Word of the Day

Sydnocentric - Attitude peculiar to residents of Sydney that asserts that only events and objects based within Sydney have any cultural worth.

OK. I give up. I refuse to constantly dig up excuses why I haven't blogged. I'll blog when I blog. I'll try to blog on a daily basis. However, sometimes there just isn't anything worth blogging about. If I hear one more News Alert about the oil rig explosion and resultant ecological disaster in The Gulf, I may just puke. I'm sorry. I really am sorry. However, there's nothing that I can do about it right now. If that makes me a bad person...well...I'm sorry. I can't stop Iran from developing obtaining a nuclear weapon. I can't stop someone from bombing the Pentagon. I can't stop some stupid fanatic from blowing up a plane full of innocent travelers. I haven't discovered a cure for cancer or any other disease that plagues mankind or even those that plague members of my own family. I'm sorry. Crap! I haven't even been able to trap the raccoons that have been coming up on my deck each night or the chipmunks that keep digging up the bean seeds that I've planted out in the garden as soon as they've started to sprout. *sigh*

Sis and I took a fetter-less, free day on Saturday, away from spouses and parents, to enjoy what we originally thought was a used book sale but turned out to be an Arts & Craft Sale along with a used book sale which the local library sponsored. Sis and I both ended up purchased multiple bags of books. It may sound a bit childish but...Sis bought more books than I did. *sigh* She bought THREE big bags of books. I only ONE big bag of books. Then...after I got home, I discovered that I already owned four of the books that I'd bought. Oh well...it was for a good cause. I'll donate the surplus books to our local library here at The Lake. And then....Sis and I both enjoyed the Arts & Craft part of the SALE. I love Arts & Craft sales...especially when HTP or anyone else of sound mind isn't around to curb my impulsive need to spend money. Hey! I got some good stuff! So did Sis! I bought two new cutting boards...hand-crafted out of Corian. Beautiful! I may even gift one to Sarge...or DD Daughter...or #1 Son. *sigh* I really should have bought two more of those cutting boards. Then, I bought a couple of cute aprons for Ms. En, and a couple of bibs for Mr. T. Ms. En really loves to cook and you really can't have enough bibs on hand. Sis and I both decided that the coasters that this one guy made were a must....especially here at The Lake. We keep hoping that if we provide enough coasters, people will use them so our furniture won't end up having to be refinished after people thoughtlessly set their beer cans, sweating glasses, or whatever directly onto our fine wooden furniture. *sigh* Well...then, not moments after I unpacked and put out my new coasters, Kylee decided that they'd make a wonderful chew toy. *sigh* Oh well, at least Kylee didn't piddle when I yelled at her. Oh...but that isn't all. Sis and I both were astounded and pleased to find that someone had actually made quilted covers for Kitchen-Aid mixers. WOW!!!!! I've always wanted one of those. They always seem to make covers for everything BUT Kitchen-Aid Mixers. Sis and I both bought one. I might have bought the green one that Sis bought but...there was only one. So, I bought the one with the irises. Hey! It was pretty. Then...my major purchase....I bought two new coffee cups which I'll use for tea because I don't drink coffee anymore, but, can anyone have too many really wonderful coffee/tea cups? I love both of the new cups I bought. One reminds me of the moon painting that I've got hanging in my dining room in Arizona. I really love that painting...and my new mug.

So? What did HTP and I do today? After breakfast, HTP looked at the broken switch that controls the light over my cooktop. Then...we went out shopping for a new switch. Plus, the grocery store in the town, just north of us, was having some smoking good deals on meat. I ended up buying a rib-eye roast which they cut into some steaks and into a prime-rib roast. I bought some extra-lean hamburger and I bought some pork riblets (ala Applebee's riblets) Who can resist $1 per pound when it comes to pork riblets? I really wish I had a chest freezer. However, I did manage to package all the meat I bought and fit it into the freezer section of my fridge. Thank goodness for all the training that my years of Tetris provided me.

Anyway, I finished up my day with multiple walks for Kylee, waving at the departing week-enders, taking down and bringing my bird-feeders inside so the raccoons won't wreck them, making ribeye steak for HTP and me for supper, bilging the big boat and bailing the small boat, and...well...that's all folks. I figure I've done enough for one day, especially since I'm nursing a burnt pinky finger which I burned this morning while making the bacon for breakfast.

