In The Garden

My 2012 Yearlies List

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

[H/T to Chris at the Rude Cactus for this idea.  His list is here.]

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The Yearly Top Gardening Success:  Our in-ground sprinkler system for our lawn.  It took us years to have one installed, but now that we have one our yard remained green all summer– and I didn’t have to drag a hose + oscillating sprinkler anywhere on the property.  Not even once.

The Yearly Top Absurdity of Life:  Even though I didn’t go to Canada, I have a traffic violation from that country with a fine to pay.  I owe the Canadian Dept of Transportation 37¢ Canadian.  You see, Canada has a photo of a vehicle registered to me doing something illegal in their country.  The miscreant in this story is Z-D [or maybe one of his lawyer buddies] who went on his [their] annual camping cabin trip and somehow missed paying a toll along the way.  Because of this, I’m left holding the traffic violation.  And a bottle of maple syrup.

The Yearly Top Duh! Moment:  Cutie oranges.  Who knew these little clementines were so tasty?  Not me.  I thought they were only for kids, but thanks to J at Thinking About… I got some for our party, tried them and am now hooked.

The Yearly Top Annoying Term:  Guru.  If you believe yourself to be one, then you are not one.  This term is trite, hackneyed, pointless, stupid– and most of all, overused.  Don’t be a business guru;  you can do better than that.  Aim to add value, not gibberish, to the conversation.

The Yearly Top YouTube Video, Cat Angst Category:  Henri 5, The Worst Noël.  If you have ever been around a cat, then this series of videos will make you laugh more than you should.  Paws down.

The Yearly Top Expression Of Gratitude:  From a shy 10ish y.o. Boy Scout who came to the front door and sold me caramel corn + cheese corn.  A few weeks later when he delivered the products, he included a typed-out thank you note on a strip of paper, hand signed, which thanked me for helping him achieve his goal.  Very thoughtful kid.

The Yearly Top Home Improvement Project:  New light fixtures in the kitchen above the island & table.  Good-bye large weathered copper light fixtures with dingy uneven glass shades.  Hello sleek antique brushed nickel lights with etched white alabaster glass shades that spread the light evenly across the surface.  Such an improvement.

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So, what are your yearlies?  Care to share?

Odds & Ends

/ Ally Bean / 21 Comments

::  ON SUNDAY I MADE a Ratty Apple Pie.  That’s my name for an apple pie made from a mix of not so good-looking apples.  My pie included 2 Melrose, 1 Granny Smith, 2 Red Delicious + 1 mystery apple [Gala?] that was in our frig.  Then I put what my Betty Crocker cookbook describes as French crumb topping on the pie.  The pie was yummy.

::  I READ AN ARTICLE in the Sunday paper about the increase in incivility in daily life.  It rang true with me.  I know that in the last few years I’ve encountered rude drivers, indifferent sales clerks, one incredibly hostile bank manager, a couple of ill-mannered [former] friends, and countless offensive individuals shrieking about politics.

My guess is that after watching violent movies, viewing rude tv shows & absorbing the hostility inherent in extremist political views these annoying people are so desensitized that they don’t know that they are, indeed, rude & uncivil.  The sad part is that I’ve come to realize that sometimes being rude right back to an uncouth person is the only way to accomplish anything because these. people. do. not. get. kindness.   

::  WE HAVE AN INFESTATION of icky miniature fly-like bugs in our house.  The man who washes our windows was here yesterday.  He told me that the bugs, which are coming into the house through the holes in the mesh of the screens, were from the Hackberry tree.

[Having never heard of a Hackberry tree before I googled it.  Natch.  I learned that it is sturdy;  produces tiny dark-red colored berries for the wildlife to munch on;  provides a safe haven for birds in the winter;  was cultivated in 1636;  & in pioneer days was used for making barrel hoops.]

As for getting rid of the icky little bugs– not going to happen until we have a hard frost, the window washer man tells me.  Seems that the dumb little bugs are impervious to all types of removal– including my withering gaze and vacuuming the screens.

On The Occasion Of My 200th Post To This Blog

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

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I like this colorful little zinnia.

Cheerful and happy in its terra-cotta pot.

Pretty.

It’s the perfect photo to commemorate my 200th post.

On a blog that I thought I’d do for a few months.

For fun.

But instead of moving on I decided to keep posting here.

Creating a quiet little spot where thoughts & friendships can grow.

Gracefully.

Rather like a colorful little zinnia.

Cheerful and happy in its terra-cotta pot.

Thriving.

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The Deer Ate My Pansies

/ Ally Bean / 8 Comments

Last week on this day I wrote about how I was happy and pleased because we had planted some true blue pansies by the sidewalk leading up to our front door.  Today I am saddened to tell you, my gentle readers, that last Friday night the deer ate 70% of my special, pretty pansies.

Apparently the deer were having their very own T.G.I.F. party out in front of our house.  And they didn’t even invite us.  SNOBS.

This experience reminds me of a Bible verse: “Pride goeth before Destruction, and Haughtiness goeth before the Fall.”  

[Don’t know where that is in the Bible, but I know it’s there.  My mother used to say that every so often.  While not a church lady by any stretch of the imagination, she knew all sorts of Bible quotes that she used, along with French phrases + literary quotes, to keep me on the straight and narrow.  Or to confuse me, thereby slowing me down as I sauntered along the crooked and wide.]

So yesterday morning Z-D and I went to Lowe’s to buy some average, run-of-the-mill pansies.  We bought one 6-pack of pansies with yellow/brown faces and one 6-pack of pansies with purple/white faces.  We came home and planted them all mixed-up with the remaining true blue pansies that the deer were too full to eat.

THEN Zen-Den gave the whole mess of pansies a thorough spraying with Liquid Fence, Deer & Rabbit Repellent.  Or as I call it– the deer stink stuff.

All of which means that our flowers look lovely from afar, but smell icky when you walk by them.  I believe that Fernando Lamas would approve of this solution to our deer/pansy problem.  In fact, I can imagine him saying that it is better to look good than it is to smell good.

Yes, my pansies: “You look MAHVELOUS!” 

[There’s more to the story.  Click here.]