.  Nary a swear word to be had on the Red Green Show.  Red Green always wears a plaid shirt, khaki pants, and suspenders, one red strap and one green strap.  The  show was very basic. No other characters appear, but for a little over two hours, with the exception of a 15 minute intermission, Steve Smith was on stage, in character, and delighting us all with his homespun wit and wisdom.  He was very gracious afterwards, as well, and came out to the lobby to autograph the requisite books and teeshirts that were being sold.  I outsmarted them, though, because I wore DS's outgrown blaze orange sweatshirt on which we'd sewn the Possum Lodge patch. This patch came with an authentic Possum Lodge membership card, which was a prized possession for a while there. I don't know where that is anymore, and not sure DS knows, either, but the sweatshirt is now decorated with Red Green's autograph.

While the rest of the audience was still on their feet giving him a long standing ovation, we made a beeline to the lobby and were probably only about 5th or 6th from the front.  As far as I know, the others are still there, inching their way up.  DS and DDIL had their book and tee shirt autographed as well, then a nice lady took a picture of all of us, using DDIL's camera phone.  It's a bit blurry, but fun anyway.

It was a fun night out for all of us. I'm glad I bought the tickets back in the winter when they were first available, and I'm glad Steve Smith and his lovely wife had this zany, wacky idea to bring such unique fun to Canada and North America.  The show was based in Canada, where it's very cold and they play lots of ice hockey.  I'll close with Red Green's parting words....keep your stick on the ice.
Blessings,
Brenda
p.s.   This is for the person that designed the seating arrangements for the Peoria Civic Center. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????  There is no center aisle. Just lonnnnnng rows, from one side to the other, and of course people don't arrive according to where they sit.  Those with the seats closest to the center always arrive late, and those sitting in the seats they have to pass in front of, have to stand up to let them by.  Up, down, up, down, From this row to that row, up,down. Finally, everyone got there and got sat down. Good grief.

An uneventful day.

Today has been an uneventful day. Uneventful is good if you live in my world.  Today I:

1.  Got up, checked Facebook, emails, etc.

2.  Took a shower.

3.  Ate some animal crackers  for breakfast. Don't judge. Woman can't live on eggs and toast alone.

4.  Went to town under the guise of going to the pharmacy for DH, but spent two hours bargain hunting at the town-wide garage sales. Scored these items:
     a.  Three wonderful, strong, garden tools; a great shovel for $5, a nice squared off hoe for $4, and a
           handy pointed hoe for $3.  I was going to be buying these anyway, so I figure I saved at least $40.

     b.  A new crib-size piece of quilt batting for $1.  I probably saved $7 or $8 on this.

     c.  Some gorgeous custom-made fabric window shades. All four for $40.  So far, I've been too busy to
          see if they fit any of the upstairs bedroom windows, but I'm pretty sure they'll fit the four dining room
          windows, and they would look very nice in there once I get the painting done and new carpeting in. If
          they do indeed work in this house, I saved at least $200. They are purty.  If they don't work, I'll try
          re-selling them on eBay.

      d.  A few assorted dishes, great for gifting with homemade fudge or whatever on them.  The plate is part
           of the gift, and is much nicer than a tacky plastic or paper plate. Also bought a length of Christmas
          garland that has artificial pinecones on it, which will look good on my fireplace mantel next season.
          Also bought a Haitian cookbook, and a Williamsburg Kitchens cookbook for .50 each.Total at this sale was $8, but it also includes several assorted quilt patterns and sewing what-nots I
          plan to sell on eBay.  Projected profit is maybe $20.

       e. A gorgeous platter with roses and gold trim, made in Occupied Japan, putting it right after WW2, but
           before around 1950.  Again, so purty.  I paid $.75 for it.

       f.  Bought what appears to me to be a vintage hand-carved duck decoy.  It's really cool and will look
           great in my cabin someday, or my log-cabin room upstairs any day. I'm weird, I know. I'd rather
           have a $4 duck than a shopping trip to the mall. I am so okay with that, so you should be, too. LOL

5.  Came home and fixed lunch, checked on baby chicks, and watched Kitty's Love Story on Gunsmoke. She still loves Matt. No worry there, but it was a close call.

