WSOS meet Old Whitey

yellow jackets took up residence in our garage. we couldn't see quite where - they were zooming in and out behind a big bunch of garden rakes, shovels, hoes that leaned in a corner. after we searched the internet (google "winged spawn of satan")  i devised a plan involving fishing line and a bungee cord to pull the tools over from inside the house. i gathered materials and made my plans.   meanwhile john went out one night and just stealthily moved all the tools.

three nest holes were in the dirt and bark rubble of the garage floor. during the day the WSOS poured in and out and threatened anyone who came near. winter is coming and we have 6 cords of wood dumped in the driveway to stack in the garage.   something must be done.

after more research, and suggestions from chemist friend Liz, John purchased some stuff to spray. i had my doubts.   but one coolish night (last night) he suited up in heavy shirt, hat, pants tucked into socks, heavy gloves and headed out on his mission.

in just one minute he was back in the house laughing. our resident skunk, Old Whitey, had found the holes and was digging up the nest!  yum!  go Whitey!  we'll see later today how that worked out.

while we were laughing over this, hank and barney were tearing up the kitchen. what? what? a moth? a LIVE MOUSE!  their first!  being just over a year old, and shelter kittens, their moms never taught them catching and killing.   they were doing pretty well at chasing. John managed to chase it out the back door.  knowing mice, it'll be back.

ring out bells of vermont

yesterday at 7 pm all the bells in all the towns & villages rang through the mountains and valleys for the anniversary of last year's amazing floods of Irene, and all that has come to pass since then. 

napping 4 dummies

cats indulge in napping as a hobby.

they find new and interesting places, and then take a nap there.

you might say "what a lovely spot for a picnic"

or "we should definitely kayak here"

cats say "what a perfect spot for a nap"

 if they could, they would keep life-lists of places they've napped.

they'd want to nap on every covered bridge in the country

or every lighthouse

or every state park

they'd have slides to show you

an online photo album of their last 100 naps.

humans check right out when they nap

cats nap their way into the sounds and smells and breezes

and especially sunbeams

it came from curio obscura

been so busy i never get to second life.  today there was a sale at curio obscura and mudpie made a trip in-world.  mudpie's pet mouse, and lucy's pet cat are always very happy to see them!  i feel guilty leaving them alone so much.  they rush over eager for a pat or some company.

see mouse? click to enlarge!

mudpie bought a tentacle.  hope it doesn't catch mousie!  stay away!

OH NO IT's GOT ME HELP MOUSIE RESCUE ME!!!

i'm all stretched out!

veggie heaven

a food day today.
our neighbor's been generously sharing the garden produce, and our fridge hardly closes.
last year it was zooks.  ..i'm just eating the last of my frozen zuchinni bread!
this year it is cukes, cabbage, rainbow chard, tomatoes, and a pepper or squash here and there.
so delicious! but!
today is the day.
last week i started the vinegar made from blackberries and water. 

we're eating the amazing tomatoes fast as we can.
today i washed and briefly steamed 3 pots of chard, and bagged and froze it for winter soups.
the long colorful stems, i debated, then (shhh) threw away. as Ma said in Jeff Danziger's Out In The Sticks "want not, freeze not."
i used the rest of the cabbage to make a big lot of cole slaw to eat for a few days.
the remaining cukes became 2 jars of refrigerator pickles (not worth dragging out the canning equipment)
now i just have the not-quite-ripe pears on my pear tree, and all the quince if i want to make jelly.
who needs a CSA when you have NGV -- neighbor growing (too many) veggies.

nature's screechers

all these years earwigs have insisted on sharing our house. 

some years a few, some years a plague. 

to better relate to them, i've read all i could find from earwig scientists and exterminator's websites. 

earwigs came from england. (on the mayflower?)

nothing eats them, except guinea hens. (can that be true?) 

they sometimes emit a foul odor. (when? and why?) 

