Shifting Shapes..a Garden walk and a Blogthing

I wanted to pop in here to say that I probably won't be blogging much for the next week or so.
Being the Attention Deficit Disordered person that I am, I have shifted my current obsessions to ....
*gardening(mainly weeding, lugging heavy rocks around, putting some plants into containers for the deck and re-doing some beds)
*and ......
*re-decorating (started on a whim yesterday with the bathroom and now have my sights on framing some of my artwork for our walls, as well as looking ahead to painting the hallway
(a lavender-y periwinkle blue shade perhaps...) .

Also, with all sorts of dates marked in my calender because of R's school year coming to a close(spring concert, talent show, promotion night are some), I will be busy with that.

That's Miss R in the photos taken this past Sunday at the Kinney Azalea Gardens(some azaleas already gone by, but plenty of massive rhododendrons in bloom)

From the Providence Journal site, a little info on this unique woodland garden:


Acres of amazing azaleas at the Kinney Gardens in Kingston
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 17, 2009
By Tom MeadeJournal Staff Writer

Rhode Island is blessed with many beautiful gardens, but none is as explosively colorful as the
Kinney Azalea Gardens on Kingstown Road (Route 108) near the University of Rhode Island’s East Farm.

More than 500 varieties of azaleas and rhododendrons grace six acres, laced with grassy walking paths. The gardens are open to everyone year-around, but they receive the greatest number of visitors from mid-May through June when the grounds are ablaze in blossoms.
Along many of the paths are benches and chairs where visitors can rest and drink in the beauty of the place.

Lorenzo F. Kinney, Jr. planted the first azaleas in 1927. He was the son of a botanist.
When Lorenzo Kinney, Jr. retired from his job as state leader of 4-H Clubs in Rhode Island in 1955, he devoted most of his energy to developing the gardens and new varieties of azaleas that would thrive in southern New England. In 1992, URI awarded him an honorary doctorate for his work.

This year, several varieties began to blossom in early May, said Betty Kinney Faella, the founder’s daughter. She predicted that a splash of warm weather may encourage more to blossom earlier than usual.
She continues a family tradition, serving tea when the flowers are in full bloom. This year’s tea is scheduled for May 23 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. It is free and open to everyone, she said.
After Mr. Kinney died in 1994 at the age of 100, Susan Gordon, an adjunct professor in the plant science and landscape architecture programs at URI, began managing the gardens.
Besides the azaleas and rhododendrons, trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, and other shade-loving wildflowers flourish on the floor of the gardens.

The gardens are supported through sales and donations. Most plants at the gardens can be purchased, even specimens requiring a backhoe. Delivery and installation of plants can be arranged if necessary. Plants are not guaranteed unless planted by a member of the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association.

From the intersection of Route 138 and Route 108, the gardens are behind the sixth house on the left, 2391 Kingstown Rd. The parking area is behind the house. The gardens are open during daylight hours. Admittance is free, but there is a box for donations in the parking area. For information about plant sales or directions,
call (401) 783-2396 or (401) 782-8847,
or visit kinneyazaleagardens.com.

This shape shifter will be back, and I will still try to make the time to try to treat myself by making the rounds of my favorite blogs.
So now, only a "watercolor" Blogthing for the moment, which says it all!

You Are Highly Expressive

You are dramatic, expressive, and even a bit temperamental. You are artistic and creative. You're always dabbling in something. You are very self-aware and introspective. You understand yourself well. You are on a constant journey in life, and you change frequently. You're a shapeshifter of sorts.

Take the The Watercolor Test

The Week That Was..

In spite of the fact that my hair smells all wood-smoky(from last night's fire at a barbecue), my coffee's gone cold and there isn't anything in the house for breakfast(and I am hungry...stomach all stretched out from the mountains of food I ate last night at the party), I think I'll list some things that made me happy this past week(besides my Friday night date and the good time spent with friends at the party last night

and R's Honor Society night).

Of course, there were plenty of things that made me unhappy this past week(and made me rant and rave) and I was even thinking of doing a blog about the two(!) headless squirrels we discovered in our yard one day(our seemingly innnocent and cute and fluffy kitty cat is really an evil, twisted squirrel brains devourer), but then I decided not to.

