Weekenders

I know. I'm awful. I'm antisocial. I don't share well. There's someone out there telling someone else out there that the evil lady that lives on the north end of that lake is a real B-word. I'm sorry. I try to suck it up. I try to ignore them. I really do try. I spend most of my time on weekends inside...even on nice days. Today I was quietly reading in my bedroom when the squeals of the weekenders just wouldn't leave me alone. I mean...they sounded like they were partying on my dock! They were...almost. I couldn't stand it. I went down to the dock with my leeches and went fishing. They were well within spitting distance off the end of my dock...and I don't spit too far at my age. Two pontoon boats tethered together made a wonderful island for these people to play. Loudly. I must say that they were polite enough (or maybe they could read my vibes of irritation) to finally figure out that mooring off someone else's dock wasn't all that correct. There are rules folks. I grant you that these are unwritten rules but rules none-the-less. I don't mind if you party in the bay by my house but stay away from my dock. I might just want to fish off my dock. I might get a bit nervous having people that close to my fishing gear, my boat, and my dock. Please keep the noise to a minimum. Sound carries on a lake and you really don't need to share your conversations and squeals of delight with everyone in a twenty mile radius. Think of the other people out there. Think of the locals. Try not to be an Ugly Weekender. Please don't throw your trash into the lake. Someone has to clean that stuff up. It doesn't just disappear. I realize that it may seem like the trash fairies come to clean up after you but I really didn't plan on becoming The Lake Trash Fairy when we moved here. I have no idea where that four by four came from that is floating on by my dock but I'll have to figure out how to drag it out of there. I suppose it's been specially treated so I won't even be able to burn it in the firepit. I wonder if my father would like to add it to his collection of building materials? MMMM. If it's still there on Monday I'll drag it up to the house to dry out. I really don't need old beer cans or bottles though...or old fishing line. I'll keep the old bobbers, hooks and sinkers.

Murphyism of the Day

The Parouzzi Principle

Given a bad start, trouble will increase at an exponential rate.

I picked another couple of buckets of berries this morning before the rain hit. Then it was "Make Hay While the Sun Shines" or more appropriately "Make Jam While the Rain Falls". I made five batches of raspberry jam. Three of the batches were my famous sugarfree recipe and two of the batches were "regular". I ran out of my special sweetener so I had to make two batches with....shudder....sugar. Anyway, I'm starting to see raspberries in my dreams. I think I just may have enough jam now but I do like my raspberry desserts so I suppose I'll still go out berry picking. HTP is designing some special labels for my jam. My next major culinary project will be Blackberry Wine. I've already started a bottle collection. I have so many bottles collected that I worry about someone may start thinking that I'm a closet wino. I'm not...I'm just storing empty wine bottles in the closet.

Murphyism of the Day

Higdon's Law

Good judgment come from bad experience.

Experience comes from bad judgment.

I like to pick berries.  It's such a peaceful and solitary enterprise.  It's my time to center myself, talk to myself, soak up a little of nature's peace and solace.  Unless the mosquitoes are bad or the deerfly are winging about or the humidity is enough to make your mosquito repellent all wash away with the sweat that even drips off the end of your nose.  I know....Ladies don't sweat, they glow.  Ladies don't pick berries.  I do.  But today was a perfect day for berry picking.  It was cool and the mosquitoes were at a minimum.  The deerfly were about but I was wearing a hat.  Hah!  Foiled them with my baglady hat!  Anyway, I picked two huge ice cream buckets of berries along my driveway and didn't even notice the three hours that drifted by.  I returned to the lake house centered and at peace with the universe.  Then I spent four hours cleaning berries in front of the TV while watching the DNC.  Actually...to be honest DNC sounds like a gynecological procedure.  Oh well...maybe I'd better go out and pick more berries tomorrow.  I think I need a bit more centering. 

Murphyism of the Day

No matter how hard you work at centering yourself, there is always something or somebody waiting to drag you off-center.    

