It Was An Accident...

It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile, and one nut to scatter it all over the road. ~Author Unknown

Good news on the pillar front ... Alpha FINALLY shed his skin and is now an officially cooking butterfly. He should be fully cooked in a week to ten days. We were terrifically worried about him, but I guess he knew what he was doing!

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So, yesterday I once again proved that I shouldn't have a reverse mode on my vehicle. Consider this: in the past I have backed my Celica into a light pole, my 4Runner into my SIL's truck and then yesterday I backed my car into the garage.

*sigh*

Just scraped the side about 18" long (though how I managed that long a scrape I have no idea ... I was barely rolling and slammed on the brakes the moment I heard/felt anything), but it dented it and scraped off the paint.

DH was remarkably accepting over the entire thing, while I swear I was inconsolable.

In any case, I've decided that our next house needs a drive through garage.

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Today, we go strawberry picking. I bought my low sugar pectin yesterday and am ready to make jam. I'm planning on making half strawberry and half strawberry-rhubarb.

The beginning of canning season has arrived! YAY! I'm looking forward to seeing if I'm able to can and freeze enough to see us through the winter. I feel very Little House on the Prairie-ish.

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You Are an Emotional Artist

You're the type of artist who creates because you are moved. It's like it's not even a choice. Your art is all about expressing yourself, and to be honest, you don't really care about what others think of it. You are in love with the things that you create. Every piece of art you've made has great meaning to you. You don't beat yourself up if your art isn't perfect. If you're happy with what it says, then that's all you could ask for.

What Type of Artist Are You?

Mostly right...

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Snow, Snow Go Away....

Panic at the thought of doing a thing is a challenge to do it. ~Henry S. Haskins

It's still snowing. I am so utterly demoralized by this weather... *sigh*.

I don't like to drive in the snow. I'm nervous, and that makes me unsafe. You see -- I didn't used to be that way, until my mom and I made a trip from Colorado to California one December for a friend's wedding. We drove I-80, thinking it would be a nice, easy highway trip. They'd keep highways clear, right?

Well, folks, I-80 is a truck route. Lots and lots and lots of semis travel this highway, and it made my life hell. I was in a Toyota pickup with nothing in the bed, the highway was solidly packed with snow and ice, and every time a big truck blew past me (going 60 or 70 MPH), my truck would wobble from the powerful gust of wind.

Finally, once it did more than wobble. The butt end swung back and forth, back and forth until I was doing 360s across the highway and there was nothing I could do but hold on for the ride and pray.

Thankfully, I didn't hit anyone on my trip to the side of the road. I did, however, slide right down the embankment, a drop of a few feet. Thankfully, the truck stayed upright. Thankfully, too, this hadn't happened earlier or further down the road where the drop-offs were FAR more severe.

It was, without a doubt, the scariest thing that had every happened to me. Once we managed to get back on the road (we loaded the bed with snow for weight and then -- yahoo, praise God for four wheel drive -- drove back onto the highway), my mom drove for a while because I was such a wreck.

We hit California (Tahoe area) at night. The roads were shiny, and though they were only wet, I was so certain they were icy that I stopped every couple of miles, pulled over, got out and touched the ground to see. I lost all confidence in driving the snow after that.

As a side note, we went home via I-70. The roads weren't any better, but at least there weren't crazy truck drivers blowing past us as we crept along.

So, I've been housebound since Sunday morning. And I'm losing my mind. Not to mention I have a book due at the library that I can't renew, I'm out of orange juice and fresh fruit, the dog has agility class tonight ...

If it would just STOP SNOWING.

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I posted on Healthful & Homemade this morning, if you're interested.

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You Are a Giraffe

You are down to earth and realistic. You are able to see far off into the horizon. You bring a lot of perspective to other's lives. You are never too myopic. You are honest to a fault. You tend to tell it how it is, even if someone isn't ready to hear it. You are very down to earth and practical. You prioritize what matters in your life, and you don't waste your time.

What African Animal Are You?

Hmmm.... pretty close!

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The Birth of a Cover and Playground Accidents

“You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover.” - English Proverb

Sorry folks. I was contacted by Samhain and asked to remove this post regarding the cover art!
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You ever have one of those days when you're constantly busy, but feel like you're accomplishing nothing? That was yesterday for me.

We started the day off at about eight a.m. I decided to do some gardening (!) before school... just move a few plants, get the bushes put into place. It should only take half an hour or so.

DD, energetic and excited as always, went bombing out the back door to her swing set. I went through the front to open the garage door and get out my shovel. That's when I discovered that DH had pushed the boat up against the garage door and I couldn't get it open. So... no shovel. Well, heck, I still had my trowel. So I gathered up my baby shovel and gloves and went out back.

That's when I heard a very, VERY weak... "Mom!". DD is on her back in the mulch, calling with pretty much no volume. This is NOT typical of DD. I hurry over and ask what's happened. Seems she ran up the slide (yes, up... yes, I've advised her strongly not to do this) and it was wet with dew and she was barefoot. She slipped and fell, half on, half off the slide, smacking the edge with her middle back. For a while she said she couldn't move, couldn't breath, couldn't speak. She was absolutely certain she was paralyzed.

And, I was out front mad at the boat while my DD went through that.

She didn't want help, but didn't want to move either, so the dog and I sat with her until she was up to going in.

Scratch gardening.

Scratch school.

I'm not going to go through the entire day, but suffice it to say that it really never got better. I was moving, moving, moving and getting nothing done.

I really hate days like that.

I did manage to move a few plants at the end of the day, fighting of black flies (they're he-e-e-e-e-e-r-e) and Dakota (who endlessly fought me for the trowel -- it looks like a big stick, I suppose -- and whatever plant I had in my hands).

But, I replaced the liatris out front from a plant I had in the woods. I moved the Scottish Bells out front as well. I dug up a dead small leaf rhododendron and chucked it into the woods (I LOVE having woods behind me!!), moved three red-leafed coral bells into DD's garden and picked off about a thousand red lily beetles who have ALREADY all but decimated the few Asiatic Lilies I still have.

How was YOUR day?

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Which flower are you? Pink Rose You are sweet and pretty. Romance is very important to you, and your male friends long to be the one to bring it into your life.

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