Peek-A-Boo (212/365)

“If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them.”

Jack Handy (American Writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991-2003. Famous for his Deep Thoughts comedy sketches.)

TIME:  7:13 PM
PLACE:  East side of the house
SUBJECT:  Baby Boo pumpkin

We planted several pumpkin seeds this spring, but the only vine that grew was the Baby Boo variety.  I found this pumpkin on my early evening wandering and examining of the growth of our landscaping and gardening in our yard.  Tomorrow is August 1st; the kids go back to school in 17 more days and fall will be here before we know it.

Up With The Glass (211/365)

"Life, alas, is very drear. Up with the glass! Down with the beer!"

Louis Untermeyer (American, Poet, Anthologist, Critic and Editor, 1885–1977)

TIME:  8:20 PM
PLACE:  Global Brew Tap House & Lounge
SUBJECT:  Seadog Blue Paw Wheat Ale

We actually had a thunderstorm and rain today.  It brought the temperature down, but it made it quite steamy and hazy out.  The HH and I met his brother and sister-in-law for dinner this evening.  Afterwards, we had a drink at the Global Brew Tap House.  I had the Seadog Blue Paw Wheat Ale (with blueberries at the bottom) which was quite tasty.  Thanks, to HH, who took the photo for me tonight. 

Beer Sign (210/365)

“The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip.”

Henny Youngman (British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", 1906-1998)

TIME:  10:23 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack, Party At The Park
SUBJECT:  Neon beer sign

As is tradition, I went to the horseraces to celebrate my cousin’s birthday.  This year I placed bets on the odd races - $1.00 Exacta boxes <= sounds like I knew what I was doing right?  Ha!  Sadly, I didn’t win a single one.  Must be the horses fault.  To the glue factory with them all!

Duck Bills (209/365)

“If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.”

Douglas Adams (British comic Writer, 1952-2001)

TIME:  12:36 PM
PLACE:  Raging Rivers parking lot
SUBJECT:  MonkeyBoy, DramaQueen, Our cousin and StellaDella

Just to let you know, whenever you open a can of Pringles, duck bills will always appear.

TV Togetherness (208/365)

“Let us all bask in television's warm glowing warming glow.”

Homer Simpson, The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror V-“The Shinning”, Dan Castellaneta, perf. (American Actor and Writer, b.1958)

TIME:  9:28 PM
PLACE:  Living room
SUBJECT:  StellaDella & Oreo watching TV

I believe that they were watching Johnny Test on the Cartoon Network.  That thing that SD is holding across her mouth?  An empty paper towel roll.  The excitement never ceases around here.

Tomatoes & Unwanted Visitor (207/365)

Nestled inside vines
I see ripe red tomatoes
Eaten by a worm.

Original Haiku by Sujomi

TIME:  9:06 AM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Cherry tomatoes on vine

See all those cherry tomatoes?  I was excited to see some that had ripened when I was watering the plants this morning.  But as I was picking the ripe ones, I found that they all had holes in them from some sort of bug.  Maybe it was this fellow:



Yuck.  If those cutworms think that they are going to mutilate my tomatoes, they have another thing coming.  I’m bigger than they are, so I will prevail. I hope.

Withdrawal (206/365)

“We can often endure an extra pound of pain far more easily than we can suffer the withdrawal of an ounce of accustomed pleasure.”

Sydney J. Harris (American, journalist for the Chicago Daily News and later the Chicago Sun-Times. 1917–1986)

TIME:  6:54 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen

*Someone* had her cell phone, computer, Facebook, Xbox and Wii privileges taken away from Sunday afternoon until tomorrow morning because *Someone* wasn’t behaving like she should.  *Someone* is suffering social network and texting withdrawal (I swear she has the shakes).  *Someone* thinks we will break down and give the cell phone back to her sooner if she behaves.  Ha!  *Someone* will just have to suffer until tomorrow morning.

Urban Mountain (205/365)

“All these buildings are like mountains I would like to climb, but I am forbidden.”

Alain Robert (French rock and urban climber, Known as "the French Spider-Man" or "the Human Spider", b 1962)

TIME:  6:40 PM
PLACE:  Downtown, St. Louis, MO
SUBJECT:  View of the YMCA building from Olive St.

The wind picked up this afternoon and some rain clouds rolled in, but we didn’t receive any rain.  That’s ok, because the temperature dropped considerably.  Right now, it’s at 78 degrees.  It feels wonderful.  The HH and I went for a drive after supper, sans children.  We drove across the river to downtown St. Louis.  We weren’t gone very long, just about an hour or so, but it was a nice little jaunt and I got a picture.