I had to drive into the city to replenish the food supplies here at The Lake.  Bread...can't just make my own though I do know how because we're on a diet and we must have whole wheat bread that will make good toast in the morning and yet be soft enough in the afternoon for sandwiches.  Eggs...we go through a lot of eggs because we only use the egg white.  I must say that I suffer endless bouts of guilt because I relegate the egg yolks to the septic system every morning.  Fresh and frozen vegetables...we use an incredible amount of these and I'll have to replenish this supply again next week too until my garden starts producing meaningful amounts on its own.  Meat...I'm sorry but I just can't get over the habit of eating meat.  I can't bring myself to eat fish at every meal especially since I'm the only one in this family who cleans the fish.  Powdered creamer...we all know about my addiction to coffee.  I must have my creamer with my coffee.  I have enough coffee to last two more weeks.  While I was in the city buying supplies, #1 son made chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon buns.  See what happens when I'm not around to stop such excesses?   Oh well...at least I know my mixer still works...and the bread machine too.  I bought the yeast so I could make blackberry wine in a month or so...not bread...evil bread...evil carbohydrates.  I know...wine has carbohydrates too but I haven't given up chocolate either.

Murphyism of the Day

Lackland's Laws

1. Never be first.

2. Never be last.

3. Never volunteer for anything.

Today is one of those laundry/organizing days.  The whole day was spent running between laundry loads and packing up boxes to ship to my daughter in Arizona.  Four boxes.  Her stuff.  I sure hope she finds space for it.  Once again I am ever grateful and in awe of UPS.  They come right out to our little rural house tucked out here in by the lake far, far away from civilization to pick up and deliver things.  And at no greater cost then if I were to bring it out to their office.  Gotta love it.  All I have to do is call them, tell them the sizes and weights of the boxes and they do the rest...even print out the address labels.  I love UPS.  And now all I have to do is light a fire under #1 son's rear end so the downstairs no longer resembles a pigsty.  I figure it's going to take the full two weeks we have left before we have company arriving.
 
Murphyism of the Day

Borkowski's Law
 
You can't guard against the arbitrary.

I forgot to blog yesterday.   There are no false claims here as excuse.  I just forgot.  I almost forgot to blog today too.  It's really really nice outside.  I killed some weeds.  I watered my poor tomatoes again because they're constantly thirsty in this dry weather.  I've let my lawn go brown and my only hope is that it will recover after I water it tomorrow. 

I got an email from someone at the University telling me that the fantastic treefrog that I saw the other day was probably a newly emerged common grey treefrog.  I don't think so.  I've seen pictures of the common grey treefrog and this wasn't it.  Though it is kind of funny that he should pick that frog.  Maybe I should change my blog name to The Old Grey Tree Frog Ain't What She Used To Be.   

Murphyism of the Day
 
Thine's Law
 
Nature abhors people.

Now you're all going to think I'm nuts.  I went berry picking this morning and saw a spider.  Actually, I first saw the bee.  When you're berry picking you have to be careful so you don't pick a bee by mistake.  Believe me that bee picking can turn out to be a quite painful experience.  Anyway, I saw a bee but it wasn't moving.  Then I saw the spider.  It was...umm...sucking on the bee?  Anyway, aside from the gruesome reality of its actions, it was beautiful.  It was white.  Yes, it was white.   It was about the size and shape of a black widow spider but it was white and it looked like a perfect blossom from a raspberry bush.  It had pale pink markings on it's abdomen.  See...I told you that you'd think I was nuts.  What's this with strange unexplicable white creatures?  I don't know.  I can only report what I saw.  I decided not to collect the spider to bring home with me.  If something that small can kill a big scary bee, I don't want to think what it might have been able to do to me. 

HTP, #1 son, and I all went fishing out in the boat today.  It was a first for us this year.  All of our fishing this year has been done off the dock.   We did catch quite a few fish which I'll have to clean tomorrow.  Fish for supper tomorrow night!  #1 son doesn't have the patience to sit out fishing from a boat.  Poor boy started inquiring about supper not one hour after we started fishing.  Poor boy doesn't understand that fishing will continue until fish stop biting or until mosquitoes start biting.  Fishing take presidence over meals or any other pressing body functions.  We returned to the shore and the lake house at around 9 PM.  I made supper.  Fashionably late I'm sure.

Murphyism of the Day
 
Perrussel's Law
 
There is no job so simple that it cannot be done wrong.

Mae West's Observation
 
To err is human, but it feels divine.

I must remember that weekenders are one of the major sources of income for our poor little town.  I must grit my teeth and bear it when weekenders come and disturb the peace.  What is going on with people these days?  When did common courtesy fly out the window?  When did people stop teaching their children how to behave?  It's Friday and weekenders have arrived.  They formed a floating island of a huge pontoon boat surrounded by two speed boats and too many people in the bay by my dock.  They fired up a grill on the center pontoon boat and proceeded to party.  It was like a tailgate party...in my backyard.  I am gritting my teeth.  Oops!  There goes a jet-skier!  Oh well...they have to go home at the end of the weekend.  I am home. 

