Mama taught me to share

When Minka and Doug visited over the weekend, Minka brought me a box of candy from Iceland.


I should have opened it right then and there and shared it with everyone. But I was excited with the company, etc., and I didn't do that. That's what Hoss would call too bad.
So here ya go. Help yourself. It's goooood candy!


It's got one of those thingies inside that tells you what candy is filled with what. But it's written in Icelandic and I can't read it. So when I get one that has liquor in it, it's not my fault.

On Sunday Minka, Doug, Actonbell, 3D and I went to Hershey and did the Chocolate World tour. I bought more chocolate of course. One thing I got was Hershey's Sticks. They have only 60 calories per stick! So I went ahead and ate the entire contents of the box. I mean, they're so low in calories and all, might as well eat plenty of them. That's why I can't share those with ya.

Minka brought me a book on Iceland too. It's really nice, but you can't eat it or anything, so I've shared it with a few people. You know how sweet I am.

Now Libby, who bounces so much you hafta call her LiBbY has decided to interview me. That’s ‘cause she’s just about as sweet as me. But not quite of course.

Here I’m gonna share my interview with you, like Mama always said.

It was supposed to be five questions:

1.Who was your favorite cartoon character when you were a kid? has it changed?

This is two questions, but out of the pure-dee goodness of my heart, I’m going to answer both of them.

The Roadrunner and poor ol’ Wile E. Coyote were my first favs. Now I favor Calvin and Hobbs. I guess you notice I never liked my cartoon characters to be all nice and stuff.

2. What was your favorite book that you would read over and over as a kid?

I read things like the Black Beauty series and lots of mysteries. I didn’t read the same book over and over. I was lucky to be a kid in a time when children didn’t wait for an adult to take them to the library or a book store. We walked. No adults needed. My sisters and I walked to the library and took out the maximum number of books allowed, which was four. We went home, read them in a day, and walked back and got four new books. It was wonderful. One summer I spent with my aunts out the the hills of Tennessee. No library and no books. I did read their Romance Magazines over and over. Hoo boy! That was a long hot summer!

3. I know 'mama' was the biggest influence in your life...who was the next biggest? (i LOVE your stories about her!)

Mama was a wonderful piece of work. A true hoot! My sister Doris was the second biggest influence in my life. She was six years older than I, but took me everywhere. She and her friends were wonderful to me. She was in love with Mario Lanza and took me to see all his movies. Now, those, we saw over and over and over! Because of her I love opera. That Doris.

I took care of her when she was dying of cancer. She was in terrible pain, but let me take her everywhere in a wheelchair anyway. I was holding her hand when she died. She said, “Well, no one can say I took to my bed.” And I learned that from her too.

4. Did you ever wonder before you married 'papa pez' lol..niks, that is..."is this the right thing to do?", especially because you were so young?

Actually no, I didn’t wonder. ‘Bout the smartest thing I ever did. I mean that. I got lucky. Can't even make a joke out of that. I married up.

5. How do you think the world will end, and when? (had to throw a depressing one in there, didnt I?)

Well, I think it will end with a bang. I think the earth will collide with an object that is whizzing along towards us right now. I don’t think it will happen soon, though. I think humankind will be ended long before the collision happens. And here’s how I think humans will end:

Hot time in the old town

Or a warm evening in the little borough.

Met a couple of bloggers over the weekend. I'm not so sure that they would like their pictures shown, so we'll just do the foot thing.



One of the feet is Doug's. Can't remember which. The others are Actonbell's, mine, 3D's, and Minka's. I'm the only one who put the correct (left) foot in.

It's pretty amazing to meet people that you have known only through blogging. Amazing and very nice. I truly appreciate their coming to see us. I hope a good time was had by all.

Been there and back

My visitor has come and gone. Gone at last.

She doesn't like to spend money, and doesn't like for me to spend my money either. But I decided that I'm (large and) in charge, so I made a hotel reservation in King of Prussia. I'm happy to spend money. That's what money is for.

She wanted to see the Amish Country, and so we toured that.

We chased this poor guy down so she could get a picture. I didn't feel so good about that. But I was driving, so I could have refused. The Amish don't like to have their faces pictured, and she didn't get his face, so that's okay. The kids in the back of this buggy were so cute.

The farms around this area are very pretty really.

We toured an Amish farm house that obviously is no longer owned by the Amish, but you do learn a lot from the tour.

Then we drove to Strasburg to the railroad museum. Railroads were a big thing in that area.


Then on to King of Prussia. We spent the night there, and drove into Philadelphia the next morning. We went straight to Franklin Institute King Tut exhibition.

