ROTFL
Harper's Birthday - Part 6!
Harper, will you settle for biscotti? Stays fresher longer and is easier and cheaper to ship. I'm sending y'all a cyber-snack of zucchini and green onion fritters from the zucchini that I turned my back on while dealing with the mason, pump and bee guys. It was the size of a two week over-due baby. Great with sour cream; like potato pancakes. Thanks for helping me make the darker moments lighter.
Carrie, you may live in the city, but where's the challenge? Atlanta has 5.25 million people, but I have to come up here for a little "action".
L
OHHH, Laurel, I NEED that recipe. I can taste them!!! :))) Too funny, even the zucchini wanted in on the excitement.
Better say HB again, Harper! You shared a BD with my DH today.
Of course I'll settle for Biscotti! The zucchini sounds great too.
Happy, happy birthday to your DH Jan!
Thanks, Harper. He is DEFINITELY a keeper. It just gets better each year.
OMG, Laurel!!!! I've been way behind on DG and just checked in to see what's happening on Harper's birthday. I am just laughing out loud (at your expense...sorry!) at the latest doings at Maypop! My goodness! That bee snafu - and especially your unique style of describing the characters- is, as someone said, much better than television! I actually got my DH to mute the PGA golf tournament to listen to me read your posts to him. And the "over the top" insult by the stove to blow its glass door......well, that is just more than anyone should have to endure amidst the 7 foot salamander and the 60,000 multi-national bees duking it out while your pasture fence is becoming history. You need to drop everything and get yourself up here to the serenity of the NH woods where perspective can be regained!! But never mind.........we couldn't stand it if you weren't down there relating the Maypop Saga to us all. Hang in there, and keep the bees in the hive!!
Hi Louise, I've wondered where you'd been. Was going to DM you tonight, but then the bee guy and his wife showed up and drank a bottle of Reisling. Then we had a major discussion on the virtues of muscadine wine. They are much more knowledgeable than I am on the subject. :) Apparently there are many varieties of muscadines. Who would have imagined? I wonder if it comes in vintages beyond a week as well? Southern hospitality. lol
The bees are still in the tree. They are checking out the hive, but not convinced they should relocate. I told the bee guy I'd suit up tomorrow and rearrange the combs if it would help. I am running around the garden yelling, "Ciao bella" day and night, but they are not leaving. I think they are not Italian bees at all, just basic Appalachian types. Tomorrow I'm going to try, "Ya'll come back...hear?" (with a certain lack of sincerity) and see if that works. I've got to have these bees gone by Monday morning.
You can see by the photo that there is no serious interest in moving in to this hive. Only shoppers. BTW, $600 for the new pump, $70 for the oven front and the appliance guy has not come back with the parts and bill for the dishwasher and washing machine. I do have my mother's old wash board hanging on the wall as an option but hauling water up that mountain to fill the toilet tank is a pain. Makes you think twice about what constitutes a constitutional.
Holding things down hea' in the South,
L
Hi Laurel,
Looked up the thread and got caught up on your saga. My, My....I think you deserve a prize for patience... If nothing else, the bees really owe you one.
I can identify with not having the comforts of life. A flushing toilet has to be up there at the top of the list when it comes to necessities. No one has the back-up outhouse behind the house anymore. LOL.
I don't know about you, but I can improvise with a lot of things when it comes to survival without utilities, but the least favorite to deal with is the flush.
Hope things get to a more even keel for you this week and your life gets back to normal..
You are right about my week. The Southern family contigent is coming Tuesday and we will have a summit meeting with the North on Saturday. We also are meeting with a regional contingent that believes in intervention. This being a non-current event discussion group that is the most I can say. LOL
So when I come up for air next week I will check your progress on returning your home to its past glory. Take Care. Cyndie
My, my, Laurel, you DO keep us entertained, but at what expense? "Y'all come back now, not!" Poor Laurel, poor bees, being evicted, although it's not as if the new place isn't twice as nice! I just can't seem to muster up any sympathy for the bee guy, who presumably is getting paid for his time and er, expertise, nor his wife, who both come and drink all your wine but leave you with all your bees. Ah, but they are experts on wine.
