PLAYING LOOSE AND FREE

Admit it - we all do it - cheat around the edges of things. As HOUSE says in his TV show "We all lie."

The recipe calls for 2 T and we add heaping T's.

The label says add 60# of air - we go 62#.

The directions say assemble with these tools - we make do with a table knife.

OK - you get the picture.

We (the Mister and I) are on an eating plan. We count calories. He gets 500 per meal and I get 400 per meal. I never leave food on my plate - ever - I lick the last grains of rice off the plate. It is hard to do these meals - we are accustomed to having gravy and sauces on our meats. BUT when you add them now - they count toward the bottom line - that is living loose and free with the calories.

Over the weekend we grilled our sandwiches that had yogurt cheese - turkey - tomato and mustard. We were living high off the hog and all within the numbers with enough left to have a cup of soup!

I would rather be dieting now then recovering from a coronary in a few years. We will stick with it - keep exercising - keep eating right - we want to vacation a lot more times with the grandchildren - we like these vacations a lot...

OK my calories and my sleep are important - you loose weight if you rest enough - and hold on to the weight if you do not - has to do with stress... stess holds weight - relaxation releases weight... night now - check you another day when we can play loose and free with planting stories... gardens to move around this fall... HURRAY - they have been there two years and have grown well - time to move things around the yard!

a few thoughts...

• Labor Day weekend - how did it arrive so soon?

• I am grateful for the vacation to Maine. Surely still colors many days of the week.

• I am glad to be part of the fading Middle Class. Long may she revive.

• Change - a good thing.

• I have plans for a new design of the garden in 2009 and it is not even finished for 2008

• If you harvest a 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes and 3 gallons of herbs - you are going to be busy for a long time. And you should consider yourself the most lucky person in the world.

• I am glad I am not part of the Rich and Famous - Seen and Be Seen - world. I like my privacy and solitude much too much.

• Wading pools are fun. Hummingbirds overhead while you swim...PRICELESS!

• I would rather be doing a Cardio Routine and getting healthy than recovering from a heart attack....

• I am not impressed with Governor Palin from Alaska. The entire state has less people than the city of Chicago. Hello? What are you thinking?

• I was very impressed with how everyone behaved at the DNC. Dignity from the top down.

• Life beckons. Church, friends, activity.

Tag you are it!

I have never been invited to meme before so here goes a new adventure for me. Janet at Big Sky Knitting tagged me for this game.


Here is what I am supposed to do:
1. Put the logo on your blog:
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs


1. Eat at Joes: I like this blog because he offers a different way of looking at things while being entertaining. Joe is a guy living in Durham, North Carolina. Eat at Joe's! is Joe's food blog. Joe knows nothing about food, except what he has picked up from cooking, eating, and reading. He's pretty much the same way about writing and blogging: he is neither a professional chef, nor writer, nor blogger. He's just a big old geek.


2. Yarn Spinner. This woman in KY gives perspective into spinning which I have no patience for and her DH is a professor and I love to follow the antics of the pets, husband and adventures in the southern part of KY.


3. The Sailing Knitter. Who would not love to sell it all and live on a boat? I find myself living vicariously through her adventures. Plus she is always knitting socks! She finds great yarns and has great pictures of a part of the world I will never see.


4. A Little Life. Fun to read. Stretches my vocabulary. Interesting subject matter.


5. Possum Creek Herb Farm Blog. She encourages my addiction to herbs. That in itself is enough of a reason to read the blog and research what plant I am missing in my collection. It is my favorite spot to read in February when I have had enough of winter.


6. Out Little Acre. Gardens and comments are priceless. Northeast Ohio is near and dear to my heart. I grew up on the shore of Lake Erie.


7. on the hill. Flowers, Travel, socks, food, geography and variety - What more can a person ask? A blog that allows for a fair amount of travel dreaming while being able to crawl into your own bed at night! She lives on a hillside in the Yorkshire Dales. Across the big pond.


STEP 4: Add links to those blogs on yours DONE!

STEP 5: Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs


Now if anyone wonders why I have a hard time doing things on time these are 7 good reasons...


On another note we have a hungry hummingbird who I call Brownie. Probably looks like this link. I got a franchise diner for the Mean Green Hummer because there was a fair amount of collisions. So now I wait to see if they use the second feeder too!



