Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A painting I will go

I've been in a mood to do a little "sprucing up". I've been collecting pots and plants, and, things have been looking just a little too jumbled up for me.

After scrounging around in the garage, I came across a gallon of brown exterior paint. Not wanting to spend any money unnecessarily, I decided that brown, while not the happy, cheery color I wanted, would work fine.

So, I set to work. My project took three days longer than I had planned, due to the never-ending rain. But, eventually, success was mine.

Here are my before pictures:



And, "After" Pictures:



My blueberry bushes and Pineapple plant

My herbs and raspberry bushes - "bushes" may be too strong a term


Tomato plants in the pots
Mr. Frog was feeling kind of pale and out of sorts, so he got a new coat, too.





Tuesday, June 28, 2011

How can you tell?

Here's a question with an easy answer.


How can you tell when I've been trying to do things on my own, without the help of my Official Blog Advisor aka Amazing Daughter? 


Answer: Things start to disappear.  For example, all my lovely followers. Sigh.


I don't know why. I don't know how. 


Maybe it has disappeared just long enough to make me look the fool. And, it will pop back up, in its proper place, after I have complained that it has disappeared.

It's a conspiracy!!!! They're coming to take me away, ha ha!




Monday, June 27, 2011

Project 52 - Week 26



This week marks the official middle of the year. 


I'm kind of working on #33 - Start cooking through the hundreds of recipes I have saved and never made. I would be making better headway through this goal if I would stop saving new recipes.


I found this recipe from the blog Memoirs of Two Wicked Chefs. This is a new recipe, not an old one from my overflowing folder. But, who can resist Oreos!
(Not me!)


Oreo Truffles


Ingredients:
1 pkg. oreos (I used mint oreos)
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 pkg. white chocolate
1 pkg. milk chocolate


Directions:
Crush oreos by hand or with food processor.
Mix in cream cheese until evenly mixed.
Roll cookie mix into balls of preferred size and place in refrigerator to cool and harden.
Once balls have hardened, melt chocolate using a double boiler, or microwave, and dip the balls quickly in the chocolate.
Place in fridge until ready to serve.
I had no trouble mixing the cookies, cream cheese, and forming into balls.

However, I did have a bit of trouble with the white chocolate. To be fair, good quality chocolate was recommended. The white chocolate I used had been in my cupboard for quite a long time. I was saving it for some recipe that I had planned to make, but by the time I finally got around to getting white chocolate, I couldn't remember what I was going to use it for. That happens way too many times.  

An-y-way... My chocolate wasn't melting very nicely. It was too thick. And, it seems I did the exactly wrong thing. Hoping to make it a little thinner, I added, (blush) heavy cream. Hey, I never claimed to be Martha Stewart.

My chocolate went from thick to thicker, instantly! Before this disaster, I had tinted it green, since the flavor was mint.

However, chocolate is chocolate, so, I intended to use it no matter what! I took little balls of green chocolate, and pounded it out into flattened shapes, then rolled it around the oreo balls.
They weren't pretty, but they were edible! I put them back in the fridge to harden.
 I had intended to cover them in more chocolate, to make them prettier, and chocolatier, but, they soon disappeared, before I got around to it.
 












No one seemed to mind that they only had one layer of chocolate!


Friday, June 24, 2011

"Stethoscope!"

Here is something that is sure to make you smile! I received it as an email, and thought it worthy to share. I guess it's a commercial, but I've never seen it.  If you are like me, you will never guess what comes at the end. I hope you enjoy it!



Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Got flowers?

I am a nut for flowers! Give me a big ol' pile of soil, shovel, flowers, and a place to dig, and I am happy as a clam. 


I am getting ready to landscape a shade garden area for my brother. My parents knew of a place that was having a huge sale - 70% off of everything. So, we made a little trip yesterday morning. 


It was amazing!!


We arrived early, but there were already hundreds of cars everywhere!



People were leaving with carts loaded with flowers! Panic started to set in! I hope there will be something left by the time we get inside!!




It turns out, we didn't have to worry. There were PLENTY of flowers!



There were carts full of flowers everywhere. I told my dad that it was his mission to find us an empty cart, while mom and I drooled and looked at all the plants. We had to be very careful when looking for plants on the trays. I found a lovely fushia plant and started to take it, when I heard a voice saying, "Um, that's mine." Opsie daisy! She was real nice about it, and showed me where to get my own.

It was truly overwhelming to see so many plants, knowing that the prices were so great! I was spending my brother's money, so that was even more fun. I was on a mission, looking for hostas, but, I discovered they were all gone. 


You probably can't tell from this photo, but the line is very long. All these people are in line, and it goes all the way back on the left side, makes a turn, then goes up to that building, and through the building. I was thinking we would be there all day just standing in line, but, surprisingly, it moved quite fast.