So, instead ---my Pollyanna-ish take on the last six days or so:

*First--I saw the grey "El Conquistador" El Camino parked in its usual spot at the town beach one morning as I drove in to work. I was starting to worry that something happened to the older man who drives it because I hadn't seen it for months and months. I wrote about my uneasy fascination with this car in another blog (read it here), but I think I have to say I have changed my mind about those cars and I now smile when I see them(there is another El Camino--a brown one--parked in front of a house at the top of our road now , too).

*Yesterday, as I drove up the hill out of our neighborhood there were two children--a boy and girl between the ages of say, seven and ten, flying down the hill on their bikes and dressed in a way that made me think they were out of the seventies. I had a little flashback to my own "70's" childhood for some reason when I saw them and I had a wave of happy nostalgia come over me.

*We finally got our tickets to go and see Guster when they come to Newport in August. I was also pleasantly surprised that R still wants to come with us to this, so it's three tickets for Guster. Not only am I looking forward to that, but also am getting excited about the way the whole summer ahead seems to be lining up, with some trips and concerts planned, and all the unplanned moments ahead, too--whatever they turn out to be. I live in a place where the summers are near perfection, and now, if only I didn't have to work.... ;-)

*I have two more days off after this one--what a luxury! So far, I haven't been too "productive" with my time off--spent Saturday in a kind of haze, not doing too much other than a little garden tweaking and made an orzo salad for the party we went to. But it is a great feeling knowing that whatever I don't do today, I'll still have more time (to do it, or not do it).

* The lilies-of-the-valley out front are blooming!

*Another happy thing--a happy discovery: Armenian String Cheese. Someone I work with made me try it. I told him I didn't like most cheese and was really trying to get out of tasting it, but he insisted I try it. And...I loved it! It's very mild with a good texture and no smell
(I can't eat any cheese that has a smell to it), with little black nigella seeds in it--had never heard of a cheese with seeds in it before.
It's great on a platter with some pita bread or crackers, some Kalamata olives or jarred artichoke hearts.
I would eat that now, I am so hungry!
We have cereal and milk in the house, and some frozen waffles so I could eat that. But I am in the mood for something like Huevos Rancheros and a big pile of home fried potatoes and cooked for me by someone else.
Which means going out to breakfast.
Which means first showering to get the wood smoke smell off me.
Which also means having to wait longer for R and Mr. F. to get up.
They are still sleeping and snoring(in Mr. F's case). We got home around 1:00 in the morning, but for some reason I still woke up at my usual time at 6:30 (by the irritating sound of squirrels fighting under our bedroom window--maybe they would keep quiet if they knew about the squirrel killin' feline that lives here) and have been up out of bed since 7:00.

My Friday Evening

Gift card for daughter to bring to the sleep-over birthday party: $20.00


Large pizza from Boston Neck Pizza: $12.95

Hardy's Black Box Cabarnet: $18.00

******************

Date night with portable wine-in-a-box ( recent fab discovery), pizza and most importantly--Mr. F. ,

to watch sunset at Beavertail lighthouse: priceless

Ahhhh...Friday and a Friday Fill-In.

It feels like this is going to be a good day(who knows what is in store for me at The Job, though)
The breeze is coming in through the open window, the air smells fresh, sun is shining, and the birds are singing.
I feel extremely proud of my daughter who was inducted, for the second time, into the Honors Society for her grades and good character last night n a ceremony at the school last night.

And...I have four days off to look forward to after today.

1. "Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice ____moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes."

(okay, this was kind of cheating, by moving and altering the word elsewhere in the sentence, but I thought of this line by Lewis Carroll immediately when I saw the word "move" and I truly love it and see a painting in my mind when I hear those words)

2. Footloose and fancy_____ free.

3. My best quality is _____ I'm dignified. (but then, maybe other people think "aloof"
or "snobby")

4. It is easy to get bogged down by all the little_____ details.

5. In nearly 10 years, _____I'll be nearly 57 years old!!!!!!

6. A winning lottery ticket_____ is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____dropping R off at a sleep-over party and some time alone with Mr. F.,
tomorrow my plans include _____a visit to the Farmer's Market and a going away(unfortunately to Iraq) party for a friend and Sunday,
I want to _____lie in my hammock and read (I went to the library yesterday and have a nice pile of non-fiction books), and also have caught up with reading all my favorite blogs!

Blue skies....

..nothing but blue skies!

And a few fluffy, puffy clouds.

And the sound of lawn mowers. I just got home and it is like the festival of the lawn mowers all over the neighborhood--the sound of them coming from all directions.

