OK – we won’t be addressing birds and bees here, for those who remember that Roger Miller song. Too many of you have young ones and your time to struggle with that conversation will come eventually. Been through it – and in some evil way, will probably enjoy watching you struggle through it.
But the flowers and the trees… planted 2 clumps of Aspens and one Emerald Queen Maple today to replace trees that had died off or just simply needed removing for whatever reason. Had a landscape contractor do it to save my back (and heart). Great result. TLMK is going to be pleased when she gets home tonight. The maple is supposed to turn bright gold in the fall – will match the aspens. And it’s a hard maple – will make good furniture a few generations from now, but not maple syrup. And never a MBL bat!
I’ve pretty much given up on tomatoes in this soil. Way too much clay, and believe it or not, not quite acidic enough. I’ll do what my Great White North relatives did last year – buy the tomato strainer and a bushel of Roma tomatoes at a Farmer’s Market and make sauce from there!
Ah, but we do have roses and day lilies and Asiatic lilies and Salvias that my landscaping friend is envious of. And one Holly bush that is quite vibrant – the best he’s seen in the Valley according to him.
I’ve been dead-heading my roses regularly for a couple of months now. Makes them thrive like you wouldn’t believe. I didn’t realize that there’s an art and science to trimming roses until I was asked at church “Does anyone know how to trim roses?” I have a lavender rose (free-standing) which by next year I hope will best the world record for the tallest free-standing rose. I have a deep pink rose bush which I just found out last week is a “Perfume Delight” bush. It’s one variety of roses that are used in making perfumes. We have one. Go figure.
I also have my three JP2 roses which I found out last week were requiring more calcium. So we’re saving up egg shells and crushing them up to put around the bases of the three plants weekly. A tip from a gardener friend.
I suppose I ought to take a few pictures of the place to let you know what it looks like. Or of course, you could come out here and see for yourselves.
(Oh, no – seriously. No need to thank me for the guilt trip – it’s on the house!)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Whew!!!
Finished planting everything except the trees this weekend... TLMK once again did an artful job of planting our herb garden just outside our back door. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (and Oregano and two types of Basil). I love cooking with fresh herbs during the summer!
Dead-headed all my roses today. A couple of years ago, I'd pluck off all the wilted petals, collect them, and when the wind was right, toss them with the wind into our neighbor's yard. Brought laughter to a 3 and 5 year old to have "confetti" blowing into their yard. That's a good thing.
Santo Subito (yeah, you Protestants will have to Google that) - I have three John Paul 2 roses in bloom. All young, but still there. 5 brilliant white double petal blossoms right now - 7 more to come probably in the next week.
We are tired but happy with our botanical results this weekend. No mondo huge veggie garden here, but we do what we can! And hopefully (in the case of tomatoes) can what we do!
Dead-headed all my roses today. A couple of years ago, I'd pluck off all the wilted petals, collect them, and when the wind was right, toss them with the wind into our neighbor's yard. Brought laughter to a 3 and 5 year old to have "confetti" blowing into their yard. That's a good thing.
Santo Subito (yeah, you Protestants will have to Google that) - I have three John Paul 2 roses in bloom. All young, but still there. 5 brilliant white double petal blossoms right now - 7 more to come probably in the next week.
We are tired but happy with our botanical results this weekend. No mondo huge veggie garden here, but we do what we can! And hopefully (in the case of tomatoes) can what we do!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Month (or so) In The Life...
So my little sister got me thinking about where her time goes. So here’s mine. In the past 6 weeks:
4 trips over to the Front Range and back – average about 800 miles per trip.
1 worrisome day while my best friend had back surgery - quite successful, thank you.
2 trips to the ranch (12 days total, I think) to take care of chores and cooking and making sure said friend didn’t get too cowboy (read stubborn) on me.
