Cat found!

I received this in an e-mail and thought it was funny. The caption read: "When city people move to the country". Perhaps it will bring a smile to your face, too.

Cheers!

It's really nothing special, but I can't let the day pass without making some note of it.

Today marks ten years since I've had an alcoholic drink! Though I never had a problem with alcohol, it became obvious to me (for a number of reasons) that I was one of those who didn't need to imbibe. There have been a few moments over the past ten years that I've been tempted, but overall it was a decision followed by no regrets.

Here's to the next ten years (and beyond...)!

Haley's Chocolate Zucchini Tea Bread

Here's a recipe from the "Tea Shop Mystery" I read last week. We tried it today and it turned out to be quite tasty!

Haley's Chocolate Zucchini Tea Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate bits

Combine flour, eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and buttermilk in a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Stir in zucchini and chocolate bits.
Pour batter into two well-greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes. Cool, slice, and serve with cream cheese and orange marmalade.

Jungle Dimensions

The "visual dimensions" puzzle series contains four puzzles, of which I originally ordered two. When I saw how beautifully the first one worked up (Floral Dimensions), I ordered the remaining two in the series. This is the second I've worked and is entitled "Jungle Dimensions".

This one photographed a little better, but still doesn't do the puzzle justice. Although not difficult puzzles, they are harder than they appear due to the "depth" of the pieces... much like a hologram.

Music Videos

MTV aired the first music videos in the early 80s (I believe "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles was the first) and they've since become a staple in the music industry. Videos can take a variety of formats. Some feature the artists, performing live or in the studio. Others use various images, often telling a story.

Here are a couple of videos that I think are quite clever. The first is "Rockstar" by Nickelback. It features a variety of famous faces interspersed with ordinary folks all lip-synching the title song.

The second video is "Name Droppin'" by the Christian rapper T-Bone. Almost every line he speaks works in the name of a Christian performer. He's also joined by a number of well-known artists in the video.

I can watch both of these over and over! I invariably catch something new each time.

Clerihews

What is a Clerihew? Invented by the British writer Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), it's a 4-line poem that pokes fun at someone famous. This month's Reader's Digest explains the rules for Clerihews and invites readers to submit their own for possible publication.

I thought I'd give everyone a chance to practice here on my blog. The rules according to Readers Digest are:

The rhyme structure is aabb.
The celebrity is named in the first line.
There are no rules for meter.

Wikipedia takes this a little further stating that the first line should consist solely (or almost solely) of the subject's name. The four lines should be of irregular length (for comic effect) with the third and fourth being the longest. Finally, they shouldn't be satirical or abusive. A few examples are given that are worth checking out.

Here is the example from the Reader's Digest:

Actor Harrison Ford
Was feeling extraordinarily bored.
So he grabbed his hat and picked up his bones
And starred in yet another Indiana Jones.

This was my first effort:

Julius Caesar
Never became an old geezer.
The Ides of March, 44 BC, was the fateful day
When being stabbed he said, "Et tu, Brute?"

Give it a try and post them in the comments!

Aprons

I love aprons and have worn them for years. I have them in many colors and patterns including holiday aprons, aprons with pockets, aprons with my name on them, one from the 40s/50s that belonged to my aunt, one from Ireland (with shamrocks on it), one with "Kelly the cow" (pictured in my profile)....and on and on.

Pictured is one I got from an online store called Wearable Vegetables. It's always been a favorite.

Below is an e-mail that someone sent me last week. I think it pretty well sums things up.

The History of APRONS

I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot woodstove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Stephenie Meyer

I've finally joined my daughter and my sister (and thousands of others) as a Stephenie Meyer fan. No.... not for the wildly popular Twilight Series, but for her new sci-fi novel, The Host.

Wonderful book! I had a little difficulty getting into it at first (which I attributed to the radical switch in genre from what I've been reading lately), but once I did I could hardly put it down. I love the way she writes, how she develops her characters and draws you into the plot. Now I want to read her other books. Perhaps then I'll understand why my sister and niece fought over the copies they received for Christmas and why my daughter and her friends travelled all the way to Forks, Washington for their Spring Break!

Water lilies

The water lilies are growing in our pond at an alarming rate! I'm not really worried about them taking over since our pond is pretty big (about 12-15 acres), but we will have to start eliminating some of them soon.

This morning I decided to go out in the boat alone, armed with both camera and fishing gear. I managed to catch (and release) three bass....one of which was 3 or 4 pounds. I snagged two others (one big, one small), but both managed to get away before I could get them in the boat. I know the towel distracts from the fish in the photo, but it's the only way I'll handle them! (go ahead, call me a sissy)

Despite the fact the lilies are a nuisance, they are rather pretty when blooming. Here's a poem about lilies to go with some of my photos:

WITH A WATER-LILY
by: Henrik Ibsen

See, dear, what thy lover brings;
'Tis the flower with the white wings.
Buoyed upon the quiet stream
In the spring it lay adream.

Homelike to bestow this guest,
Lodge it, dear one, in thy breast;
There its leaves the secret keep
Of a wave both still and deep.

Child, beware the tarn-fed stream;
Danger, danger, there to dream!
Though the sprite pretends to sleep,
And above the lilies peep.

Child, thy bosom is the stream;
Danger, danger, there to dream!
Though above the lilies peep,
And the sprite pretends to sleep.