I finished cleaning the raspberries that I picked yesterday.  I really should go out and pick more berries but I haven't recovered from yesterday's picking and I'm not sure if I can face cleaning yet another batch of berries.  I do have to make a dessert for tonight. 

I saw a really spectacular tree frog yesterday while I was out berry picking.  It was beautiful.  In all my years up here, I've never seen a frog like this before.  It was white!  To say it was white is to understate this frog's beauty.  The white I refer to was the irridescent white of a perfect opal.  It sparkled and glowed in the sun as it sat on one of the raspberry bush leaves.  On closer inspection, I was able to see that this frog did have some faint, pale green markings.  A perfect jewel in my woods.   He sat so still for me.  I wish I'd had a camera with me.  I considered bringing him back to the house with me but didn't want to risk harming the beautiful creature.  Oh well...another moment in Wisconsin that I'll have to keep safe in my memories.  I've spent over forty years out here at The Lake and I've seen many different species of frogs.  This was the first time I ever saw this particular jewel.  I wish I could tell you who he was but I haven't found any reference to him in any of my books or on the net.  Interesting.  Have I discovered a new variety of frog?  One never has a camera when one needs one. 

  
Murphyism of the Day

Generally speaking, there is never a camera around when there is a picture begging to be taken.  If there is a camera, there is no film or there is sure to be some other camera operator error. 
 
 

By the time I picked two gallon buckets of wild raspberries, I was feeling a bit sick.  It wasn't all that humid today but I'd been at it for about three hours so I think maybe I should have brought along a water bottle.  Oh well, I decided to quite the wild raspberry theatre before I finished up on the final 1/4 mile of road.  Sue me.  If the weather holds, I'll start on that side tomorrow.  It took me two hours to clean up half the berries I picked today.  I still have to clean the other half.  By the looks of things, I'll have plenty of jam fixings this year.  I've never seen wild raspberries this big before.  It's a good season.  Unfortunately I can't say the same for the fishing today.  Not a nibble.  Oh well...at least the lake was pretty and quiet.  I'm going to see if I can make some kind of dessert for supper tonight...wild raspberries will be the main ingredient.

Murphyism of the Day
 
Hane's Law
 
There is no limit to how bad things can get.

It's not 107° like in Arizona but it is 85° and it's awfully humid outside right now.  Definitely tropical in feel.  I suppose I could go out and pick raspberries again in that sauna but instead I think I'll go fishing.  We did go out to the city to get groceries so I really don't need to catch fish for supper but I do like to fish.  I just wish someone else would clean them for me. 

Murphyism of the Day 
  
Dude's Law of Duality

Of two possible events, only the undesired one will occur. 

I quickly ran out after  breakfast and picked raspberries.  OK.  I didn't run.   It was too hot to run with the humidity the way it was especially having to wear long pants and long sleeves to ward of mosquitoes, deerfly and thorns.  Who needs a steam bath out here?  Anyway, I've got a system.  I pick along one whole side of the driveway and then I pick the other side on my way back to the house.  Works great!  Unfortunately I failed to take into account the amount of berries that I was picking.  By the time I finished picking to the end of the driveway, ready to pick the other side on my return to the house, my bucket was full.  I didn't bring a second bucket.  Oh well.  It had started to rain at that point so I power-walked the 1/2 mile back up the drive to the house.   Weather-willing, I'll bring two buckets tomorrow when I pick the raspberries.   In the meantime, I've finished cleaning and prepping the raspberries for jam-making and dessert in between loads of laundry.  I still have to clean the fish for supper.  Maybe I'll see if any fish are biting as the rain has stopped and the sun is back out. 
 
Murphyism of the Day
 
Naeser's Law
 
You can make it foolproof, but you can't make it damnfoolproof. 

It rained in the morning so I couldn't go out and pick raspberries again today.   I'll try to pick again tomorrow if it dries off a bit.  I did go out fishing.  I caught another bass...legal...and a few bluegill.  I'll clean them tomorrow and we'll have them for supper. 
 
Murphyism of the Day
 
Murphy's Saving Grace
 
The worst is enemy of the bad.
 
The Cardinal Conundrum
 
An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds.
 
A pessimist fears this is true.