And bird song everywhere.

And the sound of my daughter's flip-flops.

This date actually marks my first year anniversary (217 or so posts later..) here at Blogger.

I wish I had more to offer--but it is just some photos today(some of them taken from behind the steering wheel even), and Ella Fitzgerald singing that song in my head. But I only could find Frank Sinatra or Willie Nelson doing the song on You Tube, so it's Frank.

As usual, I am running around with little time to write anything meatier or in a relaxed, thoughtful way. Not that my blogs are ever meaty, but it seems lately I have not been in a "good" writing mood.

I have to leave in a bit to take my daughter to look for a birthday gift for a friend and some new bras for her. Who knows? Maybe I 'll have something to inspire a blog after I have visited the Kohl's bra department.

And we have to zoom back home so R can watch the final of American Idol at 8:00. I will be glad in a way when this is over. I didn't get into it as much as I did last year. Last year was my first time ever watching American Idol and I surprised myself by getting caught up in it and actually cheering on winner David Cook. But this year...ho-hum.

I *hope* R won't be into the show next year since it really is a cheesy spectacle and takes up at least two hours of your time every week while it is running. I guess with all reality-type shows--once you get sucked in, you can't get out!

And that is about all I have to say. Other than..."my job would be great if it weren't for the customers." Ha..ha...we have some of the NY/Conn. summer people trickling in lately, just opening up their houses, and there were a couple of doozies in this week so far.

An aquired taste?

Since I have to get outside--sun is shining, the dog is patiently waiting, and there are garden beds to be mulched....just a quickie Blogthing to fall back on for today's blog entry.

Even though I was ever so tempted to try the What Does Your Butt Say About You quiz over at Blogthings (no, I am not making it up--check it out here), I tried this one instead.

What Taste Are You?

And I got...bitter?

Not even umami ?

You Are Bitter

You aren't bitter at the world, even though you have a strong personality. Instead, you are sophisticated and cultured. You appreciate acquired tastes. You are very powerful. You have the ability to change a room's energy. While some may find you disagreeable, your points of view are intelligent and interesting.

What Taste Are You?

I Am

I Am.....

*Feeling: weathered and a little old today (arrgghh..my back!)

*Wearing: dark red cotton sateen shirt with black trousers-not very spring-like, I know...

*Drinking: lukewarm coffee (too lazy to refresh my cup)

*Eating: one nearly burnt(how I like it) English Muffin with butter and apricot jam

*Listening to: blue jays and robins outside my windows, and the Weather Channel on TV from the other room. R leaves it on all the time and it takes me a while to realise that the bad, soft, so-called jazz music and the repeated phrases about the forecast are being burnt into my brain.

*Craving: a creative spell to come over me--want to get back into that feeling of time stopping when I create art. I have been neglecting that part of me out of laziness(first need to clean off my work space...again!), a kind of fatigue about it, and basically feeling uninspired.

*Worried About: not so much right now--feeling like everything will work itself out for everyone I have been worrying about lately

*Missing: my three cherries pin/brooch that I was going to wear with this shirt today. I can't understand how it has disappeared. I am messy about lots of things, but there are certain things--my car/store keys and my jewelery--which always go back to the same place.

*Wanting to: be productive this week, as far as little projects go.

*Reading: I didn't read anything all weekend...unusual for me. Not even the Sunday paper...

*Addicted to: gardening, which has been bad for my back, since I was stooped over, crouched over for most of the weekend. (I said the same thing when I did this fill-in last year at about this same time of year, interestingly..)

*Dreaming about: my plants blooming in a few weeks and not having to buy flowers , but cutting my own from my own garden.

**Okay...need to turn the TV off(yep, Weather Channels' still on..) and walk Miss Jewel (while it isn't raining..)

If you have read this far, I'll tell you a little secret! There is a ghost in the shed window..!

Not really, but I almost spooked myself when I clicked on my picture(the old shed at top) to see it larger, just for the heck of it(and to delay walking the dog).

I thought--was it really there?--an arm!

Then realised it was my own reflection in the part of the window that wasn't broken and missing. I can see my own claw-like hand holding the camera and a little bit of my head.

Happy Birthday, JoJo

Jonathan Richman is 58 years old today.
(I have my tickets for his June show when he comes to this area!!)

