Friday, February 29, 2008

happy leap year everyone-spring is almost here!

it's a bit cold here......... duh, it's SO COLD here

that the rhodo is little wires instead of leaves!

now this morning i planted sweet banana pepper seeds, they did very well last year and i began to make a sort of cooking sauce/mix out of them, onions, garlic and meat juices.
it was good with pork and chicken, i imagine it would also be good with beef.....
so this season i would like to can 48- 4oz jars of it

next i will plant the sweet italian peppers i use for drying, followed by the stuffing peppers, as well as the frying and fresh peppers for salads and pickling

we love sweet peppers around here

the tomatoes this year will be yellow, orange, green, black, white and pink..... with maybe two red slicers..... bernie found out he likes pink, and orange for slicers!

i am hoping to get a nice deep raised bed for carrots. i am going to grow them in sawdust & sand if i do.....

our little hard working garden is so cramped but still manages to really produce a lot of crops like beans.....( last year was great)

i long for a larger garden with the ability to plant out 50 pepper plants and 50 tomatoes and 100 feet of broccoli etc......

but for now, we have this
i am also trying to think of a second place to plant my pole beans
as i would like to have enough to freeze and can ( and two years worth)


so meanwhile

i wish you all dreams of the perfect garden, a balance of pests and preditors in your garden, high yeilds and new ungrown before crops


til next time

vi

anyone got any experience with growing blueberries in containers in the north east?

Thursday, February 28, 2008

hold the celebration.....

well the new office chair may end up as BERNIE'S new office chair
i think it is built for a person with MUCH longer legs

but it's still better then the hard wooden kitchen chair


in other news.........

i am working on decluttering the house
specifically the never ending paper work.....
my friend marilyn down in florida suggested getting a couple of boxes and putting labels on them as to what will be in there......and sorting it first

i am going to have to do a total reorganize of over twenty years
because of the paper work on the house....etc

so i figure this way
(in list of labeling)

  • 1980's
  • 1990's
  • 2000/2001/2002
  • 2003/2004
  • 2005/2006
  • 2007/2008
  • house
  • canning/recipes/foodstorage/gardening
  • old letters and cards
  • shred
  • recycle
  • burn


that's a LOT of boxes i think
but i think marilyn is right
and if there is a place to put it
it should go very fast
i plan to devote a few hours each morning to this, until i get it done. When the boxes are all done and all the saved paperwork is filed properly, they will be sealed and stored ( or tossed) BUT either way, it should not only make space in the house but be the start of decluttering in preperation to move.

i think i am going to set them up on a sawhorse with a couple planks in the living room and set the timer for me to work on it
one day at a time no?

i plan on gardening and canning and then being able to settle after supper and knit

my reward for a productive day

also, i am going to look into a grain mill, and bulk whole grain, i am working on a lowered carb, high fiber bread.....and i am leaning towards sourdough.

we sooooooo have to move
as i want to put in strawberry beds, and blueberries and cranberries

oh my

vi

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

rise up rise up.....on the floor no longer

office max just called......
they will be delivering my NEW computer chair

woooooo hoooooooo!!!

i know you all think that isn't really exciting news

but truly i am sick of sitting almost on the floor
or a wooden kitchen chair
i miss the cushy softness of a nice managers chair
this one is got a cloth seat
so the cats are going to have fun
my other had leather and they didn't bother it

by tonight my fat assets will be cradled in cushiony softness
and all will be right in the world

which brings me to my OTHER projects

i am going to start ( heaven help me) decluttering the paperwork in the house

i got twenty years or more worth of decluttering

a lot of stuff i do have to save
but now we have a shredder, i can start to ditch all those free credit card offers etc
i was too worried about idendity theft to toss in the garbage before
the sheer magnitude of the project has me nuts

but i figure ........ if i start it.....
it should eventually be done
what with gardening/canning seasons starting
and the beginning of the kal for

