People Are Funny...

Today googling for a pic, I typed in the word "funny" and had a barrage of cat pics. For some reason the world has a love of cats and finds them all humorous. Perhaps it is because of their stand off-ish ways, or the fact that they are forever finding themselves in situations because of their curiosity. However you view cats, or dogs, or people, they all are funny in their own way.

All of us have our own internal sense of self and genetic makeup that is our own. We all experience and view things in our own individual ways and sometimes it is hard to see something from someone else's perspective.

Some people, I just do not "get" though, and find myself often scratching my head and wondering just were they thinking or do they think at all. Or is it just me, and I am too set in my ways and views that I can't see things differently.

But despite all of that, I think everyone is funny. Everyone has the ability to tickle my funny bone without them even knowing it. I admit I find humor in the most strangest of places, and that is a good thing. If I failed to see the humor in a situation, another emotion would most likely take it's place. I remember my mom had a particular phrase she said a lot and it was, "if you don't laugh, you will cry". I understand that more with the passing of time, but when a small child, I thought it was an odd thing to say.

Today as the sprinkler was going on the garden, my next door neighbor drove by. It wouldn't seem like much of anything to most people, but to me it was funny. It was funny because yesterday morning when I was out taking pics for my blog, he drove past then too. He and his wife drive by constantly. They aren't going any where particular. They drive by out of curiosity and at times it is annoying but mostly I think it's funny.

The neighbor who came over to help me with the cat's transport to the vet is having some rough times lately. I feel for him. I really do. He is retired and his days are busy taken up with the women in his life. He has been separated from his wife for over 30 years, never bothering to divorce. Her health is failing and she is on oxygen from years of smoking. He spends every evening at her house for dinner, checking up on her and making sure all is okay. Since December of last year, he has been spending time with an ex-girlfriend who has cancer. Quite a serious situation. I will be the first to mention that there is nothing funny about cancer.

The last woman in his life, is not technically a woman, but she is a bitch. She is his dog. His greatest fears and worries seem to be about his dog that is aging and slowing down. If all three of those females were to pass away on the same day. The most tears would be shed for the dog. Well, she is a nice dog. Some would find that sad. Some would roll their eyes. Some would find that funny.

People laugh at all kinds of things. Some of it inappropriate. Some of it, nervously unintentional. Humor disperses it's self in all shapes and guises. Some people seem to have no sense of humor, and there are others that see everything as a joke.

I try to put myself somewhere in the middle, but most days I lean a bit more to the latter side. I don't think I can be any different. I know I can be too much for some with my crazy ways and constant silliness. It just rubs some people the wrong way, and other times it attracts people too.

I have thought a lot about my mom's phrase of "if you don't laugh, you will cry" and I think it applies to more people than I realize. Maybe even to myself too. It's just part of maturing and growing up. I will continue to inwardly grin to myself though when I see the neighbor drive by. In fact, I feel like going out and doing something...just anything, so I can hear their engine start up and begin it's slow stroll around the block. I am just funny that way..

7/5/12.......Take 2

I will try this again.

Who knew bloggers were such picky people? I wrote a blog earlier today but it was discounted, an uproar went up that it wasn't a true blog. I had somehow cheated and bent the rules and didn't have a real blog but one of those fake ones that try to come off as something original, but it isn't.

So, here it is, take 2 of blogging today. A real blog written by yours truly. Even though the previous blog was written and typed by my little fingers it didn't count. It was considered a copulation of other's blogs. It was a recap, one of those cut and pasted bits of fluff into something I was trying to call a blog.

Bloggers are unforgiving. They are sticklers for the real stuff. They will cry foul and type in caps at you with lots of punctuation. Nooooo, anything but that!

So having been throughly chastised, and reminded that this was all my idea, I bravely stepped outside to get inspiration for today's blog. Nevermind that it is sooooo hot and it was getting on late in the morning, and there was no breeze, and it was humid without a cloud in the sky.......etc. etc.

I wandered around a bit and thought of Sharon's blog earlier this week on them having a poor apple harvest. So I crossed to the one end of the garden to snap a few pics of my pear trees. I have two, a barlett type pear which is a larger more green colored pear.

And I have a seckel variety of pear that is a smaller, sweeter pear that has more of a redcast to it's skin. Sometimes, even appearing brownish. They really are coloring up fast this year with the heat and there is a fairly big crop this year. Like a lot of fruit and nuts, one year will be a heavy bearing year, and the following year it will be a smaller, lighter crop.

 

I have a few more fruit trees planted but they are young, under 6 feet, planted in the last couple of years, and I am hoping to get a decent orchard eventually.

