Green (021/365)

TIME: 8:08 am

PLACE: Back yard

SUBJECT: Moss on fabric planters

*~*~*

At this time of year, I am happy to see any sort of green in the yard. 

Salty (014/366)

Reg: Welcome to the Salty Spitoon. How tough are you?

"No Weenies Allowed." SpongeBob Squarepants. Mar. 2002. Television.

TIME:  2:30 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Jeep tail light

Obviously, I did not join the extremely long line at the car wash to rid my Jeep of the road salt it gathered as a result of Thursday’s winter storm.  Maybe tomorrow.

Un-Amused Corvette Finds Window Prints Un-Amusing (297/365)

Murray Burns: [shouts at rows of houses] Neighbors, I have an announcement for you. I have never seen such a collection of dirty windows. Now I want to see all of you out there on the fire escape with your Mr. Clean bottles, and let's snap it up!

Robards, Jason, perf. A Thousand Clowns. Dir. Fred Coe. 1965. united Artists. DVD.

TIME:  3:47 PM
PLACE:  Back driveway
SUBJECT:  Fingerprints on passenger window

The husband just *had* to wash his mid-life-crisis-mobile today.  You know, it was caught in the rain…twice.  TWICE!  And then, on Saturday, MonkeyBoy used the window as a door handle and left fingerprints all over the corner of the glass.  Oh, the horror.

Dig It (293/365)

“Handing some guys the keys to a Bobcat or backhoe is like handing a group of teenagers the key to your liquor cabinet.”

~ Andy Wasowski, author

TIME:  1:14 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Backhoe bucket

When we moved into this house, HH promised me he would run electric out to the detached garage…ten years later, I’m finally it.  Pretty soon (I hope), when I park the Miata, I won’t have to stop, get out of the car, unlock the garage, pull up the garage door, get back in the car, maneuver the car into the garage (many times in the dark), get out and then finally, close the garage door and lock it back up.  I’d like to think HH is doing it because he loves me and doesn’t want me to have to do all that work each time I drive the Miata.  I really know it’s because he has his fancy-schmancy-mid-life-crisis parked in there too and he doesn’t want to do all that either.  I’ll take what I can get.

Slime Stained (276/365)

Lady Macbeth: Out, damned spot! out, I say!

William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The Oxford Shakespeare. 1914. Macbeth.
Act V. Scene I.

TIME:  11:59 PM
PLACE:  Bedroom
SUBJECT:  StellaDella’s stained hand

SD found a recipe for homemade “slime” in science experiment book.
She asked if I would help her make some.  The recipe called for a few drops of food coloring.  I had red, black, green, blue and yellow for her to choose from.  Can you guess what color she chose?

Spuds (222/365)

“A lucky person is someone who plants pebbles and harvests potatoes.”

Greek proverb

TIME:  8:41 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Potatoes

It was time to dig up our 2 potato plants.  This is the bountiful harvest they produced.  I guess it would have been easier (and cheaper) to buy a 10lb bag at the grocery store.  However, I know for certain that these are organically grown potatoes.  THAT fact alone should add another $2 or $3.00 to the value don’t you think?

Sewer (220/365)

Ed Norton: Like we say in the sewer, "time and tide wait for no man".

"Ralph Kramden, Inc." Perf. Art Carney. The Honeymooners. 1956. Television.

TIME:  10:21 PM
PLACE:  Basement
SUBJECT:  New plastic sewer pipe

See what fun stuff is going on in our basement?  The HH and MB replaced the old clay pipe this afternoon.  Very dirty and stinky work.  I don’t think MB wants to be a plumber when he grows up.

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.

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.

Kings Of The Hill (173/365)

William Barclay 'Bat' Masterson: From where I stand, this town could use an honest dealer.
Ellie Winters: From where you stand, you'd better keep right on going. Oh, Bat, this is one time you picked the wrong man to play "King of the Hill" with.

"License to Cheat." Bat Masterson. 4 Feb. 1959. Television.

TIME:  6:12 PM
PLACE:  Little League Fields
SUBJECT:  Toys on top of a dirt pile

Remember the dirt pile from day #141 - Saturday, May 21st?  Well here it is again with a lion, a saber tooth tiger, a triceratops and a pink truck at it’s peak.  We were back at the ball fields for MB’s game this evening.  This time, SD was able to play in the ginormous pile of dirt to her heart;s content.  When we arrived home, she went straight into the bathtub for a hose down.

Dirt Pile (141/365)

Grandpa Lou: In my days, all we did was throw rocks at each other. Big bag of dirt clods- that's what the kids want.

The Rugrats Movie. Perf. Joe Alaskey. 1998. Nickelodean Movies.

TIME:  1:21 PM
PLACE:  Little League Fields
SUBJECT:  Dirt

To StellaDella and the other siblings of ballplayers, this is the best thing about coming to baseball games – the gigantic pile of dirt used to dust the infields.  They love climbing, sitting on the top and playing with cars and other little toys that they bring with them on it.  Unfortunately, today, SD had a birthday party to attend at 2pm and therefore, much to her chagrin. she was not allowed to approach this dirt mountain.  (And did you notice…BLUE sky!  Amazing.)