I could bore you with words about Maine and the vacation that was A-MAINE-ZING but I will not do that... Next time I post I will bore you a little.


The garden is doing well. I have a few chokeberries and a few wonderberries - but the rest of the plants that were suppose to be that variety look an awful lot like tomato plants. The Zuchinni lived its life and is now on the heap in the woods. My second setting of beans are about 6 inches high. The lettuce and spinach will get planted this week for fall enjoyment!


Tonight for dinner we had Turkey, tomato, avacado sandwiches. Garden additions make every meal a great treat.


Back to the socks that Cat Bohrdi calls Spiral Coriolis Sock. This person had a much better success at it than I am having - but I am sure that my second sock will look 100% better than my first because I understand the procedures now... Socks are forgiving - you cover them with shoes and pants ... have a good day - be kind one to another!

Change

Tonight I want to talk about change.

Not the kind you find in your pockets, but rather the kind that over takes you.

I have been in such situations before.

I have fought the change.

Let me tell you how hazardous that is for the body and the soul. It makes you sick and tired.

Let me share with you the wisdom gathered on the journey...

If there is a humongous change before you - let it fill every pore of your body. Let it completely wash over you. Harvest the energy of the change and in doing that take control of the ride. You can be victim of change or victor of change. You can hanker down and say "Stop" or you can ride the wave and gather speed and come out on top.

In these times change itself comes with baggage. Steal it. Make it your own and then you can rule the world that is being laid out before you.

Take no prisoners. Take nothing but your God given skills and float away. By riding the wave of change you can gather energy and not waste any fighting what is happening to your world. In the end you will be in a better place.

When all is said and done - take a moment to look at the difference between the two worlds. If you used all your talents - you will like all you see. If you were angry and got stubborn - the surroundings will make you wither and miserable.

Fly with the change and rejoice in your resilience.

OK. Now I said my piece - go to bed! Yeah that means me too! Right after I wrap the zuchinni bread!

VaCaTiOn In A bOx

Ever since we had a deck and sun and time, we have had a wading pool.

This one was on sale for half of what I have spent on wading pools in the past.

It now claims about a third of the deck surface.

It is glorious.

Filter and everything.

Now that will make the next 5 weeks of the hot summer bearable.

We were feeling like we were captive in our own house. With a pool - we now just feel sunburned.

Oh the garden is doing well also

Beans

Zuchinni

Swiss Chard

Herbs

and soon

Tomatos and Peppers!

Sit quietly and listen to the wonder about you...

Nothing but garden

BEANS

MOLES

BEANS

AND WEEDS

NOTHING BUT GARDENS

BUT WE DID ENJOY THE HOME GROWN GREEN BEANS TONIGHT

AND I FINISHED THE EUROBAG LAST NIGHT

TOO TEDIOUS TO MASS PRODUCE

BACK TO THE SOCKS - EASY MINDLESS SOCKS

AUGUST 12 I GO BACK TO THE CABLE KNIT SWEATER FOR THE STUDENT

Time to tell the brain - time for sleep...

SELF DISCIPLINE

All my life I have struggled with self discipline.

I find it easy to do things for others.

I find it hard to do good things for myself.

You know what kind of things - moderation things - things that require you to have a good strong talk with yourself and do things like - eat right - exercise - sleep enough - keep your language on the proper level - be kind - be consistent - be positive.... you know the fruits of the spirit kinds of things. Things that do not harm yourself. Things that make you a better person.

I have struggled with self discipline ever since I realized what it was at age seven.

Breaking bad habits is hard. I suffered from gluttony at one point in my life. I also remember thinking that life would be better if you did not need sleep at all (as I was coming out of the grocery store at 1 am).

I have struggled with moderation over the last 5 years. I have learned that sugar is not my friend. I have had to part ways with many things that I loved no longer can I eat cheese. I have learned that some of my habits were not healthy for me. I have struggled and most days I succeed.

I just realized that I must be getting some control on things - I understand when I need to eat and do it with moderation almost 90% of the time - I am very aware that exercise is important and my body craves it almost as much as Jackson craves his walks.

