Now, not just "Yard" piddling but piddling of all kinds.
Archive for February, 2007
Friday, February 23rd, 2007
| I think she even accelerates in the driveway. |
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Jeanne: |
I went over and told her what I did and that I would fix it. |
| Me: |
I’ll fix it. |
| Jeanne: |
I’m the one that did it. |
Me:
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I’ll take care of it. How long have you been married to me? |
| Jeanne: |
Not nearly long enough. |
| Me: |
(Smiles from ear-to-ear.) |
Posted in Family & Friends, Yards | 2 Comments »
Friday, February 23rd, 2007
Jeanne says my name “Johnsey” is welch. Does that sound right Liz?
Posted in Family & Friends | 3 Comments »
Friday, February 23rd, 2007
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I know I am soft but I teach college seniors.
They should get good grades.
(I admire those of you that really teach, i.e. K-12,
but I don’t want your job.)
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Posted in PhotoHunt | 12 Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
| Three things made a difference. |
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A huge umbrella,
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shopping bag for my computer,
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and spring in my steps.
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| Do you get the picture? An old, tacky, bouncy professor walking to work under a huge golf-style unbrella. His pants start to fall down, working their way down. Maybe the bounce in his step encourages them. His hands are full, so, he places the umbrella shaft between his cheek and shoulder. The slight breeze moves it about. He does not want to set the computer down on the wet walkway so he grips the case with his legs at the ankles holding the case just a little above the ground. (Reminds anyone who saw “Happy Feet” how penguins hold their precious egg with their feet just above the frozen ice.) His hands are now free so he adjusts his pants, recovers his posture, and continues the walk. That could have been me. I’m not saying. |
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However, I was too tired to walk home. My 2:00 to 4:30 class usually tires me but several students wanted to stay and, so, I did and didn’t leave the classroom until 5:30. I could barely walk to my office, much less home. I called Jeanne and waited on the corner, a little remorseful over missing the walk.
I was hungry. |
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I only had sushi for lunch which just does not stay with me. And I was exhausted. So, I appreciated supper, a colorful but simple meal except for the chicken surprise, i.e. not simple.
Here it is:
English and blackeye peas
Corn and cabbage
Bread and tea
Chicken stuffed with rice and crawfish |
| Ah, almost forgot, the spring in my step. Sometimes I think the best gift is something that someone would not buy for themself but would enjoy having. These $200 shoes fall into that category; Jeanne gave them as a Christmas gift. I would never spend that much for shoes but I really like them. My lower back really likes them, especially when standing in class for 2 to 3 hours. Thanks Jeanne. And thanks for the ride. And thanks for supper. They all came at a good time. |
Posted in Yards | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
| In December mom fell and broke her hip, again, the other hip. From the hospital she went for rehabilitation in a very nice facility. The court yard was particularly nice and the camellias were in full bloom. |
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Despite the circumstances it was still a nice experience. Look at the expression on her face.
There was this particular bush we both liked. What’s a guy to do? I took a cutting, wrapped it in a wet napkin, and later placed it in a small glass on the kitchen window ledge. This window opens onto the carport so is shaded from the sun. There it remained in the cool shadows until now. Look at the roots; it is ready. I must find a place in the front; wonder when would be best. Hope the blooms are true to the original.
These are the new legs the title refers to, not to mom. She is home; doing fine; walking without aid.
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| The water is not that yellow. The first photo was taken with a flash and better represents true colors. The second was without flash and was a timed exposure, 4 or 5 seconds, to get a better depth of field. An incandescent light provided the yellow tint. The undulations in the root’s appearance are caused by the pattern in the glass. |
Posted in Yards | 3 Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
| It was nice outside today, about 68 degrees, sunny, and only slightly breezy. I decided to get some yard time and it felt really, really good. |
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| But look what was waiting for me, Geronimo germination! So, I cut back the once-living, pulled the unwanted, and somewhere along the way decided that we could skip a lot of this if we just redefined what a weed was. "You’re not a weed, you’re not a weed, you’re not a weed". See how easy it could be. However, I persevered and was rewarded with signs of new growth, that is “new desirable growth”. |
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Persevere! I’ve loved that word every since an old Indian used it in a Clint Eastwood movie. In the same movie was an actress, I should say actor, that he eventually married; Clint married her, not the Indian. What was the name of that movie? Never mind. The new growth however is "persian shield" (strobilanthes dyerianus). |
More about the movie: It was not use of the word “persevere” that reminded me of the movie, but the post title. Clint sneaks up on this old Indian, getting the drop on him. A most enjoyable conversations occurs with the Indian explaining how when he was younger that would never have happened. When I was surprised by all the weeds in my flower box I felt a little like the old Indian. (Edit: I think the movie was “The Outlaw Josey Wales”. Thanks to Liz for giving me the actress’ name and, thus, something to search on.) |
| I piddled with my camera a bit more and extended the afternoon to evening. Tomorrow my work will be inside. Jeanne already has a pile started of things to go to the attic. On Wednesday it’s back to the classroom. |
| Here are some photos I took without a theme, which is probably the true nature of a piddle. |
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Posted in Yards | 8 Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
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| We stayed with my mom last night in Mobile and as we usually do Jeanne and I went for carry-out, and, as we have done the last two times, we went to DC’s Restaurant for fish poboys, which, as always, were outstanding. And the price! $3.99! Two pieces of fish! They also have BBQ which we tried and liked but not as much as those from a place here in Hattiesburg. If you go to the Mobile Flea Market, which I have written about before, you really must go around the corner to DC’s. Go toward Airport blvd from the front of the flea market and turn right at the first light and you are there. You can eat inside if you like and contemplate all the neat things you need to go back to the flea market and buy. The only buyer’s remorse here is for what you don’t get.
