Two Things

Anyone need a 30+ year old pinata?  I suspect the candy inside was probably stale when we bought it -  but it might be still edible.  lol  This thing has been in a closet for at least 29 years, and I guess it is time to get rid of it.

*******

*Edit below:   You know how frustrating it can be when you are waiting for something to be delivered and it doesn't come?  I ordered a new cooktop last week from a company in Alabama, on the advice of my installer, instead of buying it locally, because the price was half on-line. YES, half, and shipping was only $15. They sent an email the next day saying it had been shipped. I waited for FedEx to arrive, but they didn't come and we had to go out to dinner that night. Lo and behold, on Sunday morning I found a sticky note on my front storm door saying that they had tried to deliver at 7:45 pm on Saturday night. Who delivers that late on Sat? On Tuesday, I called the 800 number to see if I could establish when they were coming. I couldn't get a human on the line, of course, but the robot told me they would deliver today (Wednesday). It is almost 6pm now, and I'm still waiting.  :-(

* It came at 6:45.....YAY!  Now I have to wait for the new vent hood to arrive, and I can call the installer. 

Haircut Day

Haircut day always take us into a building that has atrium walkways, with skylights in the ceilings, making for a wonderful place to grow greenery, both exotic and ordinary. I love croton plants. They range from simple, green veined leaves to wild oranges, reds and yellows - sometimes all on the same plant.When I walked in this morning, the sun was shining down directly on a croton with many red leaves, making it appear to be on fire. The photo didn't quite capture what I was seeing, but perhaps you'll enjoy it anyway.

I think I have told you this before, but when we were in Mexico (Cancun), crotons were used extensively in landscape plantings and depending on where they are located, the colors vary widely.  Around here, they are used as indoor plants, but if our 90* + temperatures don't moderate soon, we could probably grow them outside!

The 235th Celebration of Our Independence

Yesterday we hosted two of our kids and five of our grand kids for swimming and deck time. I cooked brats** and hotdogs, made potato salad (thanks Sandra and Billy - the potatoes are great!), baked beans and all the trimmings. My daughter-in-law sent a chocolate eclair cake (to die for).  I still didn't make it into the pool, and by 4pm it was thundering steadily. It didn't quit until around 9pm. After sitting on the deck for almost three hours in 99* heat, I don't know who was roasted more - us or the brats!

We watched "A Capitol Fourth" and Macy's Fireworks and I am all out of celebrations at this point. Hope your Fourth of July was memorable!

Today is haircut day (it couldn't have come a minute too soon!)

** short for bratwurst.  

Third Time is the Charm, Right?

I'm not sure what is wrong with my new computer, but something keeps happening that is driving me crazy. This is the third time I have tried to write this post. About two or three sentences in, the cursor automatically moves to a previous line and if I don't notice it right away, I'll type on and on, while the words are out of place. That's easy enough to correct, but then, as I am typing, something (and it is not me) highlights all previous words and/or photos and they instantly disappear.  That didn't happen often with Windows XP on my old computer, but with this Windows 7, it happens too often and I'm going nuts trying to get posts written. I am careful to click "save now" fairly often, so I don't know how that happens.

I was trying to tell you Happy Independence Day, so I hope it works this time - or I'll just forget it!!

Sorbonne Lilies

I couldn't decide which photo I liked better, so I'm posting both. These Sorbonnes are my favorite lilies.

Happy Anniversary!

to me - and to Mr. Kenju.*

Today we reach 47 years of wedded bliss  -  ROFLMAO - well, maybe not bliss all those years - but we are still together. It hasn't been easy for either of us, but we are proud of that record, especially since so few achieve it.

* check out the link above - and here's another one.

Im'ma Be on TV, Maybe.....*

* probably not.  (EDIT BELOW)

Mel gave me a heads up on Thursday that a local TV station would be at the shop that morning; filming a segment on how to have lovely wedding flowers on a budget. Knowing that I would only be in the background, if at all, I nevertheless dressed in slightly better clothes than I ordinarily do (which isn't saying much....lol) and I wore jewelry, which I seldom do for work.

I had barely gotten in the door when the truck, blazoned with WTVD Channel 11 on the side, parked out front. Shortly, the door opened and a reporter came in. Mel had set up his consultation table with examples of how to decorate wedding tables on a budget. The cameraman followed, and the interview commenced. I was in the rear of the shop, conditioning flowers for the weekend's weddings.

As the interview ended, the reporter (Amber Rupinta), came into the work area and was introduced to me. She appears to be a very pretty woman on TV, but in person, she is gorgeous!! (Amber, you should wear red everyday!) Amber spoke with us while the camera man took footage of the flowers I was conditioning, opening boxes, etc. I sincerely doubt that any of that footage will make the newscast, but just in case, it will be shown in the 4pm news segment on WTVD, Channel 11, Raleigh, Durham and surrounding areas, on Friday.

*NOT!   LOL!!   Mel looked good, though. I reminded him that the camera adds ten pounds. I didn't really expect to be on camera, so it didn't surprise me - or bother me - at all.