Old Tweeter

Was going through old Tweets tonight when I found this one about taking our beloved gnome, Cotton Cuddlesworth IV on vacation with us:

Jon on Cuddlesworth's trip readiness: "He's probably looking foward to seeing the lady gnomes on the beach."


So that made me laugh pretty hard. But like my family always says...I'm easily amused.

Runner up Jon quote from Twitter (for now, because this list could get long if I continue):

"April, I know my presidents and vice presidents and brothers of presidents." Jon, when asked if he knew who Ted Kennedy is.

The Wives Wait

And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman
May 28, 2009: At Ease

I never forget to take a peek at Maira Kalman's work, this week was especially beautiful and poignant. But, that's usually the case.

More Taylor

I swear I'm not becoming a Taylor Swift blog. It just seems that way.

Anyways, me and my people watched this George Strait Artist of the Decade thing on CBS tonight. A bunch of singers covered their favorite George song. Taylor did 'Run' and we instantly decided it was one of the only songs of the evening that we didn't wish George was actually performing instead. (2nd place going to Jamie Foxx of all people!)



Jon says she is one of his 'favorites', which is totally teen boy code for she's hot. And if you tell him I told you all this I'll call you liars. But I doubt he'll deny any of it. Her poster is hanging on his wall.

*****
Final Plant count for those in the know:

54 tomatoes
18 peppers
14 squash/zucchini
10 cucumbers
5 melons
2 eggplant
47 silver queen corn
15 okra
an onion bed
basil, parsley, chives, cilantro

And we reused the trays that all of the plants came in to start seeds of sunflowers, gourds, and pumpkins. We'll also start fall crops in more trays at some point.

Sound Familiar?

AN AMERICAN FAMILY was television’s first reality show, shot documentary style in 1971 and first aired in the United States on PBS in 1973. The show was twelve episodes long, edited down from about 300 hours of footage, and chronicled the experience of a nuclear family, the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California, during a period of time when parents Bill and Pat Loud separated (in a infamous and powerful on-camera sequence) and Pat filed for divorce.

The parents had five children. One of them, Lance Loud, was a gay 20-year-old man who occasionally wore lipstick and women’s clothes and took his mother to a drag show in the second episode of the series. He lived in the Chelsea Hotel during its Warholesque heydey and this is captured in the second episode (Holly Woodlawn was his neighbor and appears in several scenes, along with Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis, and other famous drag queens of the time).

On airing, the show drew over 10 million viewers — phenomenal viewership for PBS in 1973 (or even presently) — and drew considerable controversy. The series was widely discussed in the media in 1973, and the Loud family appeared on the cover of the March 12, 1973 issue of Newsweek magazine.

--An American Family: The Story of the Louds (1973)

In the wake of the news that the Jon & Kate Plus 8 trainwreck last night was its (and TLC's as a whole) highest rated episode ever (no doubt giving fuel to what appears to be TLC and Kate's desires to not end the show) I find it interesting that this isn't the first time America has become captivated by a family in trouble.

What exactly does that say about us as a society? I'm not entirely sure.

Best Hamburger EVER

1 pound or so of Ground Round
teaspoon (or more) onion powder
teaspoon (or more) garlic powder
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
several slices of crumbled bacon
dash (or more) janes crazy mixed up salt
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup bbq sauce
1 egg
crushed crackers

Mix all together, eye balling some ingredients as you go (more seasoning or less depending on how you like it). Form into patties and grill. Makes for a sort of meatloaf-y burger that is SO STINKIN' DELICIOUS.

Video of the Night

Taylor Swift, John Mayer, White Horse, Staple Center, LA, 5/22/2009.



and a million more clips from that concert, HERE.

I wanted to post them all. She makes me smile. So does John Mayer's guitar. And I don't mean that as a euphemism. Promise. ;)

Quote of the Day

The years between college and marriage are in many ways far more self-defining than any others. They're filled with the simplest, yet most complex, decisions in life: choosing a city, picking a career, finding friends and a mate--in sum, building a happy and satisfying life. For me and for my group of friends, these years have been eye-opening, confusing and fabulous at the same time.