they are good mommies, guarding their bazillion eggs and then guarding the babbies that hatch out. (redeeming qualities ~ so sweet) 

they eat decaying vegetation. 

they don't get in people's ears. (never. ok maybe once somewhere one did by accident) 

they try to hide if you are trying to kill them, (but they are not very bright)

all these years i thought i was an expert. 

then this week i read in the NYT science section that male earwigs have 2 working penises. (or penes to be correct) 

that's all it says about that subject. (believe it or not) (no why, no how, no pictures)

Flowers of the Flood

 today on a walk up the road i noticed some kinds of plants -- weeds -- wildflowers --  i've never seen before in my years walking this road.  and in my back yard, too!  since last year's flood, some of my usual weeds are not as much in evidence, although not gone....that mustard stuff, and the poison ivy...  and i have some new weeds.

 i had to look up a ferny-leafed greenyellow flowerspiked plant. it's ragweed!  i didn't even know what this famous plant looked like. 

and here's another new one i had to look up.

some kind of smartweed - i think several kinds are in my yard

jewelweed has come up behind the garage -- i think i'll keep it if it will stay! jewelweed is so pretty, and. supposedly good to rub on a poison ivy rash, too.

 i don't have a picture of japanese knotweed, because i pull up any plants as soon as i spot them...don't mess around with that stuff. 

according to the internet, you can eat it in the spring.

naaaaa don't think so.

Thursday meditation

the meditation center is open several times a week.   the same method of meditation is taught and practiced in the same room on the same cushions and yet each of the days is different.
thursday meditation is mid-day on a weekday, when traffic and construction work and the store downstairs are active.  when the weather is good the windows and doors are open and the busy world outside flows in and out of the room with the breezes as we sit and hold our seat.  none of that peace and quiet, non- distraction coddling for us -- we practice holding our seat and staying with our mind through it all, as all of us sneeze, open water bottles, take off sweater, scratch.

someone is timekeeper on thursdays, but no gatekeeper.  perhaps that's why it is thursday that throws me the otherworldly challenges!  one week it was dragons fighting outside the center. the noise was deafening. we sat through the metallic screeching and tearing, the alarming beeping, the building-shaking crashing.  it went on for the entire hour. (our center is next to a train yard.)  i knew it was a test and i brought the dragons and their fearful battle into my consciousness instead of letting them pull my mind out to them.  i was not afraid or angry.

another time, as i left the room, i was attacked by a demon!  she flew at me with beak and talons emitting dreadful cries!  i tried to remember how to deal with this...i did remain outwardly calm, mostly friendly, but i admit i tried to get away and make her stop.  not bad for a first encounter, but in retrospect i should not have tried to get away, but maybe worked my way along to the tea area as she followed screeching, and made tea for both of us?  i remember one story of a sage who allowed the demon to eat him up, but i'm not sure how to do that.

i don't have these encounters with the other world evenings, or on sunday mornings when there is a gatekeeper and often even a kasung, and there are protector chants at the beginning and end.  but i am curious to face these thursday challenges.

ms y times ms x = drama squared

which comes first, a dramatic life, or a career cutting hair?  Sweeney Todd had plenty of drama before he took up the profession, but does it also cause life-drama?

 i called ms x for an appointment yesterday, caught her at home without her book, it was the anniversary of her mom's death -- now there's a story!  

we ended up on the phone for an hour. her life is so dramatic, she even has an identical twin,  not exactly an evil twin but...  when i said someone told me you were also working at the salon down the street, she said her twin, ms y, had without telling her taken a job there and some customers had gone there thinking it was my ms x. twin hair-dressers (*cough* cosmetologists) must = drama squared!

i'll try her again next week.

still life with purple

last sunday, came home and dropped my stuff on the porch chair.  came out later and saw it and it looked so pretty!

we should all be so lucky

a few months ago a friend sent this email to me and several hundred other people to let us know about his mom...hope he doesn't see this! too good not to share.


