Good Take - Rev's Game

Scored (4) free tickets, along with free parking, to the New England Revolution soccer game back on Saturday night May 12.  The game was played at Gillette Stadium, home to the New England Patriots.  It was a beautiful night, not a cloud in the sky, and the Revs won the game 4 - 1.

It was a nice take to be able to visit the stadium with a small crowd in attendance versus a Pats game. No long lines to get in or at the concession stands, no crazy, screaming fans; easy in and easy out.

And We're Off...

Emilie and I found some time this past weekend to get some veggie seeds planted!  We planted a row of radishes, a row of carrots, a row of mammoth sunflowers (~24) and a mound of Silver Queen corn (~16).  It rained over night and this morning, so everyone got a good drink.  Time will tell what will grow but we have our fingers crossed and thinking positive.

Eric LeGrand Quote

Rutgers' Eric LeGrand, the paralyzed former Rutgers football player, had this to say when interviewed recently about being signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL football team -

"In life you can't control what card you're dealt. You've just got to deal with that card you're dealt."

I Caved In...

I broke down and decided to start some seeds indoors.  Typically I'm against this practice because I simply do NOT have the setup or space to do it properly.  In the past this exercise proved to be too cumbersome, messy and a royal pain in the arse.  I find it SO much easier to take a ride to my favorite local nursery and purchase plants that have already been started, hardened-off and ready to be planted.

However, when I ordered my garlic last fall, the company also sent along a half dozen packages of seeds as a bonus.  Mostly veggies but a couple flowers too.  This is what I've started indoors - Sunflower, Butternut Squash and Eggplant.  Also started was White Campion, otherwise known as Lychnis coronaria (White Lambs Ear).  We have oodles of Rose Campion (Pink Lambs Ear) but no White.  It just so happens that on her way to work one morning last summer JoAnne noticed a yard that had a single, lonely White Campion plant so we patiently waited until the fall when the plant turned to seed, then stopped and "borrowed" a small clipping containing our sought after, precious seeds.

Walla!

I'm happy to report that since this picture was taken (4/26/2012) some of the plants are making an appearance and poking through the soil, with the White Campion being one, yippee!

Note:  White & Pink Lambs Ear is what we were told their names are and what we've come to know these plants as.  We do have a couple true Lambs Ear plants - Stachys byzantina, that again, we "borrowed" from a rest area in New York a couple years ago.

Fox In The Hen House - Hope NOT!

- Day 1 -

Early Wednesday morning (4/25) I was getting my lunch together when the chickens started fussing.  At six in the morning, they're still waking up and typically don't make too much noise.  I've raised chickens for like 100 years and I knew the noise they were making was one of panic and warning and not good morning clucking, no question about it.

I looked out the kitchen window and immediately saw the cause of the commotion - an absolutely beautiful fox!  She was apprehensively approaching the front of the pen then made her way around the backside of the coop and reappeared back in front.  The girls were NOT happy, what a racket.

I chased the fox off and watched as it made it's way two properties over and disappeared behind their shed.  Said shed sits on the edge of the over growth, so my fear is that she's living underneath where she'll have and raise her pups.  Of course that would be cute to see and watch as the pups grow but being the raiser of chickens I'd prefer they go elsewhere.  However, if they would leave the chickens alone and stick to a diet of - chipmunk, wild rabbit, grey squirrel and woodchuck then I'd love em to stay!

Needless to say when I got home from work that evening I attempted to fortify the back of the coop to prevent her/them from digging under - fingers crossed!

- Day 2 -

The following day, Thursday, was a work-at-home day for me and don't you know, when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the chair to see what was the matter.  Away to the windows I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter and threw up the sash.  When what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a darn white house cat instilling more fear.

We've seen this particular cat around recently.  Typically, she's been farther away and behind the coop but I guess she wanted a closer look.  I don't think she'd fuss with the chickens but of course they don't know that. They get spooked regardless, which causes them to pile on one another when they're flying to the highest spot they can reach in an effort to get to safety.

After snapping this photo, I made my way out back and chased this feline off. Like the fox, she's welcome to hang out if she'll leave the chickens alone and sticks to catching mice and chipmunks.

First Toad of 2012

Lost in thought the other afternoon, I was puttering around the yard and tending to the flower beds and doing some weeding, when I came across this handsome little dude.  He was burrowed into the dirt, perhaps to keep warm from the chilly nights we've been having recently, but I inadvertently dug him up. So, he spent the night inside with us in the kitchen.  The following day we released him out back in the pool area.  Hopefully, he'll like his new digs and decide to stick around a while.  We can always use an insect eating machine in close to the house.  Would be nice he has a hankering for slug, yummy! I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him this summer...

Our 2012 Spring Flowers

Here are several pictures of the Spring flowers that are blooming away and adorning our yard in a variety of colors!

Silver Dollar or Money Plant (Lunaria annua)

Crested Dwarf Iris (Iris cristata)

Tulips & Old-Fashioned Bleeding Heart

Wild Violet, Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) & a passed Hyacinth

More Scrap Metal Found and Recycled

Did another metal run last weekend. I don't recall what trip number this is but I believe we're closing in on double-digits.  The majority of this run contained items that I've been holding at my place, although the load was topped off with even more metal items from my dad place.  Total weight was just over 500lbs.

I'm going out on a limb here and saying this was the last run, however, I'm not willing to put any money on that...

Out With The Old, In With The New

Tackled the deck stairs yesterday, finally!  HUGH difference in both appearance and durability!  We got a late start and put in only 6 hours otherwise I believe we would have finished it.  The rails in the picture above are just temporary and added so we can continue to use the stairs.  We're planning on reconvening next weekend to install the rails and spindles and complete the project.

