Confessions Of A Bad Pansy Momma

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015 / Ally Bean / 32 Comments

Yikes!

With plenty of water, a spot in the sunshine + a prayer to the gardening gods above, I’m thinking that these poor pansies might make it. Right?

~ • ~

ON WEDNESDAY AFTER PLANTING BUNCHES of pansies underneath the monkey grass beside the stone path in the backyard, I was tired of gardening.

I put the rest of the pansies, destined to be interspersed between rose bushes along the front walk, in the garage.

Then while fiddle-farting the rest of the week away, I forgot all about the pansies, until yesterday morning when I stumbled over them.

Clearly, I’m not going to win the Most Beautiful Autumn Yard Award, Amateur Suburban Gardener Division, am I?

[Well, there really never was a possibility that I’d win an award because: a) there is no such thing in this subdivision; & b) I’m the poster child for B+ students everywhere who get close to the prize, but never get the prize.]

~ ~ • ~ ~

Bombdiggity!

Monarch butterfly feasting on this little yellow milkweed plant that is almost thriving. Sort of. Fingers crossed.

~ • ~

WHILE MY PANSY MOMMA SKILLS might once again be in question, I’m happy to report that 3 of the 4 potted milkweed plants, purchased at a garden nursery last spring, have lived through the summer.

One plant, encouraged to stand using a bamboo pole stuck in the dirt + cotton twine, has even flowered a few times throughout the summer. I think he’s an amicable little plant, even though he isn’t the strongest one out there, he keeps hanging on.

Literally and figuratively.

Now the question is: are these milkweed plants perennials? Or do I have to do something like save the seeds for next year?

I’m hoping that they take care of themselves, because as my pansy momma experiences have shown, I might not be the most reliable gardener.

~ ~ • ~ ~

Organizing Gibberish Thusly

September 2, 2015August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 31 Comments

First leaf with Autumn color says, “Look at me!”

THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN SORTING through my desk drawers and my computer files. I save lots of ideas, either scribbled on bits of paper or quickly typed on computer sticky notes.

I keep these ideas as prompts just in case I need something to write about here.

Like today.

MOST OF MY SAVED ITEMS are snippets of thoughts that float through my mind while I’m doing something else, so they’re not fully formed ideas. In fact, they are generally pure gibberish.

But I continue to believe that one of these saved items will be the best idea ever, so I’m reluctant to throw any of them away– until I do.

I could be deluded, of course.

[Rather like Gayle King and her massive purse + jewelry collection, featured in O magazine this month. It’s a collection so unwieldy that it required an outsider to sort through it, culling out that which no longer serves her.]

[Alright, maybe my little pile of ideas is nothing like Gayle’s purse collection, but you get my drift. Too much of anything is confusing.]

Underwhelming decorative Summer grass says, “I’m not dead yet!”

I WON’T BURDEN YOU WITH a list of my half-formed ideas. I respect your time and sanity, my gentle readers.

But I just wanted to let you know that I’m still moseying along the blogging trail.

Tossing and deleting the gibberish as I go.

Of Chips & Buns, Making Small Talk At The Dinner Table

August 25, 2015 / Ally Bean / 27 Comments

I. The scene

Zen-Den and I went to dinner at a Tex-Mex place. Sitting there at our table, me sipping a frozen Texas Twister, him drinking a Dos Eqius, waiting for our tortilla chips to arrive, we got to talking.

II. The Subject

Thinking about the recent news story that I’d seen that day, I asked Zen-Den what he thought about man buns. Specifically, the man buns of Disney.

I figured that the sports babble radio guys who he listens to during his daily commute would have had something to say about man buns. But apparently they’re not as aware of male hairstyles as one might hope.

Zen-Den had no idea what I was talking about.

III. The Conversation

He asked: What kind of buns? Ones that you eat?

I said: No!

He said: Buns with your hair? On men?

I said: Yes, the ones on your head.

He asked: Like granny buns?

I said: No, not like Granny Clampett. More like sumo wrestlers.

He said: The guys are fat?

I said: No. I don’t think so. Maybe some are. The photos show thin guys.

He said: There are photos? Where?

I said: Online. In a blog or something, I think. I read an article.

He said: So these thin guys pull their hair up and twist it into a bun?

I said: Yes!

He said: How?

I said: I don’t know. It’s just up there. Maybe with a scrunchie? Or bobby pins?

He said: Why do they do it?

I said: It’s probably a thing like being a hipster with your hat. Or those “git r done” guys with their shaved heads. It’s cool, I guess.

He said: Why?

I said: I dunno. Because men are stupid?

He said: That’s true… that’s very true.

I said: I’ll send you the link to the article.

He said: Nah. I don’t want to see it. Sounds weird. That’s why I like listening to radio. I don’t have to see any pictures of stupid men.

IV. The Conclusion

The conversation ended when our server brought us fresh homemade chips and salsa. They captured Zen-Den’s attention, so he was no longer interested in cross-examining me about man buns.

I stopped talking about them, but will admit that I enjoyed watching a middle age business guy struggle with the idea of men wearing their hair in an up-do… just because they can.

Bourbon, Bunnies & Baffling Skies + Q[s]OTD

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 / Ally Bean / 42 Comments

An acquaintance suggested that I needed to start an Instagram account. She’s there and loves it. She thinks that I could drive traffic to my blog from Instagram + she likes my photos and wants to see them all in one place.

Isn’t that sweet?

So last night, as a test run, I snapped some photos around here. I figure that these are the sort of photos that I’d probably put on Instagram, if I was there.

Which I’m not sure that I’m going to be.

As I was taking these pics I remembered a woman from years ago who had a unique blog, the name of which I don’t remember, in which she posted one photo per day of her kitchen table OR of what she saw while sitting at her kitchen table.

Her kitchen counter. Her backyard. Her sky.

And suddenly I was giggling to myself because what I’d snapped for my Instagram test run was exactly what this blogger, who I hadn’t thought of in years, used to do. Yet here I was doing the same thing, lending credence to: everything old is new again!

# # #

Q[s]OTD:

1) Are you on, or do you follow people on, Instagram? What do you like about it? What do not like about it? Should I be there?

2) In general, when viewing other people’s photos, what is your favorite kind of photo to see? And why?