6.  Mowed the yard. Nothing broke.  You don't know how unusual that is around here. OY.

7.  Raked up a bunch of wood chips that needed burned in the backyard.   They're still burning, and once they are gone, it will make mowing  back there easier.

8.  NOBODY called with any bad news. That's always a  good thing.

It's only 4:35, but so far, it's been a very uneventful day. A common, ordinary, wonderful, uneventful day.
Blessings,
Brenda
p.s. I forgot to mention that I gathered 8 eggs the girls blessed me with, and I ate some chocolate. That part was very good.

Redneck chicken condo.

Just in case you think it takes fancy equipment to have a few chickens, think again.  Chickens don't care where they live.  They're happy to poop anywhere. LOL  The newest additions to our (including DS and DDIL here!!) flock, are warmly entrenched in our basement. Thank goodness we have one. Lots of chicken raisers have brooder houses. We have this:

Hey! It's free and they're happy. The beauty of it is that once they have outgrown it and have feathered out and can go out to the big girl house, I can either burn it, or cut it up and lay it on the ground with mulch over it to use as a weed barrier, which I might do around the new fruit trees. Glamourous it isn't, I'll grant you that, but it's functional.  I cut a hole towards the bottom between the two boxes, so they can access their water or get into a cooler area in case they get too warm from the heat lamp.

This has worked out so much better than having their water near the food, because chickens are built to scratch out a living, and they instinctively scratch away at the pine shavings, which was filling up the water reservoir within a couple of hours, keeping me running down there to clean it out or refill it.  I can go for several hours now without worrying about it. Yay!  We still have five survivors, three americaunas (the blue egg layers), and two little banties, which are just the scrappiest little things. They don't take any grief from the bigger chicks, which worried me some.  There truly is something called a pecking order, but I'm thinking one of the little banties is "top dog", so to speak.  However they work it out is ok with me. They are so cute.

So, grab yourself a couple of cardboard boxes, a bag of chick starter food, some pine shavings and a few little chicks and enjoy.  They will reward you with beautiful, incredible, edible eggs in a few months. From those, you can make great noodles, which you won't be able to sell at a farmer's market. I'll be posting on that soon.
Blessings,
Brenda

All that glitters....

....is not gold, but some of it is the glitter in the polish I had put on my NEWLY PEDICURED feet. Woot!!  In honor of my mother's birthday on Wednesday, she and I went to Decatur today.  Along with her first ever Japanese lunch (no sushi, but declicious none-the-less),  we got pedicures. The first time for her, for that, too.  Oh, sure, there's the budget pedicure, for the low, low price of only $25, but this was a special event, and I want only the best for my mom.  We got the deeeeee-luxe version.  Oh, the leg massages. Oh, the fragrant plethora of oils and potions applied to our legs and feet. My heels no longer catch on the carpet as I walk through the living room. It was hard choosing a color for my tech to apply, but I finally settled on this glittery delight.  I never did get over breaking my red glitter high heel shoes when I was 6, so I've been making up for it ever since.  I'm happy and my feet are very happy right now. Happy Birthday, mom. You're the best.  Enjoy your pretty feet.

THESE are my feet.  *giggle* She asked me if I worked out in the yard. There might have been some embedded soil around my big toe, but I'm not admitting to that.  I think that's what she asked me.  Lan was a very friendly Vietnamese chatterbox. I'm glad we met. I'm very glad she met my feet.
Blessings,
Brenda 

Fun, handmade coasters.