Watch the much needed moisture at the ranch turn to snow and freezing temperatures while there, and then turn a bit warm and watch mud set in. There’s a reason why I keep a mud-laden pair of work boots and an insulated, steel-toed pair of 16” tall rubber boots in Chuck’s garage.
Watched nine calves die because of cold and disease and other reasons – one I had to put down.
Friend had to put a horse down. One of the best cow ponies he’d ever owned. I can attest to that. One damn fine horse.
Get new shingles installed. Ow.
Get a new swamp cooler installed. Ow.
Get estimate for new front door. Of course, the builder 17 years ago couldn’t use a standard size door – it had to be custom, just like the new one will be. Can you spell ouch?
Weed, water, plant new stuff and mulch the front flower beds, and also plant more tomatoes and herbs for our kitchen beds. Many heavy sacks of mulch and dirt moved on Monday. Once again, can you spell ouch? (This time for my back, not my wallet.)
Today, my steer went to the processor. A three year old, and while I don’t know exactly which one it was, I know it was an ornery critter. Suffice it to say, I’ll enjoy those T-Bones after all the grief that critter gave me over the last few years. And every other bit of Longhorn Beef I'll get from him.
I’ve been seriously cowboy for over a month. May take as long for me to return to "civilized".
Then again, it begs the question: What’s wrong with being cowboy? Slept sound every night and was up at dawn every day. Worked hard, felt good, and enjoyed the company of all who helped at the ranch.
Hard to beat that.
4 trips over to the Front Range and back – average about 800 miles per trip.
1 worrisome day while my best friend had back surgery - quite successful, thank you.
2 trips to the ranch (12 days total, I think) to take care of chores and cooking and making sure said friend didn’t get too cowboy (read stubborn) on me.
Watch the much needed moisture at the ranch turn to snow and freezing temperatures while there, and then turn a bit warm and watch mud set in. There’s a reason why I keep a mud-laden pair of work boots and an insulated, steel-toed pair of 16” tall rubber boots in Chuck’s garage.
Watched nine calves die because of cold and disease and other reasons – one I had to put down.
Friend had to put a horse down. One of the best cow ponies he’d ever owned. I can attest to that. One damn fine horse.
Get new shingles installed. Ow.
Get a new swamp cooler installed. Ow.
Get estimate for new front door. Of course, the builder 17 years ago couldn’t use a standard size door – it had to be custom, just like the new one will be. Can you spell ouch?
Weed, water, plant new stuff and mulch the front flower beds, and also plant more tomatoes and herbs for our kitchen beds. Many heavy sacks of mulch and dirt moved on Monday. Once again, can you spell ouch? (This time for my back, not my wallet.)
Today, my steer went to the processor. A three year old, and while I don’t know exactly which one it was, I know it was an ornery critter. Suffice it to say, I’ll enjoy those T-Bones after all the grief that critter gave me over the last few years. And every other bit of Longhorn Beef I'll get from him.
I’ve been seriously cowboy for over a month. May take as long for me to return to "civilized".
Then again, it begs the question: What’s wrong with being cowboy? Slept sound every night and was up at dawn every day. Worked hard, felt good, and enjoyed the company of all who helped at the ranch.
Hard to beat that.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Red
It was Palm Sunday last weekend. Liturgically, the beginning of Holy Week in the Catholic Church. And traditionally, Catholics wear red on Palm Sunday.
Red is definitely not the best color on me. I’m more of a “spring” color person – light yellows, blues and lavender seem to complement my skin tone best. Or at least that’s what a color consultant told me years ago. But Palm Sunday I wore a very bright red shirt to Mass. I have two – the one I wore a couple of days ago is going away. It doesn’t fit anymore, in both size and color. It seems that I’m shrinking.
Why red on Palm Sunday?
It’s an observance. A remembrance. Christ was dressed in a crimson robe as a mockery – we dress in red to remember.