Wouldn't you know that I would walk back up the hill and realize I forgot to take a pic of the apple tree with it's crop? I could feel my shoulders droop, feel the "but it's so hot" whine coming on and yes Misty, I cheated, I stood far away and just zoomed with all my camera might to get an apple pic. It turned out a bit blurry, but it DOES count for a pic, just like that first blog does! ;)

A lot of the garden is done, the onions, potatoes, peas, radishes, etc. All of those early crops finished long before this stretch of heat and dryness, but the beans are coming along. The corn is tasseling and it won't be long before the golden ears are dropped into a pot of boiling water and served up with salt,pepper, and butter.

My tomatoes are growing and blooming but still refusing to set fruit. Grrrrr... I know it is the heat. The temps are not cooling down enough at night and the blossoms are falling to the wayside.

There still continues to be a few blooms of the daylilies, and they are a welcome bright sight in the landscape.

Salvia is another one of those plants that seems to be carefree and even though I posted a pic of it blooming back in May, here it is, still blooming as much as before.

There are a few hostas, putting up bloom stalks, a climbing rose, in between it's flush of flowers, and other assorted flowers that, if they had a decent rain, they would be basking in their loveliness. They are like me, conserving their energy for the right time. They will bloom again when they are ready.

As for me, I was ready to head back inside to the coolness. Ready to come back and write another blog to appease the masses. Well at least to appease Misty and Marianne. I couldn't resist one last snap shot of the seed pods I saw dangling from a redbud tree...

THE END....

 

 

7/5/12

It's all your fault.

How am I suppose to blog about something,anything today when you are all not being serious?

There has been dancing, all kinds of dancing over at Sharon's.

There has been mention of Mr. Oz wearing a ruffly dress and mention of drawers and their storage abilities.

There is a grass roots movement going on at yetanotherguy's blog on removing part of the alphabet, just too many letters and a couple of them being redundant.

There has been bacon. An inordinate amount of bacon. You know who you are bacon people.

There has been bugs, biting bugs, brightly colored bugs and bugs with nobs and bumps and some comparison or referrals of those nobs and bumps.

There have been pics of camping, boats, locks, dogs, kids, doors, countryside, and cocktails.

There has been lurking in bushes, mention of of some sort of funny pills, and watermelon seed spitting on guest books.

There has been.....(leans in closer and whispers)....some sort of "leakage" over at Marianne's page. Proceed with caution when venturing in that direction.

Birds, birds who eat bones for meals and missing chocolates.

The multiply world has gone nuts today, and I love it.

Keep up the blogging peeps, it has been like a breath of fresh air to log in and see and read what is going on in your lives. Too see that there are people still here, alive and kicking and smelling of bacon.

I even feel inspired to maybe actually set outside and take a few pics in this 100 degree heat... well, that is if I can un-glue myself from my seat from all of the entertainment...

 

Happy 4th of July!

  

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I bet you all thought I forgot about you. I bet you all thought I was off busy with holiday festivities and that my 30 day blog challenge was in danger of being interrupted.

I didn't forget, and I haven't been all that busy today either. I was up early this a.m. and puttered around a bit. I put the soaker hose on a bed of hostas and daylilies. Those poor daylilies. Their long grassy leaves, dry and crispy on the ends, yet blooming their hearts out in spite of the hot adversary. It says a lot about the plant, and a small lesson for myself, but that is another blog. Today it is the 4th.

I googled earlier today for something for my special holiday blog. I thought of all kinds of inspirational things to post. I could have gone serious with politics and the state of the economy and the lack luster choices for a leader. I could have gone in the complete other direction with bar-be-que tips and secret sauce recipes. But I have no secret sauce and the only tip I have when it comes to grilling is try not to catch anything on fire but the charcoal.

Googling today I just wasn't feeling it. I just wasn't in the mood for all of the trappings that go along with the 4th. I blame it on not being a big 4th of July celebrator. As holidays go, it's okay, I mean I understand that the meaning behind the holiday is at the very core of our beliefs and existence in this country. Freedom is not free, it's paid with a price daily. I know that, and the rest of you do too. The 4th of July for most mean a day off with a cook out and fireworks later at dusk. It's heat, and smoke and loud noises. Fun and frolic and all sorts of things that come with summer.

I did laundry.

Yeah, I celebrated big this year. The only big bang I heard today was the lid of the washer slamming down. The only smoke I smelled was the faintest aroma wafting from my microwaved noodles. The heat though, I have felt for days and nothing about summer seems that exciting to frolic about.

Later on this evening I plan on cuddling up with a tv remote or the laptop and immersing myself in being lazy.

