Picture updates

A quick post today to update with pictures.  First, the goodies I bought with the Mother's Day gift card from Ms M. Thank you.

That's a spool holder, a bobbin holder and a ruler to use with a rotary pad and cutter. The pad was in the stuff  I got recently from my mother so I picked up a cutter to try it out. I am a convert! What an easy way to get straight cuts in fabric. Why did I not know about this? 

Next, J's been out in his shed every day after work, finding places for all of his things. He declared it photo ready this week, and it really looks good. Of course, the next day, I went into 'my' shed and found all the stuff he didn't have room for! We'll work on that next.

When I sent these to my family, my brother joked that J has too much time on his hands if his workshop is that neat.  First, J has just figured out where each set of tools were going, so it is freshly set up, and second, J says "There is a place for everything and everything is in it's place". I must say he is pretty persnickety about his tools, as am I about my sewing room.

Lastly, (no picture) yesterday when we were in the kitchen, I looked out to see the hens wandering and said 'That damn hen is on the other side of the road!"  

J plaintively asked "Why did she cross the road?"

Then we both laughed like fools.

It's a good thing we found each other.

Mr Crazy goes to the movies

 Ok, I had to do this.  J loves movies and has a Net.flix account. He has (often) watched the same movie twice and sometimes thrice, mostly by accident. However, as he says, if he liked it the first time, he likes it the second time around too.

He started sending reviews to Mr. C and Shoeshine, I believe. After Ms M pointed out that Mr C always had to read them to her, so why didn't she rate a copy, J has included us all on his list.  Tonight's was a good one (by that I mean his review, I know nothing about the movie) and I have to share.

 Here we go:
Ok, hang on to your shorts!   "NINJA ASSASSIN"  A must get movie for those that  like Ninjas.  Also for those that like a lot of blood and swords.  Good story line, well, for a ninja movie, and has a bit of romance in it to boot!. Too bad all the good girls die, but hey, that is what Ninjas do!  Kill and then ponder over a hot bed of coals about the girl that was supposed to be the one!  Poor Ninja, she is always the one that got away.  Or left, or met mister wonderful, you know the type, not into killing and such, well never mind I am getting off course.  So it is a good movie, lots of blood, guts and way, and I mean way! lots of swords!  And I want one of them.  Ok sue me.  But do get the movie, only a hr and some, not counting the silly adds and such, so yes, be a good 2 hrs, but a good watch and I would make lots of corn and bring the drinks cause you won't want to leave your seat!  Riveting  is too strong, so I will say, very very exciting if you like watching guys in black with knives kick the ass out of guys in white with guns.  It is a 5 guys and gals!

You gotta love him.

Time to get going

I've tried to be productive today, went upstairs to my sewing room and ended up...puttering for 45 minutes. I started one project, had an idea for another, but didn't like it after all, then spent 15 minutes looking for material that I know I have up there, with no luck. So I fed the dogs.

And now I'm on the computer. Thought "Oh, I should really post something, it's been a day or so" but meh. Peggle is calling my name but I am resisting that siren song. It's like drinking- you can't do it too early in the day... Not that I drink... hard stuff...no, really.... Diet Coke all the way.

It's sunny and almost 50 degrees outside, I could walk the dogs. But I have a plan for that and it entails J mowing the lawn inside their yard later while I take them out. So, yeah, that has to wait. What?  Two walks? That's crazy talk.

That reminds me that I didn't say that J gave me a cute metal rooster for Mother's Day (And I'm not getting up to take a picture of it) plus took me shopping for plants at Gingerbread Farms Greenhouse. We'd never been there before, but definitely will go back again. Very healthy plants, a nice assortment of perennials and annuals, plus they gave away 6 inch container gardens to moms on Sunday!  Score! Now if it would just warm up enough to plant them, I'd be happy.

Okay, okay, I went and took the picture! Happy now?

