§ A Day Spent....

First off, I could get used to this scene on the freeway at "rush hour hour" just weeks ago with bumper to bumper traffic; sometimes at a standstill because of an accident ahead...but this weekend, whoa. Nice pace in the flow of the traffic when you're the only one on the road for miles and miles:

Yesterday, the sun was shining...the sky; cloudless! There was a brisk wind, cool, and just all out, a perfect day. Thing is, I stayed home-bound.  Did some yard work, mowed and edged the front yard and back yard, watered potted plants on the patio,  Worked on, and finished another jigsaw puzzle, and some crocheting.  I took the clippers and cut Bud's hair, shaved the 'new hair  growth'  on my shaggy looking neck since we can't go to get our hair cut, clipped Isaiah's talons toenails, watched a movie, and then, to get back out in the fresh air, I walked around the yard getting cellphone photos of the new Spring flowers to put on my blog. Here are some highlights of the day.  The following images are as follows:  Our red hibiscus tree, the buds of my amaryllis,  gardenia bush and purple bougainvillea,  Don Juan Climbing Rose and yellow ixora, a single blossom of the gardenia and a ceramic gnome, macro photo of duranta bush -they are very small purple blossoms [about the size of a dime] and a resin turtle amongst the vinca vine.

Then, indoors, the Texas Longhorn painting in front of the fireplace with antique cavalry saddle and Isaiah worn out from the toenail clipping!  And last, the latest jigsaw puzzle complete!

In a day or two, I'll tear this one down and we'll begin another puzzle.  This next one is 'holiday themed'....Halloween!  LOL

§ A blossom is worth TWO or more in a bush...

click HERE to join






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MONDAY MORSELS


Ken Follet's PILLARS OF THE EARTH. Let me tell you my opinion. First off, I know this was a special HBO program....made from the book. And how often I find myself saying after seeing a movie taken from a classic or best selling book...."The book was better." Well, honestly, I haven't seen the made for TV movie/series...but I would think that this time the movie would be better!! The book...over 900 pages long...was just way too repetitious. By that I mean, a lot of happenstances throughout the novel, happened over and over again! Of course, I do realize that the book is a fictional recount of England's history [a favorite era to read about for me...that's why the book was recommended for me to read], but to go on and on and on with the same ol' scenarios for 750 or more pages, I was really wondering if it would ever end. And me, I stopped reading the book about 200 pages into it and began reading another book. When I finished that one, I tried to delve into Pillars of the Earth once again, determined to finish it come hell or high water. Granted it, at times, had my complete interest...for a few times I was held captive to the point I had to continue turning pages and reading way into the wee hours of the morning. It's all about politics and government and the churches of England. Kings, Earls, Priors, Monks and fair damsels in distress [more like rapes!!] Too many characters...both shady and saintly...a step mother that was a witch [supposedly], half brothers, bastard children, incompetent leaders and conniving priests and wicked goings-on to further their leadership and properties. Battles that were written nearly the same from one year to the next. One other thing....tho the book itself isn't all that bad, I felt a bit perturbed the ending was so short. To drag me through the years of getting a cathedral in the county for decades only to have it burned down, ravaged, and torn to where there was no money to rebuild...over 3/4ths the entire book...all to end in the last 50 pages or so where everyone aged 20 years or more?!!! For the 'good' to live happily ever after?!! And the bad getting their just rewards...the rapist DOES get hanged....by god that was a relief. And one main character was nearly written out of the whole story after he left for Jerusalem to have just a few lines at the end that he died?!! No, it wasn't all that good for me to make it in the realm of best seller. But it was, and still is a popular book.

book image from google search


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We interrupt this blog post for a 30 second commercial from You Tube. It's hilarious [at least it brought back fond memories of teaching MY kids how to drive manual transmission years ago] Ahhhhhhh, the good ol' days:

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I thought this was too cute not to take a photo. Bud and I were out this past week trimming the gardenia bush because it gets soooooooo heavy with blossoms it tends to droop sadly around the flower bed stone foundation and you can't see anything that's 'cutesy' below and underneath. As we were trimming the bottom of the bush, these two gardenias were peeking between two of our elves. So I snapped a photo before this little branch got cut off. I also like how the morning sunlight filters through the top branches down upon our 'little men'. Before the trimming, the elves could NOT be seen much...that's how much and how quickly it gets overgrown around there. That area of the yard is very fragrant with the breezes making whiffs of the sweet, sweet gardenias.




...and the entire Gardenia bush, after the bottom over-growth was trimmed--




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Play along with your subconscious; Sunday's Word Association.
Join here.

She says ... and I think ...

1. Questioning :: asking
2. Immunity :: diplomatic
3. Online dating :: E-Harmony dot com [TV commercials]
4. Calcium :: deficient
5. Dressing :: gown
6. Bucket :: list
7. Stain :: wood
8. Advanced :: learning
9. Dramatic :: play
10. Self-medication :: mind over matter [obviously I couldn't think!]




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Just think...Thursday's baseball game between "my" Rockies and San Diego Padres lasted 2 and 1/2 games!!! Twenty-two innings?!!!! And the Colorado team was the division champs last year? Oh lordy. I'm sure glad we didn't live there and we attended the game [dunno exactly if it was a 'home' game or not] ---I'd still be in bed recovering. With no travel day off, Friday they came to Houston and whipped Astros' butts. [while poor Padres hosted 'my' DBacks and ummmm, the Padres were shut out on Friday! - scoreboard courtesy of MLB dot com]

Also, regarding baseball, if you've been listening to the news this past week in sports, you'll know that the new Yankee Stadium being built was 'cursed' by one of the construction workers who was/is a Boston Red Sox fan---he 'planted' a Sox Jersey into the foundation of the stadium. Tips were given to the Yankee workers/owners and the jersey, supposedly cursed, was retrieved. The all American Yankees now have it up for auction on ebay...proceeds to this auction will go to charity!!

[photo courtesy of ebay]
Auction ends April 24, 9:30AM [Pacific Time Zone]
AS OF 5AM CDT - $65,100.00 BID