I'll be quite busy today--plant sale to go to at the high school (which I need to get dressed for very soon), getting the window boxes finally planted with impatiens (I have been impatient for impatiens) and the beds filled in with whatever I find at the sale, and R and I want to visit the Kinney Azalea Gardens (a little info here) this afternoon as long as it stays sunny.
So, for now....a little Jonathan:

First Things

A "firsts" meme I found at Protege's blog,
which also had a pretty informative explanation of the term "meme".

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
I never went to a prom. No one asked me...*sniff*

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
No.

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
Not exactly sure-I know I must have been pretty young, since my mother gave us "ein Schlug" of brandy to drink from a shot glass when we were really sick with a fever and cold, and we had red wine with Sunday dinners sometimes with my parent's approval(a small glassful starting when was about ten). Then, I discovered I liked little sips of Bailey's Irish Creme from the bottle in the liquor cabinet without my parent's knowing when was in my teens.

4. What was your FIRST job?
babysitter--I pretty much had the entire neighborhood as a client base at one time...

5. What was your FIRST car?
a brown 1973 or 74 Mercury Maverick/Comet --not sure which it was now...it was the cheapest car I could cobble together my money for at the time, and really, I would love to have a car like that now.

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
I don't text

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Mr. F

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Gamage (there she is, in all her school marm glory, at the top!)

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Germany

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
A girl called Ann in the first grade but I haven't seen her in years and years....

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
I think at my friend Sandra's or Susan's...starting around the 5th grade, I went to a lot of slumber parties..

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
my daughter

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
My friend Sandra's first wedding. I remember it was the first time I had to wear a strapless bra because of the design of the bridesmaid dress, and having to finally remove the damn thing during the reception (well, not right at the reception, but in a bathroom) because it had this wire apparatus digging into my ribcage.

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Let the cat out

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
The Kinks

16. FIRST tattoo?
none

17. First piercing?
the usual-- one hole in each ear , and I am not even sure how old I was when I had it done but was at least eighteen years old.

18. First foreign country you’ve been to?
Although I don't remember my first trip over the border because I was so young, I would have to say Canada(I was baptised in Montreal), although it sounds a little strange to call it "foreign".

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?
Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" when I was about five years old. There must have been a revival of it playing in cinemas that year.

20. When was your FIRST detention?
Never. I was a good girl(aside from nipping into the Bailey's)

21. What was the first state you lived in?
New York State(born way upstate)

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
my sister

Anyone else want to try this "firsts" meme???

"The Phoenix"

I couldn't resist visiting the Phoenix today on my lunch break.

It was on my mind after I wrote about it in yesterday's blog. I took some photos and asked if the cat who used to march in the open door and hang around in the shop (and rub up against your legs and purr while you shopped) was still around, but I was told they hadn't seen him in a while. I hope he is alright.

I didn't buy anything, though. This time.

By the sidewalk there with the cracks in it

With the Mexican restauraunt next to it

With the clothes for the big and the fat in it

And the moth-ball smell to the hats in it

Is the lonely little thrift store

The hard luck little thrift store..... where I go

*****
Well its an old store front from the 30's

And it gives you a feel of the old days

And the next door barber shop

Where famous athletes used to stop

But now this neighborhood is down

And there's garbage on the ground

By the lonely little thrift store

The hard luck little thrift store ....where I go

Well alright

***
Well the avocado green appliances

With the smell of domestic violences

And the dusty Farberware

And the rusty dinette chair

In the lonely little thrift store

The hard luck little thrift store ....where I go
*****

The record by the One Hundred Strings

And other lonely little things

See how that popcorn popper looks sad

'Cause of the short little life it's had

Once it was a happy wedding gift

But when they split it too got left

In the lonely little thrift store

The hard luck little thrift store .....where I go

~~~~~"The Lonely Little Thrift Store" ~ Jonathan Richman

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

What the......!(@#*!??
http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/13443780

Ten Favorite Places To Shop

Well... the avocado green appliances

With the smell of domestic violences

And the dusty Farberware

And the rusty dinette chair

In the lonely little thrift store

The hard luck little thrift store.... where I go.....

~~~~~~

The Lonely Little Thrift Store-- Jonathan Richman

~~~~~~~

~~~

It's the Ten On Tuesday list time once again. This week was an easy one---ten favorite places to shop!

