Apropos of Nothing v.6

Summer, That poetry was truely awful, but I understand your need to share....kind of like my need to share my inlaw experience!

Holly, your dad's was much better, and what fun to be able to pass them on to future generations.

Happy belated birthday Katye! Hope it was a good one!

Sally, Love the icicle light tale! I like to think of myself as a generally "nice" person, but I too sometimes can't resist pushing someones buttons if I feel that they are off base. In addition, it may be a bit "trailer trash" of me, but I thoroughly enjoy seeing the houses that are still lit up into Feb and later. It makes the dark drive to and from work a little cheerier.

Pixy, your story instantly brought to mind Mother, but with a "Fairy God-" in front of it! Kind of like Cinderella before the ball...

As for beliefs, I think that Portland said it best. Believe in what brings peace and happiness into your life as long as you bring no harm to others in the process, and then have the open mindedness to let others do the same. Enjoy the diversity that results.

Lynn, Sorry you have caught the "funk" bug too! I am slowly crawling out of mine. I too have bulbs that still need planting, and don't even have the excuse of having "lost" them. What in the world was I thinking ordering 100 daffodill bulbs when I didn't know exactly where they were going anyway? My biggest problem is that not only do I want the "perfect" spot for plants, but I want to have the area that I plant them in cleaned up when I do the actual planting. That makes planting tons of bulbs a long drawn out process for me!

Well, I feel strongly about a little high-stakes item called eternity.

Did I mention that, up at the Sitka Art Center on Saturday (resident artists' open house), a herd of roughly 40 elk were lounging in the field? Lots of babies. It was pretty spectacular. No horned ones though; they must not have lasted through hunting season. Or maybe there's only one mature male per group?

One year my resolution was to be more tolerant...and if that failed, to at least try to be taller. I'm fairly certain I failed at both.

I just downloaded a coupla weeks' photos.
This is me getting soaked yet again, the day after Christmas.

LOL! Oh NOO, bonehead!

Along the lines of soferdig's post about keeping plants until ready to put in the ground, after 20 years of gardening in the PNW, I think I've had an epiphany! Even though garden wisdom states that planting shrubs in the fall is a good idea because of all the water and the encouragement of good root development, for two years in a row I have planted in the fall only to lose the plants because they were not established by the time the hard freeze hit. This year I was very excited about some shrubs I planted in the fall, only to have two weeks of well below freezing weather hit them before they became dormant for the year. I'm thinking I'm not going to plant in the fall anymore. I'll just wait until spring. There is still plenty of rain in the spring, as we all know.

LOL Bonehead!

Summer, love the water pic! Looks like a good time. It is not surprising that you didn't see any horns in the elk herd that you saw. A few cool facts about Roosevelt elk from the Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife:

"Elk are social animals, living in herds for much of the year. During spring, summer, and winter, elk tend to split into cow–calf herds and bull herds.
Cow–calf herds are usually led by older, experienced cows and may include adolescent bulls.
During the mating season (rut) in early fall, adult and subadult bulls find and temporarily join cow herds. The larger, more aggressive bulls try to gather harems of cows, which they defend against competing bulls (Fig. 2).
Harems range in size from 3 to 4 cows to as many as 20 to 25 cows. Bulls socially dominate the cows within their harems, but the movements of these breeding groups are still determined by older, lead cows.
Adolescent males form small bachelor groups or patrol the edge of breeding harems.
Breeding activities cease by mid-October; bulls usually leave the cow–calf groups then and the herds disperse into wintering areas. "

Pixy, I will be curious to see how your theory works for you. I have tried both spring and fall planting with shrubs, and have had much more success with those in the fall because my forest edges seem to dry up sooooooo quickly when the rain lets up at all.

I also planted several shrubs and perennials this fall, along with a bunch of bulbs. It seems to me they were probably better off in the ground than left in pots for the winter, since I had already bought or traded for them. However, it remains to be seen if they are alive or not after the freeze. I did mulch many of them with compost, but not all.

Another odd result of the freeze for me was a strange occurrence with my new path. On the first day that the weather warmed up a little, the center of the path caved in about an inch where the water line runs under it, and over the next 2 days as it warmed up further it caved in over the place we put the drainage pipe and drain rock going down the center of the pathway. I was dismayed with the thought I would have to re-do the whole thing after hours of carefully leveling the pavers. Then, a few days later, it raised back up and the path was almost completely level again. I'm sure there is a completely logical explanation for this based on the principals of physics, but it seemed like magic.

I'm going with magic...

Great description of my elk around my house. I so enjoy the boys when they get to competing. The Bulls are all together in their own acreage and the breeding bulls are alone with their harems. Kind of takes the fun out of it but the crackling of racks all September is kind of good background noise.
Holly I think the explanation might be the pipe and drainage ditch thawed before the soil on each side of it. So when the soil thawed it too lowered.
Our Summers are terribly dry and spring planting can be followed with plant loss when planted then. I always plant in Sept and Oct for success of hardwoods.