Best wishes to Cyndie and all her contingents and happy birthday Harper!
Hi Louise!
Laurel, glad to hear you have such a great sense of humor. what would you do without it?
Harper, you're the one with a great sense of humor. Anyone who can be so gracious as to keep a BD going this long deserves a medal. I'm looking forward to your real BD. Dmail addy for goodies.
I am now dressing in the bee suit and am a bee sugar water "wet nurse". I felt sorry for the bee guy who works nights (yes, Carrie, we are paying him) because he had a chance to go kayaking with friend today, on his day off. I dressed up in heavy jeans, shoes, bee gloves and hat and gave them new sugar water several times today (think I'm beginning to tingle and feel let down). Ahem, back to science...he explained that bees bite before they sting, so you need heavy clothes. Black jeans, fleece hoody, hiking boots and then the bee gear which is killer in this heat! We have moved the hive to the back of the garden with the sugar water. They are emptying the water rapido but are still in the tree. I need to keep feeding them so they won't go back to the chimney. The mason arrives at 9 a.m. to tear it down and does not want to see any bees! I am not doing this as a totally selfless act. Thought I might want to start raising bees, but have changed my mind. lol.
Here's where they're hanging...
L
Hi Harper! Happy Birthday, and say hello to Sam for me!
Laurel - "sugar water wet nurse".....oh, LOL!! It just doesn't get any better than that!!!
I'll be "off com" for a couple of days (going to Conn.), so y'all behave while I'm away!
Great day today with the 3 and 5-year-old grandsons! We made cookies and popcorn, then they took a hike in our woods, then we went to the lake for a swim, then roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, then painted flower pots (rather, scribbled on pots) as presents for their Mommy when she comes back from helping out in Colorado with Granddaughter # 1 born 10 days ago. We were pooped when we got back from taking them home. We're still talking about what fun they are (and how tired we are)! LOL
Ohmigosh! I am laughing so hard over the 'Maypop' saga. I swear it needs to be a book! Highly entertaining, and you have all of my sympathies, Laurel.
Louise ~ so glad you had a greart time with your 'grands'. They are so adorable.
Aaaaah! That's alotta bees! LOL, "tingling and let-down". I haven't heard those words in a long time. I hope your efforts pay off. I can't imagine dressing in all those clothes in that heat! My real BD doesn't come 'till October. It's a ways away.
Louise, Sam says "Hi" back!! Sounds like you're having a blast with the grandkids. I wish my own grandmother (I love her though) was as fun as you. She would tell me bible stories all day, all night. Well, she told me lots of other stuff too, but no cookies, popcorn, hiking, etc! Wheeeeeee!
And that's the news from Maypop this week...where all the women are beautiful, all the men are virile, all the cats have hairballs and the dogs have singular landscape plans.
Monday beckons and the mason will be here early.
L
I agree with Candyce, Laurel! You should write a book!
All the women WE know are beautiful!
Bur are the men virile??? That counts for a lot!
Love the Bee Saga.....better you than me! I'm glad you can find the humor in it and a book is a great idea!!
You're the only one who can tell us that, Laurel dear. :-)
I have had the great good fortune to have many wonderful friends for all these years that enjoy sharing Maypop. Little did we know that it came with a story a minute! I'm doing what I wanted to to do ever since I was a child and my friends from childhood have followed me ever since. Friends come to Maypop to (a) confirm the weirdness that I tell about, (b) have a singular Zen experience, or (c) have a good time experiencing what they think life in the country is all about. Either way, it's about friends and sharing.
L
Carrie, umm hmmm.
(knowing smile)
Re: " tingle and let-down" It brought back memories of the grocery store. Too funny. I'm sure you all have been there done that.