I picked wild raspberries.  I cleaned wild raspberries.  I mashed up and prepped wild raspberries for future jam making.  I measured the wild raspberry mash and froze it.  I made wild raspberry sundaes from the very best of the wild raspberries that I picked.  Mmmmm.
 
Murphyism of the Day
 
If you catch a walleye at The Lake, there is a 95% chance that said walleye will be exactly 1" shorter then the length it needs to be in order for you to keep it.
 
If you catch a bass at The Lake, there is a 75% chance that said bass will be exactly 1" shorter then the length it needs to be in order for you to keep it. 

It's the  Annual Blue Gill Festival Weekend.  Our tiny little town is packed with tourists.  The lake is being churned to a froth by boaters, skiers, and little screaming kids in rafts.  It's a real good weekend to stay inside.  Instead, HTP and I went into town to tour the veneer factory.  They were celebrating their 100th year of existance.  They are also giving helicopter rides but I wasn't going to go that far.  A nice quiet tour of the factory was fine with me.   I got some neato keychains.
 
After our hour and a half tour which was very interesting (it was....I'm not kidding.  We'd never seen the inside of this factory before...any veneer factory for that matter), we went over to visit with my parents and sister across the lake.  My sister showed off her new hole in the ground (they're adding onto and totally remodeling their existing cabin).  It's always neat to see remodeling like this.  My father drew up the remodeling plans.  Actually, he designed the original structure which used to belong to my grandparents. 
 
I went fishing.  I caught five bass.  Four of the bass were just shy of legal (all four were more or less 13 inches...legal is 15 inches) so I had to release them back into the lake.  The fifth bass was 17 inches which was well over the legal length limit so I got to keep that one.  I did catch another bass but....it got away.   Yes, it was huge.  No, I can't prove it.  It broke my line.  Now I have to put all new line on my reel and re-rig.  Drat!  Anyway, at least I got it close enough to the dock to see it before it broke my line and stole my hook.   Anyway, I cleaned up the one bass and three bluegill that I caught too and baked them up for supper.  The fish tasted really, really, really, good. 
 
I'm going to pick wild raspberries again tomorrow.   
 
Murphyism of the Day 
 
No one is ever around as a witness when the biggest fish breaks your line.

OK.  They did it to me again.  They changed my blog format.  Yes, I suppose I can get used to this too but....
 
I've noticed that over half of the traffic on  my site has been from people who are worried about woodticks.  Life in Wisconsin is not totally idealic.  I can say that if there were no woodticks, mosquitoes, biting flies, hornets, excessive humidity or days where the temperature and the humidity make you feel like you live in tropical rainforest, Wisconsin would be my idea of heaven.  However, if Wisconsin were heaven, I would be dead.  Maybe there has to be some of those nasties to make you appreciate the rest of it.  And you're alive! 
 
I will say that I had to remove my own personal woodtick this morning for the first time.  Yes, it had stuck it's ugly little head into my shoulder.  I unstuck it, wrapped in tissue and flushed it.  I'll keep an eye on the bite area just in case that telltale bullseye rash shows up but it really wasn't attached for long enough to pass on any diseases.  You usually can figure that you're pretty safe if the woodtick has been imbedded less the 24 hours.  I probably picked up my little hitch-hiker while I was picking berries yesterday.  It wasn't there last night as I got ready for bed.  I know, I checked.  I always check.  I checked again this morning as I got dressed and I noticed a brand new mole.  I wish real moles were that easy to remove. 
 
HTP is going to be driving back to "The Big City"*  this morning to pick up #1 son from his college orientation.  #1 son called last night but HTP wasn't too clear about what the conversation was all about.  The call came in after I was already sleeping and HTP was awakened from "resting his eyes" in front of the TV.  HTP passed on a rather confused report that #1 son was asking for directions on how to get to the Union because he didn't have a mattress and there wasn't any wireless at the dorm?  Huh?  Oh well.  Hopefully we'll hear the real story tonight when #1 son gets back here.  He's supposed to register for his classes today and buy his books.  Knock on wood, all will go well.
 
Murphyism of the Day
 
Ferguson's Precept
 
A crisis is when you can't say "let's forget the whole thing."
 
The Unapplicable Law
 
Washing your car to make it rain doesn't work.
 
