Archive for the ‘Bitch & Complain’ Category
Almost a week of beautiful warm weather and I think I’ve made the adjustment quite nicely. The expensive to run heating system has been shut down until sometime in late October (Yeh!) and my winter wear has been stored for another year. I actually had a weather related orgasm yesterday when the temperature reached eighty degrees for the first time. I have to admit it was really good for me.
‘Red Cabbage’
I made a visit to a nearby family run nursery to make the first of many upcoming purchases for this year. I was looking primarily for lettuces and cabbages which can stand the cold nights we’re still having. There’s nothing better than strolling through a smoking hot greenhouse. There are times when shopping at this nursery is like going to Walmart. You start buying this and that and eventually find it hard to stop. I wanted to fill my car with plants but my better-half helped keep me under control.
‘Delicious Rhubarb’
Since we eat a great deal of salads I loaded up with four different types of lettuce. We should have more than enough to last us until Fall. Throw in some cherry tomatoes and a few onions and we’re good to go. On a whim I purchased and planted twelve purple cabbage plants. We’ve never tried growing them before but there’s nothing better than cooked cabbage. I hope they do well.
‘Assorted Lettuces’
I returned home and couldn’t wait to get planting. It didn’t take too long as you can see. The next stage will be the new herbs I purchased. I picked up a quantity of parsley, sage, basil, and rosemary. Some of them are annuals that must be replaced each year and a few others that were replacements of ones that didn’t survive the winter.
The remaining herbs that did survive are really starting to sprout and from all appearances I’ll probably be knee deep in oregano this year.
‘Owwwww, That Smell”
What do you consider as a day in your life you’d never forget? Is it the day you found a $10.00 bill in a parking lot or is that day you had the best sex of your life? I’m sure that all of us have a few of those memorable days we enjoy looking back on.
Early in my life I decided that the reports of an afterlife were just so much hokum and I needed to approach my life in a manner that reflected that thought. If this existence was all we’d ever have then I needed to aggressively pursue those things I really desired. If I didn’t obtain them and experience them now I’d never get another chance.
I left home for college, then quit college , joined the Army, went to Korea, fell in love, returned to the states, became a cop, got married, hang glided, sky dived, and bungee jumped. Moved to New England, became a businessman, joined Greenpeace, left Greenpeace, started a business, adopted a son and became a long distant cyclist. Stood on the summit of Mt. Washington in a thunder storm with my hands in the air and a prayer on my lips. Became a pretty decent racquetball player, got divorced, sold my home and moved to the coast. Bought a house on the water, bought two ferrets, and partied for two years. Lost my job, sold my house, and moved to Maine. Bought my first digital camera, got a job interviewing criminals, bought another house, met the love of my life, and settled down.
Sounds like a pretty strange and wonderful life so let me tell you what I did yesterday. On a damp and crappy day I spent an hour and a half standing in and shoveling compost. To misquote Robert Duval in the movie Apocalypse Now, "I just love the smell of compost in the morning." There’s nothing quite like the smell of rotting organic material wafting into your nostrils and making your eyes water. It’s sticks to your shoes and later in the day you may even find a few small chunks in the folds of your clothing as a further reminder.
I’m now officially adding that job, COMPOST SHOVELER, to my endless list of dumb-ass jobs and even dumber-ass accomplishments that continue to keep my life so interesting. I guarantee I won’t be looking fondly on today’s task in the future but my memories of that smell are permanent.
‘Live Your Life’
I’m standing here shaving this morning and finally noticed just how tanned I’ve become. The weather has warmed a bit but it’s still cold at night and during the day in the shade. It’s becoming rather annoying but at least I’m getting a good base for my Summer tan.
Even though I continue to whine about the weather it doesn’t seem to be bothering the plant life all that much. As you can see by the pictures the plants here in Maine refuse to wait for Summer to arrive. Flowers are shooting up and blooming everywhere regardless of the cold weather.
Even the garden wants to get going and right now. My asparagus patch that I planted early last year has started sprouting which makes me very happy. I can’t eat any of it for another year but it looks as if we’ll have a nice large patch we can harvest from next summer. There’s nothing better than fresh from the garden asparagus coated with a little butter.
The rhubarb is coming in nicely and I look forward to harvesting it for the first time this year. I see strawberry/rhubarb pie and a dozen jars of rhubarb jam in my future. This Fall should be a good all around harvest.
The cold frames are filled with lettuces and a collection of herbs waiting to be planted. The lettuce will go in next week and the replacement herbs the week after. I’m planting a larger patch of parsley than normal because we’ve used up just about everything from last summer. A lot of basil for making pesto and a number of Rosemary plants too. We can’t seem to enjoy our meals fully without using fresh herbs whenever possible.
