106 days

i raked leaves mixed with snow last saturday. of course, since the weather turned to crap so fast, there was no where to put the leaves so i piled them up in the corner of the backyard.

i also removed the leaf catching screens from the ponds and installed the bubbler in one pond. as an experiment, and hopefully without casualties, left filter/fountain going in the deep pond. the fish did follow me around the pond probably hoping for some food. i guess they're not supposed to be fed in the winter--something about too much body fat or something can kill them. i once killed a mouse with kindness by feeding it to death. we'll see.

maybe january through april will be mild.

03.20.09

119 days until spring. the days get longer on 12.21.08. not bad. i can do it. although, it's snowing like crazy right now. with any luck it'll snow bad enough to shut everything down tomorrow. yes, i'm like a child.

so, anyway, the papyrus plant in the above photo isn't suppose to survive the cold. i brought three of them in the house and they look terrible compared to the one i left outside. the plant outside has been smashed by snow and perks back up after the snow melts. it's green and as beautiful as it was in september. go figure.

Papyrus sedge or paper reed (Cyperus papyrus) is a monocot belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial native to Africa.

Q. Why is the Secret Service installing lighting rods at the White House?

A. To protect President Obama as he takes his Oath of Office.

sidewalk plower

winter and snow brings us the dreaded sidewalk snowplow. sounds like a nice thing, right? since we reside on a double corner lot, we have a lot of sidewalk that would need to be shoveled if the city didn't do it at the crack of not dawn but early darkness. it's a great thing but i end up spending way too many hours fixing the plowed up yard every spring and am not sure any time is saved. the fun part of the whole situation is the tormenting received each spring as the neighbors come down and shake their heads with disapproval and complain about the mess and inquire about how long it'll be before i have the yard back to normal. they tell us we should sue the city for the destruction. they hate the snowplow and have asked the city to stop plowing their sidewalk but were told that the machine of mass destruction couldn't be stopped. the little kiddies have to get to school, when there is school, when it snows. it saves ugly scott a great deal of work so i guess i can live with it.

leaving the house

everyone that lives in our region knows it's insane to leave the house the first day we receive substantial snow. of course, it snowed like a maniac over night and i had to be in a meeting an hour and a half from home first thing this morning. well, i didn't get two blocks from home before nearly getting smashed by someone that apparently forgot to apply his brakes prior to actually needing to. another mile into the journey a car coming at me began spinning--luckily i was far enough away with no one else was in front of me to avoid hitting the goof ball driving entirely too fast. i can deal with my own driving skills on the slippery stuff but other people scare me to death. many, many accidents including an overturned semi that stopped all northbound traffic for more than four hours to which i was lucky enough to be a part of. needless to say, i was very late even after allowing an extra 30 minutes for the weather. the drive home was just as eventful--heavy snow--the white knuckle--stare at the tailights in front of you--snow--caused everyone to crawl along like a mob of blind people. i was thrilled to get off of i-94. i vowed, today, to follow my instincts by staying close to home when it snows.

A semi on its side after it crashed with another semi on US-131 in Allegan County, Nov. 17, 2008

now, if someone could tell me what spilled out of one of those semi's, i'd appreciate it.

Q: What's the problem with Barack Obama jokes?

A: His followers don't think they're funny and other people don't think they're jokes.

lost count after four

i do love the appletini and the bartenders know it. this is dangerous because the bartenders know what happens.... it's a fun little dance we dance--i say, "ok, one more." they smile and mix up another. after a short time, my glass is seen empty and they say, "one more." after two, i think, sure, why not...one more. after four, it's all over but the crying so why not just keep going. have fun! live it up a little. let go of the conservatism. i love disco and martinis. the two day hangover was worth it.

short hills bus

bourbon vs. rye whiskey: the battle continues with Short Hills Wine. can you see the difference? i can and i'm not a whiskey aficionado. under normal circumstances, i'd be all kinds of torked off for getting the wrong product (especially since it was a gift for uglyscott).

however, the answers i've received from Short Hills Wine (SHW) have been absolutely insane and worth sharing with the world.

i start out by contacting customer service to inform them that they sent the wrong product--russell's reserve bourbon (that would be the bottle that does not say "rye" right on the front). i asked them how they were going to rectify their mistake and was sent the following message:

"That is the same The Russels Reserve is made by wild turkey."

The Wine Shop
704 Morris Tpke.
Short Hills, NJ 07078
Phone: (973)379-7135
Email: customerservice@shorthillswine.com
Web Page: http://www.shorthillswine.com

confused by the message, i write back to the mystery idiot with the following:

Thank you for responding to my email. I know Russell's Reserve is Wild Turkey. I ordered Russell's Reserve Rye Whiskey and Received Russell's Reserve Bourbon Whiskey: They are two different things (please see info below).

American whiskey is commonly divided into six categories; Bourbon, Tennessee, Rye, Wheat, Corn and Blended whiskey. The categories are mainly motivated by differences in the type and amount of grains used during the mashing but there are also differences in e.g. storage time.

Bourbon: Because of the fact that almost all Bourbon is made in Kentucky many people believe this is a requirement, but in fact Bourbon may be produced in any state. The only prerequisites are that it must be made in the US, contain at least 51 percent corn and that it must be stored for at least two years in new, charred oak barrels. Lastly, the raw spirit may not be distilled to more than 80 percent alcohol by volume.

