In Honor Of My 800th Blog Post, I Give You Daisies & Zinnias

July 24, 2018August 23, 2018 / Ally Bean / 89 Comments

Daisies for Quality, Zinnias for Endurance. Living in harmony in an ikebana vase on our kitchen counter. I like the symbolism.

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Would you believe this is my 800th post on The Spectacled Bean?

Never would I have thought I’d stick around here as long as I have. Yet something about blogging caught my fancy.

It put a little pep in my step.

A little bounce in my pounce.

The izzle in my fo’ shizzle.

Certainly I must have something profound to say about this, right?

Some wisdom to impart…

Some life-affirming conclusions to share…

Some fricking how-to advice to foist on you…

But you know what? I don’t.

All I can think to say is that I’ve learned oodles while writing this blog and that I’m delighted by how many people read and comment on it. I may not fit into any one niche, but I do have a sense of community here.

And that’s what personal blogging is about, I do believe.

Thank you. You’re the best.

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How many posts have you published on your blog?

Do you know? Do you care?

Just curious.

Regarding Goats: Some People Wouldn’t, But I Did

July 19, 2018July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 117 Comments

This is a Goat Chow Dispenser, obviously.

ANTICIPATING LOUSY TRAFFIC THAT I didn’t encounter, I was early for an appointment on the other side of nowhere.

I remembered a fancy garden nursery in the area, so instead of sitting in my car staring at my phone for half an hour I went to the garden nursery to walk around.

To look at the pretty flowers.

COME TO FIND OUT, far back on the property past the perennials on the way to the trees there was a shed and enclosure with miniature goats in it.

Friendly goats. With a propensity to make their will known to any hapless person who wandered upon their enclosure.

Yes, once they saw me they were more than happy to show me the way to the goat chow dispenser– wherein a person can snag a handful of free goat chow, then allow them eat it off the palm of your hand.

With their little nibble-y goat lips❣

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Question of the Day

Would you feed the goats a handful of Goat Chow from your hand? would you put it on the ground in front of them?

OR would you walk by and not feed them at all?

A Puzzle: Flying Pigs & Swizzle Sticks

July 17, 2018May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 86 Comments

Sorting through stack of magazines piled up ready to go into recycling bin.

Found half-finished crossword puzzle book.

Published in 2005, purchased around that time by me at B&N.

Rescued the book intending to puzzle through a puzzle.

[Crossword, that is.]

Found an almost finished puzzle with “flying pigs & swizzle sticks” written on the page.

In my handwriting.

For some reason.

No flying pigs in this puzzle, if there were swizzle sticks I didn’t see them.

Mind starts to wonder why I wrote these words on this page.

Delightful gibberish, slightly whimsical, with no actual meaning?

Could be, sounds like how I think.

Something I heard someone say so I wrote it down?

Not likely, but possible.

The name of a new blog I was contemplating?

I suppose. Maybe.

An encouraging phrase suggesting better things are to come?

Sure, why not? Let’s say that’s what this phrase means.

No need to belabor this obvious example of the inevitable decline of my memory.

We’re all older now.

We forget things.

But darn it, I sure wish I could remember what the heck I was talking about when I scribbled this clever phrase on the page.

Saving it for me to find 13 years later…

Anything like this happen to you? Do you remember?

#ThursdayDoors | Visiting A Popular Store In Ohio’s Amish Country

July 12, 2018July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 75 Comments

Today I’m joining Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton, so that I can share with you the following door photos + a few more photos taken at Lehman’s in Kidron, OH.

Lehman’s, originally a small hardware store in Ohio’s Amish country, is now a 35,000 square foot retail store [plus online company]. According to the store’s website, “the full shopping experience is nearly a quarter mile long!”

I believe it. We had lunch, then wandered around the store for over an hour, purchasing gardening tools– and sustenance for the road in the form of fudge.

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