I'm STILL laughing about all the goings-on at Maypop. Can hardly wait to check next week after visiting DGKs in Oregon. The 7 yr old is making a list of things to do with Gramma. My visit was cut short at Easter cuz of Mom's health, so I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off. My DH is taking over Mom duty. Boy, do I love that man of mine. Definitely virile here. (wink, wink)
Looking forward to Oct. when we can really celebrate with you, Harper.
Have a great week!
Okay, I'm planning Harper's BD biscotti, but need to do a little dusting first. Everything will be under control by October. After all, isn't the contractor's mantra, "two more weeks lady"?
Laurel
I'm ignoring the new view while lamenting to a friend who called to check on the latest installment. I told the chimbly guy that we decided to put in French doors and skip the $33,000 new chimney. Boy, some people have NO sense of humor!
L
Yowza! You're replacing the ENTIRE chimney?? Have the bees gone to their new home?
Biscotti can wait. It's only August, you know? I'm hangin' on to 39, can you tell?
I thought that was the farmer's mantra. "When will you have corn?" "Two more weeks." (That was the answer they gave, whether in June or July, probably even in May, at my uncle's farm in VA.)
Looking dusty, Laurel, but in an elegant way.
All three stories plus below the frost line footings The biscotti will not wait. I have my priorities! There is the option of uniscotti. That is my version of a once baked loaf that allows you to freeze, slice and bake as needed. The second baking is really a toasting and it's great when your stuck for a Winter dessert.
The bees are not cooperating at all. I realize that some of you might think this is a tale of one disaster after another, but we don't mind it at all. We would never be so tolerant of life's simple aggravations in our other life. We (and especially me) are otherwise more compulsive about things. We look at Maypop as an adventure. There is no product here. It's all about the process. I can always go for a walk in the woods.
So, no chimbley? Wow, that's quite a decision.
I'm checking in from Oregon. I just had to see the latest installment at Maypop.
Am having fun with the DGKs. Going to the Children's Museum today.
jan
Jan, Hope you are having a great time with the DGKs. Children's museums are such fun. Do the magnet thingies and body heat pictures for me and tell us about your trip.
Carrie, corn is one of the few things we don't grow. You are right about the farmstand corn drought. We consider growing it every year, but think it's such a worm pain. Thanks for the "elegant" comment. Dust is filtering up from the jackhammering and the picture hardly shows what's what.
Harper, the bees are still in the tree. They have got to bee hungry beecause they are drinking up all the sugar water in two to three hours. The bee guy works nights and I told him that I could not dress up in bee drag multiple times a day (and pay him to remove bees). So, I suggested we move to plan...hmmm, Q? He says we might end up having to use Roman numerals. I said, "It will be your problem at that point, not mine." So, plan Q involved putting the sugar water in the hive. The bees have to climb through a tiny opening and sheets of wax and honey to get to the sugar water. It worked great for the last two days, and it slowed down the feedings. There is a catch. I can't go to the rear of the garden to water because the bees are so frenzied while the sugar water is in the feeder that they will not allow me to approach. We are in the third year of a major drought. I can't spend hours watering in bee gear (though I feel a certain je ne sais quoi when wearing the outfit). Perhaps it relates to my old nursing uniform. All dressed up in white, with a cool hat, and no place to go. We have moved on to plan R which involves not feeding them at all for two days. Bee guy is hoping they will move from the tree to the hive. I'm thinking they are waiting for the new chimbly to be built so they can move back "home" Is it possible bees are that smart?
There have been interesting moments with the chimbly "crew". I'll get into that another time. But you know the saying, "It takes a nation"? We are talking about putting together a set of teeth here. I'll keep 'ya posted.
Here's a hummer pic I took two days ago. I'm trying to learn about photography and how to use the photo editing software. I'm a newbie.
L
Better pic than I ever take!
Maypop Your writing style is fantastic.
I hope you keep this thread as groundwork for a short story.
Yesterday's posts had me in stitches.
Your house must have looked like a Laural and Hardy set.
Jo Ann
Great hummer shot!