Rye: To be called a Rye whiskey, the spirit must be made from at least 51 percent rye, distilled at less than 80 percent and stored in new, charred oak barrels for at least two years. Rye whiskey is slightly more powerful and bitter than Bourbon. Most current Rye whiskies are made in Indiana and Kentucky.

then i received the following response:

"We have reordered the same exact item listed on the web site from our supplier to see if its any different from the one we sent you."

well, it's been almost 11 days since this correspondence and SHW still hasn't figured out what the heck they're selling. so i ask, isn't this insane? and to top it off, they don't even, according to their website, sell russell's reserve bourbon--they very stuff they shipped me.

Hubig's New Orleans Style Pies

the best pies in the world. i just ate the one and only coconut i ordered. they're way better than hostess and remind me of fabulous NoLa. i think i may be missing it. a person i know just went for the first time. it was interesting (irritating) to listen to her describe and compare the french quarter to key west. i do not agree with the comparison. sure, you can drink on the street but nothing compares to new orleans! nope, nothing!

www.hubigs.com

it's summer again

70 degrees. frogs under the screen. went for a walk.

time and halloween

when does the time change? tonight?

robin times two

yesterday, after a very long absence--six to eight weeks, there were two robins in the yard scratching around and bathing in the screen covered pond. then saw many more at work. none today. the great migration. sure do miss their chatter. the snowbirds showed up about a week ago. i think the warblers are gone too. must build a new bird feeding station. winter is here.

can't really top the non-stop talking girl and twinkie dog blogs.

very nervous about kitchen nightmares. come on 9:00 pm--need to get this over with.

weather update

it's snowing. there is snow all over the place: covering the ground, stuck to trees, and smashing the plants. once again, the indiana weatherman told me just three hours ago it was going to rain. he mention nothing about snow coving everything i can see for miles. what's the weather like in south bend: tropical?

41 degrees

it's snowing. period.

winter blues in october

i got up, late, this morning and looked at the weather forecast to learn it was going to be cold with rain all weekend. looks like it may snow too. the plan was to winterize the yard but it's just not going to happen today: sorry fishes and froggies. on the bright side, as of this morning, it's supposed to be in the 60's next week. therefore, i am putting off the planned chores for this weekend.

now what? looked at the movie listing and nothing sounds remotely good. have watched all the episodes of the girls next door. learned that holly and hef have broken up which has upset uglyscott. what to do? go bowling? take on a household project? do laundry? take a bath and think about this?

time flies

yes, so, it seems to have been a while since i last posted something as uglyscott has pointed out. so what? i'm often more interested in reading other posts and have been too tired or preoccupied to comment on them lately. i'm easing into hibernation. gearing up for the winter hobbies: genealogy, downloading music, ordering and watching movies, and as soon as winter begins to fade into spring, plan yard projects. this year's genealogy project is to find out about my mother's mother's side. those people are a total mystery.

scott, i need a blank dvd. i need new music for my long drives this week. uglyangie has inspired him--he's on some sort of mission.

happy birthday zoe (10.14.08)--she hates to have her picture taken. she always looks like i've beaten her with the camera.

square holes and round blocks

waiting for ugly scott to tell his story about yesterday.

why does everything have to fit neatly into a prescribed genre? can't you do what you do without finding the perfect box to put it in before creating it? do we buy gifts based on the gift bag we have at home? when i landscape, i just do it. if it turns out, great. if it doesn't, i redo it. i'm happy with the task. less happy when done.

way too many shots

last night--5:30 to midnight--many people--many odd conversations--many odd thoughts--many thoughts materialize--reality--i leaned in--he did not back away.

i felt so bad for the little boy left to entertain himself. no one really watching after him. running through money playing the video game and eating candy from the little candy machine near the front. can i have more money? no! i have no more fucking money! stop fucking bothering me! there are rules about children being in such establishments after a certain time. all are being polite about it right now but soon the politeness will run out.

critter alert

earlier this morning, right after i got out of the shower, i spotted a critter swimming around the pool. i threw my pj's back on, threw the towel wrapped around my head like a turban on the dining room table, and ran out to the shed to retrieve the skimmer to save the critter. when i got there, i found a green frog (looked like a mouse from the bathroom window). it must have been in there a while as it seemed tired and let me scoop it up. it jumped out of the net and landed on the concrete and hopped back into the pool. it didn't fight the net but would immediately jump right back out for at least five tries. finally, i just told it to stay put on the net until i got it back over to the pond. it seemed to be listening as i chanted, "stay, don't jump" over and over again. i think the latter method worked because i did not try to cover it with my hand. so, why would a green frog leave a perfectly good pond with plenty of bugs to visit a swimming pool? i must be an interesting character to watch.

depends on the day

late day, first hour: wake up, let the dog out, feed the cat, go to the bathroom, pour coffee, let dog in, let cat out, go back to bed and sit with scott, drink coffee, watch news (preferably grand rapids news), watch scott run around after showering, kiss scott goodbye, lock and alarm all doors, go into shower.

early day, first hour: wake up, let the dog out, feed the cat, go to the bathroom, pour coffee, let dog in, let cat out, go back to bed and sit with scott, drink coffee, watch news (preferably grand rapids news), go into shower, and sit with scott while putting on makeup.

first hour, saturday and sunday in summer when weather is good: wake up, let the dog out, go to the bathroom, pour coffee, let dog in, and go outside drink coffee and watch things.

first hour, saturday & sunday in winter: wake up, let the dog out, go to the bathroom, pour coffee, let dog in, go back to bed and sit with scott, drink coffee, and watch news (preferably grand rapids news)