 FOR YEARS I'VE ASKED MOM TO NOT DO ANYTHING ON MONDAYS AS I'M TIRED FROM THE TWO TWELVE HOUR SHIFTS I DO AT xxxxxx OVER THE WEEKEND SO YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW PERTURBED I WAS WHEN I FOUND HER MONDAY MORNING, HAVING PASSED ON PEACEFULLY IN BED THE NIGHT BEFORE. WE SHOULD ALL BE SO LUCKY! ALL MY RELATIVES DESCENDED UNINVITED THE NEXT DAY & JUST LEFT, DO I GET MOM'S BOSE RADIO? THE SILVER? THE NEW WICKER SET ON THE PORCH?? NO- I GET A SMELLY, FILTHY, FLATULENT DOG...... ALL THE GOOD STUFF IS GONE ALREADY.... VULTURES I TELL YOU!! I APPRECIATE ALL YOUR "THOUGHTS", BUT IN LIEU OF 'SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS' EMAILS I WILL ACCEPT CASH.

my own time capsule

all kinds of stuff was in my old desk drawer.  

cleaned it out and i found a notebook with lists of books and comments about them.  one of my doomed attempts to do that sort of thing where you write something every day, draw something every day, take a photo every day, etc.  

it never works out.  

but it was fun looking at several years' worth of books, most of which i have no memory of ever reading.

also in the back of the drawer, i found THIS!!

watching trains in Folkston, GA

my sisters did a little train watching on their trip home:
"..we stopped on the way back for a few minutes at Folkston GA to watch the trains come thru the Folkston Funnel.  It's where the tracks from all over FL converge into one N, one S so a train goes by just abt every 20 min.
There is a platform where people (and there were at least 7 there already) can sit and a speaker where you can listen to the dispatcher send the cars down the line, telling what track and how many axles on the train. After abt 3 came by S. was ready for ice cream and P. was deaf from the horns, shaking his head to clear his drums so we went to find the store. It had moved to the other end of town so we had to drive in the air conditioning to get there. The owner was real chatty and somehow we got on to the fact that she owns two overnight places to stay, a caboose and a station masters cabin and "let me show them to you in case you come back." I couldn't resist that cause I know I'm coming back there, probably alone, to watch trains!
"Could have knocked me over with a feather when we toured them and S. asked if we could rent the stationmaster's cabin for the night. It's right on the tracks so I can watch trains all night and has some space so P. can run and far enough from the track that he won't be run over and his ears won't shatter. What a treat that was. And I never knew there was so much to know abt trains.
"We saw whole trains of coal cars filled with coal going south to the coal-fired  utility plants in FL and back empty to the mines in wherever, there is a nightly (5 nights a week) Tropicana Orange Juice train, quite long, that goes from Bradenton FL up to NJ loaded with OJ and back empty, and there are specialized cars to carry all kinds of specialized cargo, and they all went by Horn Honking and Engineers waving.
"I didn't stay up all night. Just couldn't do it, but I could hear them go by. Seems the night trains frequently pass each other  going N and S right at the spot instead of one train at a time. Lots of rumbling and roaring. Very relaxing.
"In the morning when we went to settle up with the ice cream lady we asked where the tracks split north of town cause one set of tracks sends trains up thru Valdosta to the east and one set to Waycross toward the west. "Well, let me just show you where that is. I own the land up there." I think the woman owns most of the town. She told us she bought this plot of land with trailers on it for her husband for Christmas. also has 3 camping spots and again right next to the tracks.
"What a treat.! I'm going back someday. "
(note: we grew up near Baltimore MD, a train city if ever there was one, then lived in south FL and could hear both the east coast RR and the Fla central RR going by at night. we were the sort of family that said "oh boy!" if we got to a RR crossing and a train was coming)