Ladder & Pipes (204/365)

“You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb.”

Andrew Carnegie (Scottish born American Industrialist and Philanthropist. 1835-1919)

TIME:  7:26 PM
PLACE:  Unfinished room
SUBJECT:  Early evening light on ladder and temporary plumbing

Due to unforeseen time and money issues, the remolding we planned to do to our bathrooms has been at a standstill.  And, the more I ponder and analyze the reasons why the project is moving at such a snail’s pace, I’ve come to the conclusion that another driving force is the complicated plumbing & sewer issues the remodeling entails.  Temporary pipes must be put in place so we can still use the one bathroom we do have while the old sewer stack is removed; a new stack must be installed and old sewer line under the basement floor has to be replaced.  THAT involved busting up the concrete floor in the basement (a very messy and smelly job).  After all that line is replaced (and who knows when that will be done), new concrete will have to be poured.  Why does the phrase “money pit” keep creeping into my mind?

Cracking Up (203/365)

“What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?”

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth. Act iv, Sc. 1

TIME:  8:10 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  Cracks in the dry ground

We are still under an extreme heat wave.  The ground is dry and cracking.  With no rain in the forecast until Sunday (and then only a 30%  chance), it will only get worse.  I’ve only one question…why do weeds still manage to pop up during a drought, while my garden plants wither and die?  That’s just not right.

Written In Stone (202/365)

“The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong”

Thomas Carlyle (Scottish Historian and Essayist, leading figure in the Victorian era. 1795-1881)

TIME:  7:19 PM
PLACE:  Dining room
SUBJECT:  StellaDella’s garden sign

SD tearfully told me last night that “This was the worst summer ever!”  All because “…you broke your arm…last year we had a pool and now we don’t…I miss my friends from school…It’s a horrible summer!”  She actually cried herself to sleep.  Before she did that, I promised her that we would do something today.  This morning, I poked around in the basement and unearthed this garden sign kit that I had bought at a thrift shop earlier this year for only 50 cents.  Score!  She helped mix the mortar, and she designed the happy face with the rocks and gems.  At first she was going to make a handprint, but then decided that she would just make indentations for cheeks instead.  I did the lettering for her.  It should be cured and ready to be unmolded in two days.  I think (and hope) this made her a little happier with her summer vacation.   

Cat-Nap (201/365)

“A little drowsing cat is an image of a perfect beatitude”

Jules François Felix Fleury-Husson (1820 Laon, Aisne - 1889 Sèvres), who wrote under the name Champfleury, was a French art critic and novelist, a prominent supporter of the Realist movement in painting and fiction.

TIME:  6:28 PM
PLACE:  Living room
SUBJECT:  Jack on the back of the couch

The heat wave continues.  Even though we are blessed with central air-conditioning (and I am eternally grateful for that fact!), the heat still causes both man and beast here to be drowsy and languid, especially in the late afternoon.  Jack is extraordinarily good at stretching out on the cool leather of the couch and taking a little nap.

Dear Photograph (200/365)

Dear Photograph:  Thanks for reminding me in this 100 degree heat that before we know it, winter will soon be here.  Then we will be complaining about how cold it is and wanting the heat again.

TIME:  8:15 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Photo of HH pulling DQ & MB on a sled, Christmas Eve, 2002.

I’ve been fascinated by this blog and decided to give it a try.  These aren’t the best photos to use, but I wanted to show the contrast between the greenery in the height of summer and the snow and starkness in the winter.  I’m not really happy with these and need to play with the camera settings a bit to get more depth of field.  If I had to grade these, I’d give these attempts a “C”.  What I really want to do is dig out some older family photos taken at my Dad’s house and do this there.  I think that would be really cool.

My Reward (199/365)

“The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

TIME:  7:48 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUJECT:  Last of the Baileys in a juice jar

Even though I should, I don’t clean out the refrigerator on a regular basis.  It’s not on my list of priorities – I usually wait until it gets really icky.  Tonight, it got to that point.  I threw out a lot of stuff, removed and washed the shelves and now it is beautiful and clean once again.  I even found this bottle of Baileys shoved way in the back.  It had just enough left to fill up an old jelly juice glass.  What a nice little reward for me.  As I drank it, I vowed to do better by my hardworking kitchen appliance.  But, more than likely?  Not gonna happen.

