Cleaning Again

I went on a cleaning out kick this afternoon. I have thrown out 1 large plastic bin of papers and memorabilia, like plane tickets to Costa Rica and maps of the places we've been and are not likely to return. I did save some of it to show on the blog (eventually) when I haven't much to say. Aren't you lucky?!

Tonight I will go through some more bins and sort out  (yet again) - and when I am done I'll have to go through it all again, no doubt. I'm not very good at the first go 'round, and then I get tough with myself and toss out some more (and a week from now, I'll say, "Why ever did I throw that away?" )

There are two cats in serious trouble at my house. Several weeks ago I changed the type of cat litter I was using and they don't like the new stuff. Today I discovered just how much they hate it. I have had a large basket full of pool towels under the desk in the kitchen ever since summer, and saw no reason to move it. One of the cats was sleeping on top of the towels a while back and I thought she'd keep doing it. I walked up to my desk today and got a whiff of cat urine - shewwwweeeee it was BAD! One or both of them has been peeing on the beach towels and it smells like it has been happening for a while. I could have spit nails! I have now washed two loads of towels and I'm trying to decide how to disinfect the basket. It is were summer, I'd take it out and hose it down first, but now I think I'll put it in a bathtub with a bit of bleach and a lot of hot water and see what happens. I don't really want to lose the basket, but I may have to toss it out too.

The litter pan has been cleaned out; the old litter is gone and the old standby "Fresh Step" is in use again. Wish me luck.

A Busy Day ~ Show and Tell

Click to enlarge.

After a morning at the Flower Shuttle, a small group of us went to the Arboretum to see what spring had wrought. We saw flowering trees and shrubs, along with daffodils galore! I can't begin to remember all of what I'm showing you here, but I'll label the ones I remember, and show you more in a day or two.

I don't know what this is - but I'll call it 'pink clouds', since that is what it resembles. They are all over Raleigh at the moment, along with Bradford pear trees and red buds. It's gorgeous here, folks!

Flowering quince. I'm used to seeing quince that is a coral/melon color, but this was the palest pink.

This was called 'paper plant'. I'll try to do some research on this one.

A white tulip magnolia. Heavenly!



























A camellia.















Red bud.

After the nature walk, we went just down the road to Neomonde (New World) for lunch. I find it odd that until last Saturday, I had never been to a Lebanese or Middle Eastern restaurant, and now I've been to two of them inside of four days! Neomonde is the parent company of Sitti, the place I went last weekend. While more casual in style, the foods are just as fresh and tasty. Their bakery is on the premises too, so you can shop and take home baked goods, spices, other middle eastern staples and prepared goods. If you are not familiar with middle eastern foods, I urge you to find some - you'll thank me!

He that uses many words for explaining any subject, doth, like the cuttlefish, hide himself for the most part in his own ink.

John Ray, naturalist (1627-1705)

Play With Your Food!

Which one is your favorite?
(received in email)

Caption This!

Thanks to all the good sports who offered captions. There is a good story behind this photo. These two guys went to college together and have remained fast friends over the years. One of them is a retired eye-doctor (the comment about eye-surgery made me laugh! ) and the other one is a former governor of a state that shall remain unnamed here.

They devised this idea for Christmas cards many years ago, and every year without fail, they have a photo made of themselves in various costumes and scenes, although the one on the right always wears the bib-overalls and the brown jacket. He is married to my cousin, and we began receiving the cards about 4-5 years ago, although they had done it for many years. They keep a photo album of all the cards and it is a sight to behold.

If I can find the ones I have from previous years, I'll post all of them someday. I think I like this one the best.

Second Annual Tiffoween Party Photos

Really - it's a new post!!

I know, I know; you saw these two photos yesterday. Indulge me, if you will. Mr. kenju came up with this costume all by himself, and it didn't cost a penny (except for the new pennant). I thought he looked good. The only problem was that no one else at the party was old enough to have any clue who "Joe College" was! LOL

Being determined to come up with something to wear without spending any money, I decided to go as "Mr. kenju", so I donned his denim shirt with the pipe club logo, wore his newsboy hat, carried his cane and held his pipe in my mouth (for about 3 seconds) Whew! Yuck! Ack! I don't know how that thing could taste any worse! I also took an old work name badge and covered it with a "mr. kenju" (not many people there knew who that was!) I should mention the travel pillow I taped around my belly before I donned the shirt; lest you think I've gained more weight than I have....LOL) I tried going without lipstick, but I just couldn't. I had a line ready had anyone asked me if Mr. kenju really did wear lipstick.....I was going to say "only on Saturday nights!", but no one asked.

We had a version of Dorothy at the party too, and a lovely one she was. She wore really great ruby slippers! I tried to get a good photo of the cheerleaders (on the right) that showed up. It's not often you see them with facial hair....LOL....but that photo was blurry.

Our hosts on the left, Tiff and Biff Spiffy, dressed as characters from The Princess Bride, with a Marine and his wife, the witch. The Marine came to the party in a great chicken suit, but since the temperature was still hovering in the mid- 70's, he got unbearably hot and went home to put on his uniform. Worked for me!

