Catching Snakes...

“Look before you leap, for snakes among sweet flowers do creep” - Proverb

Yesterday...

Well, hmmm.

I won't depress you with the details, but suffice it to say that having a snake thrown at me by my DD was NOT the worst thing that happened.

Yes, that's the truth, and yes she really did.

She found three little garter snakes, about the length of a ruler and the width of a pencil, underneath our rotting rhubarb. I guess all the rain really did a number on that plant... it LOOKS perkey enough, but you touch it and it turns to slime in your hands. Blech.

Anyway, I kept reminding her that she wasn't Crocodile Hunter, and that last time she grabbed a snake by the middle or the tail she got bitten. I told her to point it out to me, and I would mush it's little neck with my stick and she could pick it up safely.

**sigh**

Next thing I know she yells, "There's one!" and comes up with a snake wriggling in her hand--that she, yes, caught by it's middle. I said, "Drop it before it bites you."

Did she drop it? Well... sort of. I mean, it did hit the ground, but it made a pitstop on my abdomen, where I automatically started to catch it. Clearly I am reflexes before brains.

We're all concerned about the snakes, and will check them tomorrow and see about relocating them before DH kills them gratuitously, but I needed a short break to settle my nerves...

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What Your These Fireworks Say About You

You are focused, single minded, and intense. You don't let others see your intensity often, and when they do, they are quite surprised. You burn brightly, but you also burn steadily. You have the endurance to get the one thing you desire most.

The Fireworks Test

Okay... I'm good with that.

Rhubarb Cake Recipe & Misc.

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

Okay... for those inquiring minds who asked, here is the rhubarb cake recipe I made the other day. I'll put the recipe down as it was originally written, and then tell you all the changes I made (I'm fairly certain I have never made a recipe exactly as it was written in my entire life).

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RHUBARB CAKE

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup packed brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In another bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, soda, and salt. Add sifted ingredients alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture.

Toss rhubarb with 1 tablespoon flour, and stir into batter. Spoon batter into buttered 9 x 13 inch pan, and smooth the surface.

Blend together 1/4 cup butter or margarine, cinnamon, and brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

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Okay, now... the changes I made.

First, and most importantly: I used FOUR cups of rhubarb. And I all but pureed it because I don't like chunks.

I also cut back on the sugar slightly -- I used about 1 1/4 cups. I typically cut back on the sugar in any recipe, because I think they all over do it.

I added quick oats to the "crumble" as well -- about 1/2 cup.

I also ended up baking it for an additional 15 minutes -- that may be due to the extra rhubarb.

This was AWESOME served warm with a scoop of ice cream. I'm also going to try this with different fruits -- blueberries, strawberries, peaches. Yum. If you add other fruits, though, you can probably cut back even more on the sugar.

Oh... and I used half whole wheat flour and added a little wheat germ and ground flax seed to make believe I was being healthy. *G*

Enjoy!

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No writing. Did do some thinking about my stories, though, which I think counts as writing even though words didn't go down on the page. I do want to edit Stiller Creek soon, but something ... um... a little nuts has come up with the Long and the Short of It site, so I may not have time for much else over the next ten days or so.

Can you believe that June 9th is the official one year anniversary of the reviews blog? And August 27th is one year for the website. Amazing. It's flown by.

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We're still waiting for a day that doesn't have 25 mph winds to let the swallowtails hatch. It's been warm enough, and their pillar food is plenty big for them to lay eggs on, but the wind!!! Holy cow! It's insane. I want to give them a good start and not have them break their new little wings.

The milkweed is growing like mad, and we're excited to begin our monarch ranching again this year, though I don't believe that started until July (?) last year. I'll have to check my blog posts from last year.

The garden suffered no further fatalities thus far and I added 18 marigold plants around the outside as a general pest deterrent. I'm also going to liberally spread milorganite, which is officially a fertilizer (made from human waste... yes, really. No grosser than using cow poop, is it?) but also helps keep the deer away.

I planted annuals today, too. I did impatiens and portulaca. I just didn't have the brain power to be any more creative than that, though I did go so far as to buy striped impatiens this year, so that's something.

And that is my exciting life *G*. You?

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What Your Latte Says About You

You are interested in only pure and simple pleasures. You don't like to pollute your body or mind. You can be quite silly at times, but you know when to buckle down and be serious. Intense and energetic, you aren't completely happy unless you are bouncing off the walls. You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it. You are responsible, mature, and truly an adult. You're occasionally playful, but you find it hard to be carefree. You are deep and thoughtful, but you are never withdrawn.

What Does Your Latte Say About You?

That's fairly close... except for the "never withdrawn" part. Been there, done that, have the bumper sticker.

You?

Happy Memorial Day

All we have of freedom, all we use or know -
This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.
~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899





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For Jen -- I harvested a bunch of rhubarb yesterday, cuz it was in my way.


And the plant still looks like this:


The leaves are great for weedblock in the garden!


I'm making rhubarb stir-cake tomorrow. Yum.

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One of my favorite flowers in my annuals bed -- the gazania:



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I wrote about two-thirds of a very short story that will most likely post on the LASR week after next. Judy and I are being challenged, because folks are only submitting to our short story contest (and who can blame them -- they win a YEAR's free advertising if they win!). But, in the meantime, we have nothing to post, story-wise, until July 1st.

If there are any of you who don't care if you win a year's free advertising, and you have a 1000 -1500 word short romance story... please send it our way!

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You Communicate With Your Body

This isn't as bad as it sounds, it just means that you're a "touchy-feely" person. You need a lot of affection in your life. And for you, this means both giving and receiving little touches. Warm hearted, you bond with people easily. In fact, you often feel a little sad when you're not in the company of others. A little moody, you tend to be controlled by your emotions. But a bit hug always comforts you!

How Do You Communicate?

Yep.. that's about right (except the feeling sad when I'm alone part... I do enjoy my alone time!).