Random Thought of the Day

How come lemon washing up liquid contains real lemons, but lemon juice contains artificial flavorings?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

All that matters is the little part you play in the vast drama.

- Real Live Preacher, reallivepreacher.com weblog, September 4, 2003

My Peonies are Starting to Bloom

Word of the Day

Swish-swash - The tendency to leave one's windshield wipers on even after the rain has stopped.


HTP left for The Big City right after breakfast this morning. In a bid to keep my mind occupied on something other than worrying about Kylee, I decided to paint/stain the four 8-foot trellises that I purchased a while ago. I found a bucket of the stain that was used on the siding of our house down in the basement. Spreading newspapers out on my driveway, I got right to work. After completing two of the trellises, I went back inside to call the vet at around 10 AM. Since the vet was busy and couldn't talk to me, with the promise that she'd call me back I took the phone outside so I could start on the other two trellises. After completing one side of one trellis and starting on one side of the last trellis, I was getting a bit concerned. However, the phone did finally ring. I was assured that Kylee made it through the operation (spay) just fine but her tummy was upset so they don't want me to pick Kylee up until tomorrow...after 10 AM. *sigh* Though I was relieved to hear that Kylee was doing just fine, the fact that she wasn't feeling well is a bit worrisome. *sigh* I'm sure she'll be fine but I miss the little stinker. I finished up the staining well after noon. I know this because I heard the town's noon whistle sound while I was finishing up on the third trellis.

Since the stain that I was using was in a REALLY rusty paint bucket, I transferred the remainder of the stain to an old margarine container before discarding the old bucket. Then, I hauled the first two trellises that I'd stained out to my deck and prepped an area so I could stain the rockers for the two rocking chairs on my deck. I figured that as long as I had the stain out there and the paint brush was already messed up, I might as well take care of the rockers that T-Square made for me last year. I've been using them unstained but wood lasts a lot longer out here if it has a nice coat of protective stain...besides...now the rockers match the rest of the rocking chair(s).

My four new trellises are all dry and installed where I want them out on my deck. My rocking chairs are once again rockable. The rain has held off so the stain has dried. I cleaned the paint brush and paint stirrer and put them away, cleaned up all the newspapers that I spread all over the place so that I wouldn't drip stain onto the deck, took the remaining stain down to the basement, threw away my paint-stained latex gloves, and decided to call it quits for the day...after I went into town to pick up the mail. Exhaustion! When HTP comes home tonight, there will be no evidence that I did anything today. Well...except for the new trellises. Do you think he'll notice. Probably not.

I re-set my Havahart trap again in hopes to catch the raccoon that has been plaguing us. He alluded the trap again last night. I set up some card-board boxes on either side of the trap this time. Maybe this will keep him from reaching in through the side of the trap and force him to enter the trap. We'll see. If this fails, I'm not sure what I can do. It's not like I can shoot the dang thing.

Random Thought of the Day

Do you wake up or open your eyes first?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Once you can laugh at your own weaknesses, you can move forward. Comedy breaks down walls. It opens up people. If you're good, you can fill up those openings with something positive. Maybe... combat some of the ugliness in the world.

- Goldie Hawn (1945 - )

Word of the Day

Sweave - To swerve and weave about.

A couple of days ago, I noted that the rug by my kitchen sink was wet. My first thought was that Kylee had found a new place to piddle. No animals...including Kylee...were punished for my wet rug. I reasoned out that Kylee hadn't had the opportunity to piddle on my kitchen sink rug. Actually, knock on wood, Kylee has been pretty good lately...when it comes to doing her thing outdoors rather than indoor. So...I checked under the sink and discovered that my cabinet under the sink was wet. *sigh* I unloaded everything from beneath the sink, cleaned everything off, and then notified HTP that we had a problem. Something was leaking and it wasn't Kylee. After drying everything off and turning on this faucet and that, I noted that there was a slow drip coming from the bottom of our garbage disposal. Being of sound mind, I placed an old dishpan under the area where things were leaking and tried to call a plumber. Unfortunately, the only time we have ever been able to get a hold of our plumber here at The Lake is before 7 AM. *sigh* And he doesn't have an answering machine. So...I called yesterday morning and was told that he'd come out to take a look...last night. Then...last night, after supper, he called to ask if it was OK if he could stop by in the morning...this morning. With no plumbing expertise, my suspicion was that there was something amiss with my garbage disposal. I guessed right. I wasn't here when the plumber came but HTP was told that we needed a new garbage disposal. Corrosion had eaten through the casing. HTP ordered a new garbage disposal...which will come next week. Then, we'll need to call the plumber again to schedule him to come out to install it. In the meantime, the leak is a slow leak, so I can use the sink AND the garbage disposal, AND the dishwasher...as long as that old dishpan is under the sink to catch the drips.