Moroccan Days / Arabian Nights-Pattern only

Woolen Rabbit-Kit, yarn and pattern


but the paperwork needs to be done and i need to get stuff packed so we can move

( everyone send good moving to a farm wishes please....and my babies come home?)


ok
off i go and wait for the chair
til next time


vi

Monday, February 25, 2008

International LaPerm Cat of the Year 2008


http://www.laperm.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.laperm.co.uk/winners2008.htm

i am so excited ....... my kids have won!! they did GOOD

actually since i did not breed any of these guys none of the credit goes to me
it goes to their breeders and to Linda Koehl the founder of our beloved breed

but i love these little curly guys so very much that i am thrilled
especially since fawn is so much older (born december 1, 1999) and is now happily retired here

the two winners are currently basking in the warmth of the woodstove....
and our little darlink calpurrnia.....who doesn't know
is upstairs snuggled down in the goosedown quilt


thank you so much everyone that voted

for us it was fun

for the cats......well they are just happy to have their breakfast of warmed up fancy feast and their woodstove ( or goosedown) and their lives full of love and leisure.....

til next time
vi
eta
this was too good for just one day but i have other news........


the moroccan days /arabian nights kal has started

here is the link to Susan’s website for the pattern ONLY ( she has a link to Kim for the kit as well)
Moroccan Days / Arabian Nights-Pattern only
here is the link to Kim’s site with the kit (pattern and yarn)
Woolen Rabbit-Kit, yarn and pattern


TODAY is the day this is available

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Saturday, February 23, 2008

soon o soon the chair......

we went out and bought me a new office/computer chair today
office max had them on sale
they deliver it wednesday
wow i will be able to actually NOT type over my head

(if you all could see me now in my little broken chair.....i am on the floor!)

while there we got a 4 in 1 to replace my scanner that the cats totalled

with luck.......
they won't bother this one
which incidently was only 99.00!!!!!!
i am SHOCKED as my old scanner cost 4 times that....
but i did love my scanner .....it was an epson perfection and it was the BEST
this one is an epson too
it came with a shredder which we also needed


bernie got home finally at about 10:15 this morning
he plowed us out and watered/fed the duckies
we then did errands
we got the extention cords for the ducks water heater.....which is going in tomorrow
then the office chair and scanner
finally milk so i could make yogurt

(it's sitting next to the woodstove in it's little blanket)

milk is now 3.73 a gallon!
huh?
I said to bernie.....we got a MILK GOAT
what the hell are we doing BUYING MILK?
but see the goat isn't freshened as she is being boarded
and she is over an hour away
a little too far to run twice a day to milk her

i SWEAR

when we move
i am not only getting violet home.....but i am getting a mini milk cow
and a pigmy buck to put on violet for kinder goats

oye

3.73 a gallon.....
and i bet the dairy got about 20 cents a gallon......

i wish there was a raw milk jersey dairy around here

like in my YARD

til next time

vi

when bernie gets home.....

bernie runs an ambulance fleet
so during storms and such he stays with the fleet to make sure that the 911 ambulances can get out
he stayed with the fleet last night
but he called me a bit ago that he was on his way home
his day crew can handle what little bit is left now

he said when he gets home he is going to do the ducks ( it's killing me not to run out there to check on them)
i am watching them from the window
they are actually enjoying the snow!
they are eatting it and playing in it

i've seen them doing that before
they also like ice chips!
i give them fresh water twice a day..... and when i break out the ice in the morning they eat the chips!

they do eventually get around to the liquid water but those silly ducks like the ice chips!

ok so we are going to town, i need a new chair.....my computer chair is totally finished
milk to make yogurt
bread flour
a scanner or an all in one
to get to the po
and i think the feed and grain

i want more wild bird seed

i am trying to think of how i can put in a patch of grain for the poultry,
without the really horrible neighbors destroying it
i could use that resource this year, i got all that land i can't use!