Hanging baskets were everywhere. This is one small section in the checkout area.


There were only four people running the registers, and another four directing people into which line, so it all moved along rather quickly.

We made our selections. Unfortunately, we had to remember we were limited to trunk space in the car. I guess it worked out that there were no hostas. The trunk was quite full. 

There were only four people running the registers, and another four directing people into which line, so it all moved along rather quickly.

We left with our treasures. They all fit nicely into the truck (and some in the back seat.) The whole trip only took about an hour.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Project 52 - Week 25





One of my Project 52 projects is to educate myself, especially in politics and history. These subjects never seemed that important when I was younger, but now that we have an administration that seems hell-bent on turning us into a socialist country, those subjects now seem vitally important.


The only way we can prevent history from repeating itself is to be educated in these areas. 


Freedom! (I always picture Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" when I say "freeeeee-dom"!) I love this speech, and if I did this correctly, you can listen and be inspired also.



Slight digression, there. 


Truth and knowledge set us free. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to be as educated as possible.


We can educate ourselves in many ways. Formal education is an option. However, the cost of a college education is astounding, and the percentage of liberal professors is even more astounding. The cost of a college education is up over 900% since 1978.  Self education is another option, but not if you plan on getting a degree. The answer may lie in the third option, which is taking online college courses such as this one.


We all have busy lives, and one of the great things about online schooling, is the flexibility it offers. I'm not working on a degree, but online courses like this one  provide valuable resources that are attainable and affordable.



Are you keeping focused on your goals? Join in the blog hop at Cheap Therapy or A Peek at Karen's World.



Thursday, June 16, 2011

What Lady Gaga Taught Me About Being Politically Correct







Welcome to Trending Topics.  This is how it works….today I am guest posting on Things I’ll Forget About Tomorrow while Darlene is guest posting over on Cheap Therapy.  We decided on a topic and swapped opinions. Darlene picked the topic and you can too if you want to join in on the fun and take a Thursday and a Trending Topic!

Political correctness may not be on twitter and yahoos top feeding trends but it is something that never really goes away.  It’s a topic that doesn’t have any real answers and it’s a topic that is sure to get someone’s blood boiling.

Lady Gaga has made an entrance over the past few years.  Whether it is from her absurd outfits and other statements, she is a household name.  If you don’t know who Lady Gaga is then you probably shouldn’t be reading this post.  And it is probably safe to say that you don’t know much about political correctness as well.

Stop scratching your head.  I’m going to combine Lady Gaga and political correctness together brilliantly and intelligently.  Prepare to be amazed.

When my mother told me that she wanted to do something about being politically correct, I went a little weak in the knees.  Politics and being politically correct aren’t my strong suit when it comes to writing.  I was thinking more along the lines of something in the entertainment industry like NBC’s The Voice for example.  (If anyone wants to do this as a trending topic please let me know.  Go team Adam!)  As I rubbed my hands together hoping for some profound thoughts that would inspire this topic, Lady Gaga came on the radio.  As I listened to the words of Bad Romance, I knew it had to be a sign, because sure enough, the lyrics said everything I’ve ever wanted to say about being politically correct.

Let me break it down for ya,

I want your ugly
I want your disease
I want your everything as long as it‘s free
I want your love, love, love, love, I want your love

* Clearly political correctness is ugly and a disease.  Everyone is so afraid of offending someone that we have to hide in our own thoughts and feelings.  We can’t have losers anymore, even though losing makes us want to win even more.  (It’s called ambition.)  We all have to have some lesson or bully to learn from instead we are becoming a victim to our own lifestyle and words.   Cover up the truth with whatever sounds good and FREE is always good.

I want your drama 
The touch of your hand
I want you leather studded kiss in the sand
I want your love, love, love, love, I want your love

* Let’s just focus on the ‘I want your drama the touch of your hand.’  The saying goes that one small spark can set a whole course on fire.  When did the drama begin and look how far it has taken us away from the original meaning.  No one likes to be bullied and picked on.  No one wants their flaws pointed out but it happens.  We’re given a heart and mind to understand our feelings.  Not every day will be flowing with positive vibes and complements but we can decided how to react to everything.

You know that I want you
And you know that I need you
I want your bad, bad romance

* Yes, this PC is like a bad romance.  There is no other way to describe it.  Some people want it, some people need it but it’s just like mixing water and oil.  It’s never going to come together.  We are never going to agree.

I want your love
And I want your revenge
You and me could write a bad romance

*We have written a bad romance.  The political correctness has turned into polite name calling and pointing fingers for the sake of pointing fingers.  We asked for it and now we use it as our revenge.

Caught in a bad romance.

*You know we are.

