Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
message 2801:
by
Nina
(new)
Mar 18, 2012 06:58PM
That was entertaining. As you said, such energy. I once attended the Greek wedding of my husband's nephew to a Greek girl and I thought the young men at their wedding danced in a similiar way. Not as beautiful costumes as these.
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Nina, I LOVE Greek dancing and any Eastern Europe dancing done in circles like that. It brings people together.At my son's wedding they followed a Slavik tradition because his bride is Slavik. She put on a kerchief and danced with relatives in little circles with their arms around each other. It's such a warm family thing.
I agree with you that kind of dancing brings a good feeling to everyone involved, even the lookers on.
A dandelion poked it's head out by my door this morning.
There was a dandelion blooming in my daughter's front yard the other day. And the dogwoods and redbuds I mentioned in an earlier post are now in full flower. Spring is in the air!
We have a wet summer here. Over 80 & the back yard needs mowing yet again!!! Marg mowed it Wednesday, I mowed it Saturday & it's ankle high already!!! Aaaagghhh! There aren't enough hours in the day.Good news, my cousin Karen is coming to visit on 13April. I haven't seen her in years, maybe 10. It was 15 or 20 years before that, but we now chat all the time on Facebook. I don't know why we've always gotten along so well, but we have.
I read once that cousins are your first friends.
Temps here were in the 70s. I quickly switched to my lighter clothing. It was hot in the car. Needed AC. We had supper out in the backyard. Beautiful weather. Grass isn't growing yet. :)Jim, enjoy your cousin's visit. My cousins were all older than I was. So I always felt like a little kid compared to them. My older sister was more their age.
I once had a sadness in my life; my only first cousin died the same day as my Dad. But, that's life and death. More joyful news is that my crabapple is in full bloom right outside my bedroom window.
Nina wrote: "I once had a sadness in my life; my only first cousin died the same day as my Dad. But, that's life and death. More joyful news is that my crabapple is in full bloom right outside my bedroom window."That's so sad about your cousin and your dad, Nina.
I love to see trees in bloom, signaling the beginning of spring and a new, fresh season. Rebirth.
Our pears are going out, but redbuds & wild plums are now out. Lots blooming. Very pretty.This cousin, Karen, is my youngest, 10 years younger than I am. I was closest to one that was 5 months older than me & his younger brother & sister - we were all pretty close in age - when I was younger, but we seem to have drifted apart over the years. It's kind of a shame, but it happens.
I am squeezing in reading between working on getting a genealogical book put together of one of my ancestoral families; over three hundred pages which I have with lots of work cut to one hundred and fifty. Not finished yet but I see the light at the end. Wish me luck. Can't believe two of my young grandsons want a copy.
That's cool, Nina. I have the family history my great grandfather wrote & consider it priceless.I got the fields harrowed this evening. It made for a long night, but the grass is growing so fast & it's supposed to rain tomorrow night. I figured if I didn't get it done now, I wouldn't be able to. The tines of my chain harrow would just ride the grass & not get down to the dirt.
I wound up whacking my ankle bone with one of the tines while folding it up. It's a pain, but I can't hang it up in the barn otherwise. Boy my ankle hurts.
Ouch! Sorry about that. My daughter with the four acres and two horses says she has never mowed on St. Patrick's day before this.
Nina and Jim, it's great that you know so much of your family history. We know some but it would probably fill only one page, maybe two. Our info doesn't go back more than 3 or 4 generations.Jim, hope your ankle heals quickly. Ankles can be very tender. We use them so much without thinking about them.
Nina wrote: "Ouch! Sorry about that. My daughter with the four acres and two horses says she has never mowed on St. Patrick's day before this."I doubt if I've ever worn shorts in March, but today I did. We ate supper out in the yard again. We set up our double swing and sat together looking up at the hawks gliding way up high in the cloudless sky.
I planted some Calendula seeds in a small pot. They're aka Pot Marigolds. They have to stay in a dark place until they sprout. So now they're in our front hall coat closet. LOL Hope I don't forget them. :)
My ankle is sore, but not terrible - thanks. It's amazing how much a little bump with piece of steel directly on a bone hurts though. I don't know how I'm going to keep up with everything once Karen comes. She leaves on Monday, 16April, then we take off that Friday for MD & drive back Sunday - 9 or 10 hours each way. The next weekend is free, but the following one is our anniversary. The weekend after that, Erin graduates college, so that's 4.5 hours driving down to Murray in the morning & back again that afternoon. Ugh.
