Greenhouse

A greenhouse is NOT simple, there are many, many variables and decisions to make before setting one up.  What heat system (solar is NOT sufficient); what fan system, where to build, what size, what materials, glass, plastic?  A little tiny one on the side of the house is $800 - on sale. 

So, i just have to put up with that big hibiscus in the living room all winter.

A New Friend

It's wonderful to make a new friend.  But it's STUPENDOUS to make a new friend who can PAINT THE HOUSE - yeehaw!

May I PLEASE Be Allowed To Enjoy The Yard I've Paid For?

Well, you can't beeleeve, the lady across the street finally was standing next to my yard as i pulled up to our driveway, waiting for her dog to get through with his digging and rolling around on our grass.  She smiled at me, so i stopped and rolled down the window.  HI! i said.  I've been hoping he wouldn't have to keep using our yard anymore, okay? 

Her eyes got big, like she was very surprised.  She said, WHAT?  I said, Would you please not allow him to use our yard?  (of course, i kept smiling as i spoke)  She looked at me like i was a big dummy, who didn't appreciate the honor of  paying a mortgage, taxes and insurance to provide a toilet for her precious darling.

 Okaaay, she said.  The way she said it, sounded like Okay for YOU!

Is there any inoffensive way to tell a neighbor who obviously is unaware of the rules in this subdivision against allowing a pet into other peoples' property, to stop using our property as her dog's personal dump?  That we have not been paying for materials and doing backbreaking yardwork simply to see the entrance to our property decimated and destroyed by her blissful ignorance?

Well, i tried my best!  I just decided to take the opportunity and get on with it.  I've been stewing and boiling every time i looked out the window and saw her stopping on the way out with her dog and again as they returned, for months now.  So i finally looked her square in the eye and came out with it.  She couldn't believe what she was hearing, and i cannot believe i needed to say it!

Rose Quartz, Silver Bracelet in Leather-Wrap

This was a great Saturday morning to be relaxing inside a beautiful bead shop, nice and cool.  The humidity is one million percent today.  Anyway, this is my first leather wrap bracelet and it's comfortable!  It was fun to learn and gets your mind totally diverted into a creative mode.

Is It Me? No, It's You Alright

"I wish some people would get some manners."  When this remark is uttered it never fails to identify the speaker as the one who needs some manners - ANY manners.

On one occasion many years ago, i had a need to make a trip into the Florida Keys. A new acquaintance just happened to be heading down to Ft. Pierce, and invited me to ride with her. I accepted and very soon began to bitterly regret my decision. This lady fancied herself a talented driver. She needed help to stay awake, though. After we had been riding for a couple hours and my eyes began to droop, she slapped my arm and informed me that the whole reason she had wanted me on the trip was to keep her company and help her stay awake as she drove.

Suddenly she began to complain in angry tones about the car behind us, as the driver was tailgating. She sped up, then slowed, nothing would throw the driver off, but eventually the car exited the highway. She talked on and on about the unthinking, inconsiderate tailgaters who made her life miserable every time she had to drive somewhere!

The next car that she came up behind was probably going the speed limit or a little under. What happened next was just amazing, as my companion revealed herself to be a raging hypocrite. She drove up so close to the car ahead that I feared she would run up on the hood. There she remained, complaining and harping non-stop about the dumb, stupid, irritating person ahead who was DRIVING TOO SLOWLY. She never tried to pass the car; just stayed right on their bumper trying to force them to drive faster. She never thought about how irritated she was when being tailgated. She thought it was just fine to do something to someone that she hated having done to herself.

OH man, I could not wait to get that ordeal over with. As I sat there willing the trip to be over, I determined NEVER to enter this woman's car again and i never did, and i never forgot the lesson she taught me:

If you complain about something somebody is doing, don't do the same thing they are doing!

And if you expect people to display good manners when dealing with you, the natural thing is to have your own good manners ready to use, right?

Back to Our Roots

This dreamy spot on a river in north Georgia is actually one of the locations where the Cherokee people were forced to gather before being driven west to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.

Papa could be feeling so strongly attached to our part of Georgia here because his maternal greatgrandmother had family in Oklahoma who were Cherokees and may have been descendents of those former Georgia people.

So we're learning about this time in history. Who knows? Grandkid may be living right back where her Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-GreatGrandmother would have lived out her life, except for man's inhumanity to man.

Getting Groceries is Lotsa Fun!

Now I don't have to plan that trip to the UK.

John Cowan, What a Great Singer

There are lots of videos from many different years and venues, of this wonderful performer with the extraordinary voice and musicianship available on the youtube.com. Don't dare miss him! "Ain't That Peculiar" Right now he is touring with the Doobie Brothers! Check out his website for the info: www.johncowan.com

Story of the Horse In the Barn

This is the horse in the barn story! Among people I have told the story, it has become a meaningful shorthand that instantly communicates. I first thought of it as a way to comfort myself about having to do so much for another perfectly capable human. I thought, What if I had invested in a very valuable horse and planned a care and maintenance schedule for it, in order to protect my investment. Good care keeps an animal happy and content, healthy and beautiful. The care schedule would be another responsibility in a life filled with responsibilities. But the return on my investment would be worth the time and effort of doing everything for the valuable horse. A horse needs food, vitamin supplements, good water, clean surroundings. He can’t arrange any of these things for himself. He can’t get his water pail washed or measure out the oats for himself. He doesn’t have any hands, he can’t read a clock or a calendar. When he makes noise I can’t understand what he’s saying, because I don’t speak Horse. So I just talk in a nice tone, and make sure to do the best I can to do what the horse needs. I can’t be angry at the horse for my inability to understand his language, or his inability to get his own breakfast and things. The comparisons can be carried out as far as needed. The point for me is, everything that I want to have comes with a high price in money, energy, frustration, patience and wear on my nerves. So I just keep my wants down to where I can try to manage the costs. I thought of this story when my friend was blowing her top because her husband would only take his meds and supplements if she portioned them out for him every morning. If she was rushing around and didn’t do it, he wouldn’t go and take them. So I said, How about pretending that he is a horse in a barn with no hands, and he can’t get the meds himself? She said, Well yeah, if he actually cannot get them for himself, then I don’t mind.

Middle o' Winter

Lotsa good cooking going on, today a pot roast. Nice but fatty chuck roast on sale, but very tasty. Two bulbs of garlic, onions, red and green peppers sauteed together, dumped over the roast in the slow cooker with canned tomatoes and an envelope of Good Seasons dressing mix. Potatoes, carrots. It all turned out great!

Just right for a cold rainy day.