Well said Judi.

Great grandson, completed his mission, we are exhausted. What a fun little one. 4 going on 10. He is so smart and tries to manipulate his mom so hard and she lets him sometimes. It was hard not to laugh sometimes.

I think my problem with fall planting is that I don't do it early enough in fall. Late fall just won't do. So maybe if I plan on starting in summer, I'll finally get around to it in early fall. LOL Some of the bulbs are coming up, I don't know if they're slow or I'm just anxious to see what made it through the deep freeze.

Having the house re-plumbed and DH recovering from surgery at the same time is turning into quite a task. The man doing the work is accommodating, but I still need to move things out for him to be able to get to sinks and such. One good thing, when it's finished all the cupboards under the sinks will be cleaned up. But now I have to go get new faucets without DH's help. snicker, snicker, snicker. Anyone have a preference on dishwashers? Some of the reviews I've been reading aren't good at all.

I have a Maytag. I'm sure it wasn't new when I bought the house in 2003. Being one person, I don't use it every day. That having been said, it's done fine for the last 6 1/2 years. It's pretty quiet and the dishes are dry when I get them out.

If I ever bought another, I'd get the highest quality with the fewest features. I really only use of the cycle options.

Maybe that's the issue, that I don't do it early enough. I was planting in early November. I don't know if they would have been killed if still in pots. At least i could have moved them into the greenhouse. It was the fact that they were still growing that hurt them. Guess I'm just tired of money down the drain.

Holly, I vote magic.

Oh, I forgot that......I go with magic too!

Sally, take your wineglass to the store when shopping dishwashers. Many of them don't have the clearance needed for taller wineglasses. I find it really difficult finding short glasses - most seem to be the size of a chalice these days, perhaps to justify the current 1-2 glass recommendation??

Other than personal preference regarding inside layout, I think they are all about the same.

My cousin did spent tons of money on a fancy stainless steel double layer model, and regrets the purchase. She thought she would use the top for their normal 2-person household, and the whole unit when entertaining. As it turns out, none of her larger items fit at all and she ends up doing more hand washing.

I have a Fisher & Paykel with two drawers and I love it. For one or two people I think it's great. I can put wine glasses and other delicate things in one drawer and do a regular load on the other at the same time. Usually I use just the top drawer unless I'm entertaining. Sometimes I put pots, etc in the bottom. It's a great water and energy saver. It's is very very quiet as well.

I'd love to have the kind with drawers where you just fill one drawer with dishes, run the cycle, then start on the other drawer. One would never have to even put dishes away!

I concur about making sure the clearance is good. It's a frustration to me that our glasses only barely fit on the top rack, and they are not even wine glasses! The other thing I wish I had paid attention to is whether the racks could be adjusted to accomodate things like bowls without putting them upside down, which is a waste of space and hence of energy. We had an expensive Kenmore before this one, which is a cheap dishwasher we got off of Craigslist, and the expensive Kenmore didn't clean worth a darn, even though it was supposed to according to the reviews. I think we had a lemon.

As usual, so many topics behind that I don't have the time to address them all!

Excellent suggestion, bondhead about taking the wine glasses along when searching for a dishwasher. It wouldn't hurt to also bring a list of things you use regularly that are a little out of the ordinary, like plastic measuring cups and large utensils to see how they would be handled.

Sally, thanks for the wish about the owie. I took Pixy's advice and did a little personal exploration. I think I did find a tiny thorn and, at any rate, things were a lot better by the end of the second day. I will keep all suggested remedies noted, however, as I do have lots of rose bushes and pruning season will be here soon. Pixy, how is your lily wound coming along?

Sally, Felco has a very nice leather holster for pruners and I keep it hooked on the fanny pack I wear in the yard as I also need my binoculars for my bird watching addiction. Got a new pair of binoculars from the kids for Christmas and requested a new fanny pack for them. Son was wondering if I knew where the closest "60's" store was, but did break down and find me a fanny pack at one of the sporting goods stores. I love having the "hands free" advantage and am nearly always in the yard so attired.

I stick my pruners, weeder and favorite trowel in the back pockets of my jeans and I never lose them. Very handy.

Is Pony on a preapproved absence or should we be inquiring as to her health?

Reverend Pony, where are you?

Our d/w is a Kitchenaid, 10 yrs old, love it EXCEPT for the tall glass issue and only a few dinnerplates will fit in it ( not enough clearance). I find that so frustrating.

Sharon, glad you are on the mend.
Sharon, Julie, if you are home today and have some free time, come on over. I just received my HUGE box of seeds from the Piggy Swap. I need to sort through them to take a bunch to Pixy's.