Jim, about keeping up with everything, especially when events crowd the schedule, I find that usually my adrenaline kicks in and all of a sudden I find new energy and motivation. That's why the following quote is so true:"If it weren't for the last minute, a lot of things wouldn't get done!" -from a fridge magnet
The pressure of the "last minute" usually gets me going.
Jim, sorry about your ankle, and you have my sympathy on your hectic schedule (I know just what it's like). Hang in there!I just got off the phone with Deborah; she caught a rat on a sticky trap, so grabbed her portable phone and called me so I could talk her through the release process up on the ridge back of the house. Happily, both rat and human came through unscathed. :-)
Speaking of last minute happenings; once my sister in law and her husband and their four children were visiting we thought for the weekend(including three days after) from Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Also at home that weekend were my six children and two more college friends of my older son. That made twelve kids and four adults. There was a blizzard and no one could leave. Then at the last minute I got a call from the train station. It seems a friend of mine was travelling from NY to Ca and were stranded at the station. Somehow they managed to get to our house. Then it was seventeen kids and five adults for the weekend. I vaguely remember collapsing on the bed fully dressed. Everyone had a good time but I was tired when it was all over.
Two other good movies, "The Dog Year," and "Love's Kitchen."
Werner, how do you release a rat from a sticky trap? :)
Nina wrote: "Speaking of last minute happenings; once my sister in law and her husband and their four children were visiting we thought for the weekend(including three days after) from Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Also..."Nina, I hope you had a lot of food in the freezer! LOL
Nina wrote: "Two other good movies, "The Dog Year," and "Love's Kitchen.""Will follow up on those. Thanks, Nina.
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/A_Dog...
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Lov...
Joy, a two-word answer to your question (message 2822) is, "with difficulty." :-) It's not as difficult as it sounds, though, if you use generous applications of vegetable oil to the parts that are stuck; something in the oil quickly breaks down and loosens the glue, or lubricates the area between glue and flesh to break the bond (I'm not sure which). You do have to gently work the stuck body parts free, and it's advisable to wear gloves, in case of bites --though none of us have ever been bitten. (The animals seem to understand that we're attempting to help them get free.) IMO, sticky traps aren't the best kind of "humane traps," and they work better with mice than with rats, who are larger. (Fortunately, Barb believes the two rats we caught this way so far --we got another one last night, also successfully released into the wild-- were only about half grown.) The type which trap the animal inside without glue are preferable, but they don't make commercial models of those big enough to hold rats. However, Barb intends to build one. (There's not much, if anything, that she can't do!)Nina, during the blizzard of 1993, my family and I were on the other end of a similar experience. We'd gone up for a weekend trip to visit family and friends in Rockingham County, discounting rumors of coming heavy snow because it was spring, and the weather seemed quite pleasant and sunny. The snow started on Friday night, quickly trapping us at my oldest brother-in-law's house. We didn't get home until mid-week. But even if we'd been home, we couldn't have gotten to work before then anyway; we lived in Springville then (south of Bluefield), and the connecting highway was impassable that whole time because of the snow. (And the weather had forced the college to stay closed, as well.)
Jim wrote: "Here's an interesting pet story.http://www.app.com/article/20120321/N... "
That's an amazing story, Jim. That dog must have been so happy to see his family again. The bond between pets and their masters is so strong. It's so touching to think about. Makes me want to hug my own dog over and over again.
BTW, Romeo went to the groomer today. He really needed it. He was so shaggy-looking with his long winter coat. Now he looks like a different dog with his fluffy short coat. What a difference!
Werner wrote: "Joy, a two-word answer to your question (message 2822) is, "with difficulty." :-) It's not as difficult as it sounds, though, if you use generous applications of vegetable oil to the parts that ar..."Werner, you and Barb are so nice to even care about rats! LOL I never felt any empathy for them myself. They scare me. Thanks for explaining about using the oil to unstick.
One time we decided to catch a mouse (which was in our house) in a Have-a-Heart trap (not sure of the name). After we caught it, we released it. But it came back into the house after that. I guess we should have driven far away with it. But there were so many mice when we were feeding the birds. Their droppings were everywhere. So I stopped feeding the birds and now there are hardly any mice around.
Good dog story. Just watched, "Marley and Me," so it was fitting.
Nina wrote: "Good dog story. Just watched, "Marley and Me," so it was fitting."Nina, have you read the book? I listened to the unabridged audio version of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan. It's the version read by Johnny Heller who does a great job of reading the book. I recommended it highly. It's very different from the movie; it has a different flavor.