It is a celebration after all when you think about it. Being free to do as one pleases, even when it is doing nothing.

 

Enjoy your 4th!

Are We There Yet?...

It's been fifteen days. Fifteen days of blogs of thoughts and idle ramblings on my part. And today is the sixteenth day. The over the hump day, past the half way mark of the 30 day blog challenge.

I feel like there should be some sort of mini celebration.There should be an exceptionally awesome blog written by me that will have you all oooohhhing and awwing and amazed at my witty insight.

It's just not gonna happen.

I'm hot. I'm tired. I'm tried of being hot. It could be so much worse, I could be without a/c or fans or a means to cool off in the oppressive heat. Not really much of an excuse to whine, but it has never stopped me before.

I have come to dread stepping out the door each morning. Every day it's an eenie meenie miney mo decision on what should I put the garden soaker hose on today to try and keep it from frying up.

It's a never ending battle with the heat and dryness and so far I am winning the battle with some plants, but others are giving up to the rays of the sun and becoming excessively crispy. Almost as crispy as those tater tots I blogged about yesterday.

Everything is droopy, droopy and wilty, and sulking in the heat. Me included. Today I was going to go out and take a few pics of the apple and pear trees and the fruit that is dangling from their branches. By the time I have been out several times, moving the hoses back and forth, filling bird baths and buckets of water for the planters and wildlife, I am out of the mood to step back outside yet again to face the heat. Weeding has become sporadic. Mowing is done out of necessity and string trimming has become an option.

I'm being lazy. The heat has me whining every time I have to run an errand. Jumping into a hot car interior and hoping it cools down by the time I get to the store, has me scanning for the shortest time and distance, out in the muggy air. Parking lots seem like giant concrete deserts, that have me close to whimpering at the thought of lugging heavy bags or pushing metal carts across it's expanse.

It has me putting off stuff. Leaving things unattended and stockpiles of supplies getting dangerously low. It has me wishing for the past and days of home deliveries. The pizza delivery guy would be my newest bff. I wouldn't have to set foot back outside til winter, when that blazing hot parking lot had frozen over.

I sucked it up though. I went out there. I got my stock pile of diet coke, baby carrots, yogurt, deli turkey, bread, and milk. I can rest easy now. I can do more productive things now, like write a more thought provoking blog tomorrow. I can concentrate better now, knowing I won't have to do that again for quite awhile. There is almost a calmness that has washed over me now and my zen has centered or done whatever it is that zen stuff does. A big sigh of relief.

 

Aw shoot....I forgot to get kitty litter.

 

 

Hey it's a blog...

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I am brain dead today. Usually I have some idea for a blog the next day, but today I was drawing a blank. I visited a few blogs this morning and made a few comments and went on to Yahoo news, hoping something would pique my interest.

Nothing..Zilch. My mind was uninterested or unwilling to think too hard today. My mind was having none of it. Nothing controversial, nothing to challenge or make one consider options, nothing that would require any contemplation of new ideas or theories.

My mind was rebelling and it was wandering back to a blog written by Sharon, and a comment left by Glenda.

What are tater tots?

I can forgive Glenda for not know about the glory of tater tots. She is clear across the world over in New Zealand. It is not like Columbus or some other explorer actually had tater tots to spread across the new or old world to parts unknown.

Tater tots did not even come into conception til 1953. They became the registered trademark of frozen hash browns by the Ore-Ida company. Ore-Ida standing for Oregon-Idaho. The were invented as a means to use up leftover bits and slivers of potatoes. Those bits of potato were chopped up and mixed with flour and seasoning and the extruded mixture was pushed thru holes and sliced off into small pieces.

Googling for a pic of tater tots, I came across several websites that paid homage to the tater tot and the first one to catch my eye was "meninaprons.net". Almost sounds like a porn site, but let me assure that is not the case. I looked...no naked men in aprons. But there was a steamy pic and recipe for bacon cheddar tater tot casserole.

I clicked on more pictures and visited "myhusbandcooks.wordpress" where there was a tater tot salad thrown down the husband was having with his wife. On "instructables.com" their version of potato salad contained mainly potatoes and mayonnaise, not exactly my ideal use of a tater tot.

Bacon and cheddar wrapped tater tot hor D' oeuvres was the concoction created by "recipegirl.com" and the crazy people over at "deepsouthdish.com" actually combined half of the tater tots inside of their casserole while placing the reserved tots on the top of their creation.

