Tuesday Tidbits

What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than - than - than Calvin Coolidge! Put together! - Lina Lamont in "Singing in the Rain"

Quiet day yesterday. It was nice... didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but even so it was relatively without drama. So it's all good :-)

Brandy asked if anyone nearby had an abundant tomato crop to share. My SIL is getting a few, and she brought me four on Sunday. They were yummy... but I'm still sad I can't make sauce. Between the deer coming and chomping them down to only a few inches in June, and the lack of water and high heat, etc., my poor plants are pathetic. DH is going to rig some kind of ongoing watering system for me next year, because going out once a day to water just wasn't enough.

Brandy also mentioned that her summer squash plants were thriving and then just up and died... this happened to me once a few years ago, and it was conveniently when my friend, Michele, to visit. SHE told me it was squash vine borers -- something I'd never heard of. She was right.

Brandy, if your squash plants wilted for a few days before they just died, if, when you pulled up the plants it looked like their stumps had rotted or were spiderwebbed and not solid, you probably had squash borers.

Since then, we look for the moths and kill them on sight. Here's what the moth looks like:



And if we see "frass" (it looks like wet sawdust) at the base of our squash vines, we'll use a knife to dig a hole into it and spray Neem or Pyrethrin spray until it's soaked then wrap it in old pantyhose or bury it in dirt... that may be why the old-time gardeners would mound dirt around the base of their squash plants as they grow -- it helps defend against the buggers.

I watched "Singing in the Rain" with DD yesterday -- I'd promised her a movie -- and I'll leave you with her favorite song because it always make me smile. I tried embedding it, but everyone decent has embedding disabled -- that really annoys me. *sigh*

Anyway ... Have a great day :-)

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You Are Wise

You are a prudent and rational person. You try not to do anything you regret, and if you do, you learn form your mistake. You are educated or at the very least knowledgeable. You have a perception that most people lack. You've learned to be vigilant in your life. You are pretty much always on guard. No matter how old you actually are, you are quite seasoned. You are experienced and worldly.

The Changing Leaves Test

Mostly right.

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Unwanted Neighbors

It's wonderful to me that bees have this simple, age-old thing going on. -- Peter Fonda

Remember when I mentioned Dakota had been stung by a yellow jacket? I knew something was up, because every time anyone walked on the two steps leading off my back deck, a few yellow jackets would buzz around. Yesterday, I asked my DH to see if he could find the nest.

He found it... and it was amazing.



Directly underneath the top step, those buggers made their home! How could we not have noticed earlier? Why did we only see real evidence of them a couple weeks ago? Incredible. It was truly beautiful and a work of art. Is it just mind-boggling that hundreds and bees could create something this complex? I wish there had been a way to eradicate the bees and keep the hive to look at, but alas there was not.

DH spent a couple hours getting rid of it. First he emptied a can of wasp killer all over it. He had to crawl under the deck to do it -- it's higher on that side, but he still had to squat and it didn't allow for being able to shoot and then RUN, so I was terrified he'd get stung. He didn't, though he did whack his head on the deck once.

After a few applications of poison, he pulled out the hose and soaked it. Next, he dug out a 8' long 1 x 1 stick we use as a poker for our burn piles, stuck it in and yanked it out then whacked it like he was played croquet.

Here's what it looked like at that point:



We had larvae all over the lawn and some really angry bees, so DH turned on the sprinklers... but first he ran the mower over the nest a couple times, just to make sure it was demolished.

I've been told that they tend to return to the same spots, so I'll have to keep an eye out there next year, because I really REALLY don't want something like that to happen again. We are so lucky none of the rest of us were stung and that Dakota only had ONE.

In other outdoorsy, nature-type news, I'm pretty sure my tomato crop is history. I went out yesterday to pick the two tomatoes I finally had ripe and discovered that chipmunks had helped themselves to those two lovely, red fruits -- eating half of each one (why they couldn't have eaten ALL of one and left one for me I'll never understand). I have about a dozen green roma tomatoes, but that is all. My dreams of canning several quarts of sauce have disappeared. And I had planted thirty plants! *sigh*

My squash and cucumbers, on the other hand, appear to be coming along famously. We picked another dozen cucumbers yesterday, and two nice summer squash. I have at least half a dozen butternut on the winter squash plants, and depending on when we get our first frost, I may have more.

But I really, REALLY wanted tomatoes...

How was your weekend?

