Quiet Rumors...

 

It has been quiet on Multiply lately. Some people especially have been particularly quiet or just been missing altogether. Life gets busy for all of us and sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day to do everything, including blogging.

There have been some rumors floating around lately and more than one of them may have a grain of truth to them. Not that I like to gossip, but have you heard the latest?

Vero fell into her pond while trying to kiss one too many frogs and toads. The doctors think that in time those warts will disappear from her lips.

MkChippy and Des were detained 9 days while on their 12 day trip. They were allowed to finally board the plane when blood tests, body scans, and birth certificates were found to prove they were in fact originally from Hawaii and related to that guy who sings "Tiny Bubbles".

ZZee really did melt after all those warnings about how hot it was over in India. She is currently on ice in the freezer and comes out only for parties and frozen daiquiris.

Mac has never left the side of his tomato plants since he put in his garden. He has been seen feverishly mumbling to his plants, "must beat Vero, must have first tomatoes".

Trudi has been busy building an ark. So far she has two dogs, two birds and 31 cats on board.

John has become a certified organic dairy farmer. He has two cows, and so far only one of them has been doing all the work,... that is no bull.

Gloggy and Wukky have literally become joined at the hip. They work small carnivals and fairs on week-ends and hope to tour in the near future.

Greg's old one horse town has expanded to two horses and a mule. Expect to see a Wal-mart pop up any day now.

Sharon's days are filled with the continual demands of her wildlife critters. Leroy is currently building small condos and they are looking to expand soon.

Glenda has been mowing her yard for 269 days straight...on the same tank of gas.

Tania has gone missing. Fliers have been posted and several received an e-mail that she would only show up once a reward was offered. Please contribute to the find Tania cause.

Geoff was last seen chasing two young nurses down the hall. It wasn't even five minutes later he was reported to have been running back in the other direction when a large nurse with 2 moles and multiple chin hairs was after him with a big needle.

Robert and Sally met up with, and joined a rogue band of gypsies on their last caravan trip. Sally now sells beaded necklaces while Robert tells fortunes.

Ghiana came across Robert and Sally while on her last trip. She wasn't thrilled with Robert's prediction and wants a refund.

Acme was last seen trimming his yard with a pair of grass shears, carefully measuring each blade of grass with a ruler. He denies being obsessive compulsive.

Roo has yet to have a day off from being a secretary for her Umbearable boss.

Sno really has gone mad and is in some obscure mental institute.... I can type stuff like that cause she has been missing for so long.

George has found a new passion... Shoes. He spends all of his spare time at the mall strutting his stuff while undecided on the open toed pumps or the espadrilles.

Ian has become a famous author and in his rise from obscurity, now hides in seclusion while working on his fourth new novel.

Misty has been laying low after her trip to the US. It was only after a large cash payoff that the border guards allowed her to cross back over to Canada. She has risen on the US's FBI list to number 13.

The Great and powerful Mr. Oz is busy trying to reunite the band Toto. They are hoping to tour with a number of 80's big hair rock bands. Yes, I am proud to say I am one of their groupies.

Oletimes' laptop short circuited when she fell asleep on it while waiting for a new post to pop up. She hopes to get a new computer soon and to overcome her drooling while she sleeps.

Terrence is on a bike across Canada trip. He has logged 2,458 miles so far and hasn't even left the city limits. Piper refuses to go any further until he gets a new GPS.

Shane has developed a solar powered robot that heats, cools and gives foot massages all at the same time.... It was his wife's idea about the foot massages.

Guy has gone fishing and was seen napping while under a large shade tree with a line tied to his big toe. He now really has a big fish story to tell when he whips off his shoe and tells them the story of how the big one got away...with his toe.

Yar was last seen at the police station reporting theft of his new garden lights. He vows to catch the perpetrator if it's the last thing he does.... Misty sent me a new set of garden lights for my birthday which is months away... I think I may have been set up...

It's all true, all of the above... I got it from a reliable source.

I read it all in an e-mail from Settie.

 

 

 

 

Weathering the Weather

 

It's been a crazy year for the weather. The Missouri river which borders the east side of Nebraska has been flooding for weeks. Despite all of that water, none of it seemed to be falling from the sky in my neck of the woods. The last three attempts of moisture in the form of rain, resulted in less than a tenth of an inch each time.

So when Monday came with threats of more rain, I was one of those people who actually rejoiced that finally there was a decent chance of rain.

The weatherman continued to warn of severe weather, terrible weather, tornado weather, but all I thought about was rain. I had spent hours that day out in the garden watering and trying to keep the plants from becoming dry tumbleweeds.