*Definition : The Big City (in bold letters) will henceforth refer to any city with more then one Best Buy and an airport with international flights.  The Yellow Pages come in a two volume set.  The big city (no bold letters) refers to any city with a Walmart, a Target, only one Best Buy but no international airport.  When I say that we drove into "the city", I refer to a place with a Walmart and two semi-major grocery stores.  I do not live in "the city".   It's a 20 minute drive to "the city".  It's a one and a half hour drive to "the big city".  It's a three hour drive to "The Big City".
 

HTP and son headed off to college today. Orientation for #1 son, navigator status for HTP. HTP plans to return to The Lake tonight. #1 son has a full day of activities with freshman orientation, an overnight in a dorm room, and registration for classes tomorrow. HTP plans to return to retrieve #1 son tomorrow. I elected to stay home with the dogs.

Because I elected to stay home, I was able to pick the first of my wild raspberries. OK. They aren't my raspberries. Does anyone actually own wild raspberries? I didn't plant them. They're wild, they planted themselves. They do grow on my property so ....they're mine. I get to share them with the bears, the birds, the chipmunks, the bugs, and whatever else would like to eat wild raspberries. All signs point to the possibility that this year will be a good one for the berry crop...both raspberry and blackberry. Please note that I don't like to count my berries before they're picked. But knock on wood, I think I'll be able to make plenty of jam this year and there should be plenty of berries left over to share with the wildlife.

Murphyism of the Day

It doesn't matter that you took that book out of that bookshelf...there is no way that it will go back in said bookshelf because there just isn't any room.

It's Wednesday and the lake is as still as glass. Only the wake of the occasional fishing boat disturbs the peace of the day. I don't mind fishing boats. I have a boat and like to fish too. I'm not too fond of water-skiers coming over from the neighboring big lake or the jet-skiers who zip back and forth madly beating the lake to a foamy froth. Every ding and dent I have in my fishing boat was caused by one of those idiots. Yes, I do use bumpers but bumpers can only do so much. Oh well...I get to enjoy peace until the weekend. I've never understood the mentality of those who come up here on vacation, who don't bother to take the time to enjoy the peace before they disturb it.

Murphyism of the Day

It's only as you sit to enjoy the peace and quiet that you notice the how noisy that motor is on the fishing boat that just went by.

P.S. I went to see Fahrenheit 911 today. It took a meal full of all-you-can-eat chicken wing dings, a shopping trip, and a half a glass of merlot before I calmed down enough to write this blog. What a bunch of slanted, conspiracy theory, propaganda bunk ala the kind of crap that came of Germany during the Hitler era! Did they call those films documentaries too.

My son starts college life in the fall. A new chapter in his life...and ours. Yesterday, he got a letter from the University (forwarded from Arizona)with his dorm and room assignment. I don't know much about the dorm to which he was assigned. I do know that it was around when I went to college there. It was old then, I doubt it's gotten any younger. It's doubtful that it has air-conditioning but I'm sure that it has running water.

Along with his dorm and room assignment, a packing list was provided for our entertainment. I must say that I did have some warning about a few of these items. We received a letter last week warning us that regular twin sheets will not fit on the beds in the today's dorms. What a racket! Sometime since I left the University, someone has replaced all the regular twin beds with X-long twin beds. Fine. Apparently, students are now taller then they were when I went to school. I can accept that. Maybe. But then, they send out a brochure from a contracted company that tries to sell you a "dorm-in-a-bag" with all the sheets, towels, pillowcases, hampers, pillows, etc., etc. that you just can't live without now that you plan to move into a college dorm room and all for the really cheap price of $200. Now as I reviewed the list of items that you receive in this package, I must say that the cost isn't all that bad for all you get but upon review HTP and I noted that we really don't think we need all that stuff. Regular pillows don't fit on their x-long beds? I have pillows. Regular towels won't work? I have all kinds of towels. A hamper? Can't he just take one of my clothes baskets? That's what he uses now. I was able to get x-long sheets...250 count (the sheets that were part of the package were only 180 count...perfectly adequate but?) at a store. I have a few comforters and blankets that will fit. So...end of story, I saved $150 and tossed the letter.

