Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Milestones...




Vanderbilt gets the prize for being the first
college to recruit Mary Rollins...
!
Parenting continually presents an array of milestones that when they occur make you realize that a particular moment is an important first in the forward movement of your child's life.  There are the obvious things, of course, like a first smile, a first step, a first haircut and first days of school.

And then, there's the complete curve balls like the first college brochure that arrives in the mail.  Eeek!!! 

I mean I knew she'd go to college one day but dang, I feel old...

Also seen in my backyard...

As previously posted, I've been spending way more time than usual in my backyard.  There's been a lot going on back there with the flora and the fauna.  There's my bumper crop of poison ivy, the frog who seems happy to have new fishy friends, a really big, really brave bunny rabbit who has been coming to graze in the middle of the back yard every afternoon and my lovely hummingbird, Snitch.  I've spent a lot of time staring out the kitchen window into the backyard at my hummingbird feeder lately. 

For most of August, my hummingbird feeder has only had the one customer.  An adorable, miniscule ruby-throated hummie who calmly sits on the feeder and greedily slurps away.  Then, last week all hummingbird hell broke loose and we had a turf war at the feeder.  Snitch zoomed in and chased away an itinerant hummingbird that had discovered my feeder.  It was very dramatic and buzzy -- like Snoopy and the Red Baron!  The new hummingbird must really like my recipe for food though because he won't be deterred by the angry Snitch.  He keeps sneaking back and hovers over the nectar holes with one eye on eating and one eye looking out for Snitch.  I can tell he's really nervous because he won't sit and eat.  

Yep, it's exciting times at my house.  I should probably get back to work...

Friday, August 26, 2011

Full Circle

You know your life has come full circle when you lose your parents at the grocery store AND your parents bicker at the grocery like you and your brothers used to do.

I've heard that grandchildren are a parent's revenge but I'm pretty certain the parents themselves are the parent's revenge. 



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Arabesque...

Planking may be hot these days but not with MR.  She believes in the Arabesque.  And, the Arabesque challenge continues...






And I quote, "Mom, you take bad pictures." 
Right, because I'm sure it wasn't your arabesquing skills...

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Honeysuckle Wars

We're having a cocktail party Saturday night.  And, in honor of the people coming to my house for what I hope will be a moderately elegant affair (where undoubtedly everyone will stand around in my kitchen as usual), I decided that I needed to face the jungle which is my backyard.  Marc and I sort of have this unspoken pact -- he mows the lawn and edges while responsibility/blame for the state of the flower beds, herb garden, pond, et cetera falls to me.  I've decided he definitely gets the better end of the deal.  I mean all he has to do is go out and push the mower around.  It involves absolutely no thought whatsoever.  He walks blithely around with not a thought in his head about whether or not he's doing it the "right" way.  When the mower cooperates, the grass obligingly submits to his ministrations and voila! he achieves perfection.  His only challenge is that sometimes the mower doesn't work.  We have two mowers now but that's a different story.

I, on the other hand, am waging a war with crabgrass, honeysuckle (of multiple varieties), Virginia creeper, volunteer saplings, thistles, sapling trees and poison ivy.  It seems that every flower bed I have is infested with a different species of invasive plant.  In some places the "good" things have even turned bad...the sweet lamb's ear and variegated leaf ground cover have taken over the pebble walkway to the composters and raised beds at the side of the house.  And someone must be giving the trumpet vine growing outside my bedroom window steroids.  It was looking lovely and then I return from Alaska and I can't walk through the arbor it's growing on.  And, even my little fish pond has a bad case of string algae.




Anyone care to kiss him to see if he's a prince?





Swimmy, Zipper and Max named in tribute to former Mathews family pets (Zipper and Max were both gerbils that Howie killed during his verminating reign of terror.  Here they are in the van on the car ride home.  I held them just like that and drove one-handed.  I did not text and drive while holding the fish.  Even at the stoplights.
 Speaking of the fish pond, sometimes known as the Pond of Doom in memory of the many fishy and amphibious souls that have met untimely deaths there (as well as one small rabbit and yesterday a bird -- seriously,  how does this happen!), it has some new inhabitants.  Three goldfish, the cheapest ones I could find at the pond store, were introduced to our heroic frog who was the pond's sole survivor of last year's dreadful winter. I'd like to say they successfully were introduced but I'm not sure I should use the word "successful."  I carefully transitioned them from the safety of the plastic bag to the pond.  Then, they promptly disappeared beneath the aforementioned string algae into the murky depths.  I'm taking it as a positive sign that I haven't seen them doing the dreaded backstroke.  The bird I found yesterday floating dead in the pond really puzzles me.  I suspect Jewel of playing some role in its demise.

Anyway, I have spent a multitude of hours out there in the last week.  I have discovered that there are still some verifiable herbs in my herb garden notably lavender and chives and I have almost defeated the crabgrass invasion -- one more rain and the ground will be soft enough for me to show it who's boss.  But then there's the poison ivy.  Guess which of us won that battle...scratch scratch. 

Monday, August 15, 2011

A little about Alaska...

I'm going to post some more pictures from Alaska later but I was just thinking tonight after looking at a few pictures from the trip that this is how I would sum it all up:

If you want to be warm, dry and clean, do NOT go to Alaska for vacation. However, if you don't mind being wet, chilly and a bit muddy, Alaska might be the most beautiful place in the world.  I love Alaska...





Mt. McKinley




Glacier Hiking - Kenai Fjords NP - Exit Glacier




Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau




Hiking in Denali

Tomato Pie

To me nothing says "summer" like Tomato Pie and a bike ride to the Farmer's Market.

New recipe a la Southern Living with a made-from-scratch sour cream pastry crust.  I think I might need crust-making lessons though. And yes, that is a Bybee pie plate.