More yard repairs are needed and a few spots need replanting. I made the decision to purchase a new lawn tractor this week and I’ll pass my older one over to my step daughter and her husband. One large headache finally dealt with and now I can go forward to enjoy my Summer.
2015 has already made a great start and it should be a warm and pleasant Summer. I also see a beach day very very soon.
Are you as sick as I am about all of these computer companies who insist on convincing or coercing every person in this country to use "The Cloud"? You can’t seem to buy software of any kind without that gentle shove by the company to convince you to place all of your personal writings, business writings, financials or anything else you can a think of on their version of "The Cloud".
Is anyone on this earth unaware of the risks we take just by being on the Internet. Viruses appear without notice almost every day or so we’re told by McAfee. Hackers are constantly breaking into those so-called secure sites and making the lives of us poor morons miserable. They’re costing us a lot of money each year to try and protect ourselves and it seems no matter what big companies do, they can’t protect themselves and our most private information.
Three times in the last few years I’ve been forced to change my credit and debit cards because someone was buying music or other things with my card numbers in Paris, France, Cleveland, Ohio and Montreal, Canada. I have those expert security specialists at Home Depot, Hannaford Foods, and Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield for making my information available to every hacker and thief who has a computer. I’m easily paying more than $200.00 a year for virus protection of my home computers and even a monthly charge for my freaking telephone. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Yesterday I was taken by surprise when Microsoft notified me via Facebook that they were making the MS Word program available for free to users of the IPad. I was thrilled because I’ve been loyal to Microsoft for decades. It’s only within the last year or so that I’m becoming more and more disappointed with them. After the X-Box One fiasco that make the device incompatible with a couple of decades of game software I’d already purchased, that was Strike One. Strike Two was my purchase of a MS Surface tablet. It crashed within a week of the purchase and with no help from their Tech Support took me a month to figure out how to reset it. Of course I lost all of my information on it as well.
Strike Three is this App which might be free but has a lot of strings attached. If you create any documents of any kind you’re forced to save them on the MS “Cloud” called “OneDrive”. There is no option that will allow you to save them just to your tablet. In my opinion it’s those kind of strong-arm tactics that could get me to walk away from MS entirely. Oh and by the way, you can take your Office 365 program and stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Everyone knows and worries about Google becoming too intrusive when they save every piece of information about us they can get. I understand now they have access to and save information on virtually every website we visit on the web. People are concerned about Muslim terrorists but compared with Google they’re inconsequential.
I took steps this year to install my own “Cloud” in my home with no available access from the net. All of my information and backups are now stored safely out of reach of the online thieves and hackers and controlled only by me.
So here’s my final thought for Microsoft. It’s time to get your collective heads out of your collective asses and get back to being the company we’ve all come to know and trust over the years. Bring Bill Gates back if you must and maybe he can stop you from following down that road right behind Google.
Since you’ve used up your three strikes, I just deleted your free Word App from my IPad. I never thought I’d see the day when Microsoft wasn’t leading the technology revolution by taking it in new and exciting directions instead of following along behind others like a lap dog.
As much as I’ve tried I’m still unsuccessful in eliminating politics from my long list of topics of conversation on this blog. To say I’m disgusted would be a huge understatement. I’m seeing things happening these days in this country that are impossible to believe. On top of that we’re being lead by a President who is an absolute disgrace to both the political system and to the country itself. The only disappointment greater than his presidency are the millions of people in this country who listened to his BS, bought it hook line and sinker, and voted for him twice.
‘U . . S . . A!, U . . S . . A! , U . . S . . A!’
The downfall of any successful enterprise is having an uncaring or uneducated group of people in places of responsibility. With that thought in mind maybe we should once again listen to the men who helped create this nation instead of ones who are trying to damage it as much as possible. It could take a new generation of intelligent and caring people to undo the damage caused by this man and his administration in a short eight years. The real problem in my mind is an electorate that seems willing to give total control of their lives to a group of elitist fools concerned only with their own wants and desires instead of those of the country.
I again sincerely apologize for talking about politics on this blog. Maybe these gentlemen can explain it better than I.
‘George Washington’
“Precedents are dangerous things; let the rein of government then be braced and held with a steady hand.”
‘John Adams’
“The most sensible and jealous people are so little attentive to government that there are no instances of resistance until repeated, multiplied oppressions have placed it beyond a doubt that their rulers had formed settled plans to deprive them of it.”
‘Thomas Jefferson’
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
‘Abraham Lincoln’
“Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong.”