Tater tots deconstructed and made your way was the theme at "seriouseats.com", with pepperoni pizza tots, Spanish chorizo, and sweet poTater tots given up for offerings. It seemed like a lot of work to get added ingredients inside of a tater tot. I don't think I will be making any homemade tater tots soon.

Wanting to be more health conscious? "Vegoutlove.com" combined a bag of mixed frozen vegetables with portabella mushrooms and re-hydrated vegetable protein in their tater tot casserole. They almost had me in their corner til the re-hydrated vegetable protein. I have had extruded soybean protein products and they are like belly bombs. They just sit there in your belly while your sytem rebels at the fake meat intruder.

No matter which way you mix it up, the tater tot has become an icon. Despite attempts to exalt it into a more desirable culinary status, it is what it is. And that is okay, I like you for what you are tater tots. I will take you just baked or fried til golden brown with a little ketchup on the side.

Hmmmmm, though I did come across chocolate covered sweet potato tots on "uniquedaily.com". I might have to consider that for a moment...

Day number ?

Good Morning Multiply, happy Sunday!

I am not quite sure what day it is in the 30 day challenge. I will have to go back and check to see which day I wrote the original blog on blogging for the consecutive days. I know it's been difficult for some of you and it always seems harder when you aren't quite even half way there. So I thank you for sticking with it. Those that have been writing blogs and those who have come by to read them and leave comments. For most of us, it is those comments that really are the highlight of the original blog.

I know it's hard to think up something new to write each day. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to write a blog that is informative, witty, or thought provoking. A blog can be all of those things, but it can be easier. It can be a pic of something you came across that day. It can be a new recipe you have tried, or your experience at a new place or thing.

Sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be. Not only in blogging but in our own personal lives. I tend to do that a lot. I always have to do things the hard way, because I think that is the right way, the only way, or it is the only way or option that I feel I have.

When my twin brother was back last year he moved into a small house with a huge yard. Very different from the 3 story house and postage stamp yard he use to have. It was a big adjustment for him, and I will never forget what he said when he decided to move back to his old stomping ground back East.

"I don't want to be a slave to the land".

I could only roll my eyes at his declaration. Having never really done much yard work in the last 20+ years, I am sure he felt overwhelmed with his big yard. You would think having 3 dogs, he would have loved to had the space for them to run. Instead he fenced off a small area for them and did nothing with the rest of the yard except mow the grass and take a chainsaw to the trees.

He mowed, weekly. He raked, weekly. He trimmed trees constantly. He burned brush piles monthly. He trimmed, he sweated, he complained. He started trimming past his property line, onto alley ways and contemplated trimming trees at an empty house across the way. It wasn't his duty. It wasn't his responsibility. He has a set mind of how things are suppose to be done and it was his way all the way when it came to yard work.

He made it harder than it needed to be. He made himself that slave to the land. The land was just there, growing, existing, and beautiful in it's natural state or when it was neatly groomed. He just wasn't cut out for the outdoors. He saw it as a chore, a burden, something that had to fit into his idea of what it had to be.

Funny how twins can be such opposites. There can be times I get sick and tired of weeding and trimming and outdoor chores. But I find a joy in digging in the dirt, watching something grow, and trying to go hand in hand with mother nature and the beauty she creates. I see it more as an opportunity, something positive.

And yet, when chatting with my mom about doing some fall planting, she exclaimed, "don't' you have enough"?..."Don't you think you have way more than you can handle?"...

My immediate answer was "no". But it has me thinking today as I thumb thru 5 new fall catalogs that have come in the mail this week, that maybe I should rethink planting anything new. I have already ruled out planting any more iris as it is too hot and dry. Mid-July thru the 1st of September is when tall bearded iris are usually planted. With 100 degree temps, and no rain in sight, it would be foolish to attempt to plant anything right now.

But the pictures of the blooms keep calling me. I find myself dwelling on the pages of peonies, alliums, daffodils, and tulips. I keep reminding myself, no tulips...can't plant tulips. The squirrels eat the tulips, so I, with a sighing regret, bypass the tulips too. No iris or tulips this year....

But peonies, I want new peonies. I want peonies in colors and shapes and forms that I don't have. I want pink ones, white ones, red ones, coral ones. I don't have a coral colored peony. I feel deprived. I feel the need to plant not just one, but bunches of new peonies. I have 6 tree peonies already, and I have 6 herbaceous peonies. You would think a dozen peonies is enough. Adding more peonies, bulbs, fall perennials is adding more toil and sweat, and weeding to my work list.

Am I a slave to the land? Quite possibly. Sometimes it is hard to break free of those chains, and sometimes it's not really seen as chains, but as an investment. An investment of the land and of yourself into making something, growing something, beautiful.