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You Are Mashed Potatoes

You like the simple things in life. You think complexity is a lot of fuss and often overrated. You take the slow and steady approach whenever possible. You never like to be in too much of a rush. You are conventional and orthodox. You are the most normal person you know. You like and prefer solitude. You are your own best friend.

What KFC Side Are You?

That's surprisingly close to right!

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A Harvest!!

It pleases me to take amateur photographs of my garden, and it pleases my garden to make my photographs look professional. ~Robert Brault

My first garden harvest occurred last night. Yep, that's right, we actually had a vegetable to pick! Remember the tomato plants the chipmunks planted for me in the fall that I brought inside to see if they'd survive?

Look what they gave me:



I know ... one little cherry tomato isn't that impressive, but it was still exciting! Maybe it'll look more impressive close up?



Or from a different angle and different lighting?



In any case, it's a start. DD wanted to split it. Yes, really. The thing was about the width of a quarter... lol...

Speaking of DD, she's now addicted to the show, "Extreme Couponing". We're plotting our shopping strategies and learning where to download printable coupons. I've "liked" several couponing and deals pages on Facebook, and once I finally wrap my brain around how to do this (I'm working on organizing the coupons right now, and deciding whether I want to start a spreadsheet of what coupons I have, how many of each and when they expire) I'm going to be a crazy shopping mama! We do need to figure out how to balance healthy foods with couponing, though, which is no easy task... but I think it's possible.

Because, yanno, I had nothing else to do to keep me busy.

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You Are a Basic T-shirt

You are a very humble, low maintenance person. You find contentment easily. You are easy-going and very social. You like being around other people more than anything else. Some may accuse you of being lazy, but you just don't work any harder than you need to. You are happiest when things are kept casual. You think formality is a lot of unnecessary fuss.

What Kind of Shirt Are You?

And ... almost completely wrong! LOL....

Heritage Veggies

High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Supersquash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us? ~Annita Manning

Thanks for all the well wishes yesterday -- DH and I actually spent almost no time together (thanks to his EDJ), but even so it was a good day. Maybe we'll do something this weekend.

I ate an orange tomato yesterday. Yes, it was supposed to be orange -- it was from one of my heritage tomato vines I planted, and let me tell you, it was one of the BEST tomatoes I've ever eaten. Last year I got yellow tomatoes, and those were incredible, too... heritage plants don't produce as much as the hybrid, boring red tomatoes most folks grow, but the payoff is so worth it. I always plant a least a few of them in my garden.

Dakota has been scratching and chewing herself like crazy the past couple of days, to the point where hair is coming off in clumps (this dog doesn't have an undercoat and rarely sheds much). On Saturday, I gave her a bath after playing at the dog park and used new shampoo, so I thought maybe that was the problem (though the scratching didn't start until Monday). Yesterday we bathed her again, in the medicated shampoo we've used before, but she's still itchy. And, no, it's not fleas.

I hate trying to figure out what's wrong with her. We'd also gotten new treats on Monday, but I read the ingredients, and there didn't seem to be anything unusual. Still, we're not feeding them to her for a few days to see if that makes her stop.

Otherwise, it's pretty much same old, same old here.

Anything new with you?

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Your Thoughts Are Constructive

You are a highly analytical person, and you tend to sit back and cooly assess a situation. With you, logic and facts rule. And you never jump to conclusions. You are always looking to think in new ways. You believe that reflecting is a good way to better yourself. You tend to think before you talk or act. You are calmer than most people around you.

The Thought Bubble Test

Mostly right, though I've often said to my friends that it's a GOOD thing I don't have thought bubbles over my head, because I do think before I speak and frequently don't say the first thing that pops into my mind...

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Tomatoes, Gardens and Miscellaneous Rambling

Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest. ~Douglas William Jerrold, about Australia, A Land of Plenty

Another idea for using tomatoes -- A Tomato Sandwich! I've been eating them pretty much daily for the last week. It's actually more of a BLT (using Bacos), but oh-so yummy.

Two slices of whole wheat (or your fave) bread
Cream Cheese
One tomato sliced THICK
romaine (or your fave green stuff)
Bacos or bacon

I pretend that I use the cream cheese to keep the bacos on my bread -- I spread it on both sides, dump the Bacos and press the slices of bread together to smoosh the Bacos on. Then layer the other stuff. I prefer my tomato warm (and right from the garden when possible).

Oh. Yum.

Speaking of gardens, my other two squash plants have succumbed to the Squash Borer, so no more fresh squash this season. HOWEVER, let this serve as a warning to that pesky little critter: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE NOW!! There will be no escaping my wrath next year.