Pick the group you want responsible for you and your families future.
My readjustment to this warmer weather continues. Last week was interesting and started with the flooding of my backyard. This isn’t unusual and happens quite often in the Spring but luckily the drainage for the property is excellent. There have been times when the water would be four feet deep but once the rain stops it drains away within 15 minutes.
Part of that flooding included my burn pit which I’ve been planning to use to rid myself of the Winters accumulation of scrap wood and saw dust. I also had a pile of lumber that was pulled from the garden frames last week and replaced. I had it drying out for a few days so it would burn properly once I threw it into the fire.
I decided to start the fire in the wet pit anyway figuring the heat would dry it out within minutes. A little newspaper and a quart of gasoline can get damn near anything burning as you can plainly see.
It’s always a good idea to burn when things are wet after a rain. It eliminates the possibility of starting a fire that could get into the forest next to the property. It also keeps the town from giving me grief about burning permits which I tend to ignore whenever possible.
My frustration with my lawn tractor continues. I’ve read everything I can find online about the mower, watched every YouTube video, and if anything I’m more confused than before. I’ll be visiting Lowe’s today for some expert help from their Lawn and Garden professional. He’s going to walk me through the steps that will hopefully help me get this damn thing running again. We shall see.
I’m still in bed as I write this post but was awakened in an interesting fashion earlier this morning. I was lying in bed in that La-La Land of half sleep deciding whether to get up or not. It was then I heard a very loud "Gobble . . . Gobble . . . Gobble" just outside my window. I stumbled over and there he was, a big fat tom-turkey doing his very best to wake up the entire house. Here in Maine that’s the next best thing to an alarm clock.
I rushed from the bedroom to find my camera but unfortunately he was gone into the nearby woods before I could get a picture. I’m sure he’ll return soon and I’ll snap a few at that time. Here’s a photo I took previously in the yard and I suppose there’s a chance it’s the same bird. It’s hard to tell, they all look alike to me. He’d better not show up around Thanksgiving because he’d be in big trouble.
Well, I’m off to Lowe’s. That should get my frustration level up there where it belongs. I sure hope this guy can help.
While we’re having a string of bright sunny days the nights continue to be a little too cold for my liking. It seems to be taking so damn long for the temperatures to heat up so I’ll do the best I can not to whine continuously about it.
‘You gotta love those pesky woodpeckers.’
This week’s weather milestone permitted me to don my first pair of shorts for 2015 and to sun myself on the deck. I even managed to get a light sunburn on my face and arms which tingled nicely as I showered last night. A truly delicious pain, right up there with hot peppers.
With the better-half having a weekend off we decided to get away from the yard work for a while and to take a walk in the woods. With cameras in hand we made our way to our favorite sanctuary located along the Scarborough River and marsh.
I love visiting this area early each Spring but to most people it just looks drab and dismal. The greenness of the plants is a week or two away, the ground is a little muddy, and the winter damage to the trees is highly visible. We got a little wet and muddy but the sun was shining and bright and we really enjoyed the fresh air. We walked though the sanctuary and ended up along the river bank overlooking the river and the marsh beyond. I’ve already used one of those photos for my IPad screensaver and I hope to collect many others as the summer progresses.
As we walked along we ran into another couple and their big old barking dog. The people were friendly enough but the dog left a lot to be desired. We continued walking back through the woods to check out the two small ponds looking for signs of any wildlife. We saw a few birds and some noisy crows but not much else.
It appears that it’s still too early for the frog population to make their appearance. The ponds were full of tadpoles swimming everywhere and there should be no lack of frogs later this summer. I’m not sure why I have such a fascination for swamps but I really do. Frogs are cool and my favorites, the dragonflies, are just weeks away from making their first appearances.
I can look forward to a summer of regular visits here and lots of terrific pictures, I hope.
I decided to do that one big job I had scheduled for today before I blogged anything. That may have been a huge mistake. I’ve been putting off doing some repair work to my lawn tractor that still refuses to start. I knew it would be a frustration for me because I hate doing things mechanical. The only mechanical person in my entire family was my late father who maintained a large float-glass factory for PPG for more than forty years. He knew everything about machines and he taught me only enough to get me into trouble. He also over the years taught me how to really and truly cuss. I was never aware of how many cuss words could be strung together until I worked with him on a few of his projects.
Pop was a professional cusser and damn proud of it. I ‘m more like him than I care to admit and if today was any example I may be better now than he was then. This effing tractor is driving me insane. I was tempted today to just drive it out into the middle of the back yard, douse it with gasoline, and a have a freaking bonfire.