(and Biff? It's been entirely too long since you posted!!)

That's MOJO; local photographer (and hippie for one night) extraordinaire! You can find him here. Unlike Biff, Mojo posts everyday!

The shower curtain (and the bath mat below) also got decorated for the holiday. I was told to go and look at the bathroom, but when I did, I didn't close the door. Later I went back and on closing the door, I saw a "scream" mask with black draping on the wall. It would have given me quite a fright had I not been forewarned.

There was so much food that I suspect the Spiffy family will be dining off the leftovers for a week or more! Below, you see just one example. I took Buffalo Chicken Dip, but I think it was too spicy/hot for most people. I love it to death! Next time, I'll make it with a sauce that isn't quite so fiery.

Ummmmm, Brownies!!


So, did you go to a costume party? What did you wear?

Butterflies, Spam and a Picnic

On Sunday, I walked into the garage and saw this butterfly on a table, sitting very still. I walked back into the house to get my camera, and when I went back into the garage, he started to fly away. I followed him in hopes he'd stop and I could shoot a photo - when lo and behold - he lit on my arm!! After I put this photo on Facebook, I had several comments saying that it was good luck. I had not heard that before, so it was pleasant news. So, now I'm ready for the luck to start.....

<<>><<>>

Are you getting any spam comments lately? I have noticed more than a few, plus a new way for people to have access to your blog (and your readers, to theirs) that you may not want.

Sunday afternoon I clicked on my blog and found a new "follower". Now I love having followers, but some are sneaky! I clicked on the icon to see who it was and the site it directed me to was all about "Asian girls" (with huge boobies, and not the blue-footed kind either). I promptly set out to find a way to rid myself of that follower - and I blocked her. You may want to be on the lookout for similar followers. Although some guys will find them acceptable - I don't!

()()()()()

My neighborhood is great - and most of you know that - if you've read here for any length of time. This past Sunday we had a pot-luck picnic; planned by 3 of our women and they did a bang-up job. If they aren't careful, they'll be asked to plan every event we have and their fame will spread far and wide, so they might be asked to plan elsewhere too!

They grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone else brought side-dishes, buns, drinks, ice and desserts-to-die-for! I donated 4 long, folding tables and tablecloths, and took 9 pounds of baked beans!

They had one large tent and 2 smaller ones, and everyone brought their own chair. We were blessed with perfect weather; the children had a basketball court, tennis courts, badminton, croquet and each other to play with. There were about 40 adults and 20 children, out of a possible 100+, but it's a good number and not unmanageable.

We usually have a pulled-pork barbecue in the spring; and a company of out Wilson, NC is hired to bring the food, tables and drinks. That's always good, but I love the variety provided by the pot-luck. We have some amazing cooks here - I think we ought to do a neighborhood cookbook!

(Anne, what do you think?)

I Confess.....

I'm guilty. Might as well put me behind bars in the blogger's jailhouse.

I've been cheating on you. Mercilessly. (I even laughed about it.)

Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? I hope that you will.

Since I discovered that I can play scr*bble on-line and through Fac*book, I've been spending all my time doing that instead of searching for things to post here. I have a few games going simultaneously, and when they are not moving fast enough, I've discovered that I can play a solitaire version against the computer robot that FB calls Lex. Lex is VERY good at Scra*ble! He's a more than worthy opponent for me, since I am out of practice and don't remember all the obscure words with which champions win their games.

I'm such a nut about scr*bble that I used to play MYSELF when there was no one else around. Mr. kenju has never been much of a game player, so he hasn't helped further that addiction.

When my son was a baby, we had a neighbor who was just as addicted to the game as I was. She and I would scurry about at home in the early mornings, doing our chores and when were were finished, I'd go across the street with my son in his portable bed, and we'd play Scr*bble until lunchtime. She had 5 boys; 3 of whom were under school age, so that's why I always had to go to her house. Some days, we had lunch together and extended the games through the afternoon.

Those lazy days ceased for me when we had our second child and moved to NC just a few weeks afterward. Scr*bble became a fond memory from the past for years; until my son got old enough to play. After a while, he declined to play because, as he said, I was winning too many games. I know Vicki won't believe that now, but it's true.

If you like that game as much as I do, I invite you to play a round with me! See you on FB!

Update: I just discovered Pathwords. "Oh, NO", I said, because I'll NEVER get anything else done now!

A Spammer Speaks*

* A new game here at Imagine.

Spammers are using even more creative names and odd subject lines in their attempts to get around blocking software. I have noticed some amusing names in my email recently, and I had a light bulb moment for a new game:

I'll give you the name and subject line of a spammer, and you tell me something about that person or what they are selling. Here's the first one:

Name: Severe Hagley and the Subject Line: apologia macaronies

Or you may prefer.....

Name: Mou Maldonado and the Subject Line: anhydrite revocations

Leave your creative answers in my comments, please!