I still have a ways to go on other areas - there are projects that are unfinished - and I sometimes bite off more than I can chew - but I have been very aware of what it means to be self disciplined lately and feel that I am making some head way on the project - - - afterall.

Better be - I have been working on the project for 50 years.

But I have also learned to forgive myself. Which is another side of self discipline.

Now it is late. Good Night.

Today I have a a thought

These people need prayers:

Bob

Ray's family

Lindsay

Alex

A woman friend going through divorce

You are good at prayers I know you are - and if no words come - just lift the name to the heavens and God will know what to do - just be the elevator.

Keep a good thought - it has been a most unusual day.

See you tomorrow....

Today we have herbs

These herbs mixed with some Olivio were basted on the chicken breasts and it made a great dinner!

I thought I lost my filled Kroger card - but it was in a safe place - I found it there.

I may have sent the brain on vacation a little early - got lost going to church... need to focus a little more this next two weeks. Maybe not!

Today we have Sabbath

My question to you is this: Why when you take time to rest are you so tired? When I stop I can barely function - in that I cannot even stay awake to read or knit. I must be pretty tired to have rested two full days and still be tired enough to go to bed!

I did sneak into the garden after I walked the dog. The tomato bushes, cukes, melons and zuchinni needed to be strung up some what. I needed to lay paper under the green bean bushes. Weeding is eternally needed. I trimmed back the lavendar bushes to small circular shapes and cut some blossoms. I water boarded a mole hole but tomorrow morning I will gather all the hoses together and get the rest of the contingent living near the west wall of the garden... where they think they want to eat my lavender plants and the zuchinni - - what they do not want to have to do is to eplain to my eldest daughter who loves zuchinni that they ate the plants....

In the next few days I will be starting some sections again - second plantings are fun. I haven't done this for a long time (since Wheaton where I canned a lot of stuff) but it will be good - the growing season lasts until October - so I have plenty of time for more beans - beets - lettuce - spinach - swiss chard - carrots and whatever else I have in the seed bag that can function in 90 days!

OK I am exhausted.

Long week - five full work days - I think in summer the work week should be 4 days long every week - give us adults time to rest and play...

Today we have gratitude

Grateful for rest

Grateful for the hard work that keeps my garden safe

Grateful for my life here

Grateful for the animals I see when I walk (after Jackson saw two bunnies he no longer even flinched when he saw the birds)

Grateful for the day lilies

Grateful that I know how to knit and am willing to try new things and not be frozen into panic if the pattern does not come out 100% correct.... I can learn and I can grow.... the pattern that I am following is not like this - but you get the idea - knitted holes to carry things - bag weighs ounces and carries pounds... I have been intrigued with these since I saw them in Germany when we were living there in 1976 - 1979.

Grateful for companionship

Grateful that I know how to entertain myself with all my hobbies (even laundry)

Grateful that my DH is not a high maintenance person

Grateful for thank you notes from friends

Grateful that I can let the inner sloth rule me one day of the week

Grateful that this was a four day weekend

Glad I did not have to travel to hear fireworks - they were all around us

Glad that my God is huge and all inclusive and accepting of me

Glad that tomorrow is another day of rest - although that rest may be more like play!

My suggestion: Find something to be grateful about - do it - watch it - and enjoy it...

Tonight - we see birds...

After the routine (yes we do the routine every night)

We were going to have a short walk between the rain drops

Then I saw a huge red shoulder hawk fly over head and I was done for. I love birds. I love to see them fly and I love the sounds they make. I open the window in the dead of winter to listen to the cardinals in the morning because it is that important to me.

Out street is about a half mile loop, but if you go down the private lane to where the creek is located you get in a full mile and a good cardio because of the steep climb up.

So on we went and checked the creek that was really flowing.

As we started back up the drive I saw this flying away.

UNREAL, I see them periodically when I cross the Little Miami River, but never this close to hear the sound of the wings flapping.

That was a good thing to see on an other wise rainy day.

Knitting socks, and a Eurobag just because I can.

Tomorrow is Saturday! WOO HOO! Love long weekends!

Tonight we got Dog!

OK!

Here is the routine and I do mean routine!

Home from work - belly rub the poochy poochy after all he is a belly rub whore!

Eat dinner - do dishes.

Change clothes and Jackson starts dancing at the very sight of me headed to the bedroom to change clotes.