I included Sectaur's roses which are still going strong, and our cute yellow egg basket- complete with eggs. And see that pitcher on the right? That was a recent transfer station find. It's handblown and has bubbles all through the glass. Hard to believe someone threw that out, although it was covered with greasy dust and grime.

Wait a second, I'll be right back...I had to Google buttercups to see if they really are poisonous, as I  remembered being told years ago. Ma, you were right.
Per Wiki:
"All Ranunculus species are poisonous when eaten fresh by cattle, horses, and other livestock, but their acrid taste and the blistering of the mouth caused by their poison means they are usually left uneaten. Poisoning can occur where buttercups are abundant in overgrazed fields where little other edible plant growth is left, and the animals eat them out of desperation. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, excessive salivation, colic, and severe blistering of the mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. When Ranunculus plants are handled, naturally occurring ranunculin is broken down to form protoanemonin, which is known to cause contact dermatitis in humans and care should therefore be exercised in excessive handling of the plants[1]. The toxins are degraded by drying, so hay containing dried buttercups is safe."

There you go, my Public Safety tip of the Year. And the reason this popped into my head? Last week when I took the dogs through our pasture, I noticed one whole side of it is covered in buttercups. This is the part of the field where our horse friends come to spend the summer. I guess they are smart enough not to eat the buttercups, which of course means there are more to propagate each year.

I am considering taking our lawn tractor down there to cut them before they bloom. I suspect it would be a fighting a losing battle however.  I like our pasture to be grass, not buttercups and not milkweeds, which are also moving in. (And I realize that both plants are food sources for different butterflies and they grow elsewhere on our property, but I don't like an overgrown pasture look)

I really can't ramble much longer, so I will go upstairs and prepare to be surprised when the missing fabric pops up in front of me.

Oh, and speaking of getting going, Ameranth is planning to set off today on the last 70 miles or so of Erie Canal trail, ending in Buffalo. 

Mother's Day

I am so lucky to have both of my parents alive today. I certainly hope I continue to be lucky for a long time! Being the oldest child of two oldest children gives me the lion's share of possible time with them, and I'm okay with that.

When I told my mother today that I was very satisfied with the parental hand I was dealt, she laughed and said they had not been perfect parents. Of course not, no one is, but they were the perfect pair for me. (I'm trying to figure out how to get another card analogy in here, like 'aces with me' or 'we sure had a full house' but this parenthetical is the best I can do).

J was a middle child of ten children, and his parents were about 17 years older then mine, so we lost them sooner. Besides God, nothing was more important to his mother than family. When her mother was ill, Catherine would go to her house each day with her youngest children after getting the older ones off to school, and take care of her. Later, her older sister was nursed at home too, as long as possible. It was taken as a matter of fact that you took care of family yourself. One of J's sisters (and their husbands) each lived with his aunt and then his mom when they could no longer live alone. Those brothers-in-law were as helpful and caring as if it was their own family- and after all those years, of course, it was. I remember J telling me about the wedding day of his first sister to get married, and how his mother was very emotional. The new groom tried to make her feel better, by pointing out that she hadn't lost a daughter, but gained a son, to which she replied "I have 6 sons". Ouch!

Of course, the day passed, the marriage lasted and that groom was the B-I-L who
adjusted his life to make sure Aunt S had a safe, welcoming home as long as she lived. She never married, but had 13 loving nieces and nephews who thought of her as a second mother.

J and I have often said that we were blessed to have in-laws that we liked, and love. He and I are far from perfect parents but I think we did a pretty good job with what we had to work with! (Just kidding, children!) Our four are part of a great big, loud, opinionated, funny, hard-working, recycling, flower-growing, sarcastic, Democratic, Republican, independent, loving group of people that happen to be related by blood, adoption, marriage or proximity. That's family, and Mother's Day is not the only time I think of them or am grateful for them, and I certainly don't say it enough, so I hope they know it. I think they do.