I didn't toss the packing list letter. I'm still laughing about that one. "What's a bath basket?", my son asks. Good question. I think it's a basket that you use to tote all your stuff from your room to the communal bathroom and back again each morning when you want to take a shower. "I have to bring an iron and an ironing board?" I think this must be a form letter. No. You don't need to bring an iron and ironing board unless you feel the sudden urge (hasn't happened in the entire 18 years of his life thus far) to iron something. I don't think I've ever bought him any clothes that need ironing. My own ironing board and iron are currently collecting dust in the closet. Years of dust. A bathrobe? I do think that my son does own a bathrobe. I bet it still has it's original price tag on it. I'm going to have to see if this is a co-ed dorm. He may just have to get used to having to wear one of those "bathrobes"...in public. Rubber flip-flops? OK. I can't imagine him actually wearing them but I'll go out and get him some. And some Desitin too because I don't think he'll actually wear them.

He moves to the dorm on September 4th. HTP and I plan to head back to Arizona in October. This will allow for a full month to get #1 son settled into his new dorm room. He'll have to get a good look at his new room to see what he'll really need to pack and what he needs to leave here. Space will be at a premium. I have my doubts that everything that #1 son imagines that he can bring to college with him will actually fit into half a dorm room. He will be sharing for the first time in his life. This is going to be really interesting to witness.

Murphyism of the Day

Measure once, measure twice, and it still won't fit.

OK...where's all this rain that we're supposed to be receiving today? I checked the forecast for the next few days on the web and decided to hold off on fertilizing/weedkilling my lawn. I need 48 hours of uninterrupted sunshine after I apply this stuff. There's not a cloud in the sky. I suppose since they predicted a dry spell for a couple of days, starting on Wednesday, we'll get our rain on Wednesday. Grrrr.

Why do I even bother adding a Murphyism of the Day section today? I just wrote it in the above paragraph. I'd just be repeating myself.

Hello My Baby, Hello My Honey, Hello My Ragtime Doll....


This song sung by the WB frog came into my head last night as HTP and I watched two yearling deer wander out of the woods onto our driveway. This in itself isn't all that unusual. Actually, it's quite normal out here at The Lake. We're always seeing all kinds of wildlife out here. We fully expected that #1 son's friend would have ample opportunity to enjoy the splendors of the wildlife that we normally experience while he was here. Nothing. He didn't even see the chipmunks that paraded around while his back was turned. Oh, don't get me wrong, he saw hummingbirds and goldfinch, he did see the occasional deer at a distance munching in some neighbors fields, but he didn't see deer in the backyard or in the driveway. And then the very night, after we'd returned from putting him on a plane back to Phoenix? "Hello My Baby, Hello My Honey...." The deer came out of the woods. I bet the fish are biting now too.

Murphyism of the Day

Nature's Law as Understood by The Old Grey Frog

Want rain? Get drought.

Want sunshine? Get rain.

Better bring an umbrella if the weatherman predicts sun.

If you bring an umbrella, it will not rain.

Nature rarely performs on a fixed time schedule.

Airport run today. #1 son's friend is going to be winging his way back to his home state of Arizona today. It was fun having him here for this little while. I feel bad that he never did get a chance to try a piece of my gooseberry meringue pie. None of us were hungry after all that food from last night's bonfire.

The morning has started out as one of those mysterious, misty, foggy mornings we occasionally enjoy out here in the woods. You can't even see the other side of the lake. The calls of the loons can be heard echoing mournfully across the lake. Of course, it could just be my sister's husband. He can be a bit loony at times.

Murphyism of the Day

Hey! Who stole my Murphy's Law Book? It's gone. I left it right here by my computer. I wonder if it didn't disappear down into the nether regions of our basement to join the bathroom reading library of #1 son? Oh well...

Old Grey Frog's Law of the Realities of Life With Children (or a spouse, or a roommate).

The minute you get used to finding something where you expect to find it...you won't.

As I sit here toward the close of the evening, I reflect on my many accomplishments of the day. Hah! I knew that I shouldn't have picked up that book that I bought yesterday with the golden intention of only reading a couple chapters. I finished the book. I did make a gooseberry meringue pie. Does that count? #1 son and his friend made a bonfire and we had a cookout for supper. Hopefully there will be room after all those roasted marshmallows for pie later on. I plan to watch the new episode of Monk tonight. Maybe I'll feel more like eating pie after that.

We have to drive into The Big City tomorrow to take #1 son's friend to the airport. After two weeks of idealic splendor here in the backwoods of The Lake, he must return to the dry heat of Arizona. We'll all miss him. Especially since this means that The Diet is going to be back on with a vengence. Poor kid, the mosquitoes and woodticks are going to miss him too.

Murphyism of the Day

No matter which side of the bonfire you decide to settle on, the wind will blow the smoke into your eyes.