speaking of the birds..... marguerite went all broody on me again

i was discussing this the other day with her

me: 'marguerite, dear, you need to get up'
marguerite: 'i am going to be a mother'
me: 'marguerite, dear, you aren't going to be a mother, you don't have any thing under you'
marguerite: 'OH YES I AM'
me: 'marguerite dear, to be a mother, you need a father, .......there aren't any fathers around here....they are over an hour away'
marguerite: ( eyeing me in her little chicken way)'it doesn't matter, cause i SAID SO'

me: ' i am going to get the stockpot for that crazy chicken'



what you folks don't have conversations with chickens?

how lonely your lives must be


til next time

vi

Friday, February 22, 2008

bumbles don't always bounce

i had a huge scare early early this morning.

i went out to water the ducks and under the snow was the ice
i didn't see it
and i went down like a ton of bricks
i couldn't get up
i was on my stomach and could NOT get up
i yelled but there was no one to hear me
bernie has to stay over down with his fleet so his 911 units get out to save lives

if i didn't figure a way to get up
i would be out there until he came home sometime tomorrow
i crawled over to the garden fence and dragged myslf up it

it will never be the same again
we are going to have to repair it before we plant the garden

i been trying all day to keep moving so i don't get stiff

but damn, i am really banged up
nothing broken thank goodness

but everything hurts
even my feet and fingers

i am going to have to figure a better way to get out to the ducks....even if it's a bit longer

and i think we are going to get a farm collie.....
my dog kiss would stand for me if i fell......... i would get up by leaning on her shoulder
i figure even if a dog now couldn't do that for me
i could send her up the hill to georgie or someone to get help
and she could help me keep the feral jackass animals off the property
and maybe even keep those ducks and chickens in line

i spoke to bernie......we will of course speak a lot more about this
adding a dog is NOT a spontanious decision.

there is a lot to consider
we have to find a good dog school to go to for socialization and basic training with doggie distractions
do a lot of research
and also if possible i would like to find a trainer that has at least some idea of what a thinking dog is like

my kiss thought things out.....
i understand the farm collies do the same

while i was always pack leader..... it was so helpful to have a dog around that could figure stuff out for herself

til next time

vi
who baked bread to appease her sore mucsles

Thursday, February 21, 2008

we are to get a storm

which means bernie may not be able to get home until sunday

i need to make sure i have enough wood in the house.
i also wish i had a cover for the van
we have enough food naturally and oil for the oil lamps
i believe we also have enough emergency water

i will add to bernie's emergency bag for the truck

the one big worry i will have is the ducks.....getting out to the ducks to bring them liquid water.

i am so glad i canned all that ham and potatoes the other day
bernie can take a jar of that, a jar of beef stew, a jar of chili..... and maybe some applesauce etc ......all down to work for himself so he doesn't have to worry about eatting

i should make him take my van too i think

i had PLANNED to go to town and get a new scanner..... or even an all in one
as i have to get something done that needs a scanner/copier....
maybe if i go really early ?

georgie up the hill said she didn't think i was going to be able to go out
but i may have to

we do have enough cat, chicken and duck food.....milk.....
i can bake bread...
but i need that scanner/copier bad

oye

it's ALWAYS something

til next time

vi

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

urban farming-micro farming

as some of you know.....i am a firm believer in urban farming
in old fashioned victory gardens,
and in people being more proactive in the production of their foods
i also like to eat locally ( which for me isn't too hard as i have a lot of friends that are farmers....and we grow a lot of our own food here)

i have hopes that soon we will return to goats, chickens and sheep being returned to the urban and suburban areas....

as some of you know i have 4 sheep and a goat that i currently board..... i have more then enough land here but due to zoning.... i can't have them here.
( deer, wild bear and turkey yes.....my sheepies and goatie no-even though my neighbors would be more then happy to see and BORROW my little wooly lawn mowers and brush clearers)

so as you all also know.....we want to move to a larger peice of land so my babies can come home
( and i want a mini jersey milk cow too)

i think small scale family farms and neighborhood cooperation is not only the way of the future, but may end up the way most people that are middle class working folk are going to survive.