Cause you’re a criminal as long as your mine.  Ra ra oh ra ra



Thank you Lady Gaga for teaching me everything I need to know about PC.  Who says that Lady Gaga can't be a good example or change the human race? What a scary world we live in!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

We have a winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my very first giveaway.


The drawing was at noon today. Unfortunately, (for me) Amazing Daughter was correct. I did not reach 205 followers. But, I did reach my Project 52 goal of having 200 followers! So, thank you, thank you, to all my followers!


Since I am a technological genius, I am using the latest, up to the minute technology for this drawing.







Hey, I did have to use a digital camera and upload or download (whatever it is) the photos!


Congratulations, Sasha! Please contact me through a comment, or email, and I will send you the wonderful eye mask.


Thank you to Jennee at After Thoughts for offering it for a give away!


Monday, June 13, 2011

Project 52



I haven't updated for a week or two, so you can be sure that this will be a fascinating post. Are you breathlessly waiting to hear what I've been up to?


Let's just start at #1 - Lose 15 pounds by March. I'm not quite there, yet. Close, but not close enough to cross off. I didn't really say which March, did I? Of course, I was planning for 2011, but, it could quite possibly be March 2012. Hopefully, no later! Yes, I know the official #1 is "Lose 30 pounds". That's all I'm sayin'.


#5 - get 200 followers. I'm close, very close. I'm hosting a Giveaway for this great eye mask.

The date for the drawing is when I reach 205 followers, OR June 15, whichever comes first. Amazing Daughter said, I'd better set a date, or it could drag on for-ev-er! (Please prove her wrong! Do I sound desperate? I might be.) Please check it out


I've also been working on the very exciting project of making an inventory of my freezer contents. (#34) I've done the small freezer, now I have to work on the larger one. If I wait until it gets really hot outside, which is where the freezer is - in the garage - then I won't get so cold! 


Moving on...


#35 - Drink more water. I have decided that I drink enough water. Too much water equals too much running to you-know-where. And, yes, it does require running!


#39 - I'm crossing off "Spring Clean the living room".  That translates to: I cleaned the carpet.  


So, how are you doing with your Project 52 list??


Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Squirrel Wars - The Saga Continues

On my last report it seemed that Fatty Squirrel was winning the war.


He mocked me.


He looked in the window to make sure I was watching.
He then lept again, and again, and again, onto our bird feeder, easily emptying out the ENTIRE contents on a daily basis.


Hubby decided that once and for all, he was going to win this war! In his zeal, he suggested poison. I had to remind him that we didn't want to kill the birds in the process. "Oh yeah," he said. So he decided to go all out and purchase a squirrel resistant bird feeder.


It is a very clever design, but I don't know if I can describe it properly. It's made of two parts, so that if anything heavier than a bird lands on it, the top part is weighted down, closing off the access to the bird seed.


Brilliant!! We get so giddy when we think we are about to out-smart a squirrel! Wait. How big a brain does a squirrel have? Ummmm. Embarrassed pause.  I mean--uh--squirrels are so dumb it doesn't take a genius to outsmart them. (Whew! Got out of that one!)


Moving on. The first step is to add a weight to the bottom of the feeder. We don't do this for the squirrels or the birds. We do it for us. We noticed that when the birds come in for a lands, they make the feeders start spinning. We get quite dizzy and nauseous as we watch the birds spinning in a circle.

After the feeder was hung, we waited in anticipation for Fatty Squirrel to come. It wasn't long until he made his way to the feeder. He did his usual routine. Jumping up on the window ledge, looking in to see if we were watching.


We were.


"Go on, Fatty Squirrel" we urged, "Go and get some bird seed. We DARE you!"


Fatty Squirrel jumped onto the bird feeder, but soon discovered he had been outsmarted! He jumped off and ran back to his tree.


Hubby and I "high fived" each other, and congratulated ourselves on a job well done! Finally! We had beat that squirrel.


Or, had we?????


We went on about our business, (drinking coffee, checking email, you know, the important stuff) satisfied that we had been victorious.


Less than an hour later (got that? Less than an hour later), I looked out the window and couldn't believe it!


Yep. Fatty Squirrel was busily eating out of the bird feeder. (He must have had an "how-to" manual back at the tree.)


He figured out how to lift and lower the thing with his foot. 



(I apologise for the weird voice I used. Sorry, it sounds idiotic.)


Our joy was short-lived, but, at least this new design slowed him down quite a bit.


Shortly after, I made another discovery about Fatty Squirrel, which may help explain why "he" was so fat! He is really a SHE.  No wonder she has such a voracious appetite! Take another look at the tell-tale sign!


...I haven't seen her for a few days. She's probably off giving birth to more little rodents who can't wait to start emptying our bird feeder!!

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