That’s Jeanne’s car. She lets me drive it when I’m good. She drives it most all the time. |
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Half the menu bar. |
| Then on the way home this morning … |
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| We stopped at the “Semmes Family Restaurant” for breakfast; in Semmes. (Mom actually lives in Semmes, not Mobile proper.) The eggs and grits were easy going down, and rested well in our stomachs afterwards. However, the star of the meal was the biscuit, light and fluffy. Not greasy; not enough so that you’d notice anyway. Kurt ordered an extra one on the side with his omelet. Oh yes, we will go back.
But this is about the skull on the wall at the restaurant. We are eating and I notice. Could that be an ox skull? The post below mentioned our visit to an oxen farm. At that time I was really surprised that oxen had been used in Mobile as work animals. And now an ox skull on the wall of a restaurant. How could I have lived in Mobile for so long in my youth and not realized how pervasive this technology was? This find was really exciting. The three of us discussed it while we ate. So, when I paid I asked about it; Oxen? Nah! “Brahma Bull”! Well, the biscuits were still good.
In case you are curious about the signs on the wall, they say:
I can only satisfy
one person a day.
Today’s not your day
and tomorrow doesn’t
look good either.
If you are grouchy, irritable
or just plain mean
there will be a $10 charge
for putting up with you.
And on another wall:
If you are smoking in here
you had better be on fire. |
Posted in Yards | 3 Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
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| This is Michael demonstrating the use of a mini-sawmill that he and his dad used years ago (maybe just his dad - - look at that blade). It was powered by a belt from a tractor or other engine parked nearby. The shelf under Michael’s left hand is hinged and allows the log to be fed to the saw for a cross cut. This is just one of the neat things I saw when visiting this south Alabama oxen farm, not far from Mobile. They used oxen for the heavy work, mostly pulling logs out of the woods. Nowadays maintaining the homestead is Michael’s retirement job. I took more pictures.
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Posted in Yards | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, February 14th, 2007
| I guess we felt a little too smug about not having 10 foot snow drifts. Move to Hattiesburg Ms if you want to live where people think 38 degrees is way too cold. |
| Yesterday |
Today |
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| Find the guy in shorts. |
Don’t bother looking. |
Posted in Yards | 3 Comments »
Friday, February 9th, 2007
It is easy to tell the difference. If you are wondering about it, you are not dead. If you have aches and pains you are not dead. If you are tired, dirty, and can barely move you are not dead. This leads me to something I have said for a long time:
“The worst day above ground is better than a single one below.”
(My apologies for this whit wit if you have too much pain to bear.)
Posted in Yards | 3 Comments »
Friday, February 9th, 2007
| Original |
S500 |
S600 |
64 |
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| Broke |
Broke |
New |
Broke |
I have a new Exilim camera as of January 31, my third. The first two broke, but they are not my photo-hunt submission. I am. I am old, overweight, can’t remember, can’t get too far from a bathroom, have a sugar problem, bald, and more that I won’t mention. Well maybe being bald is not so bad, Jeanne likes it. So, I am broke but seem to still have a lot of value. If Jeanne and I ever broke up I could still be her webmaster with visitation rights, probably even live in. She calls me over to her computer for help often, sometimes several times a day. She like a quick response.
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Posted in Yards | 12 Comments »
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
Posted in Yards | 5 Comments »
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
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| I said “Gross” and Jeanne said “I want to eat it”.
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Posted in PhotoHunt | 20 Comments »
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