And Palm Sunday, technically in the Catholic Church, Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, is also a Mass celebrated with incense. A ritual cleansing, as it were. Problem – I’m allergic. And we know a priest who is allergic as well. Incense is used three times during Palm Sunday Mass, and within a minute my eyes were swollen and I was coughing. But my take on it was that I could endure that for 90 minutes. Our Lord endured much worse. Even unto death.
I read a devotional earlier today, and will quote this one part that really hit home with me:
“It is not easy to live a Christian life. People who remain faithful to the Lord are often tried and tested. However, no matter how difficult life may be, we must never give up for we know we have a God who walks with us and who has already walked the way of the cross for our salvation. As we meditate on the passion of Christ, let us keep in mind that glory awaits those who will be humble and meek like the Lord Jesus.”
We would rather not be traveling during Holy Week, but we must. But it will give us the opportunity to be with family and friends during the Easter weekend. For this we are thankful.
A blessed Easter to all!
Red is definitely not the best color on me. I’m more of a “spring” color person – light yellows, blues and lavender seem to complement my skin tone best. Or at least that’s what a color consultant told me years ago. But Palm Sunday I wore a very bright red shirt to Mass. I have two – the one I wore a couple of days ago is going away. It doesn’t fit anymore, in both size and color. It seems that I’m shrinking.
Why red on Palm Sunday?
It’s an observance. A remembrance. Christ was dressed in a crimson robe as a mockery – we dress in red to remember.
And Palm Sunday, technically in the Catholic Church, Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, is also a Mass celebrated with incense. A ritual cleansing, as it were. Problem – I’m allergic. And we know a priest who is allergic as well. Incense is used three times during Palm Sunday Mass, and within a minute my eyes were swollen and I was coughing. But my take on it was that I could endure that for 90 minutes. Our Lord endured much worse. Even unto death.
I read a devotional earlier today, and will quote this one part that really hit home with me:
“It is not easy to live a Christian life. People who remain faithful to the Lord are often tried and tested. However, no matter how difficult life may be, we must never give up for we know we have a God who walks with us and who has already walked the way of the cross for our salvation. As we meditate on the passion of Christ, let us keep in mind that glory awaits those who will be humble and meek like the Lord Jesus.”
We would rather not be traveling during Holy Week, but we must. But it will give us the opportunity to be with family and friends during the Easter weekend. For this we are thankful.
A blessed Easter to all!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Home Ownership
Ya gotta love it, especially at tax time when you see your gross adjusted income go down by a few thousand dollars. And then other realities set in.
I arrived back in Happy Valley after 5 days in Sioux Falls to spend 14 hours in our home before having to be on the road to Denver and back for 3 days. Thermostat didn’t seem to be working on my return from Sioux Falls, since we couldn’t get heat going in the house. OK, we’ll deal with that when we get back from Denver. Still couldn’t get heat going. So I make a call to my buddy Dewey who comes and takes a look at our boiler (we have hot water baseboard heat – very efficient when it’s working). The 17 year old boiler has gone belly up and needs to be replaced. That is happening today. We’ve been using many Grandma Quilts for the past 5 nights!
As Lawrence Welk would say, “Wunnerful, wunnerful!”
And Dewey reminds me that our evaporative cooler needs to be replaced this spring as well. Which is going to require a crane parked in our front yard for a day. Insert more Lawrence Welk here.
And that will be the perfect time to also re-shingle the roof. I’m amazed that it’s actually lasted 17 years, but it is time. Insert Lawrence Welk here again.
So about tax time, we’ll have upgraded the heating system,and will be upgrading the cooling system and the roof.
Wunnerful, wunnerful, and hello Home Equity Line of Credit!
Anybody have a condo to sell me?