I picked five ripe wild raspberries. It won't be long now and I'll have to don my berry picking gear, spray down with mosquito dope and sally forth in search of the perfect berries for my famous wild raspberry jam. Maybe a week...maybe two. In the meantime, I was able to find a few really nice spiny gooseberries. I decide what to do with them when I get back from town. Jelly? Meringue Pie? I'll think about it.

Murphyism of the Day

If it's a bright sunshiny day, you have to spend the majority of it inside doing something that you'd rather not do.

My dogs have decided to become the infamous chipmunk terrorists of The Lake. This morning they almost got one. What the heck they plan to do with one when and if they ever do catch one, I have no idea. But their attempt at using a pincer manuever almost netted them one this morning. Please note that if there had been any danger to said chipmunk I would have stepped in to save the poor thing...if I'd stopped laughing long enough. As it was it was hard to stop laughing this morning as I witnessed my dogs' antics and the desperate evasive manuevers of the chipmunk who at one point settled at my feet, looked up at me as if to say, "Aren't they ridiculous?". I must say that since this morning's incident, every time I take my dogs out for their walk, I hear angry chipmunk insults coming from the woods. Oh well...maybe this all will keep the chipmunks out of my blueberry patch, but probably not.

Murphyism of the Day

Something that is obviously an easy thing to do will end up as being the hardest thing that you've ever done.

It's raining but that's OK. I'm doing laundry today and I made two batches of strawberry jam. I don't hang out my laundry so the rain is no big deal. I'd much rather do indoor things on a day when it rains. Nothing is worse then having to do indoor things when it's a beautiful bright sunshiny day.

My son and his friend are still enjoying the outside today. They geared up and gathered firewood. Of course we have a whole garage full of firewood already but what's the fun of using that?

John Kerry picked John Edwards for his VP? I guess we've just got a couple of Johns running for the Democratic ticket. No pun intended.

Murphyism of the Day

If you let someone use the dry firewood in the garage for an outdoor bonfire, the weather will become frigid, the electricity will go out, the propane tank will be empty and there won't be enough dry firewood in the garage to keep you warm and alive.

I equate the above with the reason that President Bush wouldn't allow anyone to touch the strategic oil reserves.

Wow! Watching fireworks from the boat was great last night! Sparks and ashes and bits of artillery shells were raining down all around us. It was really spectacular. And we survived! Actually we were more in danger of getting hit by one of the other boaters out there on the lake. The lake was lit up like a small city. I don't think I've ever seen so many pontoon boats at one time. Almost makes me wish that we had one of them. Almost. I didn't know that they had headlights like a car. It was really weird. In the dark it looked like a car was driving across the lake right at you.

Murphyism of the Day

If you use repellent, it will be too breezy and cool for mosquitoes.

If you don't use repellent, it will be hot and sticky and mosquitoes will cover you and suck you dry.

Happy 4th of July!

After receiving two full inches of rain last night, things are pretty wet this morning. Despite this, our plans to go out in the boat to enjoy the fireworks tonight have not changed. According to the weather radar things should be clear, if humid, for the rest of the day...knock on wood. I plan to make the traditional beer brats steeped in onions on the grill, cold beer, baked beans, and salad. There only will be four of us this year but we'll be thinking of all you as we sit out in the boat swatting mosquitoes tonight. OOOOOHHHHHH, AAAAAAHHHHHH (slap, slap, dang it).

Murphyism of the Day

Coit-Murphy's statement on the Power of Negative Thinking

It is impossible for an optimist to be pleasantly surprised.

The Unapplicable Law

Washing your car to make it rain doesn't work.

Another Old Grey Frog's Rule on Rain

If you don't want it to rain and you spray pesky weeds with weedkiller, it will rain especially if the weedkiller clearly states on the bottle that it won't work if it's washed off by rain.

I have three children. Of course, they aren't children anymore but I'm still their mother and I gave birth to all three of them. I've never considered myself a typical parent but I guess I am. I took great care with our first child to maintain her baby book. We took tons of pictures of our first child. Then our second child came along and I tried to maintain her baby book and I think I did pretty good. We took 1/2 a ton of pictures of our second child. Then after seven years, our third child came along and I did buy a baby book and I did try to maintain it. We did take pictures of our third child but not nearly 1/4 ton of them. It's not that we didn't care. It's that there wasn't enough of the two of us (HTP and myself)to spread ourselves thin enough to take care of anything but the basics by that time. Believe me, there are plenty of basics that three children need and demand. I don't have a clue how people who have more then three children manage. All I can say is that it's a good thing that I only had three children because four might have pushed me over the edge.