Corn Harvest (198/365)

“Sex is good, but not as good as fresh, sweet corn.”

Garrison Keillor (American writer and broadcaster b.1942)

TIME:  2:47 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Ears of corn

We picked our corn today.  As we picked it, we shucked it and filled up a large garden trug with the ears.  We all sampled the raw bi-color corn – the kids included. Oh. My. God.  It was sooo sweet and tender…in all my 44 years, I don’t think that I have ever had corn that tasted as good as that sample.  Then we soaked it it salt water (to kill any critters) then vacuumed sealed and froze most of our crop.   I drove some over to my dad as well…he loves corn on the cob.  Of course we kept some out to cook and eat with our supper.  It was even better with butter and salt.  I can safely say that we are definitely planting corn again next year.  That’s good stuff.  Now I’m looking forward for the tomatoes to ripen.

Summer Purse (197/365)

"I ran three miles today. Finally I said, "Lady take your purse."

Emo Philips (born February 7, 1956) is an American entertainer and comedian born in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.

TIME:  9:38 PM
PLACE:  Top of the Corvette
SUBJECT:  Vintage wicker purse

HH and I went out this evening; first to a ceremony and chicken and beer dance at a VFW hall; then to a bar in a town about 27 miles away from our house.  We went there to meet up with HH’s good friend, who was also the best man at our wedding – Art.  Art’s youngest son dates a girl who sings in a band and they were playing at the bar this evening.  It was a nice to get out with HH and, bonus! - I got to break out my summer “dress-up” purse.

Losing At Bingo On A Friday Night (196/365)

Angry Bingo Woman: He must be cheating that's how.
Mr. Skin (A.K.A. Satan): Lady, you can't cheat at bingo. If you could, I would, but you can't. I won because I was lucky - lucky to wind up in a town full of losers!

McDonald, Bruce, dir. Highway 61. 1991. Cineplex-Odeon Films (Canada). DVD.

TIME:  7:59 PM
PLACE:  St. Augustine’s gym
SUBJECT:  My bingo cards and not-so-good luck charm

My good friend called and left a message that she was selling cards at her parish’s Friday night Bingo games this evening and wanted to know if I would come join her to play after her shift.  So, I unearthed my magnetic bingo chips and my good luck charm (My good luck charm is that little police guy in the upper right corner.  He is a toy from a kids meal I ate after taking the final section of the CPA exam in May of 1989.  That August I found out that I had passed on my first sitting.)  Everyone owns their own personal bingo chips, right?  Don’t you judge me!  When I arrived, I found out that sheets of paper cards and round daubers are what is hip and in use now.  Phhht!  They still had the option of using the “hard cards” and since I’m old school, that’s what I used.  I was the only one in the entire hall using those type of cards.  You would of thought it would have given me a little advantage.  You would of thought wrong.  It didn’t help.  I was still a loser.  Thank god they served beer.

Lake Edge (195/365)

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”

Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Essayist, Poet and Author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894)

TIME:  5:56 PM
PLACE:  Boy Scout Camp
SUBJECT:  Lake edge view at MB’s campsite

It was Parent’s night at MonkeyBoy’s Boy Scout Camp this evening.  The HandsomeHusband and I drove out to the campsite to eat dinner and to see how MB is holding up on his week away from home.  He’s hanging in there, although he did ask if we could come back tomorrow to take him home.  Nope, we told him, he’s paid up until Saturday morning and we’re going to get our money’s worth.

Reach For The Sky (194/365)

“Your flames are spreading... which are great and are like embodiments of truths. Your rays are reaching the sky.”

Rig Veda (collection of over 1,000 hymns, which contain the mythology of the Hindu gods, considered to be one of the foundations of the Hindu religion)

TIME:  7:57 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Underside of a Heliopsis “Ballerina”

Worked; came home; left for physical therapy; grocery store; came home; went out to eat; came home; took a “it-feels-like-I’m-cheating-whenever-I-take-a-flower-photo” picture for the day.  Now heading for bed.

Basil (193/365)

"A man taking basil from a woman will love her always."

Sir Thomas Moore (English, lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. 1478–1535)

TIME:  7:47 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Basil in the raised garden bed

I watered the corn, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and herbs this morning around 9am.  It. was. freakin. hot.  Around 5pm, thunder started to rumble and a little bit of rain fell.  More importantly, the temperature dropped to a balmy 90 degrees.  I went outside around 7ish to pull weeds.  I have a huge fight with a certain vine that invades every area of my yard each summer and chokes things in my garden – HATE the vine!  The temperature dropped even more.  Right now, I’m sitting on my front porch and it’s 77 degrees with a slight breeze.  It’s lovely.

