Roadways and Cherries

The retaining wall on the unfortunately named "Elgin-O'Hare Expressway" (which goes to neither Elgin, nor O'Hare) is growing little green posts. I cannot for the life of me figure out why. They aren't tall enough or far enough apart to be something for light standards or a billboard support.

I'd've had a picture for you, but the moron behind me in the beat-up Honda was in SUCH a hurry that he honked the moment the truck in front of me got 5 ft. ahead, so I left the camera in the breifcase. *sigh*

Usually I don't take the EOE, because I don't like it much. I usually like the slightly more leisurely drive down Lake Street, with it's wall-to-wall shopping centers and gasoline stations - but I was in a bit of a rush this morning as I had overslept my alarm. How the hell I was able to sleep thru that damn thing going off 2 ft. from my ear is rather surprising to me - but so I did.

I won, however, in the "Beat Your Boss To Work" game which none of my bosses actually know that they're playing - but I saw Boss#1's car at an intersection about a mile and a half from work this morning and managed to scoot thru on the yellow, speed up enough to make 2 more lights easily and get in the office, and to my desk before he turned into the driveway. WIN!!!

They had cherries in bulk for sale at Caputo's last night. They're not the really dark "black" cherries, but they are very sweet red ones. I bought a bag, and will undoubtedly manage to max out on Cherry for a few years - but they're really, really good. I cannot, however, tie a stem in a knot with my tongue. All these stems are pretty short. I can't do it with maraschino cherry stems either, though. I wish I could. It's a cute bar trick, and worth it to see guys faces when they see someone who can do it.

I suppose it is like rolling your tongue or being able to do the Mr. Spock thing with your fingers easily - or lifting just ONE eyebrow, which I cannot do and sooooooooo wish I could!

228 days

The day after:

Congratulations, Senator Obama.

So! I got the tomato cages. I had considered buying the more expensive ones that are coated with some kind of fancy schmantzy stuff that keeps them from rusting, but... meh. They cost too much, and the plain galvanized ones only cost about 2.50 each. So I got 2 of them. And a bag of "Citrus" potting soil, which should work for the baby lime trees, and tomato sticks to push into the soil to fertilize over time. (They worked rather nicely last year)

The front garden splotch looks pretty good - even without the geraniums in it yet, the NINE buds on the peony are opening up slooowwwly, and the coreopsis is all budded out and looking like it might decide to bloom in the next few days. The big wind/rain storm the other night knocked all the iris over into the grass, unfortunately. The coreopsis is kind of unevenly spread around, however. But considering that I only bought a small 4" pot of it several years ago, and now it has almost filled-in around 2/3 of the splotch, I figure a few more years will even everything out nicely. The daylillies survived as well, as did the Chrysanthemum (to which I am allergic.. achoo!!)

I am not sure what to do about my garden gnome. He's about 8 inches tall, and made from unpainted terra cotta. His name is Herbie. He is hollow, with a hole in the bottom of his feets, and he keeps falling over face-first into the mud. Drunken lil' gnome, no doubt. More importantly, he is now covered with some kind of green slime - mold or something, I suppose. I would hate to bleach him and have him lose his pretty brownish color - but while he is cute, I had really wanted a painted one anyhow...

229 days

Eclectic "taste"

I harbor no delusions that my personal tastes in music/entertainment/literature are shared by much of anyone else except maybe Lea, who is my soul-sister in almost all of these things.

I got my Amazon order this morning.

The movie "AMADEUS" - director's cut.
The movie "The Lion King" - special "platinum" edition (used)

8 Minute Meditation - Victor Davich
Sweet Revenge - Diane Mott Davidson
World of Warcraft Strategy Guide - 2nd Edition
Guided Meditations - mindfulness of breathing (cd)
and some old Aerosmith.... Toys in the Attic. (cd - my vinyl copy was getting too scratchy)

It is raining cats, dogs and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri here today. My backyard jungle will be even more jungly.

230 days

More Proof I Cannot Draw For ***t.

Ok. Well. Here, as sort-of-promised, a photo of the little garage-house. Now, unfortunately, it is farking impossible for me to get a photo at the angle that I saw it the other night, because there is a big honking utility pole in the way, and there's no place to pull off the road to take a decent photo. I took this thru my filthy dirty windshield from a cross-street about 1/4 mile away from the actual building, so shoot me that it doesn't look right. Also, as you can probably see, it was still raining a bit.

The actual house is further off to the left. You can see the screened-in mudroom area between the garage and the house, but the house is a very attractive long ranch-style. All with green roof and white siding. Well kept and rather pretty.

The weekend was off and on - seemed like every time I got things "together" to do stuff outside it would get nasty out again. So I spent time working inside and have gotten a few things done, which makes me feel a tiny bit better.

Still waiting on my Amazon.com order. Got myself the directors cut of Amadeus and a few other goodies, including the newest Diane Mott Davidson CTMM. (Cheap, trashy murder mystery) I am such a sucker for those.

The lady across the street has a new puppy. He's adorable. About 18" tall, got a tail that curls over his back like an akita - brown and white with a "snoopy" nose and perky ears. She told me what kind he was, but I cannot remember. I wish I was home enough to have a dog, but that's just not gonna happen until I retire, or get a roommate who's home during the days.

Not fair to a pup to leave him in a crate all day, take him for a short evening jaunt, play a bit and then shove him back in crate at nite. Nah - I'll wait until I can take care of one properly.

ps: I was wrong. There is a tree.

231 days