every day i hear of food recalls, due to various nasty bacterias or contaminations
it is getting very scary to me
i see on the internet that our children are not only getting fatter, but getting things like ADHD etc.

i think part of it is the NON-FOOD we are feeding ourselves
chemical cocktails that at this point our bodies are not able to fully utilize

while i am not advocating wheat grass shakes and tofu
i AM thinking that NOT putting human growth hormones in our beef
and NOT killing our meat while the animal is terrified out of it's mind is a start in the right direction

i am also thinking that going back to having a backyard cow...... which is a smaller thrifty beast could be a good idea
or milk goats
or milk sheep
one cow per two or three average sized familys?

i am thinking....... at this point
the systems we have in place now are not working really well
and if oil continues to be a problem the practice of bring food long distances won't be workable either

just a few random thoughts

as i wait for my seeds to start

til next time

vi

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

does it ever end?

i spent two hours on the phone today with verizon.....
we are trying to change our cable broadband to dsl.
we would have a savings of 240 a year by doing so


after the two hours of nothing but people who could NOT speak or apparently understand english
that 240 seemed like just not enough savings to me.....

verizon ships with 'in line' filters, which every phone must have to use their service.
fine
except i have wall phones, which have a seperate filter
and they charge you over 10. a peice for them
i needed three

BEFORE i even could decide if i liked this dsl service or not they are soaking me over 30.bucks!

i got so pissed off i told them

you know what, CANCEL this damn service
forget it
i will stay with broadband through the cable company and forget verizon
( and i will find a NEW PHONE option while i am at it)

miracles do happen as the last person i spoke to is sending me the filters i need for nothing

as they don't want to lose me as a customer
ok
then why did verizon put me through hell for over 2 hours
and i still don't have dsl ????????


just one of the little things that make life so damn exciting

( this is sarcasm.....just in case anyone noticed)

i am still not a happy camper..
i am thinking verizon owes me and bernie a meal at a resturant for the over 2 hour run around i got today
with a lot of folks that didn't speak or understand english

oye

til next time

vi

Monday, February 18, 2008

coming to you LIVE from the studio FLOOR

no shit..... i am practically ( and for all intents and purposes)
on the floor
as my chair broke~!
and the piston that kept it up high enough is now gone
so i am about on the floor!

we are going out this week to replace it

meanwhile
you folks that know me in person know how vertically challenged i am

well....imagine MY chubby little knee up around my ears....

to say this is annoying .....well.....
you know


now i tried a few other chairs
but like baby bear.....they ain't quite right
and they hurt my back

so right now i have three choices as i see it

this on the floor chair.....
a hurting back.....
or no computer.....

wait....did i just say the last one?
noooo
can't be


not me

nope

guess it is the hurting knee thing huh?
oye

til next time

vi

Friday, February 15, 2008

where did my week go?

well.......ok monday bernie was late getting in
tuesday due to weather he didn't get home at all ( none of us slept, not me.....not him, not the cats, not the chickens)

he got home wensday, and had to bring wood in for a few days, as due to the storm TUESDAY i couldn't get the wood up to the studio
when we all finally got to sleep the la perms slept ON HIM and i held his arm all night,..... i don't think anyone realized it until morning....

oye

last night he was late as his fleet had a unit to be cleaned
i don't know yet about today

happy valentines day to you all.....a bit late i know


i spent yesterday catching up on dishes and chipping ice out of the duck pen, trying to get the flooding in the basement under some sort of control

etc.....

holding down the fort so to speak

in KNITTING NEWS!!!

i started a KAL at KR and ravelry

for a shawl called Moroccan days/Arabian Nights designed by Susan Pandof and commissioned by Kim of Woolen Rabbit


i have never done an actual kal before so this is going to be interesting

i like this pattern, it is lace, but it is a very textured lace with beading etc
so i find this interesting
i plan on doing one in the honey color, and i am thinking i may do a second one in spicey reds....
i am even going to buy the yarn it's shown in!!!!!