I bought some cute fat quarters to make a nice summer quilt for the sofa.  I loved the combination of colors and cut them up into useable squares, but no matter how hard I try, I just always seem to have leftover bits and pieces.  What to do, what to do.  I know, make some coasters.  These are just randomly handstitched together, which is what I do at night to entertain myself instead of screaming out in pain from watching John Wayne for the 765,833rd time.  Occasionally, I win the remote, and the battle of the movies, but not too often, which is fine, since it gives me a chance to do some crafty stuff while sitting on my fanny  developing powerful muscles. I took various strips of fabric, different widths, etc. and just put them together in wonky log cabin or fencepost designs, then layered them and handquilted them.  They aren't any of them the same pattern or size, and it looks like I need to make one more to have an even number.  They're fun to make and I like "no rules" sewing.  Now I need to get busy and make the quilt.  That should be a cute one, since I plan to sew the chenille strips along the seamlines.  Sew much to do and so little time. So, while the Duke is defending the code and rounding up the bad guys, I'll happily be stitching away.  It takes so little to entertain me.
Blessings,
Brenda

I'm gonna be rich!!

Today has been a good day. It's not every day you discover not one, but two ways you can possibly become rich.  The Red Bud, Illinois winners of the one-third of the Mega Millions lottery have been revealed.  They have the same last name as my maiden name. Woohoo!!!  It would seem reasonable that even though I've never heard of this couple that maybe, perhaps, I could be related to them.  It might warrant devoting a nice chunk of time to some genealogy sleuthing.  They say when you win the lottery that long-lost relatives come out of the woodwork.  I am hear to tell you that I have NEVER been in the woodwork in my life. I wonder if they'll like me. 

And then there's way #2:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/05/ford-plastic-dandelions/

I think this may actually work.  It seems the Ford Motor Company is looking into the feasibility of making rubber for tires out of weeds, namely dandelions.  Let me explain why this excites me. I mowed today. This year my yard looks worse than it ever has and I can't seem to tame it. We don't use anything on our grass for weeds, since living so far out in the boonies and  windborne weedseed defeats the purpose. This year I have so many of these:

Dandelions.  I know they are classified as an herb and there are many uses for them.  I am willing to bake bread, make cheese, plant garden and many other things, but I just can't get excited about getting down on my hands and knees to harvest dandelion flowers and greens. Sooooo, they turn into these:

When the yellow flowers first bloom and the warm days of spring are new and welcome, I don't mind them so much, but when the fluff has blown off and the spindly, ugly stems are all that's left, they are just ugly. I have too many of them this year. I am thinking I need to contact Ford. My wheels are always turning, you see. hehe

Oh, by the way. If I do get rich off either of these ventures, I'll throw a big party and you're all invited. 
Blessings,
Friday
p.s.  I'm trying out a new name. My mom sort of renamed me today, and I think I like it. I mean if it was good enough for Tuesday Weld, why can't I be Friday Alward?

Returning to the scene of the "crime"....well, sort of.

Just a short post to let you all know that I returned to the scene of the crime. I was in town today and went to Aldi's, only being the coward I am, I went to the north one and not THE ONE where the major embarrassment took place on Saturday.  Just so you know, the debit card worked just fine, thank you very much.  I can hold my head high again. Sort of.  I did manage to bag some mango licorice. Score.

So far, so good.

The day is half over and there has been nothing negative to report. I shucked the bad karma off my spirit and will no longer be trying to flick it off like some random piece of cellophane, insistant on clinging to my skin. Instead,  I spritzed it with a positive mist, demagnitized it and made it go clean away.

The sermon at church today was excellent, given by our substitute lay person, Brian.  He always brings good messages, with a just-right personal touch thrown in.  Joy. It's a powerful word and no one can take it away from you unless you let them.. I am joyful now. I will try to remain joyful.  Tuesday I pick up the taxes. I'll report back on the joy front. hehe  And, no, I am not menopausal. Why do you ask?

Blessings,
Brenda

My no-good, horrible, very-bad day, OR how the girls saved the day.