Joy, thanks for the compliment on how nice Barb and I are, but truth to tell, Deborah's mainly the one who's kind to rats. :-) Barb and I aren't as sympathetic to them (at least to the adults --the babies aren't hard to be sympathetic to), compared to mice. But we humor her wishes; and in point of fact, I'm learning that they aren't as scary as they're reputed to be. They're actually not carnivorous or aggressive, and are much like big mice. (Of course, neither species makes very good housemates!)Yes, mice and other rodents tend to be attracted to food; if that's not present, they usually go elsewhere. Though we had one in the library back in the 90s; I was able to catch it in a wastebasket, and take it out in the woods for release (and yes, you DO want to take them quite a ways away!). I said at the time that if he wanted to come in the library to read and improve his mind, that was okay, but he couldn't be allowed in without a shirt and shoes; we have policies, and have to stick to them. :-)
Joy. yes I have had many travel adventures but I was fortunate in that most foreign places I visited I knew somebody already living there. That made it more interesting than just being a tourist on a bus. Also, there are many things you've seen that I haven't; never The Met, Carnegie Hall, the Opera etc. I am wondering if it is too early to plant pansies. And so far nary a peep of my last year's tulips. Hope they see the light of day soon. Tomorrow I go to the Nursery and I doubt I come back emptyhanded.
Joy, getting back to "Cutting for Stone," here is a funny aside. One of my book club friends after reading the almost ending went to her dr and demanded a liver test.
I rode Chip tonight & he felt hot, not right. Marg took his temp & he's up to 102.8. We don't have a baseline on him, so we're not sure how much of a temperature that is, but probably a couple of degrees. Not sure if it's a reaction to his shots or if he's just got a virus like Topaz had a few months ago.
Not good news about your horse. I so hope all goes well with him soon. It won't be the first time I said a get well prayer for a horse.
Thanks, Nina. He looks pretty good this morning. He was playing with Topaz & Blue, being a bit of a trouble maker, so I guess he's feeling better.
That is a very good sign; just like kids.
Yes, it is. He jumped into the north field today, so I put the rider up on that jump. That makes it another foot taller, maybe 2'9" tall. I'm sure he can clear it. The goats & Lily certainly can & do. Marg says that once a pony gets the idea they can jump on their own, they're tough to keep in. I know Speedy will jump the 3' log jump that separates the barn & south fields. Oh well, the other 3 stay out of the north field, so it is getting rested. Marg is growling a bit about all my animals taking after me & being a pain. Apparently we're all mischievous & don't listen well, but we're cute.
;-)
Werner, about mice, the droppings on the kitchen counter were the WORST part! (except for the time they died in the wall and stank for months. THAT was the worst. No more poison for them...)Jim, glad to hear Chip is better. Yes, the pets all cute! I'll have to ask Marg about YOU. (lol)
Nina, I was at Lowe's and spotted some pretty flowers in a pot. I bought them. Only $6.98. Never heard of them before. They're a warm, bright yellow and I couldn't resist. They're called "Gold Shot Wallflower" (Erisimo Gold Shot). Bloom spring & summer. Hardy to -30F! Don't demand much watering. (My kind of plant!) :)
I found a link:
http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/erys...
"... a short lived, mound forming evergreen perennial, often grown as an annual. In early spring, and then again in fall, 'Gold Shot' produces clusters of fragrant yellow flowers that appear on upright stems above masses of dense green foliage." ... "This short-lived plant makes a nice addition to container plantings, stone walls or the front of mixed borders. Excessive summer heat can cause flowering to cease, returning again with the coolness of autumn."
Hmmm, it says it's "short lived". Oh no!
The label on the plant says: "Upright perennial - Comes back year after year".
I'm going to keep it in the pot. It will be an experiment.
As for the liver test, why look for trouble!? :) I'm always fine until I go to the doctor for a check-up! :)
Yes, Joy, mouse poison isn't the foolproof panacea some people think it is! I agree about the droppings being a real pain (they can be a nuisance in dresser drawers, too). The little critters are terribly difficult to housebreak.... (Sigh!) :-)
Werner wrote: "Yes, Joy, mouse poison isn't the foolproof panacea some people think it is! I agree about the droppings being a real pain (they can be a nuisance in dresser drawers, too). The little critters areterribly difficult to housebreak.... (Sigh!) :-)"LOL! Mice also have a habit of saving little dried nuts or fruits around our house. I once found some hidden under our mattress! LOL And yes, in dresser drawers. But you won't find droppings where they hide their food. Interesting.