i really like this pattern.

as you folks may realize, i do try to help designers along, if i like their work.
i made how many ice queens? ( she is another very talented designer)

there are a few others that i have gotten their patterns but haven't had a chance to do them yet.....
of course as i do i will tell you all

i don't mean to slight anyone
so if i have some of your patterns and i haven't said anything, it is because they are in line and i probably haven't found the yarn i want to do them in yet

now as to this week......i am very glad it's over
i hope next week is better


til next time

vi

Monday, February 11, 2008

happy anniversary noogums

today is our anniversary.....31 year
YEARS!!!!!
and he still can make me laugh
he still makes my toes curl
and while i am still super annoyed about the no canning/no kitchen countertops thing

i still love him dearly with my whole heart, and soul and toenails....

although there are times.....

anyone who's been married for a long period of time to the same person will tell you....
there are good things, bad things and things you don't bother to fight about anymore....

there is something to be said for being with one person forever.....
they are family...

sometimes more so then blood relatives.......

or maybe most often?

and while you do get mad
if you still enjoy each others company like bernie and i do

you are way ahead of the game.

he woke me up this morning, at 4:30 am ( yup we get up early)
and remembered to wish me a happy anniversary.....
me..... i was still half in a dream state.....

i just called him to make sure he'd gotten to work ok.....
yup just pulled in

we were to have gone out to eat yesterday but since he was out sick that week, we stayed home.
we shared the cooking, with a roasted chicken, my homemade mushroom gravy, mashed yukon gold potatoes and green beans from last years garden
my homemade and home canned applesauce for dessert

i am pretty sure he'd marry me again in a heart beat


til next time

happy anniversary bernie, i love you


vi


JaneThank you so much

'Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.'

i would say as i do visit your blog regularly, i would pass one right back

then there is

Catherine
Cyndy
martha
lanea
Jen
Jane
nanette
Amie
kelly
and last but not least.....a very very smart lady
bess
( bess dear.....it's true, you are scary smart)

Saturday, February 09, 2008

it's snowing!!!!

naturally!

as i am trying to organize my garden plan, and make sure i have the seeds i need
i put in a small seed order to heirloom acres seeds, some colored tomatoes, and a few odds and ends that i don't have.

i still need to get the seeds for the 'old ivory egg' white tomato
and more eggplant seeds
the one last thing i would like is three blueberrie bushes

i think they will be good in barrels though....

when i was out to feed and water the ducks, i was still sort of mentally going over the garden.
even though i have it on paper, there is nothing like being OUT THERE

we have to cut back some of the apple tree that overhangs one edge.....i wish we could USE those apples....

anyway....
anyone ELSE doing their seed starting?
i have to get the pepper seeds into the starter, they take the longest to germinate

OHOHOH
the hens are on vacation....
yup since they aren't laying anyway much, we have cut their light hours back to give them a good rest, and hopefully they will be over the molt soon

no more then 12 hours a day of light.....preferably 10

even so ....we are getting three more pullets
i will give georgie up the hill some of the extra, and our attorney who also loves our eggs

til next time


vi

oh what do you all think of the names....
clotilde
yvette
clorisa
for the new hens?

any one got some suggestions?

Friday, February 08, 2008

tis the season la la la

it's time to start garden seeds....some folk already have
and
i will admit
i am a bit behind due to being sick and all

this year.....
i will be editing what i plant
my intentions are
not to over plant by 200 the tomatoes i need ( 20 of them should do it)

and only about 30 peppers.....not 100

i would however like more diversity in the garden.....
more to can at the end

this year i plan on canning sweet red pepper sauce, peppers and onions with various meats as well as plain.

i want to make sure that we have a good stock on hand of canned beans, potatoes etc

so the garden this year is MOSTLY going to be geared to canning.....
the deck garden will be our fresh eatting garden.....the main... for winter storage
and THIS YEAR
the brussel sprouts will rule!!!!!!