Long post alert: (it takes a long time to get this much stress through the fingertips.)
  
Are we sure today isn't a Monday? Maybe it's the rain, maybe the planets and stars are out of alignment or whatever,  but it just hasn't been a good day for me.  Maybe I whined too much yesterday and this is punishment. It started out just fine. By that, I mean I woke up and got out of bed. Some aren't so lucky, I realize.  I putzed around, took care of the little chicks, checked Facebook and my emails, had a bite of breakfast and went out to feed the dogs. No dog food. The cupboard was totally bare and they were looking up at me with longing eyes. Dang it!! Bad Mommy!! I had been putting off making the trip to Mt. Zion until I heard from the accountant with the bad news. I knew I would have to head north at some point, and with the price of gas and all....!  So, I came in and used a dozen eggs to make one huge omelet.  I divided it up between the two big dogs and I'm sure the girls and cats got some tidbits, too. Why can't dogs eat grass?  That would solve lots of my problems around here. I was just hoping to tide them over with the eggs.  So now it's around 8:30 and the phone rings.  The accountant. I forgot they work around the clock  when it gets this late in the tax season. They were finished and he had the information to file electronically, if I wanted to do an automatic bank draft from the checking account.  Let me think.....has Fort Knox made a delivery lately?    OMG!!!!!!!!!!..........I see an appointment with an offshore bank rep in our future, or at the very least a diligent search for some significant deductions of some kind. Maybe I'll adopt all the kids in Haiti or something. Trust me, we are NOT in the 1%, but since DH has retired, we don't have the major farm expenses we used to have for deductions from the gross income. Lordy, Lordy.  Once I recovered from that shock, the dogs were fed, and my mood had improved, I decided I needed to bake up the rest of the dough that had been languishing in the fridge. Cold dough takes about 90 minutes to warm up and raise to baking level, so I shaped it and got it ready to go.  The time arrived, and the oven was pre-heated to 450 degrees, so in it went, and the timer was set at 25 minutes.  Hubby's lunch was ready, the bread was baking, and a short discussion about the shopping list later, I was out the door. It wasn't until I was pushing a cart through Rural King that it hit me like a ton of bricks.......THE BREAD.....I had forgotten to take the bread out of the oven, and it was baking at 450 freaking degrees. I paused for a second to imagine how long it would take to go from being a heavenly, crusty loaf of artisan bread to a charred brickbat, then to a flaming exploding chunk of carbon, ready to consume our home and all the wonderful sentimental items in it. I must call home. It was 12:48.  I mention that because it's pertinent to the frustration I was feeling. Oh, no!!!  Gunsmoke isn't over yet and it was a given that DH was happily munching and watching Festus and Doc jab at each other.  LOUDLY.  He needs a hearing aid. At least one. I called home and got my own voice on the answering machine. I tried repeatedly, then finally called a neighbor lady, with instructions to PAHLEEZE go to my house and turn off the oven..I tried calling home one more time, and this time got DH. He turned off the oven just before the neighbor got there.  Whew. One disaster averted. Little did I know...................I'm embarrassed to go on.  Let's just say it involved a cartload of groceries at Aldi's (who only accepts cash and debit cards), and a denial on the debit account.  Put the chicken and ham back. Denied. Put the cereal and chocolate bars back. Denied. Put the kitty litter back. Denied. I hate the cat anyway, and I hated her more now.  Finally, to save myself further humiliation (and all the while noticing out of my peripheral vision the sneers and squinty eyes of the other shoppers in line because it's a Saturday and they are VERY busy) I just bailed. Apologizing profusely, I left. They said they'd put it away. I KNOW I have money in that account. It's exclusively for Aldi's, gas stations, and the very occasional lunch out.  I went to Walmart, where they graciously accept checks.  So, I've burned the bread, starved the dogs, and ditched the cheap bennies.All in one sad day.  On a positive note, the house didn't burn down, the dogs now have food, the baby chicks have their starter food and a better waterer, and time should fade the memory of the bruised ego and red-faced embarrassment of the Aldi's excursion. Oh, I bought some oatmeal-raisin cookies and ate three of them on the way home. It was raining today, and when I got home what did DH say?  "your hair's flat."  Bang-Zoom