Yeah, your stories are entertaining. I'm glad to hear you're taking things in stride. What's life for other than living, right? Can't wait to hear about the chimbly "crew".
I thank you all for the support you have shown while we go through this experience. Especially you, Harper, who has shared your BD moment (even if it is in stop motion time). You deserve lots of wishes added on to "happy".
Jo Ann, I'm late on posting how much I admire your paintings.
Can't write tonight. I'm overwhelmed with external stimuli. Four days of jackhammering and I barely have enamel on my teeth! The cats are so stressed that we can play croquet with the hairballs. They're tough to get at under a king size, four poster (the hairballs).
Vernon, the appliance guy has not been heard from since he called and offered up the lame excuse, "back order lady, it'll be about two weeks". I have to sit on the washing machine during spin cycles. My cheeks look like tent flaps in a hurricane.
Aside from that things are calm at Maypop and the bees are still in the tree.
Laurel
Harper - quite an image I have of you sitting at your Grandmother's feet listening to Bible stories 12 hours a day! LOL I'm so lucky that Hank also likes to play! I just love adventure - especially if it involves woods and anything outdoors!
Laurel - You did it again....As everyone else has said, you really have a calling as a humorist writer. Your descriptive writing style is as good as any I've read, and it obviously leaves the reader coming back for more - even Jan out in Oregon is like a junky pushing her way onto someone's computer just to read the latest Chapter! LOL It tops Harry Potter, in my book - and I liked the one book of HP I've read so far.
Wear the "je ne sais quoi outfit" the next time you talk to Vernon. It may give you that intangible edge with him.
That photo of you sitting in front of the stylish plastic backdrop just said it all. I love how "in place" everything else in the room is! That photo just kept me laughing for minutes. I can see a large aquarium there - with Vern and the Keeper stopping in during the week to feed the fishies. Just think of all the water plants you could get into with an aquarium that large!
Please go to bed, get some rest and write the next chapter here tomorrow night! You are truly our heroine.
Oh, and I'll match your hole in the wall and raise you a hole in the guest room floor.........LOL
No......you win hands down!
Awwww Laurel, I didn't start my birthday thread and I feel kinda silly having one... I'm not anymore special than anyone else, but I'll play along in the fun, along with gratitude to those who did keep it going all this time! Plus, I'd be all alone if no one was allowed to share their lives with us here. I hope your teeth recover Laurel, your cats too. : ) Sorry to hear about your tent-flapping butt cheeks, but It's kinda an image I'd like to get outta my head!
Louise, my Grandmother used to tell me that Jesus was her boyfriend. She loved him so. In fact, now that I think of it, my sister told me that Grandmother told her that He appeared at her bedside one night. She asked him, "How do I know it's you?" and He flicked his wrist and bloody flesh appeared on the pages of her bible in her lap. I don't know why my grandmother never told me this story. Maybe she thought I was too young. Bloody flesh is kinda gory.
Grandmother was nowhere near an outdoorsy type. Aside from the bible stories, she taught me crochet, a wee-little bit of baking, but mostly, she talked about her roses and how she plants every little seed she has, even those from an orange she just ate. She liked science, and would tell me that she knows so much because she spent everyday of her life learning, even though she only had a sixth grade education. She was very smart (but not beyond bragging! lol). So, although she didn't play with me like kids like to play, she was still someone who made a firm impression in my mind. She shows up in my dreams all the time. She never speaks, she just is.
Pretty cool, huh?
Harper
Harper, I was just referring to my mouth cheeks...LOL My butt cheeks are so firm from riding the bucking washer I don't need tea and sympathy. I'll need to read about grandmother a bunch of times and ask questions to understand. She gifted you with important memories that are a part of your cultural experience.
L
Very cool. I never remember my dreams.
Laurel, we crossed in the ethernet - I was answering Harper.
This message was edited Aug 14, 2008 10:20 PM
Sweet dreams to all who remember and a rest full sleep to the rest.
A nice cross Carrie
Laurel