Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween

Our visitors included princesses and fairies, Spiderman, two ninjas (one in black, one in red), a glittery witch, a little brown bear, a parent who was a ghost and another who was a fairy-in-black-leather (cool mom!) and many more.

Gave out 2 1/2 bags of candy (mini Kit Kats and itsy-bitsy Tootsie Rolls).

Ate homemade chicken soup and watched season 5 of Bablyon 5 in between trick-or-treaters.

A very happy Halloween to you all, from here in our new home!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Gardening Success!

As of Sunday, all the narcissus bulbs are planted (with eco-friendly anti-rodent mint oil granules sprinkled around them) and the huge overgrown climbing rosebush is fully trimmed.

Ken cut the grass short enough last week that it probably won't need more than one mowing.

And we got lots of good food at the Farmer's Market: fresh sirloin and green beans for dinner Sunday, roast chicken and sweet potatoes last night.

Speaking of food, we have a local diner with good stuff: sweet-potato-and-pecan pancakes with (lightly) fried bananas for me; chicken-fried steak with scrambled eggs and roast baby potatoes-with-the-skins-on for Ken. Nutritious (except for that steak being fried) and yummy. Not exactly New Jersey diner fare but it's nice to have a diner to go to again...

Just the facts, ma'am (and sir)

Want the truth about accusations made against the two main presidential candidates? Courtesy of the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times and Congressional Quarterly (the latter is a non-partisan publisher of information on actions of the US Congress).

I'm amused by the category for "worse than false" allegations... "pants on fire"

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Gardening Joys and Woes

It's fall. So I started planting my bulbs: planted one dozen daffodil bulbs last Sunday. I got daffodils and narcissus because deer and rodents (we have mice and/or voles; can't tell for sure. And we definitely have squirrels!)

Tuesday morning I went out to water them: and half of them were dug up. Apparently the rodents either noticed the loose dirt or smelled *something* and thought they could get dinner. Then they got down to the bulbs and decided "Yuck! Narcissus bulbs! They're icky" and just left them there. Thanks, guys.

Well, now I have special eco-friendly mint-oil granules to keep them away. We'll see how well they work.

And I bought a pruning saw to finish the rosebush before it finishes me off (between the amount of labor and the zillions of thorns)

And the pond is nicely full again, with the net over it to catch most of the leaves (they are a nuisance to dredge out, especially since I don't have a long-handled net. Need to get one.)

you might find these in your Christmas stocking...

Prepare for world domination by

Ivan Vorcatril!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

That's our Ivan!

Ivan just came galloping down the stairs, leapt off one of the lower ones, bounced off the top box in a stack of boxes by the door, and landed on the back-door rug, startled but unhurt.

Actually, it kinda looked like fun...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Lawnmower Precision Drill Team: At Last!

Remember waaay back in August when I told you about the Lawn-Mower Precision Drill Team that performed at our community Labor Day Parade?

Well, Ms. Procrastinator here is finally posting their website for you, which has a video of their multiple-award-winning performance at the parade:

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

Thursday, October 09, 2008

One-word meme

Stasa posted this in her blog and I can't resist a good meme, so...

YOU CAN ONLY TYPE ONE WORD!

Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to send back to the person you received it from!


1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Where is your significant other? work

3. Your hair? salt-and-pepper (that's one word!!)

4. Your mother? warm

5. Your father? loving

6. Your favorite thing? words

7. Your dream last night? toilets!

8. Your favorite drink? cocoa

9. Your dream/goal? happy

10. The room you're in? living

11. Your hobby? writing

12. Your fear? torture

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mom

14. What you are NOT afraid of? presenting

15. Muffins? fruit

16. One of your wish list items? manga

17. Where you grew up? mid-Hudson

18. The last thing you did? email

19. What are you wearing? pjs

20. Your TV? DVDs

21. Your pets? Ivan

22. Your computer? Oldish

23. Your life? full

24 Your mood? optimistic

25. Missing someone? yes

26. Your car? transportation

27. What you're NOT wearing? underwear!

28. Favorite store? TJs!

29. Your summer? moving!

30. Your favorite color? green

31. Last time you laughed? yesterday

32. Last time you cried/teared up? weeks

33. Who will resend this? Dad?