Rainy Weekend Gardening

Cool and wet, a great time to move gardens from spring to summer annuals.

This is a before and after pair of pics--the back walk garden is the only place in the yard where I plant annuals in the ground.  Everything else is self-actualing with perennials galore.  19 years of gardening pays off!

A Is For Eclectic

Well, at lest where music is concerned.

Looking at my first 21 "A" titles in my iTunes playlist:

A-Tisket, A-Tasket ~ Ella Fitzgerald 
ABC ~ Glee Cast Version
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive ~ Bing Crosby & the Andrew Sisters
Across the World ~ Pittbull, featuring B. O. B.
Adventures of Isabel ~ Natalie Merchant
After the Garden ~ Neil Young
Afterglow ~ Ian Axel
Afterhours ~ Johnny McGovern, featuring Adam Joseph
The Age of Worry ~ John Mayer
Aqua del Pozo ~ Alex Cuba
Airplane ~ Indigo Girls
Alive Again ~ Cher
All Hail the Power of Jesus Name ~ Acappella
All I Wanna Do ~ Jamie Lindell
All I Want ~ Jay Brannan
All Or Nothing At All ~ Billie Holiday
All Systems Red ~ Calexico
All The Stars ~ eastmountainwest
Alone ~ Trey Songz
Alone But Not Lonely ~ Mary Chapin Carpenter
Already Home ~ Jay-Z, featuring Kid Cudi

Which cross the following genre: Jazz, Pop, Vocal, Rap, Alternative, Rock, World, Christian, R & B, Country, and Hip Hop.

I love Kid Cudi, BTW. I also just love music, it's hard to find music that I don't at least get, even if I don't want to listen to it. Maybe Heavy Metal. But when you listen to a really robust version of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, like the Vienna Philharmonic's under maestro Simon Rattle, and you can see how modern ears might find the genre appealing.

Romeo The Squirrel Hunter

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ May 19th to April 25th

Creamy Green Bean Casserole

Creamy Green Bean Casserole

Green Beans
Onion
Carrots
Shredded Munster Cheese
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Condensed Soup: Cream of Chicken Herb Soup
French's Crunch Fried Onions (for Topping)

Baked at 325˚ for 60 minutes, 30 minutes covered without fried onions, add fried onions uncover and continue to bake for 30 more.

Easy Peasy.

Ten Birds I See In My Yard

 Carolina Wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus

 Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata

 Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis

 House Sparrow, Passer domesticus

 Morning Dove, Zenaida macroura

 Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

 Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottus

 White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

 American Robin, Turdus migratorius

Tuft Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor

Marie Weinhold: May 7, 1920 to May 11, 2013

This is my dear friend, Marie Weinhold, who passed into ancestry yesterday after a brief illness and just past her 93rd birthday.  She is perhaps the only reason I can imagine for why I would wish there were a God.  For if anyone deserves an afterlife in paradise, it would be Marie.

Marie, in the jigsaw puzzle of my life, a crucial piece has just gone missing.  The void it's left honors your grace no longer given among the living....

Instruments As Art!

Eight images from my our 4th graders of using musical instruments as inspiration for creating works of art!

Romeo, Well Attired

Took time this afternoon to create and name "plate" out of fabric to attached to Romeo's harness that displays his name.

I attached it so that when he approaches someone, or they approach him, they can see it and know his name.

The Mountain Laurel

In my yard is blooming.  So beautiful.

Happy Mothers' Day!

"I have two mommies.  I know where the apostrophe goes."

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ May 12th to April 18th

Random Quote # 157

The Opossum Under The Deck

What was supposed to be a little trip to the backyard for a last bladder void before the storms started soon escalated into something else--something that is the stuff of legends.  Henceforth, this night shall be remembered as the great 'possum incident of ought-thirteen!

What started out as a quick trip, turned into nearly an hour's adventure involving cornering the critter under the deck in a 20-minute standoff in the dark and pouring rain.  A scene complete with non-stop muffled barking and punctuated by flashes of lightning and distant (thankfully) rounds of thunder. 

After unsuccessfully searching for a working flashlight, and at the time not at all certain what was going on under the deck--it's pretty low to the ground in the area where the parking was occurring (and it's scarcely more than 8 inches off of the ground at it's highest corner), I resorted to plan B.  I grabbed the hose and shot a stream of water into the darkness at the place I thought Romeo was located.  Silence. 

A muffled scurrying.  A shadow quickly bumbling down the yard to the fence and then off along it into the dark.  Then, Romeo's figure followed suit as I watched through the darkness and rain.  I had to give him his moment.  He ran from place to place huffing and puffing, but the lightning was getting closer, so I also had to get us both inside. 

Romeo was not ready for the mission to end.  He turned and ran to the lower corner of the yard and dove feverishly into digging at the bottom of the fence.  "Oh no!" I thought.  I ran down and scooped him up into my arms and carried back into the house where I could see clearly that my white shirt was covered in dirt and mud.  The only white shirt I own, of course!

Next stop, the bathroom upstairs with him half-heartedly trying to jerk free to no avail.  Into the tub he went, out of my wet, soiled clothes, and in I went, too.  I have never been more grateful to have sliding glass doors on my bathtub.  Oh the indignity!  But  his resignation was swift and complete--our first bath.

Tonight when he REM sleeps, I am certain he will be replaying the events of this evening and the expulsion of the opossum from her lair under our deck.

Romeo's First Week In America!

This one tells you everything you need to know about his essential goodness, gentleness, and intelligence.

One minute hoping for a scrap from the table (ain't gonna happen!)

 The next wanting to get to "know" that squirrel up close and personal (also, ain't gonna happen!)

Home from the vet.  Fit as a fiddle.  Playing with his new chew toy.

It's a different world from the second story window.

Basking in the sun at the open kitchen door--doesn't he go well with my new floor!?

Ever vigilant in a world where squirrels lurk everywhere!

Sunday Project: Organizing

My new kitchen only has one drawer.  Hey, it's small!  And it came without dividers: Quelle Horreur!

You can see.  What a mess!

So I bought and piece of Oak at Home Depot and fixed that problem for my Sunday's Project.

Now, all is right with the world (of the drawer).  Voila!

Sun-dried Tomato Crusted Pork Chops w/ Butter-Caper Sauce

Still getting a feel for my new kitchen.  This is the most complicated arrangement of things I've cooked yet.

Sun-dried Tomato Crusted Pork Chops w/ Butter-Caper Sauce. Recipe to follow. I included a Curry Cous Cous with Red and Green Peppers, Scallions and Golden Raisins, and sauteed Zucchini.

It also gave me occasion to thank my mama again for giving me her iron skillet and teaching me how to use and care for it.

The recipe for the Sun-dried Tomato Crusted Pork Chops w/ Butter-Caper Sauce comes from the website of The Unorthodox Epicure.  I did a search under the topic "pork" and found it.  It's simply written, straight forward, easy cooking.  From his photo to mine, it is what it promises to be.  One thing different, I used boneless pork chops.

My Version: Moses And The Burning Bush

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ May 5th to April 11th