Now just need to work on disposing the old stair lumber, which is currently hidden and piled in the trailer.

Spring Veggie Planting of 2012

Picked up (2) 4-packs of veggies last weekend - Kale and Broccoli.  Planted them outdoors this weekend, along side a Kale plant from last summer that survived the winter and is flowering like crazy.  The rabbits and chickens are loving it, fresh greens for them.  Now if we'd only get some MUCH needed rain...

Crack The Bedroom Window

Love being able to crack the bedroom window before crawling into bed and listening to the Spring Peepers sing and chirp and carry on and sing me to sleep!

Equally love waking up to the sounds and melodies of the singing birds as they carry on talking away and the smells of crisp, fresh morning air.

Oh Can't Wait To Pick and Eat!

Doesn't our garlic look fantastic?! It survived the winter and has simply taken off with this mild Spring weather - BIG beautiful plants. This planting was done in a different spot than I typically plant the garlic in, and from the results so far it was well worth the switch!

A Good News, Bad News Item

Good News = Trixie loves to run, bounce and play on the pool cover. We can't wait to see what she'll do once the cover is removed, so stay tuned. Since she always on it and we've had no luck keeping her off we don't need to worry about cleaning the bird poop off any longer. She takes care of that for us, yuck for sure!

Bad News = Not sure why, maybe because the cover is green like grass, but she occasionally does her "business on the cover too.

The picture above captures the good and the bad news as explained here. We're gonna need a LOT of chemicals added to that water before I get the courage to jump in...

Sunflower Seed Bread

My coworker and friend Vlad, who I seldom see these days, surprised me last week with both a visit and a fresh loaf of Sunflower bread, yum-me!

This is simply delicious - toasted with butter along with my morning cup of coffee! Alas, it's just about gone but was worth every calorie and a nice change of pace for breakfast.

Dog Eats Floor...Film At 11!

Yup, she did! I left Trixie alone for maybe 10 minutes while I took a quick shower and when I returned this is what was waiting for me! She found herself a place smack dab in the middle of the kitchen floor; a highly traveled and highly visible spot, and decided it was a good time to start ripping the linoleum a part!

She has the run of the kitchen and has been left alone many times before, so why all of a sudden did she decide to do this is puzzling. She has a dozen different chew toys to choose from and is always playing with one. Plus, we're pretty lucky with her, as we've not really had any other chewing incidents to speak of - one or two but she is a puppy after all.

It's not too bad though, right?! You can hardly notice it, right?! I bet we can get many more years outta this old floor, right?! I was planning on replacing the floor too but we didn't win the big Mega Millions jackpot, alas...

More Veggie Garden Space

Happy Easter weekend everyone!



Added approximately 80 square feet of additional garden space this past weekend - all done by hand!. The Robin is looking for worms in the new area above. I'm not sure yet what we'll be planting in this additional space but rest assured it won't go to waste.

Lesson Learned - Always Wash Your Hands!

Had a hankering for a toasted bagel the other morning, so once I arrived in the office and got settled I made my way to the cafe.

Getting into the office early has it's benefits. For example, I'm able to get a parking space close to the building, choice of fresh bagels and almost no lines at the toaster. This morning I scored all three.

So, while toasting my everything bagel, a coworker was making his way over to the "spreads" section to top his English muffin - you know, butter, margarine, cream cheese, jelly and peanut butter. Now, this particular person is typically grumpy most of the time anyway, my experience with him. Well, he proceeds to pick up the butter knife which had fallen over into peanut butter and now had a peanut butter coated handle. Apparently, the knife was placed back into the butter tub without the handle being cleaned. Where has common courtesy gone?!

Well, don't you know this person was NOT a happy camper! This look of disgust immediately comes to his face as he beings to look around for one of the cafe workers. Alas, there are none to be found, nor are there any napkins. The disgust now turns to anger and he's pissed! What he does next blows my mind - he licks the peanut butter off his hands AS WELL AS off the handle of the knife, eewwww, then proceeds to butter his English muffin. When done, he put the knife back in the tub of butter and storms off mumbling towards the cashier...

Needless to say I stayed away from the butter knife!

Like a "Rhizomes" Cowboy, Not

It's looking like our Tropicana Canna Lily rhizomes survived the winter and are poking their heads up. They have perked up with the longer days and warmer temps for sure.

I would have been very disappointed had they not made it since I dug them all up in the late fall, transferred them into an extra large flower pot and lumped them into the garage for hibernation.

When they're in full bloom is when I will truly appreciate the extra effort.

*** A bit of 411 on the Tropicana Canna Lily:
It has beautiful burgundy leaves with streaks of yellow, orange and green. Its flowers are bright orange. The Tropicana canna lily is one of the tallest varieties, growing up to 60 inches tall, SHAZAM!

XBX or 5BX Let's Do It!

I don't know about the rest of you but I may have put a pound or two on over the winter and maybe even added a couple of inches to the old waist, and then again maybe not...

However, if you have and if you're interested, I've come across this wonderful 1962 exercise gem - "Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans For Physical Fitness"!

Front Cover -


And if the words on the back cover by Charles B. Wilkinson, consultant to the President on Youth Fitness, doesn't get you up off the couch I don't know what will!

Back Cover -


Who's with me?!?!

P.S. the P90x Workout system pales in comparison...

Scrabble For Juniors - Edition Three

1968 Vintage "Scrabble For Juniors" edition three game by Selchow & Righter Company.

Given to me on my birthday in 1973 by my wonderful Johnson City, TN Aunt, Uncle & cousins!