******

1. The Phoenix
I so "heart" this resale shop in nearby downtown Wakefield.

It used to be more of a true thrift shop, with a jumble of artfully arranged objects from the 1920's through the 90's, with prices so low that it really felt like you were stealing. There used to be a 10 cent table(everything on it just 10 cents) in the basement when the original owners had the shop--two sisters in their 60's who looked so much alike I could not tell them apart. For a while I thought they were the same person and was shocked when one day the usually pleasant owner was short with me when I talked to her! I eventually figured out there were two of them. One was really nice and the other...not so friendly (maybe she was the buyer and the designated scourer and locator of old things for the shop, and usually in the back room for a reason?)

When I found out it was being closed because the sisters didn't want to run it anymore I felt sad about losing this shop. But luckily, it was taken over by some other owners--

a co-operative of several vendors, and while the prices are now higher and there are actually real vintage antiques in there, you can still have a great time just poking around in there and still come away with something special to wear (I recently bought two retro late 60's daisy brooches) or for the house(I have a weakness for teapots and old cookbooks from there). It is always like stepping into a museum of the 20th Century for me, as so many times I have spotted something I remembered from my mother's kitchen(plastic Tupperware salt and pepper shakers in white and pale green, or a 1970 Knox Gelatin cookbook), or a book I had forgotten about from my elementary school years. There is always a box or two of old postcards and family photos(which make me sad in a way that they end up in a shop instead of in a family photo album).

I think I need to do a Phoenix blog entry very soon......

2. Perennials

A resale clothing shop near my work--I like to check in often to see what's "new". It has a true boutique feeling in there, and I can buy gently worn(or in some cases, never worn) and carefully selected clothing, jewelery and accessories for at least half the original price.

3. online at Amazon

Books, music, perfume, etc.--I buy it all from here. I have been good lately, though, and haven't purchased anything there in a while...

4. online at Sierra Trading Post
great shoe and clothing selection and great deals!
tp://www.sierratradingpost.com/


5. Different Drummer
http://www.differentdrummerri.com/
There is so much jammed into this shop(which has been in business for well over 20 years in Wickford), and it is usually quite crowded so sometimes I get claustrophobic and have to reluctantly get out of there. But on days when it is a little less crowded, I like looking through their card and postcard selection, as well as all the artsy ceramic and glass pieces.


6. Spangles
Another shop in downtown Wakefield. Costume jewelery galore--I find something "I must have", at a reasonable price in there every time.
http://www.spanglesfun.com/index.html


7. Trader Joe's
Food shopping made fun and slightly adventurous.

http://www.traderjoes.com/


8. Pleasant Surprise
Apt name for this shop in Newport-- it makes me smile just to browse in this place.
http://www.brickmarketnewport.com/pleasant_surprise.htm


9. T.J. Maxx

I rarely buy my clothes at department stores for the regular retail price, preferring to hunt for it at reduced prices at this place.

http://www.tjmaxx.com/index.asp

10. Ikea
I have to drive miles in either direction to Massachusetts or Connecticut to get to the nearest Ikea , so I don't get there too often, but I feel an urge to make an Ikea road trip soon...

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, those were the immediate first ten places to come to mind. I could easily pick ten or twenty more...

Ack!

I'm back.

I feel very behind in everything at this moment.
Work(a back load of jobs to write up from Friday that I could not even touch today because I was busy there, even having to stay late), e-mails, friends, my blog, reading other's blogs, my once-again weedy garden beds...phew!
And the only reason I had a blog up today (the Dali's birthday entry earlier) was that I wrote it a few weeks ago in advance and had it set to publish on this date. I forgot, actually, that I had done that, so was somewhat befuddled when I saw there were comments today!

Does anyone else do this?
Use certain words when writing, like in a blog here, that you would never use in speaking in your day-to-day life?!
I have never ever actually uttered the word "befuddled" aloud in my life, I am fairly sure. But, this is at least the second time that I typed that word here at my blog.
Now...that is somewhat befuddling, isn't it?

So...I will catch up. Hopefully tomorrow on my weekday off--although I have a ton of things to catch up on in the yard and in the house, maybe telling a little about my weekend in Maine ( a memorial service combined with a small family reunion) which was really great, in spite of the reason for going there was for the memorial(it was a unifying thing for my usually scattered, uncommunicative and dysfunctional family--so a good thing) and I am always happy in Maine.

But, now it's Monday and back to the reality of a full calendar, unexpected maddening glitches and situations at work and not enough hours in the day(and an empty refrigerator which means..back to the grocery store).