now when we move i intend on a hoop house to be able to move around the garden, extending a season here..... getting a jump on a season there
housing poultry over the winter....

here with the neighbors, i can't risk it
i would have mark come and clear where all the neighbor's dumping was......
level it out and put a hoophouse.....
but those kids would have the covering in shreds in about a day
i watched them breaking their own fence!

i can probably do a couple of cold frames and a very SMALL hoop house
sheilded by the main garden.....

anyway.....tis the season


so i am sitting here with long lists of varieties of seeds i have saved....
and trying to figure what to start and where it's going when it's ready for the garden.....

and yOU?

vi
til next time

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Spirit Trail Fiberworks yarn

in all it's fibery goodness
SPIRIT TRAIL has some of the bestestest coloring around

isn't that the prettiest skein you ever did see?
so happy and bright and spring like!

PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Jen thank you so very very much

it's such a happy happy skein of yarn
now....
what to make of it??????


til next time
vi

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

still the flu

i am getting better
but
i keep thinking i can do stuff

i cleaned the woodstove today
took me 4 HOURS to recover......
huh?

i normally clean the woodstove, then make the coffee, feed the cats, stoke the stove,
turn on the computer, stack the dishwasher.....all in like 40 minutes in the morning

i had to REST from cleaning the stove!!!!!

i had to rest from takeing a shower.....

going to the po....ditto

as watering the ducks is.....

this flu still is knocking me for a loop

so....til next time

vi

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

i can't sleep

i spend the day ill again, this flu thing is pretty bad

i WAS better then went out to feed the ducks......
i ended up shaking, in a cold sweat, nauseus, dizzy, and very very weak!
just from carrying a bucket of water out to the ducks

huh?
i do that daily!

anyway, i went to bed normal time and couldn't sleep.
Thaddeaus couldn't either and kept getting on the bedside table, knocking a book off.....
and jumping off

now i got a LOT of books on my bedside table.... he was aiming to knock all them off.

bernie got upset so i dragged thaddeaus under the covers.....which is where he wanted to be anyway

but i still couldn't sleep so here i am

i was thinking about a ton of things

this upcoming election, which i intend on voting in..... now this will be my first time voting EVER, i never knew enough about it before, but after last election, i was so shocked at what i thought the smarter then me people in america did.....i swore i was going to vote in this election..... i just never knew enough before......but my friend pieheart explained it to me enough for me to really start to understand. i am smart about a LOT of things.....but politics doesn't make much sense to me.....

my chickens who aren't laying- i spoke to the folks i got them from, and they feel that the ladies are taking a break. And with the return of warm weather and longer days they will resume. i still ordered three new pullets.....yup buff orpingtons.....we are going to have chickie booms again. AND, we are going to change the ladies schedule... only 8 hours of light a day for a week or so then increase it gradually

how on EARTH we are going to move in this really tough housing market.... this is a biggie, as we need to get the sheep and goat home...... it was only for two years they were to be boarded..... i didn't figure this bad a market...... plus there are a number of things i want to get started, the orchard, greenhouse, tilapia experiment, passive solar, worm farming for castings for the garden, maybe even some more alternative energy and also more heritage breeds and veggies

trying to figure a way to be able to retire in 15 years.... another biggie, we don't have nearly enough savings, another reason i want the farm so bad, i figure it is a win win all the way around, we feed ourselves and sell our surplus, the money saved goes into retirement along with our regularly budgeted retirement savings

worried about finding a closer place for my sheep and goat so i can see them......if we can't move this year.....it was only supposed to be 2 years.....violet is two now....