Anyway, I told you all that because it reflects on other aspects of our life. It came to my attention yesterday that I'd never taken my third child out to pick strawberries. He'd never even seen a strawberry in it's natural state. On a strawberry plant in a strawberry field. Surely this couldn't be the case! Sigh. I'm an awful parent. Yet again I find something that I did with my first two children that I didn't find time to do with my third child. I bet he doesn't remember going to see Old Faithful either or Washington D.C. Oh well...we took him to see Disney World and the other two couldn't go because they had already flown the nest. He's seen New York..New York and the Eiffel Tower (both in Las Vegas) too. I bet he's done lots of things that the first two didn't because they flew the nest. I've got lots of pictures of the third child now too. We took pictures of him picking strawberries for the first time yesterday.

The reality of life is that only the first and the last child in a family receive Mom and Dad's undivided attention. Middle children have to learn to share. The last child receives a parents' attention at a time when they would probably prefer a little more negligence. Parents do the best they can. I hope I didn't screw things up too badly for any of my three children.

Murphyism of the Day

The number of photographs one takes of their children decreases as the number of children in the family increases.

Shirt never hits the fan at a convenient time.

Small children never can pronounce the word "truck" and will always wait to show off their mispronunciation until the most embarrassing moments.

I found my son's blog. It probably shouldn't surprise me when I find that my children have opinions about current events. Somehow I always see them as little kids still. (My oldest daughter scribbling with crayons on the window sill, my youngest daughter trying to rescue that mouse in the corner of the closet, my son walking through a store despite the umbrella stroller he's strapped into.) Right now my son seems to have a fairly conservative viewpoint yet he's got an open independant mind. That's just fine. He'll just have to be very very careful when he starts school this fall. The school he's going to attend this fall has a definite leftist bend.

I concider myself an Independant...not Ralph Nadar. I'm always horrified when I hear teachers ridiculing independant thinking when it differs from their own thinking. Yes, this does happen. Apparently it's ok to be an Independant as long as you vote for a Democrat but if you happen to like a Republican candidate you're ridiculed as ignorant and stupid or just poorly informed. I don't think my son will have any problems at school with this attitude this fall but I hope he remains cautious. This is an election year. It's best to concentrate on getting an education and stay out of politics. I pray that he listens to and reads about both sides of a story not just what one side wants you to hear. I hope I've taught him that he should wait until he knows all the facts, not just the facts someone chooses to feed him. Sometimes it's best to keep your opinions to yourself. Smile and nod. And then go out and vote your conscience.

Life goes on. Whoever does finally enter the office of President of the United States, it'll last four years. Four more years? Who knows. In four years my son should be graduating from college. A lot can happen in four years but those four years in the course of history are just a blink or hiccup in time. Heavens! It seems like yesterday when my son was busily tossing all his toys out of the playpen. Life managed to continue through JFK, Johnson, Nixen, Carter, and Clinton. I make no judgements other then life will continue on through our next president no matter who that may be.

Murphyism of the Day

No matter how many pens may be in a household, there is never a pen around when you need one.

No matter how much paper may be in a household, it is never by the phone when you need it

The probability of finding scissors, glue, tape, pencils, or pens is directly related to how many children you have.

I find myself blogging every day and repeating myself because there really isn't all that much different that I do here. I can tell you that we had a heck of a light show last night. I really do like thunderstorms. And we did have over an inch of rain last night. My garden and grass are really loving it. So are the weeds. I can tell you that I pull armloads of weeds every day out of the garden borders and I haven't made a dent out there. I always do laundry on Tuesdays. Wednesday nights are noted for All-You-Can-Eat WingDings but we don't always partake in these culinary delicacies. Last night we did. I can tell you that we picked up a new shelving unit for my son's room last night. We brought it home in our gas guzzling terrorist supporter and there was very little room left over for #1 son and his friend. We referred to them as packing material. What else is there? It really is a beautiful day today. I have to go out and refill one of the hummingbird feeders already. Oh well...I'll try to think up something of interest to discuss tomorrow.

Murphyism of the Day

No sooner do you tell everyone that there is no possible way that something could or will happen at any particular point in time then it happens thus illustrating what an idiot you are.