DD asked if she could dig up some potatoes yesterday. We have twelve plants, so I told her to dig up two. Do you know how many potatoes she got???? Five. Small ones.

What the heck??

**sigh**

Maybe I should stick to cucumbers.

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Judy and I challenged each other to write yesterday. I gave her a random list of ten words (and then another ten when she used up the first set) and she wrote nearly 3000 words!!! I got just over 1000 on an existing short story. We did good.

Today, though, I need to do some work on the LASR site, so don't know how much writing time I'll get. Today, we're giving away a pre-release copy of Joy Nash's Immortals book. Tomorrow is the big day... the OFFICIAL one year anniversary of LASR and we are giving away a $50 Amazon.com GC. Have YOU entered yet? The link is here.

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Read any good books lately? Feel free to share.

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Friday Flitting

See, the human mind is kind of like... a piñata. When it breaks open, there's a lot of surprises inside. Once you get the piñata perspective, you see that losing your mind can be a peak experience. ~Jane Wagner

Lots of randomness bouncing around in my head. I mentioned to my librarian the other day that I have so much crammed into my brain that I can't keep stuff straight and frequently come across as dingy and forgetful. I hate that.

So, I'm going to let some of it leak out...

It occurred to me this morning that I haven't taken pictures of any for a really, really long time. That's so odd. But it's probably a good thing since I haven't scrapbooked in more than a year.

Jenny Crusie is considering stopping her blog. She has, occasionally, gotten a bit controversial (mostly in the defense of friends), and was subsequently attacked. That is one of the reasons I do things like brain-dumping here instead of talking about things I'm passionate about (politics being one... but you'd never know, would you?). I'm not up for attacks.

Brenda Coulter mentioned that the girlies who love the Twilight series are truly angry about the ending of Breaking Dawn. Since I didn't read anything except Twilight (I tried... I really HATED New Moon, and since I couldn't finish that, didn't see the point in continuing. I'll wait for the movies), I had no idea why -- until I heard they were mad about who Bella ended up with. Then I found out WHO Bella ended up with, and didn't understand why they were angry. Obviously, I missed something in the last three books, lol.

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love that I have home-grown, garden-ripe tomatoes. I hate that it signifies the end of summer. I had truly hoped to be relocated out west by now, but there are just not a lot of technical job openings in central Washington. Bother.

It's a sad, sad day when I'm excited that gas is "only" $3.67 a gallon. Way back when, in the 70s there was a spike in gas prices. They got as high as $.62 a gallon!! People were horrified. There was rationing based on your license plate number.

Why is local produce so much more expensive? I'm not talking about organic... I understand the why of that. But local, conventionally grown produce? I want to buy local... but when it's twice as much, and I can barely pay the bills, how do I justify it? I really do not like to decide between eating right and eating.

Wonder if I've leaked enough out to get through the day without forgetting to tie my shoes? Oh, wait... they're flip-flops.

LOL....

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No writing yesterday. Spent the morning doing LASR stuff (speaking of which, today's anniversary prize is a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate -- you might want to go play), then DD needed help with school, and we had a late doggy class that ended up taking 90 mins instead of an hour. Some days just don't go the way you hope.

DH is home for the next three days, too, so I don't have high hopes for accomplishing anything. Bother.

See, Amy -- Mondays are my friend!

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Recovering...

Eighty percent of success is showing up. ~Woody Allen

Okay, I think I've nearly recovered from the shock of finding myself on the MBaM bestsellers list. Nearly. I may even be able to talk coherently. I know I terrified Judy yesterday because I IM'd her this message:

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

::faints dead away::

And nothing else.

She's very patient with me.

:-)

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I spent a good part of the day, yesterday, struggling with my DDs new curriculum. It's all computer based, and the info on how to do the teacher's stuff isn't very comprehensive unless you count the tutorial. Problem is, I can't PAUSE the tutorial so I either have to instantly memorize the information or keep starting it over.

I finally managed to figure out how to set the school calendar and how to assign and grade lessons and tests. I figure that's the big stuff. I'll worry about the rest later.

And, yes, we're already starting school.

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I did get another 1000 words or so done on the wolf story. Unfortunately, that isn't enough to make it in time for the "Got Wolf" contest. I need to be doing at least 1500 words a day. ::shrugs:: Maybe I'll just submit it as a short story if I don't get it done in time. Still, the contest winners are going to be part of a print anthology, and I really wanted that.