Meanwhile, I took Kylee to the vet this morning. The vet is going to spay her, install one of those microchip ID thingies, and cut her nails. I was told to bring her over to the animal hospital between 8 AM and 10 AM this morning. I was told that she wasn't supposed to have anything to eat after 10 PM last night. I followed directions. Only....I think she may have eaten a couple of her baby teeth this morning. That doesn't count...does it? Anyway, I picked Sis up at her place, and then I got Kylee to the hospital/clinic at around 10 AM.

After dropping Kylee off, Sis and I continued on to the city to do some grocery shopping because we needed a couple of lemons and a couple of oranges to make more rhubarb wine (oops-less rhubarb wine...knock on wood). As soon as we dropped Sis' groceries off at her place, we continued on to my place to work on the wine. Letting the steam-juicer do its thing, Sis and I sallied forth to dig a few perennials from my front gardens as well as some winter onions. She's still working on her landscaping. Landscaping can be a prolonged process.

The oops-less (knock on wood)rhubarb wine is sitting down in my basement, next to the air-locked oops-Rhubarb wine and the air-locked Dandelion wine. Actually, this new wine is a work in progress (kind of like landscaping). Right now it has to be stirred, once a day, for three days before I stain out the citrus fruit and I can add the pectic enzyme, sugar, and yeast. After that it has to sit for two more days before I add some gelatin (flavorless) and can put the cover on and air-lock it. At that point, Sis and I won't need to do anything with it until July....about the same time that Sarge and D Buddy and my step-grandchild Ms. Jay plan to come to visit. I've already got plans to put them all to work. July is when the prickly gooseberries need picking. July is when the strawberries need picking. July is when the currants need picking. July is when the Prickly Gooseberry Wine needs to be started. July is when the Strawberry wine needs to be started. July is when the Mulligan Berry Wine needs to be bottled. A lot goes on in July. I'm betting that my raspberries will need to be picked...not to mention my blueberries. And I'll also have to start making jam in July. July is a busy month. Oh...back to oops-wine. Sis and I tasted the oops-Prickly Gooseberry Wine that we made last summer. Wow! Wonderful! We plan to incorporate the oops back into the recipe this summer. Sometimes it pays to have an oops.

It's so darn quiet here tonight. Kylee isn't here. *sigh* She's a little stinker but she's MY little stinker.

Random Thought of the Day

Did Noah have woodpeckers on the ark? If he did, where did he keep them?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Every sweet has its sour; every evil its good.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

A Family Photo - May 22, 2010

L to R in photo provided by Sis -

HTP, Bro, Me, Mrs. Bro, Sis, Sis' HTP (Husband Type Person), T-Square (my Dad), and Ma


Word of the Day

Swankienda - An extremely nice house.

Woodtick Count - 23

With not much going on here at The Lake, I've been spending a lot of my free time reading. I'm re-visiting Shannon Drake/aka Heather Graham's Vampire series. Since I had all of these books already on my bookshelf, my Kindle has been getting a bit of a rest.

On Friday, I harvested, cleaned, and froze 4 pounds of rhubarb. Sis harvested, cleaned and froze 5 1/2 pounds of rhubarb. We've decided to make a double batch of oops-less rhubarb wine which we'll blend with strawberry wine. We're going to blend half of the oops-Rhubarb wine with strawberry wine but we're going to bottle the other half of the oops-Rhubarb wine as Rhubarb wine. Hey! It might be the best Rhubarb wine that we've ever made!

My brother came up to The Lake on Saturday to open up his cabin. Since he was here, Sis decided to have the family over for dinner/potluck on Sunday. Good food, good drink, good conversation. We celebrated a belated Mother's Day and an early Father's Day. We had baked ziti, King Ranch Casserole, Caesar salad, watercress salad, homegrown green onions (the first that we've harvested), radishes, and rhubarb cake with Cool-Whip. We ate and we ate and we talked and we talked. Kylee played with Tobey (Sis' dog). And we didn't get back home until it was nearly supper time. Needless to say, HTP and I decided to skip supper.