Always Optimistic In The Spring (075/365)

“An optimist is the human personification of spring.“

~Susan J. Bissonette

TIME:  4:38 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Plant markers

I think I mentioned before that the HandsomeHusband purchased several types of seeds and planned to start them for a vegetable garden.  This afternoon he planted some tomato, pepper and cucumber seeds.  We always begin the growing season with the best of intentions; making sure the garden plot is well watered, fertilized and weeded…then, around the 4th of July when it seems the weeds seem to grow faster than we can pull them and it grows so stifling hot and humid that being outside is like being in a wet oven, we tend to slack off and everything ends up going to hell.  Nevertheless, every year we begin anew with high hopes of a massive harvest - I have faith that we will prevail at some point.  This will be the year we need to do it too - I’m afraid the market price of fresh produce is going to get ugly along with higher costs of all the other groceries we consume as well.

Sprouting (050/365)

“Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout.”

Morihei Ueshiba (Japanese, Martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art of aikido, 1883-1969)

TIME:  10:30 PM
PLACE:  Living room
SUBJECT:  Endive sprout

The HandsomeHusband decided that we this year in our garden we need to start the plants ourselves from seeds.  He bought a fancy grow light, special food, a 72 cell grow kit (with soil pellets), several varieties of seeds (heirloom tomatoes, moonflowers, red pepper, cucumber, marigolds, and endive), and a wire shelving unit that has been temporarily placed by one of the living room windows to hold it all.  He started off by planting some endive seed on Sunday.  They have just sprouted.  It is so nice to see something green growing.

Horse Hooky (229/365)

 
“I bet on a horse at ten-to-one.  It didn't come in until half-past five.”

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

TIME:  1:04 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack
SUBJECT:  Horse & jockey

Being the good mothers that we are, my sister and I took the kids to the racetrack this afternoon.  We consumed $1.00 hotdogs and 0.75 cent sodas; I bought a tip sheet and proceeded to lose each and every race where I placed a bet.  Heck, I couldn’t even pick the right window to place my bet ~ I always seemed to get in the one queue that had issues.  My sister did win once, on the first bet she made – she received a whole $2.40 on her $2.00 bet.  Oh yeah, we are the original high stakes gamblers.

Pushing Up Peonies (066/365)

 
“And the Spring comes slowly up this way.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), British poet. Christabel (l. 22). . . Poems [Samuel Taylor Coleridge]. John Beer, ed. (1993) Everyman.

TIME:  5:01 PM
PLACE: Front yard
SUBJECT:  Peony shoots

We had some lovely weather today, we made it to 60 degrees.  We did get a quick downpour mid-afternoon, but the rain, although heavy, was over after less than 5 minutes and the sun came out again.  When my dad came by on Friday, he had mentioned that he noticed the peonies were coming up.  After the rain stopped, I went out to look for them.  Yep, they were there.

A Whole New Ball Game (111/365)

"What does a mama bear on the pill have in common with the World Series?  No Cubs." 

Harry Caray (American radio and TV sportscaster, 1914-1998)

TIME: 6:57 PM
PLACE: Little League field dugout
SUBJECT: Baseball glove 

MonkeyBoy is on a new Little League team this year.  His coach from last year did not return and his old teammates have been assigned to different teams throughout the league.  He is on a team with many boys who go to my old Catholic grade school.  I wonder if I will see anyone I know at the games this year.  Tonight was practice.  HandsomeHusband usually accompanies him, but tonight, HH had a meeting to attend.  He dropped MonkeyBoy off at 6pm and I arrived about 6:45pm with StellaDella, DramaQueen and DQ's best friend.  It was a little windy and brisk out this evening.  I really hope it warms up soon.  Afterwards, I bought the kids ice cream...I didn't get any, it's not on my diet!   

It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (104/365)

 
"No one can see their reflection in running water. 
It is only in still water that we can see."

Taoist proverb

TIME: 4:43 PM
PLACE:  The backyard
SUBJECT: Swing and water reflection

We have a swing-set in our back yard that HandsomeHusband built when DramaQueen and MonkeyBoy were toddlers.  Over the years, ruts beneath the seats have been made from the kids dragging their feet back and forth while swinging.  These indentations fill up with water whenever it rains.  Water puddles, of course, attract StellaDella like a moth to a flame.  When we took the dog out today, SD played the "Will it float?" game.  She gathered a few items: a leaf, some long stems of grass, and some white rocks from the driveway.  The leaf floated.  The grass floated as well.  The white rocks, sank like a, sank like a...well, they sank like rocks.  You can just make out a couple of them in the above picture.

And the Worms Crawl In (079/365)

 
"I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm."

Franklin D. Roosevelt (American, President, Governor, Secretary of the Navy,  Senator, Lawyer  1882-1945)

TIME: 9:42 AM
PLACE:  Mother's Day Out
SUBJECT: Worms

This week has been brought to you by the letter "W" at Mother's Day Out.  Having been though the alphabet with the older two children, I knew that today would present a photo opportunity with worms.  It was funny, all the girls were gathered around the table with the tin pie pans giggling and picking up the worms and the boys were at the second table playing with a whale bubble maker.