*************************************************************

** While I am at it, I might as well add a Manic Monday with this week's questions, courtesy of Fleur De Lisa:

How old were you when you learned to tie your shoes?

I have a pretty strong memory of learning to tie my shoes. I even remember the satisfied feeling I had when I was able to say I could do it, after practicing doing it, over and over.

I was five years old, tying my shoelaces and unlacing them, sitting on the bottom step of the staircase in our first house in Maine(which I walked past this weekend-it seems so tiny compared to what it was in my memory)

I also remember it was the morning that my mother was explaining to me and my sister that my grandfather(my father's father) had just died. I hardly knew him, having met him only a few times when I was a baby and have no actual memories of him. We just buried my grandmother's ashes in the plot next to him this weekend. My grandmother-his wife, I knew very well and will always have many memories of her. Too bad he died so young and I never got to know him. Instead, I will always connect learning to tie my shoes with the day I learned he died.

Have you ever snooped in somebody else's medicine cabinet?

Yes, I have. It has been a long time since I have done that, though. It used to happen when I was a young(and slightly wild) thing and at house parties go into the bathroom if I felt too drunk, to chill out a little by myself. While I was in there, in my loopy state, I sometimes looked inside the cabinet. I remember feeling impressed when I discovered things like expensive creams and cosmetics inside, like from Lancome, because I was a cheapie drugstore product gal(still am).

Who do you think you are?

A slightly befuddled (still trying to figure life out every day even at this age), snooping, blogging person who at least once learned how to tie her shoes.

(that question immediately made me think of the old Jean Knight song, "Mr. Big Stuff".

Mr. Big Stuff

Who do you think you are?

Mr. Big Stuff

You're never gonna get my love...

Get Surreal

It's Salvadore Dali's birthday. Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989) was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Spain.

The "new" Dali museum in St. Petersburg, Florida is still under construction. I visited the "old" one twice. That's where I got my bumper sticker that says "Get Surreal" which is still proudly displayed on the back of my otherwise nondescript Ford Escort wagon. But the museum was closed a few years ago because of it's location right on the water and fears of a hurricane and/or flooding damaging the collection of Dali's art.

Salvadore Dali on 1950's game show "What's My Line"--now that's surreal!

I don't know what they are singing about....

...but I like how it sounds.
I only recently discovered this Cat Empire-ish Swedish band- and listening to them is kind of putting me in the right mood for Friday. Movit!
Yes, another You Tube video--something I'll admit I fall back on when I am feeling blog-tired (i.e. having nothing in my brain of interest to write about). I will be away this weekend.
Maybe next week, my brain will be re-charged and I'll have something to say.

Feline fun with a box

This video (below) is not of my cat--I could only wish my super laid-back cat did things like this. Mine only sleeps, cuddles on your lap at night, meows about 20 times a day to be let in and/or out, sometimes swats at the dog and kills poor, innocent birds and rodents outside(although, thankfully, he hasn't been too successful at that lately).

The cat in the video reminded me a lot of the Kliban cat. See if you don't agree...

If you blog about it....

...and complain about it--the weather will improve?!

.
Scenes from a sunny back garden, 7 hours after I was griping about the rain and grey gloom. I came home to a daughter and dog sunning themselves, soaking in those UV rays.

I feel foolish(but happy) that the sun unexpectedly broke out this afternoon. I spotted a couple of tiny toads in the garden, a few fat worms(always a healthy sign), a ton of weeds, and very-close-to-blooming lilac buds on the lilac bush.

Also, it just occurred to me, that this is the first time Mr. F will make it to his Wednesday "golf league" this year and he'll get a warm, sunny afternoon of golf in. Perfect!

Waiting...

...waiting for the sun to shine.

That is Jewel waiting (with Super Grover, my driving guardian and protector) in a parking lot yesterday while R was in Staples getting some supplies for a school project.

Yesterday was basically me driving R around and watching her shop. She had gift cards to spend from her birthday and is still out from school because of the Swine Flu scare (we still don't know if a student actually had it, and assume classes will be back in session tomorrow). There wasn't much else to do on a rainy day, anyway.

I usually try to refrain from complaining about the weather.

But.... this grey funk, with cold temps, and off and on rain showers (and occasional torrential downpours like during my drive on the highway yesterday when I could barely see anything before me and some idiot drivers didn't even have their lights on!) that began last Friday and is now expected to remain until through the weekend is getting me down, and I want to complain, dammit!