The more choices you have, the more decisions you must make--and the more you have yourself to blame if you wind up unhappy. There is a kind of perverted contentedness in certainty born of a lack of alternatives. At my age, my mother, whether she liked it or not, had fewer tough decisions to make. I don't envy the pressure she endured to follow a traditional career path and marry early. But sometimes I envy the stability she had.

Once again I've been unable to resist the lure of a new city. So, as I start my legal career in Chicago, I'm again building friendships from scratch, learning my way around a strange new place. Yes, my friends and I could have avoided the loneliness and uncertainty inherent in our journeys, and gone back to our hometowns or stayed in the college town where we had each other. But I doubt any one of us would trade our adventures for that life. I have a sense of identity and self-assurance now that I didn't have, couldn't have had, when I graduated from college. And I know someday I'll look back on this time--before I had a spouse, a home and children to care for--and be thankful for the years that just belonged to me.

I Can Do Anything, So How Do I Choose? - Newsweek.com

Sometimes I find articles that just speak to me, this was one of those articles. We all take different paths in life, and for those not traveling on the one I am this probably meant nothing to you. But just know, this is where I am as a person. And sometimes it's very important for me to take a step back and really appreciate it. I don't do that enough. I think I spend too much time wishing my life away, or wishing I was living someone else's journey...I really need to stop that.

Clip of the Day

Barack Obama is Cliff Huxtable.

Indecision	An Indecision Exclusive!
Barack Obama Is Cliff Huxtable
indecisionforever.com
Funny Political Video Political Games Joe Biden Jokes

Common Cement

Ellen Degeneres delivers the commencement address at Tulane University.

Sequins, Sparkles and Mirror Ball Trophies

Shawn and Mark rocked the freestyle on the finale of Dancing with the Stars tonight.



Tomorrow they reprise their Pretty Young Thing cha cha.



I love this cheesy show. Don't judge...

Festival Weekend

I dragged my mother down to the Kentucky Gourd Festival on Saturday. Since neither of us had ever been, I'd decided this was one of those things we'd have to go to just to say we did.

There was some amazing gourd art on display, like this:



And this:



And all of the rest that I managed to snap photos of as seen on my Flickr page.

But I quickly found my absolute favorite piece of gourd art:


The Barack O'Gourd

Blog of the Day

Flip Flops and Applesauce

Quite possibly the most adorable blog I've found in a long time. Before I knew it I was sucked into pages and pages of wonderful photos and cute ideas. And I must admit, I was tempted to print the beautiful printable coloring books she offers for myself. Doesn't a box of fresh Crayolas a blanket and a sunny day sound like a glorious way to spend an afternoon?

Sigh. Soon maybe. It sounds too perfect.

Sticks and Ticks

A giant tick. An extra large needle. A bit of flame. A bald spot. And peroxide.



Having your boy give you a great stick afterwards? Worth it.

Birdseed

I read this article a while back about the price of birdseed and how it was on the rise. And then I neatly tucked it into the back my brain only to recall it while standing in front of the seed at the store.



The article wasn't kidding.

Bird Retreat. Maybe not the most frugal idea I've ever had. But pretty neat regardless.

Flip Flop Season: The Pitfalls

The most comfortable pair of flip flops. Like butter on the feet.



A hole in the sole of the one on the left.

Not knowing at all where they came from or if that store still carries them.

Freezer Meals

Once a Month Mom

I found this link through Meredith at Like Merchant Ships (great tips for living, decorating, entertaining on a budget), and found myself quickly engrossed in the recipes and ideas. The concept: freezing a month's worth of meals. But unlike the pricey specialty shops where you can go do this, she offers meal plans, grocery lists, printable labels and directions to do it all at home FOR FREE.

Free is my price point!

I struggle with dinners a lot around here, especially on evenings when nobody feels like prepping a meal and I end up in line at a fast food joint. I think I just might have to give some of these a try. Maybe not a full month yet, but a modified version to start?