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Stupid Things
They have a tendency to show up around Christmas. Though some of them exhibit their stupid tendencies year ‘round. Ponder if you will…
1. Keurig Single Serve Coffee Makers. A year ‘round stupid. Spend $120 for a machine that can only brew 8 ounces of coffee at a time, using special “brew pots” about the size of a diner coffee creamer container which cost upwards of $6 apeice. Walmart – 12 cup Mr. Coffee; $14. 250 coffee filters; $1.19. 1 lb. of Boyer’s Denver Blend Coffee; $7. In combination, about 48 pots or 576 cups of coffee for less than 20% of the price of a single cup from Keurig. I don’t get it. “But you can get all kinds of flavored coffees!” Yeah, and you can still buy a pound of flavored coffee for a buck more than Folgers.
2. Chia Pets. In all of its various annual mutations (this year it’s an Oprah or an Obama Chia pet), one must wonder – Have you ever gone to someone’s home and have them rather excitedly tell you that they can’t wait for you to see their newest Chia Pet? I thought not.
3. The latest all-in-one tool that can remove any bolt no matter how badly rounded the head is, cut ham slices so thin that your in-laws will never come back, and restore that luster to your car’s finish while you’re wrapped in its fleecy softness. With sleeves. How have I lived without it for lo these many moons? I guess by acquiring tools meant to do one job well over the years, as needed. Mantra: never sell tools or kitchen ware (also tools), or firearms. Until you’re dead, of course.
4. The Sears Hammerhead ™ Auto Hammer. OK – a cool tool for a very specific use. The Tim Taylors of the world are drooling and can’t wait to check their stocking on Christmas morning. But I can’t remember the last time I needed a tool that was “ideal for hammering in tight places”. And even pros would be using a nail gun – have you ever seen a carpenter on a DIY network show use one of these things? I fail to see the demand for this one. I’d buy the nail gun – after buying an overkill air compressor first (thanks Dad!)
.
Well there’s a start. In contrast, Hot Wheels cars and Yo-Yos are always cool. And men’s handkerchiefs and ball park peanuts. And large plasma TV’s and muscle cars.
See? Buying for guys is easy.
1. Keurig Single Serve Coffee Makers. A year ‘round stupid. Spend $120 for a machine that can only brew 8 ounces of coffee at a time, using special “brew pots” about the size of a diner coffee creamer container which cost upwards of $6 apeice. Walmart – 12 cup Mr. Coffee; $14. 250 coffee filters; $1.19. 1 lb. of Boyer’s Denver Blend Coffee; $7. In combination, about 48 pots or 576 cups of coffee for less than 20% of the price of a single cup from Keurig. I don’t get it. “But you can get all kinds of flavored coffees!” Yeah, and you can still buy a pound of flavored coffee for a buck more than Folgers.
2. Chia Pets. In all of its various annual mutations (this year it’s an Oprah or an Obama Chia pet), one must wonder – Have you ever gone to someone’s home and have them rather excitedly tell you that they can’t wait for you to see their newest Chia Pet? I thought not.
3. The latest all-in-one tool that can remove any bolt no matter how badly rounded the head is, cut ham slices so thin that your in-laws will never come back, and restore that luster to your car’s finish while you’re wrapped in its fleecy softness. With sleeves. How have I lived without it for lo these many moons? I guess by acquiring tools meant to do one job well over the years, as needed. Mantra: never sell tools or kitchen ware (also tools), or firearms. Until you’re dead, of course.
4. The Sears Hammerhead ™ Auto Hammer. OK – a cool tool for a very specific use. The Tim Taylors of the world are drooling and can’t wait to check their stocking on Christmas morning. But I can’t remember the last time I needed a tool that was “ideal for hammering in tight places”. And even pros would be using a nail gun – have you ever seen a carpenter on a DIY network show use one of these things? I fail to see the demand for this one. I’d buy the nail gun – after buying an overkill air compressor first (thanks Dad!)
.
Well there’s a start. In contrast, Hot Wheels cars and Yo-Yos are always cool. And men’s handkerchiefs and ball park peanuts. And large plasma TV’s and muscle cars.
See? Buying for guys is easy.
Monday, December 20, 2010
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