So, I am feeling a little ornery. And sunshine-deprived.

If you want to read/see something a little more beautiful and cheery, go check out my friend Rosemary's blog entry for today and meet someone who seems to like

this sort of wet weather.

5 on the Fifth

5 cool things about my town.....

1. We have our own beer (even though, personally, I think it tastes like crap. I should make an ammendment to that statement. It is not entirely awful. Just your typical wimpy American style lager. Nothing special).



2. You can drive under the arch of this building. Or you can dance above the "arch" in the ballroom.

The Narragansett Towers

Grand, sprawling summer hotels were built in the town. The grandest was the Narragansett Casino, designed by Stanford White. But as with most of the grand summer hotels—which were built of wood—the Casino was destroyed by fire in 1900. Only its grand towered archway entrance, built of stone, remains.
The stone towers and arch have become a landmark and symbol for the town.

3. Clams Casino was "invented" here.

Clams Casino were created in 1917 by German-born Julius Keller, maitre d’ at The Casino on Narragansett Pier, in coastal Rhode Island. During the period, shoreline casinos were basically clubs and ballrooms, not gaming parlors. Narragansett challenged Newport as a fashionable summertime resort. It appears that a reigning socialite, Mrs. Paran Stevens, wanted something unique for a luncheon she had booked at The Casino; Mr. Keller obliged.




4. one of the best (year round) surfing locations on the east coast of USA.

5. the town library has a Pez candy dispenser collection(on display directly behind the circulation desk and still growing). I'll try in the next few days to get a newer photo (and a larger one) of the current collection--it takes up even more shelving now.

She would have been 80 years old on this day...

Just a quick tribute to Audrey Hepburn on her birthday.

(I have to make a longish list of chores for R, since she is home today--and will be home from school until Wednesday in fact-- because of a "probable" case of Swine Flu in a student at her school, and then get myself dressed and out the door for work.)

"The truth is that the quality Audrey brings to the screen is not dependent on her figure, her face, her accent (which is neither quite British nor quite foreign) or even her talent. Belgian-born (of a Dutch mother and an Anglo-Irish father), she has, like all great actresses from Maude Adams to Greta Garbo, the magic ability to bridge the gap between herself and her audience, and to make her innermost feelings instantly known and shared." - Time Magazine

A Gal, and her dog (and camera)

" A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk." ~O.A. Battista

Another walk with Jewel..a slow meandering one on this warm Sunday morning.
I was in a relaxed sort of daze,
listening to the bird song,
noticing the unfurling buds and blooms...
...more green and growing things along the paths than the last time I was here.

Ferntastic

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

~John Muir

thank you, sally mandy!

Having just survived a small "zombie apocalypse" ( a 12 hour sleep-over party with seven 13 and 14 year old girls in my house), I thought it about time I acknowledged this "Zombie Chicken" award that sallymandy so kindly thought to bestow upon me...days and days and days ago. Phew! that was some long sentence.
**********
"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all..."

When I started blogging(been doing this now for about three years--almost one year here at Blogger), I started out by just winging it and writing about just any old thing that was flitting through my mind , never even thinking I would have regular readers and eventually friends who would take the time to read what I had to say.. I knew nothing about awards and all the rules and protocol about receiving and passing them along, and I think I am still bad about the whole thing. For those of you who gave me awards and it seemed I didn't appreciate them by not mentioning it here at my blog, that hasn't been the case at all.

The first award I was given was one from Zuzana ( Life, Work And Pleasure blog ), and now I finally am taking this opportunity to pass one on to her.

This one's for you, Ms. Protege!
She truly does "produce content so remarkable that her readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read her inspiring words." If you haven't discovered her blog yet, I would encourage you to have a look and think it just might become the day brightening habit it has become for me.

And, sallymandy, if you are reading this--please forgive me for taking so gosh darn long to getting around to thanking you and acknowledging that you chose me for this award.

I still have to acknowledge and post about a few other awards some other kind bloggers decided to give me recently. I'm workin' on it...!

For now, I am finally enjoying some "me" time after the 12 hour whirlwind of teen girl squeals and chatter and food serving has ended.
The party is over, for another year at least(and maybe by next year, R will be over wanting to have a birthday party anyway...),
the seven cans worth of Silly String that was all over the back yard has been picked up,
and I even get the computer on a Saturday all to myself since now the kid even has her own laptop(a combination birthday and graduation from middle school gift we gave her).