Sit down to tie shoes and Jackson is so over joyed that he insists on helping.

Get leash!

Get plastic bag!

Get leash on dog!

Walk for 30 or so minutes.

After the walk Jackson likes to lounge in the yard on his long tether.

Fine and good. I staked up some plants and generally enjoyed what I saw. Here is where life gets tricky...

As a rule - Jackson can be let off his leash and usually can be trusted to go the 10 or so feet without being touched or guided. He just goes in the house. Tonight I guess the door was not open enough. He hit the door and said to himself - humph - guess I am not going in there - turned around and darted for the wide open spaces. Dammit!

So I go in the house and DH asks me "Did you let him go?" "D'oh"

I invented this trick and 99 times it works - but not tonight. So I get a leash and Jackson proceeds to take me on a cruise of the neighbors yards. The neighbors have some interesting yards!

He slips into a very thick part of the woods and I opt to walk around to the other side - where I find him on the deck - he looks at me and bolts down the stairs. Dammit!

I tour the yards - nice work guys! and while he is sniffing yard 4 or 5 I lost track - I clench his neck and get the leash on him again.

Home we wander - all the time I am telling him "you should not piss off the momma" and lecturing him on the finer points of not running away from me - it is not prudent at this juncture to piss me off...

Well, he comes in the house and I ask the DH if he thought he would have come if I crinkled a plastic bag the way he comes before his walk... we just laughed...

Jackson is not to be trusted and at that point he looks at me with big brown eyes and says "What?"

That was that - tonight we got dog!

Tonight we got holes!

If you have a hole you fill it.

Think Dentist.

Think tire repair.

Think Shoe repair.

Think Tailor.

Think window.

Think garden.

I have a HUGE Sweet Gum Tree in the front yard. Half the area under the tree is hosta and pacasandra (which I may have spelled wrong) and the other half is hosta and impatience. Well they were wilted tonight and I know they need water daily. So I went to water. What did I find?

Holes.

Holes where the plants had been.

Want to see the other damage?

Definite witness that there are voles that are making the holes.

Plants were helter skelter and I had a hose.

I filled the holes. I comically refer to this process as water boarding. I understand the Geneva Convention I just prefer to take no prisoners. Early in the spring I did this process and the lawn is clear. Guess they moved under the tree. I am resisting getting the peanut treats for them that worked for my neighbor so well. But this is war. I will win.

And now the day lilies... there are others but these are my two favorites!

Sweet garden dreams to you....

We got Greens!

Tonight I harvested about a bushel of mixed greens.

Curly Kale

Bak Choy

Swiss Chard

We will be eating healthy for the next few days. I imagine by the 15th there will be the favorite item "Home Grown Green Bones" (green and wax beans)

After that there will be other delights to have. I can start some fall crops soon enough and enjoy some root vegetables most of the fall and winter.

I read where some are harvesting the chamomile for tea already. My seeds just sprouted... My celery is also just sprouted. I guess I planted a little late in the season - Memorial Day is not that late - but next year I will be able to get the garden in early because the fence will be up and hopefully the soil will be much enriched... April - I am thinking April - before the 15th - that should be soon enough to plant spinach and peas!

Did I ever tell you I love to garden...

Oh and the day lilies look just like the pictures I posted last week. Some actually are fragrant!

Off to rest... more fun tomorrow...

Gardens are better than books - they turn their own pages

Yesterday besides being the 30th anniversary of establishment of twins - was the equinox. I was outside in the daylight until 9:15 and came in because HOUSE was on the TV. I also figured out how to make the rain barrel drain and watered the hydrangea with the water and a few other plants in the front yard - - then I did sprinkle the impatience under the tree with the hose as they, the hostas and the tree needed water

Tonight I watered the garden with a sprinkler. I also carried around a bag of fertilizer and whereever I stopped I scooped some fertilizer in the soil. I can do this kind of thing - fertilize because for some reason I forgot about it totally last year and the plants were so listless.

I also fed the rose bushes and the day lilies... the ones I have been waiting and waiting for...

They are not blooming yet - but they are close. Here are the photos from the website - where I discovered - some are no longer available... so I had best keep these safe from the deer.

wayside king royale

wayside painted lady

welcome mat

vanilla fluff

wineberry candy

Aren't these great names - what fun.