She also has baby food recipes for freezing which I'm thinking of whipping up for Riley. So for the Mamas and soon to be Mamas reading, heads up!

Smiley Riley

You have to believe me when I say she's smiling at her silly Auntie Apes with the camera under that blanket.



I'm pretty sure she likes me. And my camera.

Mother's Day

From the FFA Greenhouse: a flat of regular flowers, a flat of wave petunias.



Topsoil, potting soil, compost and containers.

An entire day spent planting and chatting.

Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing Mama ever.

Sweet Basil

The most fragrant basil.



Saturday Farmer's Market find. Purchased from the sweetest New York accented ladies.

The car still smells like a pizzeria.

Cuteness

It's possible I don't give Jill enough coverage on this blog. Jack and Molly have gotten a lot of attention lately.

I think she was deliberately being extra cute today to solve this little *situation*.

First she dressed in a pink shirt and matched her mother.



Then she fell asleep while being carried around, only to end up staying asleep once my mother sat down.



That face. That underbite. Those paws.



She woke up when she got moved. So she hopped on over to my bed to lay ON ME while I watched tv.



She slept while STANDING UP.



So I guess what I'm saying it that sometimes it's cute to have a dog with a sleeping sickness. We really don't know what causes it. But the result is always the same: cuteness.

I Love a Good Birth Story

Going on in the blogosphere this morning: Crystal of about a million blogs, my favorite being MoneySavingMom.com gave birth to her new baby boy last night (MomofLittles: Join Us in Welcoming...). Silas Benjamin was born at 10pm and they were home by 2am...crazy! Midwife assisted, birthing center, all natural-no drug delivery, and a very cool story. There are so many different kinds of birth stories, exciting ones, natural, drugged, c-sections, emergencies. I love reading how different they can all be, yet the same (they do all end with smooshy babies at the end). Don't know why...just do. :D So, congrats to Crystal and her family this morning.

*****

I'm procrastinating, something that will probably not pay off in the long run, but you know how that goes.

I'm trying to train Molly to go outside to use the bathroom. Christina, my poodle from my youth always did. Jill runs away if you let her down outside so she uses puppy pads. But I think Molly has potential.


She is very curious about everything at this stage in the process. And Jack is maybe a little concerned about her peeing all over *his spots*, but hopefully they'll each get over their issues.


The bird retreat needs mulch. And birdseed. And hummingbird food. But it's taking on a decidedly kitschy vibe this year complements of my brother, the landscape king.


I have to remember to get pictures of more of the detail. But you can kinda tell some of them in this one. The glass crush bottle, the makeshift water hole, the rocks, yard art and garden gnome. Cotton Cuddlesworth IV really enjoys his new digs.


Plant Status:

Still not in the ground...

Seed & Feed

Monday I finally picked up the cilantro seeds I needed and I planted them last night.





Chives have been growing for days now. The sprouted super fast, which is awesome.


I was in Crestwood yesterday so I stopped by the 'Crestwood Feed and Seed Depot' where I found the elusive White Half Runner Beans. I also picked up four packs of pickling cucumbers for $1.25 each (I bought 2), 3 Bush/Garden Baby Watermelons for .89 cents each (the packs had 2-3 plants a piece), and packets of hard to find gourd seeds and mini pumpkin seeds.

Long story short: I have a ton of stuff to plant.



Those beans are supposed to be amazing. They have quite the cult following amongst people 'in the know'. My Grandpa always canned them, and I happen to think anything my Grandpa did garden wise is probably really sage advice to remember.

Planting starts this weekend, a week later than I'd like, but I can't help the rain situation so oh well.

Free Chicken

Go to: http://www.unthinkfc.com/ where you can print up to four coupons for a free 2 piece grilled chicken dinner from KFC.

But hurry! Here's the details:

Coupon available for printing from 9am CDT 5/5/09 to 9:59pm CDT 5/6/09. Coupon is redeemable at participating KFC® locations in the U.S. from 5/5/09 to 5/19/09, excluding 5/10/09.