wondering how long this flu from hell is going to get me.......it really has me phsycially weak i can't take much more of this, i am not used to not being able to do my chores

trying to figure what we are out of in our little storage system....... that long term food storage etc system i started two years ago has stood us in very good stead, for the most part, we have almost everything we need in emergency. This bout of flu was even semi planned for, but i didn't have enough theraflu....however i did have some.... so bernie sick as he was did NOT have to go out with his abcessed tooth to get more to break my really high fever

wondering how to get the dead tree out front taken down without going broke or having it fall on the house.... it's gettin worse, i looked at it today, but boy the wildlife LOVES it....that is why i haven't actually been in a huge rush to get it down..... i know they could use the help but it's starting to get dangerous now i think..... so even if we top if off at ten feet......they get the benefit...... we don't worry

oh yeah....i do worry RIGHT

no wonder i can't sleep

i didn't want to disturb bernie ( although neither of us sleep well without the other one there.....we better die together or no one will get any rest in peace)

so i figured i would come down.... stoke up the fire again
maybe knit a bit
write some of these worries down.....maybe i can figure a solution to some of them

see if any of my friends around the world are up..... isn't it daylight yet in england?
or how about australia?

or maybe just sit by the fire and see if i can get tired enough to sleep

til next time

vi

Sunday, February 03, 2008

a certain fascination

i have to admit a deep dark secret.....

i have a certain fascination with contained small creatures

fish, small birds and rodents, even small bugs (ant farms, and worm abodes)
but especially goldfish

i don't know why

lately catherine has been posting some pictures of her garden pond with her goldfish

and naturally i am enthralled

i don't know what it is

the sparkling scales seen through that clear clear water?

.....the life? at once so at home and yet so alien?
living in an enviroment that would kill US in a fraction of a breath?

i remember as a kid going down to the creek out back ( at my aunt's house.....did anyone else do things like this?)
it was a very fast moving but shallow creek
the deepest was maybe 6 to 8 inches
but it was CLEAR

and watching minnows in the current,
hunting snails and newts and frogs

just for the pleasure of SEEING THEM

i remember watching algae clinging to the rocks
and my mom yelling for me not to get wet
yeah right

with all that life going on
how could i not plunge into it

picking up pebbles that shone like precious jewels under the water

or an empty pond snail shell

or even a bowl of pond water with a live snail in it
which naturally i was made to put back
reluctantly

i suppose i am not alone in my fascination right?
a lot of folks have ponds and keep fish in tanks

for me it's always been a mystical magical amazement to see
colorful creatures at home in the water

vi

Saturday, February 02, 2008

almost back to the land of the living

and i learned a lot while i was so very sick

let my pain be a lesson to you

never drink a gallon of apple juice across 4 days......what goes in must come out
and when it does come out.........well......lets just say 'you are no longer full of shit'

never underestimate the weight of goosedown.....it weights 48 million tons per square inch
and it WILL trap you.....
as will blue eyed kittens...
who instantly weigh 97 pounds on each leg

dry toast can be a blessing

so can clean toilet bowls

there should be a law in marriages

if one person is deathly sick....the other MUST not get sick at all

sadly i broke that rule and bernie had to take care of me

i tend to halucinate nekid chickens dancing in a chorus line when my fever gets too high.....

this is an improvement of the plucked turkeys i halucinated when my temp got to 104 after bernie and i first were married

cold compresses are only a shock for a few seconds.....they are exceptionally good on your eyes

theraflu is your friend

logs for the woodstove must be made of lead
i don't know how those leaden logs burn

if you hold your arms up when you are really sick.....you fall over
(don't hang the laundry......it will bite you in the ass)

remember that apple juice thing....or you will regret NOT remembering it over and over and over

red noses are not the glamour statement you would think after hearing that stupid rudolph song

when you're really sick...... room temp water....
it's the BEST THING
vintage 20 seconds ago.....seriously
but it also weighs a ton.....must be really hard water

maybe i need a 'sippy' cup?

puffs tissues with the lotion.......pay extra


and the last thing

an entire week of your life can and WILL just slip by

you won't know
you won't CARE

and you won't even KNIT


til next time if i survive

vi

ps bernie is much much better
having gotten the other abcess yanked thursday....with no help from me