That's Bindy at the top of the steps, adjusting her turquoise-colored backpack. The backpack has "Ashley" embroidered on it. She got it cheap from Lands End 'cause Ashley changed her mind I guess.

They don't let you take pictures inside the exhibit. Bindy loved the displays and artifacts. I think my attention span is faulty, 'cause I got a touch bored er, tired of the monotony...my brain got full. There's not so much room left up there ya know. I got important stuff to remember.

We then caught the Phlash, which is what the Philly bus is called, into town, and left my car at the Franklin. Once in town we took a double-decked bus tour. That was great. Very enjoyable, and something I hadn't done there before. The guide was wonderful.

On a bus tour the pix you get are mostly of hairy arms in front of you. I did get pictures of armpits and bra straps, but I like this guys arms. So that's what you get to look at.

We drove home Saturday night, went to the Mormon church the next morning which was awful, and in the afternoon toured our state Capitol Building. It was open because our state government had not yet passed a budget. Those guys. So we saw the beautiful building, and watched a little of the House debate on important stuff, like smoking in bars and breast feeding babies in public. No reason to get right to the budget. It was only 15 days or so late at that point.

Monday we went to Gettysburg. I made my husband Niks go with us. He knows lots about Gettysburg, and I needed help. My jaws were tired from gritting my teeth and smiling.

Here (above) they are at Little Round Top, to the left of whatever monument that is. Niks always has to wear a hat on accounta he's bald and the sun is too much for him. Even when it's cloudy.


This is them at what I think this is the Louisiana Monument at Gettysburg. Unless it's not. There are a LOT of monuments on those battlefields.

I've bored myself right to pieces on this post. It's not easy living up to my B-O-R-I-N-G promise at the top of my blog. But I do try. I am so sweet, I do amaze my own self.

Touring

A friend of mine from Utah is coming tomorrow morning, and so I'll be taking her to see things that she thinks she will enjoy.

We're going to Philly to tour the usual stuff since she hasn't seen any of that. She also wants to see the King Tut exhibit, and so do I. She's more than a *touch unusual, and will not let me make a reservation for the Tut exhibit. That Bindy. You might say that she IS *touched. 'Course I would never say that. Her idea is that we will just go and get whatever time we can. Generally you have a reservation for a particular time.

This is a small issue and I won't fight it. If we can't get into the exhibit, oh, well.... I can go back another time.

She wants to see the Amish Country, and nothing could be easier. Unless of course you're with Bindy. It would be SO logical to go to the Lancaster area, see the Amish (nothing touristy for her however, read: NO SHOPPING.) and then drive to Philly and spend the night. But she's into sleeping in the cheapest way you can. Read: IN HER VAN.

I don't sleep in vans. Or on the ground. Or in sleazebag hotels. I am happy, happy, happy to pay for the hotel, but she's not into letting me spend money either.

So, we'll see the Amish, come back home, and then go the next day to Philadelphia. I will drive my car with the excuse that I know the way, and I have a hybrid and she has a van which obviously uses more gas. Since she sleeps in it, and she drove cross country using it as a tent, it does save her money.

Another reason for my driving instead of her driving is that she will not use a toll road. Not ever. Never. No how, no way. It's the principle and the money. I'm shaking my head as I type that. I'm sure she wastes more gas money avoiding toll roads than she saves. She's very stubborn.

She's a good person, and she means well, and she has come across country to see me again. So I'll do the best I can to amuse her. And yes, I will even spend three hours on this coming Sunday in a Mormon church with her.

Pray for me.

Lollipop lollipop o lolli lolli

Call my shrubberies lollipops, tell ya why...

My husband Niks and I came home from having lunch out with friends to find that our yard guy, Tyrone, had been here. Tyrone makes lollipops and squares. That's it. That Tyrone. Lollipops and squares are his entire repertoire. Well, maybe the one boxwood is getting sorta pointy, but that might not be entirely on purpose.

I think when Ty needs a few bucks in the summer when we haven't had enough rain to make the grass grow a lot, he just drops in on his various customers and shares his lollipoping talents with them. Even if the bushes don't actually need to be trimmed. He does have two guys working for him, and they hafta make a livin'. One of them has two teeth. A tooth takes a little upkeep. Multiply that by two, and well, you can see the guys have to stay busy.

As usual he even squared off the Azalea and Rhododen bushes. Of course they had already set buds and should not be trimmed. Somehow this never keeps them from not having plenty of blooms in the spring.