'With a Water-lily' was originally published in 1863. This English translation by Fydell Edmund Garrett is reprinted from the Westminster Gazette of May 6, 1903.

Mind Control Madness

I never cease to be amazed at things our government has done. This month's Discover Magazine had an item about something called Operation Midnight Climax. In the 1950s, as a part of a covert project called MKULTRA, the CIA set up a study in San Francisco where clients in a brothel were secretly dosed with LSD then observed from behind one-way mirrors!! Can you imagine?!? Call me paranoid, but there are times I wonder just how much is hidden from the American people. I'm NOT a fan of big government and I have my doubts as to what will happen following the election in November (depending on who wins).



On a lighter note.... our tomatoes are ripening in full force now. I made up our first batch of Tomato & Onion Salad this morning. I'm sure we'll have LOTS of it before the summer's over!



We made our first "donkey sale" today! Debbie, the first donkey born in our pasture, moved to a new home about two miles up the road. Recently we sold six goats to a friend to clear the weeds in his horse pasture. Shortly after he got them, two were killed by either dogs or coyotes. So.... Debbie was purchased to guard the remaining goats. I asked my husband what she thought of the horses at her new home (she's only been around cows, goats and other donkeys) and he said she immediately brayed at them. Poor girl, she probably thought they were donkeys, too. I know she'll be treated like a queen in her new home, but I hope she'll be happy away from her donkey family here. (this picture was taken a day or two after she was born almost three years ago)



How many of you actually go to Google's home page rather than using the Google tool bar? I always use the home page so I can see if they're featuring a "special" Google logo for the day. In addition to major U.S. holidays, they also celebrate famous birthdays and holidays from other countries/cultures. My brother sent me a link where you can see all the Google logos that have been used in the past.

Movie Mania

This week we confined our movie watching to the house rather than forking out big bucks for the big screen.

• Spiderwick Chronicles - Ever since this title came up in a comment, I've had it on my brain to see it. I thought it was fun, but fairly scary for little ones.


• 1408 - I like John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, but this was pretty crappy. Maybe 5 out of 10 stars.


• Fool's Gold - I didn't watch this one, but both my husband and daughter thought it was okay.


• The Water Horse - I loved everything about this movie! I won't go into all the "whys" here since you'd only laugh, but it was one of those movies I just couldn't stop thinking about when it was over.


• Beauty and the Beast - Yes, the Disney classic from the early 90s. It's one of my daughter's childhood favorites and she has been nagging me for some time to watch it. Somehow I managed to miss out on many of the Disney movies over the years and she's determined to remedy that. We watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame over the Christmas holidays. I guess The Little Mermaid will be next.


• The Eye - This is one I picked out and it wasn't half bad. I was afraid at first it was going to be one of those pointless horror flicks, but it did end up having a decent plot.


• Bonneville - I couldn't get anyone else to watch this one with me. So.... I popped it into my computer and watched it all by myself. Their loss. It was a fun movie with a great cast and entertaining storyline. Beautiful scenery, too.

I did manage to fit in one book during the week: Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin. A fun premise, but I got bogged down some (as opposed to my daughter who zipped through it in about a day or two).

Contemporary Christian Music

When the topic of Contemporary Christian Music comes up, many folks just automatically tune out. I'm sure there are plenty of folks who won't even read this entry just because of its title. I've learned in recent years that there is a huge variety of "Inspirational" music out there.... ranging from pop to easy listening to country to hard rock.... even rap. I love most all kinds of music and will give anything a try. What about you?

Here are some examples of Christian music you might never have heard before:

"Ocean Floor" by Audio Adrenaline: This is one of my favorite songs!




"Hotel Aquarium" by Falling Up: A youth choir recently performed this at our church and did a great job of it.



"How You Live (Turn Up the Music)" by Point of Grace: I saw them in concert not long ago and they were fantastic!


"Youth of the Nation" by P.O.D.: My daughter likes this group.

When in deep trouble....

Hal's blog entry for today brought to mind something I posted at 360 quite awhile back. I liked it so much I printed a copy to keep by my computer. For those that missed it before....

When you are in deep trouble, say nothing,

and try to look like you know what you're doing!

Another Monday Movie Matinee

Seeing The Incredible Hulk on the big screen was never in my plan. In fact, I didn't figure I'd even watch it on video. However, my daughter can be very persuasive. So.... once again we trekked to the movie theater yesterday afternoon, this time with more favorable results. Having seen the 70s TV show some, it was fun to see Lou Ferrigno in a small part (as well as a clip of Bill Bixby). All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours on a Monday afternoon.





While in WalMart yesterday, I saw a big display of their "green" shopping bags. I thought back to Quid's post from the other day and immediately felt guilty. I decided to buy a few and see just how much of my stuff I could fit into them. I think the only plastic we left with was the bag the saleslady insisted on putting my chicken in. The real test will be if I can remember to carry them back to use again next time!





With the exception of a few moments watching my favorite scene from Ben Hur (my loving husband knows to call me when that part comes on), I spent most of last evening reading. I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and thought it was quite good. Kind of a gothic novel/ghost story. There were parts I had figured out ahead of time, but still lots of good twists.


We ate our first tomato of the season in a salad last night! We have TONS that are still green. I'm just waiting.....