p.s.  DS pointed out that I forgot to say "Blessings". So here it is: Blessings, Brenda
p.p.s I promise to not post again until I can be skipping-through-the-tulips-happy about something. I'll go put on my rose-colored glasses now.  I knew you'd understand.

I'd like some cheese with my whine, please.

Here I sit. Just sitting and typing. I think it has something to do with it being a cloudy, dreary day. I have a million, no, make that JILLION things I could and should be doing.  I know what needs to be done, but am I doing them? Heck no. It isn't that I don't have any energy left after planting trees yesterday. It isn't that I don't have a desire to de-clutter the closets, de-dustbunny the bedroom, organize the crap treasures in the basement, or otherwise make a dent in what needs to be done around here, but I just can't seem to get it together today. It's like there are so many things to do it's overwhelming, so I just don't do anything. The weeds are getting ahead of me outside, there is still a lot of garden prep to do for things like tomatoes and peppers, and Lord knows there's bush trimming and other essential spring duties. I. Just. Don't. Care. Not today. Maybe I will tomorrow. Or not.  I know I feel like this every year right about now. There is a small window between feeling like I could set the world on fire, and the summer doldrums where all I want is a cold drink, a wet towel and a ceiling fan. Feast or famine. The only thing I've accomplished today is planting some asparagus plants, gathered eggs, made two large batches of noodles and cleaned up the mess from that, cleaned the stove, three loads of laundry, chick duties, and made lunch for both of us.

 I could sew, but I don't have good light on a cloudy day. I could watch tv, but what's the point of doing that??  I think I'll just whine.  Could someone please come kick me in the keister? I need a jumpstart. And did I spell keister correctly? Thanks very much.
Blessings,
Brenda
Update:  I made a yummy apple crisp and ate a nice serving of it. That and the plastic bag that finally fell out of the top of the oak tree in my front yard has lifted my spirits.  I no longer feel like I'm living across from Wally World. Oh, and I found a great classic rock station out of St. Louie on the radio. Nothing like classic rock to help get your groove on.  Hurray for that.

Wonderful Bread from the Earth Oven

I had been wanting to fire up the pizza oven and test it to see if I could, indeed, bake bread in it.  If you haven't followed my pizza oven escapades, here is a short synopsis.  I saw one in a magazine and thought it was so cool. I just knew I could build one.  I then saw a news article about a local couple (well, they're at least in the county), and I called to see if I could come down to view it in person.  Leanna was so interesting and gave me a lot of helpful hints about building one, and also led me to a book that became invaluable in my quest.  The book, "Build Your Own Earth Oven", by Kiko Denzer was on Amazon, so I ordered a copy of it and read it front to back several times, imprinting the how's and why's on my own brain.  Then I assembled the building materials.  Rocks. Lots of rocks.  You don't have to use rocks, but that's what's free and ubiquitious around here.  All it took was lots of muscle and grunting.  Sand. That's fairly inexpensive.  Fill.  Broken bricks, odds and ends of clay tile, whatever could be found and thrown into a big hole. Firebrick. I bought these at a lumber yard and they were the most expensive component, but probably cost all of $30.  Many 5-gallon buckets of clay and more sand.  DS and I traipsed down to a washed out place in one of the fields and scooped up some clay from there.  I traipsed over to a friend's house last summer and scooped shovels full, with the help of her husband, from the rim of their receded pond.  After digging, stomping (read the book. LOL), and generally driving myself and everyone else nuts, I had this:

It burns wood and gets very, very hot.  You can bake a small personal size pizza in it in no time, maybe a minute at most, when it's at it's hottest.

