Shoes...and Stuff....

I'm too sexy for my blog....

A bit of wishful thinking on my part, I will admit.

But today does have my mind swirling and turning with so many thoughts on different things, that it is hard to just pick and choose one idea and run with it. So this will be a bit of a hodge-podgey blog that I hope in the end makes some sort of sense.... But if it doesn't, I know you will just chalk it up to that just "being Vic"...A bit too old to be considered funky, a bit too young to be considered eccentric, which leaves me somewhere in the middle of just being weird, (sigh).

This past week-end we saw several birthdays in blog-land, one of which was for my good blog friend Sleepy Lady, aka Des. Several fellow bloggers tried to come up with an avatar of something about Des, or something that represented Des, or just something she could relate to for her birthday. So not knowing anything of F1 racing which she is fond of, I chose a pair of sassy red shoes with a british flag background. I think maybe I should have blogged about it to perhaps warn all of you, as I think the shoes scared you, perplexed you, or had all of you thinking I was entering into another personality disorder you weren't aware that I had.

Let's face it, (or more importantly, for me to face it)...sassy red stilettos aren't me. As much as I would like to think I could pull off such a pair of shoes, I just can't. On here or in "real" life either way I would be leaning precariously near a wall or some support hoping to catch myself for when I stumbled, pitched forward, or got that nose bleed from the high altitude....(thanks Misty for the hanky)...The shoes did have several of you scratching your heads though, which got me to thinking about how shoes are more than just an accessory and how they say a lot about you. I am not a big collector of shoes. I like shoes, even love some pairs of shoes, but over half of my shoe wardrobe consists of sneakers and practical shoes. There aren't too many high heeled pairs of shoes that I own or have ever owned. I could go out and buy new shoes, but in my heart of hearts I know they would languish in the bottom of my closet. As much as I would like to think I could be sexy in some new shoes, the shoes would be wearing me instead of me wearing them...if ya know what I mean.

Shoes...who would think they say so much, on here and in our everyday lives. It does make me want to clean out the closet and reassess my shoe collection, along with a few other things...

Totally unrelated to shoes and off topic.....Robins... they are back today in flocks, it finally feels like spring is  truly on it's way...

More off topic stuff... I finally decided and this year I am planning on growing Red Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, and Giant Belgium heirloom tomatoes. I am growing them from seed so crossing my finger the cat doesn't sit in the seed trays again this year...

Speaking of the cat, she has gotten a bit on the pudgy side. When she sits in the recliner rocker and washes her tummy, she sets the rocker in motion. I giggle and mumble under my breath, boy you have gotten a big backside this winter kitty. But then I get a worried look that pets are suppose to take after their owners and that maybe I need to get a full length mirror...

....or maybe not...

Happy hump day... and if you are bored and think you have nothing to blog about, go check out your closet....

 And if you find nothing that interests you in there today, feel free to pass around and wear those sassy red shoes today. I am claiming it as "too sexy for my blog day", today...

In The Mood...

 Reading my blog title, some of you will probably be thinking that I am going to blog about all things related to romance and the upcoming Valentine's day. Mentioning that I am "in the mood" might even have some of you pondering a breathless whisper of those words in the ear of  someone special. But most of you who really know me will know that I am most likely talking about.....gardening. Yep I am in the mood to plant stuff.

Even though it's still winter, you would think spring had sprung early here in the cornfields of Nebraska as I carefully lay out all the garden catalogs on the kitchen table, pages ear-marked, items circles, and an ever growing list filling a small note pad.

I blame the weather, I blame the seed companies with their slick glossy magazine covers, and I blame myself for a weakness for playing in the dirt and seeing something pretty in bloom. My biggest arising dilemma is the fact that I want too much. Seeing the pics, reading the descriptions has me itching to plant stuff I have never planted before or even ever considered planting before....

Case in point....Sweet peas.

Growing sweet peas in the midwest is a foolish notion. We can go from spring to summer in just a matter of days. Growing just regular garden peas can be daunting. They whither and dry up quickly in the heat and humidity, and the thoughts of even entertaining the idea of growing sweet peas promises a very, very short bloom period....and that is IF I get them started early indoors. But I still cling to the notion of trying to grow sweet peas this year,.... until the next catalog item catches my interest.

Brugmansia....Ooooh pretty...I want one in every color, I want a whole row, I want trellises of the cascading trumpet blooms. Never tried growing it before, but it's caught my eye and I want it, til I read bugs love it, and my interest wanes a bit til seeing the next glossy pic in the garden catalogs.

It's a sickness... and the seed companies know it, and they keep feeding the addiction with the color enhanced photos of flowers that I want, have to grow that never do quite look as brightly intense in my own garden. But it doesn't stop me, it just seems to drive me more.

This past week, I actually found myself annoyed while out shopping....Where is the garden seed? Why isn't the garden seed on the shelves? Don't they know gardeners have to start seed early in doors with lots of stuff. I was disappointed, I was peeved, no garden seed.

So I came home and looked at the catalogs again. Goodness knows I will have to order seed now, I need seeds to start indoors for stuff, never mind the fact that by the time I place an order and it gets shipped the seeds will most likely be stocked on the local shelves by then. ....I keep repeating that mantra to myself....just wait....it will come...But it's been hard, all this waiting.

I pick up a new catalog and spy more stuff in the meanwhile....Ooooh siberian iris... I have to try siberian iris, and I might as well get it in a couple of colors. Just a couple I tell myself, and then I have to force myself to just walk away from the catalogs. Yesterday didn't help when our temps hit near 60 degrees and I was tearing the garage apart to find the sprayer to spray fruit trees... I never did come across the sprayer but I did find the dormant oil. Wouldn't you know the temps have plummeted again with promises of rain or snow in the forecast this next week.

So I thought to myself, I won't order anything just yet....(well except for two new trees ordered last week)...I will get some feedback from the rest of you....who do you order from? Which catalogs? What are you going to grow if anything? I will admit that I have been lurking around a bit on Dave's garden site, particularly at The Garden Watchdog with it's assessment and imput from others on the different catalog companies.

One thing I do plan on trying this year is heirloom tomatoes, or just some different tomatoes that I usuallly pick up. No more better boys, beef masters, celebrity, romas....I want to try something different. So of course I have been closely peering over the Totally Tomatoes catalog for varieties and it's a bit overwhelming. So far I am leaning towards Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter (Mopsy's fault for blogging on them last year) and maybe an Italian plum tomato.

(Sigh)...it's overwhelming and addicting, and a bit of daydreaming of warm temps, bright flowers, and just having something green growing outside my window.

I spot another item and I tend to go a little glassy-eyed....Ooooh peppers! Not just ordinary green peppers either...I should try new peppers too...... anyone ever grown pimento peppers?...

Yeah, I am definitely in the mood....