3/50

The 3/50 Project

Update

For those playing along at home.

Number of cars: 4

Number of cars working: 1

Number of cars working after my father decided he just HAD to attempt to tune up the truck all by himself: 0

True story.

No clue what I'm doing about a car this week. But I believe we've now seen rock bottom in this vehicle situation.

On Buying Local

In years past, I'll admit, I've been guilty of filling my garden with plants bought at Walmart. I don't know. I'm certainly not criticizing anyone reading this who shops a lot at Walmart, everyone does what they do...whatever. But for me I've begun to feel guilt over not supporting local businesses more often than I do. And I'm not a huge fan of Walmart's business practices as it is.

(In the interest of full disclosure I did purchase 2 cherry tomato plants, 2 cucumber plants and 1 sweet banana pepper plant at Walmart before deciding on any of the following.)

So that said. After a brief moment of thinking about visiting Home Depot or Lowes to look at their vegetable plants I reconsidered. I challenged myself. What if we bought everything within a closer radius to our house? Could I still find all of the varieties of plants that I needed?

You could say we made it into a little game this morning when I set out with my Mom.

Stouts Hardware--Mt. Washington:
9 okra
9 yellow squash
9 zuccini
1 flat of assorted flowers

Valumarket--Mt. Washington:
8 tomato plants
4 jalepenos
4 green peppers
4 red peppers

Bennett's Hardware--Taylorsville (one of their oldest businesses):
27 silver queen corn plants
1 package of garden stakes

Cheek's Produce--Elk Creek:
16 tomato plants
1 eggplant
3 pickling cucumbers

Country Mart--Taylorsville:
2 tomato plants
2 cantaloupe plants

FFA Greenhouse Spencer County High School:
1 flat of assorted flowers
2 half gallon pots of geraniums

And then we visited the Spencer County extension office and picked up a free packet on home canning. The packet was HUGE and informational and did I mention? FREE.




******

Things I learned:

Locally the variety was more varied and exciting.

I couldn't find Okra anywhere except Stouts. And let me tell you, I would have cried without okra...I love it.

The produce stand offered some amazing tomato varieties that nobody else had, like Cherokee Purples...an obscure heirloom tomato that I found out last year I love.

16 tomato plants (roughly 18 inches tall) were only $11.50 at Cheek's...the most affordable anywhere.

We paid $12.95 for a flat of flowers at Stouts, which was not too bad, but flats of flowers at the high school FFA greenhouse were only $10!! And the geraniums in separate pots were both huge and cheap, only $2 per pot! We're definitely going back this weekend to pick up another flat.

Bennett's had corn plants, which I'd never seen before for sale, typically we've always bought them as seeds to sow.

All of the plants seemed healthier than the big box store counterparts. While some were grown in Alabama and the store was just selling them, they were maybe better taken care of? Cheeks grows all of their own from seed, so that was definitely an added plus.

At no point in the day did I want to hurt someone because their cart was in my way and they were not paying attention. I had zero urge to get violent in a parking lot. I didn't come home stressed. Ultimately I just don't think I'm cut out for big box store shopping anywhere, what with the minor panic attacks and all. ;)

******

So for those playing along at home, at this point I have all of the following:

26 tomato plants
13 varieties of peppers
5 cucumber plants
9 okra plants (but each cell has more than one plant so this is probably closer to 27 plants)
18 squash varieties
27 corn plants (again, each cell has more than one so this number could rise)
1 eggplant
gourd seeds
basil, chives and parsley
onion sets

Still need: more tomatoes, more cucumbers, one more 9 pack of okra, crookneck squash, watermelon, strawberries, cilantro and pumpkin seeds.



I'm definitely not comfortable with the number of cucumbers I have at this point. I would ideally like to have enough to attempt canning pickles, so I have to pick up more of those. Tomorrow we'll lay down weed block, if the ran holds off at any point in the day and work on spacing. I'm really interested in Companion Planting, so I'll definitely write more about that if I try it.

To end, imagine me squealing because I'm pretty excited right now. Over plants. I kill myself sometimes...