Month's not over yet.

*G*

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I picked the first tomato from our garden yesterday. There are four more that are about ripe. Unfortunately, I didn't get as many as I'd hoped for (I had big plans to can diced tomatoes this year -- I love tomatoes...mmmm). I planted about two dozen plants. Looks like I'll have to double that next year. Don't know WHERE I'll fit them, but I'll figure something out.

We still have an abundance of cucumbers, but that's okay -- my neighbors are enjoying the bounty.

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You Are Comic Sans

You are a nothing but a big goofball. You're quite playful and fun! You're widely known for your zany personality and your vivacious attitude. To say that you stand out in a crowd would be a definite understatement. Remember that you are overwhelming at times and that people appreciate you best in small doses.

What Font Are You?

Huh... okay... what do YOU think? Me? A goofball? Zany? Playful? Overwhelming?

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Pretty Pictures, part II

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler

Look what Judy made me:



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We released three more butterflies yesterday. FINALLY, we had females! You can tell because her yellow spots are quite small, but her blue smudges are more pronounced. Actually, all three were girls. First ones we've had yet.

We have six more in the parsley box, and two more in the dill box. DD has five big bubbas on her carrots in the outside garden.

Pretty amazing how well they blend, hmmm?

While I was outside looking at pillars, I also checked on the garden. Look!



Yes, I picked it. Yum.

My garden looks just lovely, and I have lots of babies:




Not to mention flowers!

Bee balm:


Bachelors Buttons:


Hollyhocks:


And DD LOVES going blueberry picking in our backyard. She gets a decent sized handful every day for lunch.

This really is the best time of year...

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More about writing and reading and whatnot tomorrow.. k? But for now... how cool is THIS?

Harlequin Launches Enriched Edition eBooks

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Quickie!

I've had two unexpected garden casualties -- I lost one pepper (something ate the roots...most probably grubs or cutworms, a POX ON THEM!) and one tomato (I can't figure this one out... maybe the other plants sucked up all the water and wouldn't share?).

The cucumbers all survived the night, though. As did the squash. Phew.

Brandy, I'll post the recipe for the rhubarb cake tomorrow or Friday.

Have a great day all, and enjoy the guest blogger's post, below! Comment and make her feel at home, k?

It's.... Tuesday?

It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato. ~Lewis Grizzard

I hate Monday holidays. They really mess up my already muddled perception of the days of the week!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

It finally got warm here! Yay! In fact we got warm enough that DD wanted to play in the sprinkler. You need to understand that we use well water -- absolutely frigid -- and yet, she doesn't seem to mind the temps.

So, I give you a sure sign of summer:



Incidentally, I discovered that Photobucket has an editing program where you can blur faces, so I may be able to post pix of DD a bit more often sans visage. That's always good to know.

I also nearly killed my squash and cucumbers -- I didn't realize how dry every thing got. Between the heat and the wind, by midday (despite a watering in the morning) it was dust dry in the garden. The tomatoes can take some heat and dry, but not squash and cucs. They were laying, wilted and flat, gasping for a bit to drink with their dying breaths.

I watered them thoroughly, and the squash perked up immediately. Seriously, I do believe I could see it moving as it changed from utterly wilted to exceptionally perky. The cucs, though? Not so forgiving. Even after a good soaking, I couldn't see much of a difference. I'll check today, but there are two plants, especially, that I may have accidentally sent to the great beyond. Of course, it's not like I don't have a ton of them, but still...

To those wondering what I'll do with "so many" tomatoes? In this house, there is no such thing. The best part of summer is going out and picking them, giving them a quick dusting on the pant leg and eating tomatoes until you're sick.

Whatever is left, I'll can. IF there are any left. I can buy canned tomatoes any time -- but yummy, vine-ripened, warm from the sun tomatoes? Priceless.

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No writing yesterday. Shockingly, I took the day off. Today, I need to finish my short story for LASR and then start to work in editing Stiller Creek for submission. Then I need to work on Camilla and/or Playing House. They both need a LOT of work. But I love them.

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Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible. You are a fairly open minded person with a wide range of tastes. You are quite accepting of unusual ideas and people. You are a natural multitasker. You feel alive when you're doing more than one thing at a time. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

Okay... I'm on the fence about the "cautious" one, I don't think I'm THAT cautious, but I do tend to at least give a passing glance before I leap. I am definitely a multi-takser, without a doubt. "Bold in every way". Hmmm... I like that. *G*