If you are wondering why I keep Tyrone in spite of his lack of talent, it's because (1) he's faithful and true. We've gone on three-month trips, and he keeps the place looking lived-in. I mean really, any house with lollipop topped bushes on stick trunks has to be occupied, right?
(2) He's never killed anything. Not even a weed. (3) He clears our drive and walk of snow in the winter. So I just enjoy the snow. (4) I don't like to sweat, so I'm not doin' any of this stuff. (5) He works right through hunting season. Rakes those pine needles all fall. Now if you live in South Central PA, you know that laboring men disappear during hunting season. You'd think the rapture had come and taken them. Not our Ty. 'Course maybe he's a big ol' sinner and won't be taken in the rapture, but ... (6)He cleans up real nice. Sweet blue eyes.

Everything always grows back anyway. And sometimes if we're here when he comes to do trimming we laugh so hard watching him throwing that buzz saw around, we figure we ought to pay him just for the entertainment.

Oh! To all those who suggested that we just eat out all the time during the kitchen revamp: trust me, my stove asks for ID whenever I approach it.

More boring even than usual

Why, why, why??? Why did I do this to myself? My kids will tell you that for years and years I have said I wanted to re-do the kitchen.

Well, Yeah, but I didn’t mean I wanted to live through the bother of it all. Didchaever hear me say that I wanted mess and bother? Noooooo, you did not.

I have spent two crappy hours this morning just with phone calls on this junk. Which means running up and down the stairs. Which is another *boring **story.

**Last week I was caught in a rain storm while at Wal-Mart (don’t ask what I was doing in the dreaded and evil Wal-Mart.) There was a deluge. I mean it poured. Buckets. Now, generally when it rains that hard it lasts only a few minutes. But not this time. I’ve never seen rain that heavy last that long. It rained hard for almost an hour.

People were piled up at every exit trying to outwait the storm. People with their carts full of purchases, and with their freak-show-hateful, loud, tiresomely demanding and selfish brats children weaving in and out their legs. Whining. I couldn’t take it I tell ya!
So I shopped some more.

During this extended shopping period I bought a new phone. Well, phones. Which have to be charged for 16 hours. I just installed those phones down stairs last night. That means that I have to run upstairs to answer all incoming calls.

Meanwhile back to the kitchen: so far I have selected the counter top, quartz; a color, Oahu; an edge finish, half bullnose; a sink, a faucet, a drain (yeah—you hafta pick a drain!) and I have paid for all of it. But that was sorta fun. Half-fun.

Messin’ with coordinating dates for the tear-out and the template and the install is no fun. Nope. Not at all. Finally, FINALLY, I remembered who the heck I am. Not-to-be-messed-with is my normal operating mode. That Lucy.

Now, the company which already has my money firmly in its pocket has wisely decided to do all the coordinating. ‘Bout time. The tear-out is July 30, the template measure is July 31, the install is who-the-hell-knows-when. And all that is just the counters, sink, etc. I promise, swear, commit, and affirm that I will not bore you with any of the rest of the stuff that will be done eventually. Not because I feel sorry for you, or because I think anyone other than my daughters is still reading this, or gives a good gahoot. Just sayin’.

The fact that I will be without a kitchen sink and counters for a week or so should not make you feel sorry for me. Not a bit. Not for a minute. You guys. Hard-hearted bunch.

* I promised you boring right up there in the not-fine-print at the top of the blog.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

I'm thinkin' 'bout givin' him the day off. Whatdaya think? Just that alone might save the world as we know it. Oh! Yeah. Maybe we don't want that.

Don't ask.

Don't tell Laura.

Not to mention having big ears and wearing socks with your crocs.



It was hard to decide which hat to wear today. He changes hats, now and again.

Now, I don't want to go on and on, praising the prez. This has to be fair and balanced, don't ya know.

So here's the one person in the world who appears to be unhappy with our guy.


That George. Now what's he gonna do with her teeth?

(If we all stopped voting, do you think these politician guys would go away?)

Okay, party's over

Get on back to work now. Casual Friday rules resta the week. If you don't have better sense than to wear socks with crocs, well then, I'm just sorry for you.

I "borrowed" this picture from The Lazy Iguana. 'Course he borrowed it from somebody else, but he added the red arrow, which makes it a whole 'nother work of art. Which is why he should get credit for it.

Happy Birthday America

We live across the Susquehanna River from the capital city of Harrisburg PA.

They don't miss many chances here to launch fireworks from City Island in the middle of the River. And when you are sitting along the river, and see the wonderful fireworks in the air and reflected on the river, there aren't many better places to be.

Rabbit Rabbit

Where the heck did June go????

If you take your bunny to the July 4th fireworks, be sure she has earmuffs.




Rabbit rabbit everyone! Good luck in July.