After the intial firing, a few cracks developed in the outer shell, and they are deep cracks, so I'm going to have to seal it over with another layer of clay slip.  That's no big deal.  It will be a chance to repair a few other areas that aren't to my liking.  We had baked pizzas in it, but I had yet to test it on bread, so since yesterday was a nice, calm day and I was already outside working, I took the time to load it up, set the fire and for the next three hours, kept it fed with kindling and small chunks of wood. It takes that long for 7 inches of clay, which is about what the dome measures, to get all heated up. During that time, I stirred up the dough and proofed it.  I shaped a couple of small loaves, and then after their rising, inserted them into the oven.  After only 25-30 minutes, I had two wonderful, fragrant loaves of bread.

Yay!!!  It was so good when it was warm, and since I didn't use any cheese, should make great toast and sandwiches, as well.  I'm happy with it, for sure.  Get the book. Make your own oven. You can do it. I'll help you. 
Blessings,
Brenda

Meet the flockers

Ok, I admit it. I'm weak. I had been pondering the wisdom of expanding the flock.  I started out with ten chicks a year ago, lost my precious Minnie Pearl in early March, and wondered if even having any of them had been the right decision.  Then I went to Rural King a couple of weeks ago. It was a moment of weakness, sort of like having chocolate in the snack drawer and telling yourself  "I am NOT going to eat that", all the while walking towards the snack drawer. Fortunately when I was there that time, they didn't have any pullets (young hens), in the breed I wanted. Whew. I had dodged a bullet and there was time for cooling off and reflecting. Ha!  Then it happened. All four of us (DH had been forewarned) set foot inside those magical doors again yesterday.  I had told myself that I would only get a couple of the americaunas or araucanas that lay the blue or green eggs.  Seems six chicks is the minimum they'll sell at a time, so of course, six chicks is what I came home with.  DS and DDIL were with us and since they now have an interest in raising backyard chickens, helped pick out the new lovies.  I am here to tell you there is nothing cuter than a little bantam silkie chick.  So. Freakin'. Cute.!!!

She's blonde, and I'm trending towards naming her Marilyn (Monroe), but I'll let DS and DDIL make that call.

(post edit...sorry to report that Ms. Monroe has died. She was sooo little and I think she got crushed in the chicken clump.  The other 5 are doing well for now.)

There are two other bantams, with brown and gray coloring, also so sweet, and three of the americaunas.

So, the flock has grown from  9 to 15.  I just can't wait until mid summer  when I start gathering those beautiful eggs.  The little banty eggs will be adorable, about half the size of a regular egg.  I'm thinking about a banty rooster. I remember seeing pictures of those in storybooks when I was a young chick myself.

My little brother was as ornery sweet as they came.
I'm in love all over again.  New life, new promise, blue eggs.
Blessings,
Brenda

One Month Blogiversary Give-Away

(click on picture to enlarge)

Hard to believe it's been one month tomorrow, the 9th, that I started blogging. To celebrate, I'm going to give away this totally handmade-by-me postcard.

 I can either address it to you and send it that way, or send it tucked inside an envelope for you to address to someone else of your choosing.  Please let me know which way you want me to do it.  Leave a comment, and include your preference in that.  I will do a random drawing from the comments I receive by the time I go to bed Monday evening, ten o'clock or so.  To leave a comment, you need to become a member of my blog (upper right hand column), which is easy to do.  Just get a free Google account.