After I thought about it a while I decided that doing that would then turn into something else entirely. With my luck some A-Hole from the town might ride by, check to see if I had a burn permit, and then call the cops when they found out I didn’t. Then the cops would have appeared and issued me a citation which would have sent me right over the edge. That combined with my pissed off attitude over this tractor would have assured me of a ride to the county jail for some sort of disorderly conduct charge. I know for a fact I’d have used a lot of those good old cuss words my father taught me and then the cop would have cuffed me and dragged me away.
If all that had actually occurred it would have cost me a few hundred dollars in fines, a few hours in the jail, and a somewhat questionable relationship with the local police. Then I would have come home and the real punishment would have started. I’d have heard each and every one of my father’s favorite cuss words all over again from my petit but really loud better-half. Nothing on earth is worth sitting through that tirade.
With my common sense keeping me from a trip to the jail I ended up saving a few hundred dollars today. Now if I take that money and hire a real mechanic to fix this damn tractor I just might break even.
It’s funny how things just keep snowballing along whether we like it or not.
I can finally accept the fact that Spring is here. I don’t take anyone’s word for it anymore but I do listen to Mother Nature when she speaks. The easiest way to make that determination is to sit on my deck and await the arrival of the hummingbirds. They arrived this morning and spent the entire day trying to empty our recently filled feeder. They must have been very hungry after their long trip and were sucking down that sugar water as fast as they could. Mother Nature’s sure-fire way of letting us know.
These last three days of beautiful sunshine permitted me to begin my yard cleanup and to complete a long list of repairs to the garden frames. Something else I picked up along the way was the beginnings of a bright red sunburn. My pasty white body will take some time making the adjustment to sunlight and I’ll enjoy every minute of it except for that first blast of hot water in the shower later tonight.
My better-half and I decided to take a few hours off and cruise up towards Sebago Lake which is an hour or so north of here. The town of Naples has always been one of our favorite spots for sitting on a deck overlooking the lake and enjoying a fun lunch. As you can see by the photos the sun is shining but the lake is only just beginning to thaw.
We drove the perimeter of the lake for an hour snapping a few more scenic pictures where the ice still is holding its own against the warmer temperatures. Most of the businesses have yet to open their doors and are spending most of their time cleaning things up in anticipation of the upcoming flood of tourists.
I can’t wait to return here when it’s a little warmer, with the restaurants open, and the place crowded with lots of interesting tourists. It’s a great place to relax, rent a canoe or jet-ski, and even take a plane ride over the lake up towards the White Mountains.
To misquote one of my favorite Generals – “We shall return.”
My bout with Spring Fever continues at a clip. It happens like this every year and every year I tell myself I’ll keep things under control. I’m afraid this will be the year that convinces me I don’t have a prayer of keeping things under control. I will probably continue to overwork and overspend like I do every Spring.
Yesterday the sun came out, the air was warm, and I was fired up after a few cups of ever-so-strong coffee. It was time to get out the old jeans and boots and get down and dirty in the garden. As I do every Spring I begin my chores in my herb garden. Pulling out those dead plants that didn’t survive the Winter, cleaning up debris, and preparing the soil for replanting. It appears that my normal winter losses were much less this year than in the past. Having that three feet of snow cover for most of the winter offered the plants a great deal of protection.
It felt good to be outside working and after a couple of hours I had a huge amount of dead plants and debris to dispose of. I had lunch and then decided to just keep on going. I use cold frames in the Spring to start a lot of plants to help increase the length of the short growing season. I’ve discovered over the last few years that certain plants like jalapeños will produce almost twice as much due in a large part to those three extra weeks spent in the cold frames.
‘This one lasted five years but is now on it’s way to the bonfire.’
One of my older cold frames was badly damaged by the heavy snow this year. It was crushed under the weight of the snow which completely shattered the glass cover. I was forced to remove it from the garden and discard it. Then it was off to Lowe’s to purchase some pressure treated lumber and hardware so I could begin construction of a new cold frame.
‘The required hole was dug and I was ready for installation.’
An hour later I had the cold frame completed and installed and with just a little landscaping and digging to finish the job. I was pleased with the results and I look forward to at least a minimum of five years of use.
“Ready for the plants.’
Another hour of cleaning the other parts of the garden and I was getting tired. It was time to take a hot shower, pour myself a brandy, and relax on the deck. The cat and I got seriously lazy awaiting the arrival of my better-half from work.
It was a great start for 2015 but a lot of work remains to be done. I’m really looking forward to getting the garden preparation completed and to begin planting. If today was was any indication I know one thing for certain, I’m going to be more than a little sore in the morning.
I may need to restock my Tylenol supply very soon.
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