Hot (192/365)

"Summer has set in with its usual severity."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English, poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher, 1772–1834)

TIME:  4:16 PM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  Temperature

We reached the magical 100 degree mark today with a real feel of 123 degrees – Ho-ly cannoli!  Yeah, it was just a little bit warm outside.

*disclaimer* – even though the car was in “Drive”, I was not driving at the time this photo was taken.

Dipping Bird (191/365)

“Quick as a humming bird is my love, Dipping into the hearts of flowers-- She darts so eagerly, swiftly, sweetly Dipping into the flowers of my heart.“

James Oppenheim (1882-1932), American poet, novelist, and editor. A lay analyst and early follower of C. G. Jung

TIME:  6:53 (yesterday)
PLACE:  My brother’s backyard
SUBJECT:  Hummingbird

This is another photo I took yesterday at my brother’s house.  I really wanted to capture the hummer in flight, but was just not able to do so.  On the bright side, she did stay still on the feeder long enough for me to snap a half-way decent photo with my telephoto lens – I’m happy with that.

Sadly, We All Find It Funny (190/365)

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.”

Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947)

TIME:  10:32 PM
PLACE:  My brother’s house
SUBJECT:  Answer slips

We celebrated my nephew’s birthday at my oldest brother’s house this evening.  It was the last night spent with my California brother and his family before they fly home tomorrow.  We ended up playing a game called “Things” – basically everyone writes an answer to a posed question and your job is to match up each player with the answer they gave.  It didn’t take long before the “farts”, “poops”, “boobs” and several R-rated phrases appeared in the written answers – usually in duplicate.  And, since apparently all of us have the intellectual maturity of a 12 year-old boy, we giggled and snickered each time they were read.  ‘Cause that’s how my family rolls.

Bicycle Wheels (189/365)

“I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things.”

Lech Walesa (Polish trade union Activist, Electrician and President of Poland (1990-95). Nobel Prize for Peace in 1983. b.1943)

TIME:  6:54 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s back yard
SUBJECT:  Rear bicycle tires

Tonight our town has it’s 6th annual bike ride which raises funds for safety equipment and provides a recreational opportunity for individuals and families in the community.  I wanted to ride in it last year, but had a scheduling conflict with having to pick up MonkeyBoy from scout camp on the same evening.  This year, MB and I were going to ride, but I couldn’t with my stupid broken wrist. *grrrr*  It all worked out though…with me being out of commission, it allowed HH and I to lend our bikes to my California brother and nephew, so they could ride along with my dad.  MB is riding as well.  Hopefully, next year will be the year that I participate dammit!

Curvy Candlestick Symmetry (188/365)

“I didn't discover curves; I only uncovered them.”

Mae West (American Actress and sex symbol, 1892-1980)

TIME:  9:55 PM
PLACE:  Desk
SUBJECT:  Thrifted Denmark wooden candlesticks

My brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephews and the kids and I went on a hometown, downtown, thrifting/shopping adventure this afternoon.  At one store I found these wooden candlesticks for a quarter apiece.  They have a round paper label with “BRDR., RASMUSSEN, COPENHAGEN, MADE IN DEMARK – DANISH QUALITY” pasted on the bottoms.  The paint isn’t perfect, but since they are mid-century modern and were only 50 cents, there was no way I could pass them up.  Love those curves. 

Scarred Siblings (187/365)

“Comparison is a death knell to sibling harmony.”

Elizabeth Fishel (journalist and author)

TIME:  8:32 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s kitchen
SUBJECT:  Scars
(taken by HandsomeHusband)

My brother and his family are in town from California for the week.  Tonight we had pizza at Dad’s house with them along with my sister and her children.  I showed everyone my scar and that led to we siblings comparing our injuries.  My brother had broken both of his wrists several years ago (it’s a long story, but it involves a radar gun, a race and a brick wall-it’s actually quite entertaining) and he has scars – although faded - on both wrists like the one on mine.  My sister had cut herself when she was younger, by putting her arm though a neighbor’s basement door glass window, which left her with a scar on her wrist.  Of course we had to take a photo for posterity and, more importantly, the blog.

Designed By DramaQueen (186/365)

‘I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some.”