In the evening it came, the darkness. Not from night falling but the huge squall line that stretched across the horizon. The unbearable mugginess was feeling cooler and the winds gusted high in the tree tops. It got darker, the wind got stronger, and I could tell it was going to be a big storm.

As a kid I use to love to watch a storm. The excitement of seeing mother nature unleash her fury can be both scary and awesome at the same time. I remember watching thru the window pane and seeing trees bending over, their tops nearly touching the ground. I have watched trees be split in two and come crashing to the ground. It was scary but there is something about watching it all unfold that keeps one rooted to their spot, and just think.....wow. 

I heard the back door blow open and went to close it and stood there watching til it was so dark looking out towards the west that I came in to look out the front door heading east. A few years ago, a storm came thru and I did the same thing. I watched the storm come from the west and marveled at how the wind blew, little knowing that if I had brains enough, I should have also been checking the skies to the east where a tornado was less than a half mile from me further up the hill.

So this time I went to the front door to look towards the east. The tree tops were like giant egg beaters as the winds from the south blew while the cooler winds of the north tried to push them back. The clouds were low and the skies so dark, except for the thinnest of ribbon of light on the horizon.

Hmmm, I thought, should I be taking cover? I ran to put on my grass stained gardening shoes. I wanted to be wearing my most comfortable pair of shoes in case I had to run anywhere. Silly now when I think back on it. Just where was I going to run to? I don't have a basement or root cellar. I know they constantly tell you to seek shelter in a low area or a small contained area like a closet.  Seriously, have they seen my closets? I can't even find a pair of shoes in there, let alone actually step into one. I have a feeling though I could have cleaned one out in 2.3 seconds if I felt the roof coming off the house or the four walls moving.

Hmmmm, should I be opening one window on the southeast and closing all the others? I forget which window it is they use to tell you to open to relieve pressure inside the house. I had several open. Should I be away from any windows? Not from them breaking so much as from being struck by lightening. I heard that once, that lightening can come thru windows.  Should I be taking cover in the bathtub? I have to tell you I have an unnatural fear of being caught in the bathroom when a tornado strikes while I am doing my personal business. Fears of being caught in the shower with nothing but a shower curtain wrapped around me while the house lies in rubble is another fear. Which  reminds me, I need to get a different shower curtain, that clear textured one that I have now is not going to hide anything.

It's amazing the stupid stuff we think of when we think danger is near. As a kid I marveled, still afraid but also thinking how cool it was. As an adult, all I could think of was, limbs down, blown off shingles, lots of work and expense from just a brief few minutes of mother nature's wrath.

I continued watching out the front door, the trees still whipping about, north and south in giant circles when the rain finally started to fall. It blew in sheets from the west as the tiny ribbon of light in the east disappeared into the darkness of night.

Rain, finally. I somehow felt better then. That the worst was past and I could just stand there at the glass and look out and think...wow.

Pepper Shortage

 

Peter Piper picked more than a peck of pickled peppers... I think he stole them all.

I never dreamed that it would be so hard to find a pack of green bell peppers. But this year there evidently seems to be a major shortage of the blocky fruit. I searched high and low at several places before finally finding one small four pack of spindly Big Bertha bell peppers.

I came across chili peppers, jalapeno peppers, and ornamental peppers, but it seems that the regular bell peppers are becoming harder and harder to find. Or it could be that others have noticed the trend in trendier  peppers and snatched up all of the bell peppers in their glee for the familiar.

I have grown other peppers before. In fact I even had better yields with some other varieties. Hungarian wax peppers left the other peppers in the dust with their proliferation. But when it comes to fond remembrances, it's just hard to stuff any other pepper but the lowly bell pepper. I wasn't picky about my peppers either, I was more than willing to take them in any other color than green. In fact, I would have preferred an assortment of red and yellow with the traditional green peppers, but there were none to be found.

Has the bell pepper gone by the wayside? Do growers and suppliers go for what is fashionable and neglect the older tried and trued varieties? For some plants I think they do, and yet for other plants I think they are woefully behind.

Shopping at my local businesses, it is nearly impossible to find a lot of the more newer varieties of annuals and perennials. The trusty petunias and impatients line the shelves and a smattering of stella de oro daylilies are inter mixed with blue rug junipers and halcyon hostas. Living in this small rural area, I know that in order to get anything half way new in the perennial world I have to order my plants. With the demise of the local garden nursery, garden seed is either by order as well or subject to the small selection at Wally world.

I am a hard to please gardener...I want everything.

I want the best of both worlds. I want the newest of new varieties and yet the comfort and dependability of old favorites.

I want my California Wonder Bell Peppers....