Willow, does that motivate you to keep moving and never sit down?

Lynn, I am at work, don't know what Julie is doing......probably still reveling in the peace and quiet around her little home.

^_^ yeah

There is no sleeping tonight - after watching the images from Haiti.

Sharon, my finger is completely healed, thanks.

Portland, those are truly disturbing images. It's the saddest thing. I was listening to the news in the car on the way home and the reporter could not stop crying describing what he is seeing. I started a kundulini yoga class tonight and we spend a good deal of time focusing on sending healing energy and love to that part of the world. I wish I could do more, besides donating to Doctors without Borders,etc.

Pony doesn't get pre-approval before she takes off. She is a wild pony and goes at will.

I have never watched television news.
Don't think this is the time to start.

A happy photo: I have a really nice collection of Haitian art. Their stories are always interesting. Here is the prize of the bunch, one of the early masters, Seymour Bottex.

I don't watch TV news either. Haven't for years and ,no, this is definitely not the time to start. It does no good to see the same horrible photos time after time, ad infinitum.

That is very colorful and interesting.

Another example, one by Gerard Fortune (forgive the flash, I'm just snapping photos tonight).

I just bought a giraffe for my daughter for christmas that was made in Haiti. Made out of scrap metal with a 7-up cap for an eye. She going to hang it on the fence in her potting area.

My nephew and his wife adopted two children from Haiti years ago. They are grown now and live in Poulsbo. Beautiful kids.

I think giving money is the quickest way to help even if it isn't very satisfing. We always give through Mercy Corps.

I heard today that giving with a credit card (to a known agency) is considerably less expensive and quicker than a check, too. They will need help for a long time. Apparently, the first six days people give heavily and then after that, the donations die out. They will need our help for awhile.

As tragic as this is (and as hard as it is to watch on the news), I find it extremely gratifying to hear of the wealthy giving in large amounts and governments racing with one another to be the first to get aid in. That is truly a warmer, kinder world than any that has existed heretofore. And that is a good thing.

I love that second one, Summerkid. That one has such a good feeling to it.

Katie, I thought of that, too. I especially liked Obama's words: "You will not be forsaken.".. The loss of life is horrifying. One of the families at Andrew's school has a daughter who was there on a humanitarian mission and she is missing. It is hard to imagine what those parents are experiencing. To be honest, I don't want to imagine it.
And at the same time, after urgency of the crisis is passed, this is an opportunity to rebuild Haiti in the highest and best way. I hope the world supports this until the support is no longer needed. When my government spends money on things like this, I don't mind paying taxes at all.

Pixy, I read about that young woman and wondered if your family knew her. It is all so hard to fathom, just incomprehensible the amount of suffering and loss. I am listening on NPR about some success stories of rescues and people helping each other in whatever way possible. It is heartening to hear about this side of the tragedy as well. I think it is good to donate to whatever organization you know well and trust to use the funds in an efficient and most effective way.

One of the Haitian art galleries that I patronize says it considers Red Cross the best venue. I used them for Hurricane Katrina & was pleased by their service.

Have been working and just trying to catch up on all that is here. Still reading but just wanted to mention to Summer that if you want at least one admitted atheist's view of why religion is (or has been "so bad") read "god is Not great" by Christopher Hitchens. I am not going to go into my own personal beliefs here and I respect the personal beliefs of anyone who does not feel compelled to make me have their beliefs as my own. Hugs to all of you!

Yeah, I have a lot of Hitchens' stuff.

You all go to bed so early. I'm still checking DG, stretched out in front of the fire, catching up on "Poker After Dark," drinking Black Butte Porter, brushing the animals, doing sit-ups, and reading "Mein Kampf."

For me, this is multitasking. For everyone else, probably hedonistic horsing around ...

LOL summer!

this multitasker has to get up at 5 am. It's difficult catering to myself: I'm a combination night-owl/morning person. It used to be easier to stay up all night, but work really gets in the way!

Well, I paid for it in lack of productivity today. When I woke, the clock said 11:27, so I sat up, petted the animals for awhile & stared out the window at the storm, then slippered intot the kitchen & started the coffeemaker.

Then I turned to look at the battery-operated clock on the wall. Something wasn't right. It said 3:08 p.m.

The power had flicked out during the night, messing with my bedside clock, and I had slept 10 straight hours without knowing it.

I love when that happens and it's completely not my fault!

Holly,, the young woman was found dead. My daughter, Claire, knew her. It's the second young person from Bellarmine Prep to die overseas this year.
In a horrible coincidence, the family is from Port Orchard. This town is the home of another friend of mine who lost her 16 year old daughter several years ago while the girl was a student and volunteer in Bolivia. It's a small town. The families likely know one another.