Herbert Rappaport (1908 - 1983), known in the Soviet Union as Gerbert Moritsevich Rappaport, was an Austrian-Soviet screenwriter and film director.

TIME:  7:41 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Flowers

I am very behind this year in planting containers with annuals to place around the front of the house.  I normally have several hanging baskets and pots decorating the front porch, but didn’t get around to it last month due to my mishap.  With the addition of the glider on Saturday, I decided that the empty planter on the chippy chair that sits next to it needed to be filled.  DQ went with me and wanted to design the container with pinks, oranges and yellows.  She picked out some “Profusion Orange” zinnias (planted on each side), the pink vinca in the back, and a “Pink Madness” petunia (not shown) in the front.  We couldn’t find a yellow that we liked, so we went with a white Euphorbia “Breathless Blush” instead.  I do like me that “Pacifica Punch” vinca she chose.  She did good.

July 4th (185/365)

“It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.”

J. Horace McFarland (American, leading proponent of the "City Beautiful Movement", 1859-1948) - statement at the conference of the USA governors held in the White House, Washington D.C., in 1908

TIME:  6:22 PM
PLACE:  Front sidewalk
SUBJECT:  Smoke bomb

This is the extent of our fireworks this year…DramaQueen went to a friend’s get together on Saturday and brought home a bag of smoke bombs.  She set them all off after supper.

Which Way Is Up? (184/365)

“The eye sees not itself
But by reflection.”
 
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Brutus, in Julius Caesar, act 1, sc. 2, l. 52-3.

TIME:  9:30 AM
PLACE:  Foley Park
SUBJECT:  Lake shoreline

StellaDella wanted to go fishing this weekend, so HandsomeHusband bought her a fishing pole and this morning, MonkeyBoy and I went with them to fish.  It. was. hot.  And as you can see, the lake was extremely still.  I didn’t think it would be a good morning for fishing and it wasn’t.  They had a few nibbles, but no bites.  SD was upset that we didn’t catch anything, but we told her that she would go again.  She asked if we could go again tomorrow.  Not that soon sweetie.
~*~*~
Did you guess correctly?  The bottom picture is right-side up.

The Glider (183/365)

Glider before: May 28, 2011


”Occasionally we all inherit, or are given, or get something or some things that are too good to use for a variety of seemingly sound but really quite silly reasons-they’re heirlooms or too rare or too expensive or too fragile or too pretty. The result is heirloom linen handed down from generation to generation that falls apart when some benighted heiress decides to air it. While I’m glad that past generations saved some things we now enjoy, we are enjoying them by using them instead of carefully storing them for our kids-in turn to store. Unused beautiful things are a waste.”

Malcolm Forbes

TIME:  8:08 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  …and glider after.

Finally, after an unplanned break (Bwahahaha! *wipes tears from eyes*  Get it? I “broke” my wrist and there was a “break” in finishing my project? *sigh* I do love me a good pun), I finished restoring my paternal grandmother’s metal glider.  It only took three trips to the hardware store – the first to pick up the bolts, nuts and lock washers; a second to pick up plastic caps that I forgot the first time; then a third time for one more bolt and two more nuts because apparently I couldn’t count correctly.  But, I got her put together and now she sits on the front porch for our gliding pleasure. 

Now lets see her again from a slightly different angle…before:



and…



after.

And here are some very early befores:

 
My dad determined that this would have been around 1954-1955ish.  That is his dog, Cindy.  The car in the background is a 1949 Plymouth.


This photo was taken in the summer of 1964.  My great-aunt Teresa (my paternal grandfather’s sister) is sitting on the glider, my paternal grandmother (Ignazia or Edna) is sitting next to her on the metal chair and that’s my mom sitting in the lawn chair on the far right - she’s pregnant with my oldest brother Michael.  That glider and the chair have been around for awhile…I’m honored to have them on my porch.

Tassels (182/365)

“I know my corn plants intimately, and I find it a great pleasure to know them.”

Barbara McClintock (American Scientist. Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1983. 1902-1992)

TIME:  8:26 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Corn tassels

Our corn is waaaay past “knee high by the Fourth of July.”  The stalks are taller than HH and have developed tassels.  The stalks are also developing ears with silks.  If all goes according to plan, the pollen from the tassels will fall onto the silk and pollinate the ears.  When the silk is brown and dry then the pollination process is finished and the corn will continue to grow.  We only planted one variety of corn so there is no need to de-tassel and cross-pollinate our tiny corn crop this year.  Maybe next year we will go crazy and plant a couple of varieties.  Or not.