I hope your Easter was as lovely as mine.
Blessings,
Brenda

Happy Easter

Coloring eggs, hiding eggs, new clothes, marshmallow Peeps, chocolate bunnies, baby chicks, gathering the family for an Easter feast, worshiping at your church. However you celebrate this Easter, my wish is that you have a blessed day.
Happy blessed Easter,
Brenda

There must be a full moon

I usually know, without checking to be sure, when the moon is full or nearly there. I don't sleep as well, for a night or two on or around the time of the full moon. I keep feeling a creepy crawly feeling, like all my hair follicles are going into overdrive and my ears burn. haha...that is not true. At least the part about the hair and ears. I swear I am not a werewolf.  I do, however, lay there wide awake for hours on end, and this gives me time to reflect. Some of the strangest things go through my mind.  This is one thing I thought about last night. It was a circuitous route getting there, mind you, because I was listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show which is broadcast on a local station in the middle of the night. He's a financial guru and people call in with their money troubles.  I was amused by some, annoyed by some, and when Dave gets on one of his rants, it becomes quite entertaining. He usually has a good, take-no-prisoners stance on how people should deal with their finances. The term "basic truisms" came to mind, which is what caused me to remember.........GOPHER WAD.  Yikes. I'm thinking about my eighth grade math teacher at 2:00 a.m.  This wasn't going to help the zzz's at all.  His name really wasn't Gopher Wad. That's just what we called him. To be fair, he deserved a squirrely nickname, since he really was a squirrely math nerd, in all his pocket-protector glory.  I'm sure he was really smart. I'm sure he really thought he could get through to us. I'm sure we drove him nuts. I don't know if he knew we called him that, but he had to toughen up if he was going to make it. He resembled a cross between Wally Cox (Mr. Peepers)  and Barney Fife:

I  am not good at math. I admire those that are. Math nerds rule the world. I wish I was a math whiz, but at this late date, I don't see it happening. Thank God for calculators and accountants.  Anyway, Mr. Wad paced back and forth a lot and used the term "basic truism" nearly every day, as I recall. Classmates of mine may have a different recollection, but he used it A LOT.  Mr. Wad and his basic truisms made an impression on me.  Mostly, I remember the term, "basic truisms".  I don't remember much about the math.  I do regret the grief we caused him, and am fully convinced that is one of the reasons I can never find mushrooms when I go out. It's one of those basic truisms that something about something seeking it's own level (am I even in the right class here?) and something else being inverse to the angle or something.  Anyway, Mr. Gopher Wad, if you're still out there, I hope you filled out your gaunt skeleton of a frame and found happiness. And I'm truly sorry for being such a brat.  Isn't this a strange thing to think about in the middle of the night?  Howllllll. Blessings,
Brenda

I was SUPPOSED to be Queen for a day. Ha.

I awoke this morning still basking in that newfound freedom one feels on occasion when some dreaded task has just been accomplished and checked off the list. It's a feeling akin to the last day of school, when the doors are flung open and the monkeys are set free.  Remember this one.."School's out, school's out, teachers let the monkeys out. One went east, one went west, one went up the teacher's dress."?  That was the freedom song back in the good old days when I was a kid. Anyway, I made the announcement to DH that I was going to take the tax info to Decatur to the poor accountant (see blog post below), and while I was up there, after dining with DS and DDIL, I was going to treat myself to a pedicure.  After all, with these summer-like temps, and flip-flops flopping all around, it's time. Here is what they were going to work with:

Don't laugh, they get me where I need to go!  LOL.  Anyway, since I spoiled hubby by NOT insisting on annual pedis throughout our marriage, the fact that I felt entitled to one today just came as a shock to him.  I decided that since I was the one that had the tax grief, I was the one that should get some relief. Grief relief. It made sense to me, and dang it all, I was going to get a pedicure.  He asked how much they cost, and the last time I had one, right before DS's wedding, I think it cost me $25 or so, and we just walked into the spa at the mall.  He said something about me being a queen, and since I agreed with him (hehe), off I went.  I did the usual errands in town, then headed up the highway.  I had a nice lunch and a nice visit with the kids, and after another stop, which I'll reveal in a minute, I headed to the mall.  My feet were killing me, so I parked where I thought it was closest to paradise, I mean the spa. 