Although I've been attempting to capture the raccoons that visited my deck the other night, I haven't had much success. Although one raccoon tripped the trap, it did so by reaching in from the outside of the trap, through the side...which tripped the trap with him on the outside. Other than startling him a bit, he ate all the bait and dragged the trap around the deck, attempting to take it down the stairs with him. I fixed that problem but haven't had subsequent activity near the trap....which is OK because I really don't want raccoons up on the deck but I've been bringing my bird-feeders in each night and taking them back out in the morning. I haven't been doing this with the hummingbird feeders. Hopefully, the raccoons will leave those alone...or find the bait in the trap more tempting.

Random Thought of the Day

Why are builders afraid to have a 13th floor but book publishers aren't afraid to have a Chapter 11?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

An expert is a person who avoids small error as he sweeps on to the grand fallacy.

- Benjamin Stolberg

Raccoon in a Trap - 2009

Word of the Day

Supposibly - Describing something that is supposedly possible.

Woodtick Count - 21

Almost a week has passed since the last time I blogged (confession?). Since then, #1 Son came to visit us, we had brats on the grill and belatedly celebrated #1 Son's birthday, #1 Son is now in New Orleans (roadtrip and vacation), Sarge and D Buddy have moved to a bigger rental home in Texas, DD Daughter has posted before and after pictures from the major/kick-ass workout program that she enlisted in...and then she decided to re-enlist...even though I'd LOVE to look like her before picture...*sigh*, I've added 5 woodticks to my woodtick count, Sis and I started the Rhubarb Wine and the Dandelion Wine (both recipes were changed due to a major screw up...MINE...but sometimes major screw ups turn into wondrous miracles (I hope, I hope)...so we've documented the...umm....recipe changes), and, today, Sis and I hiked down to the fresh water spring and harvested four bags of watercress. Sis took one bag, I took one bag, and we gave two bags to my Mom....because both Mom and Dad like watercress. Sis' hubby and HTP don't. Since then, I cleaned my share of the watercress and froze the less tender bits to use when Sis and I make our V-8 juice...when our tomato plants start producing more than we can actually eat. I've got 24 tomato plants growing here on my upper deck and down on my lower deck. According to The Square-Foot Gardener, I've planted way too many tomato plants...however, what does he know.

I had two unwelcome visitors come calling on my upper deck last night. Raccoons. Really big raccoons! I heard a couple of thunks and then one of my windchimes went crazy on a windless night. I dragged myself out of bed, turned on the deck light and there they were. Two masked marauders. I haven't been bringing my seed feeders in each night and the thieves were after the seed in my bird-feeders. My new bird-feeders are supposed to be squirrel-proof but I'm not too sure that they'll withstand an assault from raccoons. Plus, I noted that they seem to LOVE the egg-shells that I've been using in my tomato planters. Thankfully, they didn't manage to snap off any of my tomato plants but...it came really close. *sigh* If I'd had a gun...I would have gone all Beverly Hillbilly on them (raccoon ragu?) but...I don't....have a gun. I would really like to have a gun, but, Sis' hubby commented that he really didn't want to be hiking out in the woods...should I decide to buy one. However... Oh well...while Sis and I were out shopping this morning (buying supplies to rectify the wine screw up of yesterday), I purchased some canned cat food to use as bait in our Havahart trap. HTP told me that raccoons really LOVE cat food. My folks think I shouldn't set my trap on my deck but I'm afraid that I may catch something other than a raccoon in the trap if I set it anywhere else. I mean...what would I do if I caught a skunk? Ewww!!!!!

So, I find myself sitting out on the deck, under the shade of our deck umbrella (blocks the glare of the sun so I can actually see what is being written or read on my laptop screen ), blogging. My gardens are planted. Kylee is contently chewing on the bone that I bought her at Blaine's Farm and Fleet. I'm sipping on the Rhubarb/Strawberry wine that Sis and I made last summer. And...I'm thinking grilling up some burgers on the grill for tonight's supper....and maybe making a side watercress salad...for me.

Random Thought of the Day

If the FBI breaks your door down do they have to pay for it?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.

Peter Ustinov (1921 - 2004)