Some of these are suppose to smell really great - but they are so full of deer scat - that the whole scent thing amy be lost this year! Can't put deer fence so close to the street now can we?

I will be focusing on the roses a little more over the next few days - I think they are feeling neglected - more so than even the year that we had the foundation dug - at least that year the heavens watered them and I did manage to feed them on schedule - there was no other plant in the yard!

Keep a good thought for tomorrow - this aging process and all the crazy tests we have to take - make you a little crazy - but we seem to take them in stride - sort of like taking the car in for a test to see the problem with the engine...

WEEKEND IN THE GARDEN - OH BOY!

A REALLY BOUNTIFUL HARVEST OF LAVENDER IN A 6 INCH DIAMETER VASE....

TO THE LEFT YOU CAN SEE LEEKS GROWING VERY VERY SLOWLY AND THAT PESKY CRABGRASS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLOT

TWO PURPLE PEPPER PLANTS ON THE DECK TABLE. THERE ARE 3 DIFFERENT BASIL PLANTS; 2 SCENTED GERANIUMS AND 6 ORANGE PATIO TOMATO BUSHES

THE SINGLE PLANT THAT LOOKS LIKE A TOMATO IS REALLY A GROUND CHERRY WHICH IS AN EXPERIMENT FOR THIS YEAR. There are about 6 total and several Wonderberry bushes growing too. More experiments....

SALSIFY, WHICH I HAD TO START AGAIN BECAUSE IT LOOKED SO MUCH LIKE GRASS THAT MOST OF THE FIRST BATCH GOT WEEDED OUT. THIS MAKES ME THINK ABOUT STARTING EVERY SEED I BUY IN A CUP SO I KNOW WHAT I AM GROWING.

That is what I have today. Soon there will be pictures of the day lilies that I have been waiting for two years to see. They do not bloom the first year you plant them and this year I have been spraying them with Deer Scat and putting dog hair all around them every time I empty my Dyson.

Any guess on the amount of knitting I have accomplished?

Sweet Dreams...

TIM RUSSERT 1950 - 2008

Life they say is what happens between the dashes.

Tim Russert loved life. He loved the game of politics. His tributes today have been without equal.

There is a large Tim Russert size hole in my life today. The whole MSNBC news family is in shock at your sudden departure and it showed on every face we saw tonight.

I am an admitted MSNBC news-aholic.

He was my 15 seconds of fame. We graduated together from John Carroll University.

Oh Tim, How we will miss ye!

There is a man named Bob Nook who watched Meet the Press as faithfully as any one I knew.

Stop by for a chat, have a cold one, and engage him in a discussion once again. Please.

Thanks for teaching us to love our fathers, past, present and future.

I can only hope we have learned the lessons or readiness, preparation and accountability you tried to teach us. You truly spoke the truth in love, kindness and humility.

May the Lord hasten to gather you to his boutiful table. My you have a comfortable room in the mansion. May eternal rest come upon your soul.

HOW TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE - Part 1

Today

Tomorrow

And right now the scent of petunias is the best in all the summer plants.

Always reminds me of being 5 and putting one to my face, inhaling so hard that the petals stuck to my face without holding the flower.

I thought it was a great sport.

The hummingbirds like them too!

Part Two - soon.

I am now off to make correct what I absent-mindedly did last week!

Gardens are me!

Spring

Finally

Here

Too much fun playing in the mud and planting seeds that will take their own sweet time to sprout and grow into a lovely garden.

No deer problems as you will see why. Seven feet of safety and a gate for easy access.

The garden looks different even a few days later. Green beans are about 2 inches high already.

I can almost taste the "Home Grown Green Bones" as we like to call them.

A few more plants and some flowers and we will be ready to watch and see. I am trying several new things this year. Ground Cherries, Krul Celery, Salisfy and Leeks.

Be patient - there is no microwave gardening here - just good old fashion patience...

Next we will be making some string Tee Pees for the vines. I will have a helper next week and we will make all kinds of fun supports for the cucumbers, melons and squash to hang from! Rube Goldberg watch out - here we come - string and sticks - it will be like knitting...

Here is the view from the deck!