This is not my foot.

These are not my feet.

These are the feet I left home with and the ones I returned with. Who stole the spa???  Not a spa to be had at the mall, and I didn't know of any other that accepted walk-ins.  Drat.  All wasn't lost, however, because I did come home with this:

A smartphone. Boy, do I feel dumb right now. If you need to call me, you might want to call the home phone. I'm not sure I know how to answer this one yet. DS insisted I needed it and I'll never go back once I get used to it. He'd better be right.  I think I'll go get my nail polish and paint my own toenails. That'll make me feel regal, for sure. 
Blessings,
Brenda

Doing a Happy Dance

After much procrastinating, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, I am thrilled to announce the tax crap prep is finished. I feel a big black cloud lifting, the sky is bluer, the sun warmer (oh, wait...it IS warmer), and I am going to do a happy dance after I deliver the information to our accountant later today. Here is his picture. I feel sorry for him.

Of course the checks to state and federal agencies haven't been written yet, and that brings it's own special pain. I'm just happy to be FREEEEEE from paperwork for a while.
Happy Dance Blessings,
Brenda

Two whoops and a holler

That's how long my straw mulch job lasted around the grapevine posts.  I worked out here yesterday, planting more potatoes, more onion sets, watering, pulling and hoeing weeds, and just generally making the little garden area look nice. It's hard to get the big mower next to the posts, and my little battery-powered weed whacker went to weed whacker heaven last year, so I pulled all the grass from around the base of the posts, and had several compacted layers of old straw placed just so.  This will keep the grass from growing right next to the poles, I reasoned, and it will look much better. Well, the girls had a better idea:

I hope all those little bugs they were finding were dee-lish.   I can't get too upset with the sweet things, though, because they give me these:

This is what I found in the nest box today.

This is what I've collected in the last 3 days.  Perfect, beautiful, nutritious eggs. (notice the absence of blue or green eggs...which shall be resolved soon).

They also like to take dust baths. It helps them get rid of external parasites and it's just what chickens like to do. I just wish they would find another space that wasn't a dedicated garden site. This is why I am buying stock in a good chicken wire company:

This must be almost a foot deep by now.  That's ok. They'll find another spot once I take this one back.
If you click on the pictures, they'll enlarge for you.

Noodles, omelets, or angel food cake anyone?
Blessings,
Brenda

Just foolin' around

It's April Fool's Day. That used to be a big deal in grade school. Remember all the dorky pranks kids would try to pull on each other? It didn't take long, if you had half a brain, to see it coming after the first couple of years, once you were "on" to April 1 and the significance of the day. I say couple of years instead of couple of pranks, because being a kid there were 364 days in between April Fool's days to forget. If you're only 7 yrs. old, that's 1/7th of your life, and there were other things, like long division and remembering how to spell Connecticut that took precedence.  April Fool's Day is one of those things your mom never tells you about.  You're just out there, cast into the cruel world to discover it on your own.   "Oh, by the way, honey, today is April Fool's Day, and that means little Johnny is going to try to pin a silly note to your back, so other kids will point at you and laugh. Just be on the lookout for silly pranks today, ok?"  It would have been very helpful to have had a heads-up, MOM.  I never had one of those goofy notes on my back, but I'm sure there were lame jokes told and plenty of eyes rolled. Our poor teachers.

It's no joke, though,  that I changed the look of this blog.  There are several design templates from which to choose, and being the Libra that I am, I thought a more balanced side bar presentation would be easier on the eyes. I know it's easier on mine.  I'm still trying to figure out how to share videos. The best I can do so far is provide a link. I'll get there.

I am going to forget that today is April Fool's Day. DH isn't a prankster and doesn't take to pranking all that well, and since DS has done flown de coop, it isn't very much fun.

BTW...if you have Prince Albert in a can, you better let him out. (insert much eye rolling here).

LOL...LOL...LOL
Blessings,
Brenda