Joy H. wrote: "Nina wrote: "Good dog story. Just watched, "Marley and Me," so it was fitting."Nina, have you read the book? I listened to the unabridged audio version of [book:Marley & Me: Life and Love with th..."Thanks for the tip. I will try to get it.
Nina wrote: "Joy H. wrote: "Thanks for the tip. I will try to get it."Nina, remember to get the unabridged audio read by Johnny Heller. There are several others versions (one read by the author, John Grogan, but they're not as good.) Johnny Heller's delivery is exquisite.
There's even a version for children (but it leaves out some of the more interesting adult parts).
The full title is: Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog. It's the original book.
The version for kids is called: Marley: A Dog Like No Other.
It's easy to get them mixed up. I made the mistake of ordering the wrong ones for my family members for Christmas! What a hassle, an expensive one too.
It's hard to find the Heller version as a CD. It's mostly available on cassettes. But it does exist on CD if you can find it.
Like all burrowing animals, mice and other rodents have an instinctive desire to keep their burrow clean, so they go outside it to relieve themselves. (Dogs and cats are the same way, which gives us a basis to work with in housebreaking them; we just teach them to recognize the house as their "burrow.") Evidently, they extend the same principle to keeping their food caches clean --which makes good sense!
Werner wrote: "Like all burrowing animals, mice and other rodents have an instinctive desire to keep their burrow clean ... (Dogs and cats are the same way ..."Thank goodness! :)
Joy, I was once in Plymouth England and was overwhelmed at the sight of a huge garden of so many flowers of so many alike but all different colors. I asked someone what kind of flowers they were and they told me Wallflowers. I had never heard of them before. I am going to Lowe's soon and hope to find some here. Thanks for reminding me of them.
Nina, I had never heard of wallflowers before now. Wiki has a page about them:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erysimum
"Erysimum (wallflowers) is a genus that includes about 180 species ... Growth is best in dry soils with very good drainage, and they are often grown successfully in loose wall mortar, hence the vernacular name. ... Wallflowers are small, annual, short-lived perennial herbs or sub-shrubs... Flowering occurs during spring and summer."
Too bad the perennials are short-lived.
The one perennial I know of which blooms all summer is Gaillardia. It has a very attractive flower and is very hardy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia
"Gaillardia, the blanket flowers, is a genus of drought-tolerant annual and perennial plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to North and South America. It was named after M. Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was a patron of botany. The common name refers to the inflorescence's resemblance to brightly patterned blankets made by native Americans."
Below are links to the Gaillardia I once had:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/...
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/...
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/...
I love blanket flowers (gaillardia). I'm slowly getting them to spread around the base of some of my trees as they work better than mulch for keeping the weeds down & they bloom from May into October. The wallflowers look cool, too. I only grow unfussy plants. I love hostas, marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, & others that either I can or they will spread easily. I buy just a few marigolds each year, most are volunteers from previous year's seeds. I just put out a few new ones for a spot of color until the others come up. The biggest problem with most is thinning them enough.
Some plants are pretty but can become a pest. Bee balm can get like that. I have some crowding a rose bush & since it spreads by underground runners which get tangled with the bush's roots, it's hard to kill off. I've had that problem with mint before & am about to start fighting the chameleon plant.
http://blueiguanass.com/chameleon-pla...
A neighbor in MD had the chameleon plant in their pond - growing completely submerged. We got some & put it in our front garden where it was a nice ground cover, but it never really went wild. I put it next to my fish pond here in KY & it did go wild. Unfortunately, it also doesn't have much color - basically it's a bland green - unlike the picture above & what we had before. I've tried changing the ph of the soil & such, but nothing has made a difference. It's also getting out of hand, so I'm going to kill it off. It will likely take me a couple of years to do it. It spreads by underground runners, too. Tough to kill. Like mint, the best way to kill it off is weed out what you can, then hit everything that emerges with some RoundUp.
I made a wand that delivers RoundUp (actually, I use Southern States Gly4, a generic, much cheaper brand of the same thing) directly to a leaf. It's a 4' section of 1/2" CPVC pipe with a 1/4" nylon rope wick coming out of the end. I fill it with straight Gly4 & then just touch the rope to the leaves of plants. I can get in very close to good plants & not touch them at all. I tried to find one to buy, but never saw anything I liked. It cost about $10 in parts. Mine is kind of fancy since I can also unscrew the center & turn it into a foot long wand, but I don't do that. I thought I'd want that ability, but I don't use it.
A quote To all that have different logic-reasoning cultures, Aristole is reported to have said? "It is the mark of an eucated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." This was in our morning paper.
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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