WOOTSTOCK 2012

it's one of life's great pleasures to have people show up at the house on a saturday or sunday summer afternoon and sit on the porch all day and talk.  i love it!
this weekend we had drop-ins both saturday AND sunday.
only teeny drawback -- it was WOOTSTOCK IN RAGLANSHIRE for only ONE WEEKEND!
fortunately i had my stock and wooted too, because i got to the last concert of the weekend after all.
it's worth it for the music alone, and the costumes are outrageous.
here's a few snapshots:

onstage - dj's - the guru and the diva?

mudpie rocks out in coveralls while others 'peace out'

hippy on hippo

fireworks finale - this doesn't do it justice

Dancing and dessert

is there a standard length for a minuet? i got a new recipe book -- one recipe mentions 'minuet' several times but it doesn't list it in the back under the measurements section!

must be a commonly used measure, because when i google "how long is a minuet" there are numerous sites addressing the question.

answer is, it depends.  but not on what you are cooking -- it depends on the piece of music, and also, it is usually played faster if there are no dancers.  so if i dance, this will take longer to cook.

phoebe! phoebe! phoebe!

mom and pop phoebe are raising a family on my back porch platform again this year. 

i'm so honored!
 (see last year's nest http://sitsup.blogspot.com/2011/05/phoebe.html)

they have a trio of hungry mouths and they are run ragged from early predawn (4 or 4:30 am) to dusk (8 or so) bringing creepy crawly things, flappy things, and probably spiders, since i don't see any in the porch eaves. 

next year i'll wash the windows before they get here -- i realized i can see the nest from a back window.

painting the church

across the street a van pulls up and unloads men and ladders. 

they've been working all week on the big new england white church, scraping, sanding, and now painting.  it's going to look great! 

they are a quiet group, well behaved, fairly lean, did you guess? 

i didn't at first. but i'm pretty sure they are from the prison.  

a good deal for the church, non-profits can hire them for a low wage, and a good deal for them.  

make some money, get out of jail for a week, do some good for somebody in the summer sunshine and green hills.

it used to creep me out a little to see these guys out working somewhere or playing volleyball in the prison yard,

until someone pointed out to me that they are pretty much mostly our friends and neighbors.

tripping on no-mesh

due mostly to laziness and non-inspiration, i still haven't upgraded to MESH !!  as more and more people use it, my view of second life has become more interesting. fewer cookie-cutter barbie and ken avatars, idealized houses and furnishing, and more CRAZY LOOKING STUFF

Osprey, who has never been cookie-cutter, is becoming less and less human to me, and wearing clementine's herring boxes for sandals.


 the fabulous SL9B lotus stage was, to me made of legos *smile smile*   and some of my fellow meditators look like pieces of cheese.

 and what are these things for sale? Buddhas? to me they are like beautiful stones. i admit i'm having fun.  like wearing distortion glasses.

hawaii in vermont

2 years ago i took the top from a yummy organic pineapple to my green-thumbed friend K.R. who stuck it in a pot.  i remember when i was a kid in florida, my mom used to stick them out in the dirt and sometimes they'd grow into pineapple plants.  i don't remember them ever having pineapples on them, but K.R.'s, 2 years later, here in her house in vemont, now has a baby pineapple getting bigger by the day! 

SL9B tinies and poems

mudpie's listening to her poem AGAIN with a handsome bunny who happened by.

she's so excited that her poem is in one of the 'shrooms at the tinies' exhibit area for SL9B (Second Life's 9th birthday celebration).  mudpie's written many haiku, but she didn't realize how complicated an ode is to write when she started it!

tinies are friendly and fun and love waffles, but lots of them are also poets!

here's mudpie's poem:

ODE TO WAFFLES

waffles glow in shades of golden.
roundness is a waffles contour.
small square holes for butter holdin'
into which we syrup's font pour.

you can eat things on a stick stuck,
vegan vegetarian local,
sandwiches or hot falafels,

you can fry food in a mix up,
mew for cheezburgers - be vocal,
but for me -- i can haz WAFFLES!