Razzmatazlady

Author: CherylK

  • Snow Birds



    April 26, 2008

    Yes, we have been visited once again by Old Man Winter as you can see by these brand new photos. Yesterday, it snowed all afternoon and well into the night. The snow has stopped but the winds have whipped into a frenzy, blowing snow everywhere. The photo of our kitchen window attests to that! Can hardly see out of it. I like the little “snow birds”.

    I kind of like the picture of the lake – no more ice. Quite a contrast against the snow.

    The leaded glass pane that’s hanging in the window is actually the transom that was above my grandparents’ front door in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The address was 10 Roosevelt Street. Years ago, when my grandmother came to the United States, my mother had the stained glass replaced with something else so she could bring the #10 back with her. That’s what we always called my grandparents house. Number 10. You know, like “I got a letter, today, from #10.” I have very fond memories of #10 although I haven’t been there since I was twelve years old.

    Jack went out to get the newspaper, this morning, just as it was being delivered. The delivery guy asked Jack if he’d please take one to a house about four doors down because he didn’t have four-wheel drive. That’s how much snow there was on the road. So Jack, being the nice guy that he is, delivered it – on foot!

    We’re pretty much housebound, today. I envy the human “snow birds” who are still basking in the sun down south or out west.

  • The Ice Is Out!

    Fishin’ Off The Dock

    Yesterday the lake was covered with islands of ice. It was dark so we knew it was thin and the breeze was moving it all southward. You could tell that the lake was in the last throes of winter.
    Today…no more ice! It won’t be long and the docks will be hauled back into the water and the boat lifts will be lugged into place. It’s a nasty job involving hip boots (sometimes leaky hip boots), a lot of stamina and a couple of hours work. And that water is C.O.L.D.! It used to be that all the guys on the street would take a day and help each other do the job. It was something that had to be done and much easier if everyone joined in. It was also kinda social.
    They’d come in freezing cold at the end of the task and swear that “next year I’m hiring it done” and then, next year, they’d all head back out and do it all over again. But the past couple of years most everyone has hired someone to haul the docks out in the fall and put them back when the ice is out.
    That pretty much happens by Mothers’ Day. Not as a tribute to mothers, you understand. No, it’s because Mother’s Day weekend is the opening day of the fishing season! Yep, it’s a big day in lake country. One nice benefit for the mothers is that, in order to ease the guilt of fishing on mother’s day, most mothers do get treated to a nice Mother’s Day brunch! Hey, I’ll take it!

  • Sara Paretsky and My Squidoo Lens and Rainy Day Notes

    Jack and I both like to read. We read every single night before we turn out the light. Sometimes for just a few minutes and sometimes for hours. Anyway, we read all sorts of books but right now we’re on a “crime novel” jag and the author of choice is Sara Paretsky.

    Her heroine is a lady private eye named V.I. Warshawski. The stories take place in Chicago. Part of the reason I enjoy them is because we lived there for five years and can follow her travels throughout Chicagoland easily.

    This is my favorite V.I. quote: “Never underestimate a man’s ability to underestimate a woman”. Ha! I love it. Isn’t that just rich????

    I recently did a Squidoo page on Sara Paretsky but it was kind of lacking on content and pictures. I sent a message via her official website to ask permission to use some of the pictures and content in my Squidoo page.

    WELL, I got a personal message from Sara Paretsky, herself, giving me permission to use anything from the website as long as I attribute it to the website! I was SO excited!

    So I’ve redone the page and I think it’s pretty complete. I have to add an RSS feed to it – maybe from her website. If I understand it right (and it’s entirely possible that I’m totally wrong), an RSS feed is basically a link to something that is automatically updated when new content is added. Like news from her website. I’m still learning about feeds so I haven’t finished that part but otherwise I think it’s pretty nifty. Please take a look and tell me what you think. Here’s the link: http://www.squidoo.com/SaraParetsky. You can also get there by clicking on the link in the right hand column. I hope.

    Update on the weather here: It’s raining. There are two good things about that…we need the rain and it’ll probably help the ice go out on the lake. But it makes for another indoor day. Well, there’s lots to do indoors, anyway.

    Hope it’s sunny where you are…

  • Signs of Spring

    Tulips Emerging From The Ground!

    Well, this isn’t much of a picture but I promised a shot of new garden growth and, TA-DA!, here it is! Little baby tulips poking their little heads through the ground. I think they’re tulips although it’s possible that they’re daffodils. Time will tell.

    You can see if you look closely that there are several tiny clumps emerging. Most of them are too little to show much. I’ll bet that by the first of next week they’ll be much larger.

    Got most of my flowers in this perennial bed from a good friend, Diane, who has an amazingly “green” thumb! I’ve got bits of driftwood here and there throughout that garden. Most of it came from Washington state. Ken, my brother-in-law, has found some really pretty driftwood for me. It makes that garden special.

    Last April we were on Padre Island off the coast of Texas (were visiting friends who have a place in Texas) and picked up a couple of neat pieces of driftwood along the shore.

    Well, the ice is slowly receding. Getting softer and softer. It’s going to be near 70 degrees, today. That will definitely help. Rain and colder weather is forecast, though, for the rest of the week so we’d better get out there and enjoy the sun while we have it.

    There’s been a pileated woodpecker hammering his way through a log in our lakescaping. As long as he doesn’t hammer on the house, I don’t mind! They’re large birds with red hoods and, although they’re very pretty, they’re destructive little buggers. I’m going to try to get a picture of him – no promises, of course.

    I’m heading back outside with my camera. Hope I get some good shots, today.

    Peace and Goodwill.

  • Earth Day

    Tibetan Prayer Flags in the Sonoran Desert

    Today is Earth Day. It’s a day to be as kind to the earth as we possibly can. On purpose.
    Of course, we should be as kind to the earth as we possibly can every day, but we usually aren’t.
    The closest that I get, probably, is that I am aware of when I’m not being kind to the earth and I have the decency to feel guilty. And I actually have made a few good habits that help.
    I took this photo of the prayer flags while we were housesitting in the Tucson area. Why do I have a picture of Tibetan Prayer Flags in this post? Well, here’s a bit of information about them from Wikipedia:
    Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom.
    There are five of them and they’re each a different color representing the five elements of the earth. Blue symbolizes the sky or space, White is the air or wind, Red (symbolizing fire), Green sympolizes water and Yellow is the color of the earth.

    Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.
    What better symbol could there be for Earth Day. I think they’re just beautiful.

  • Spring Fever Pictures


    Nope, these aren’t new photos. I wish they were.

    These are pictures I took last year. They’re my inspiration to hang in there until spring really is here in all it’s blazing glory.

    Those are Blackeyed Susans in the first photo, a gorgeous Day Lily in the second and the third is one of the lush, velvety Peonies from one of three Peony bushes that we have.

    Jack is outside cleaning out my perennial bed, bless him. As he removes all the leaves that piled up there last fall, you can see the tiny green bits starting to peek through. I’ll take a shot of them when they’re actually big enough to be seen through the camera’s eye.

    I, meanwhile, am sticking to the computer. It’s just that I’m on a roll and I hate to quit. No earth-shattering news to report about earning my first “internet million”. Just plodding away learning new things and trying to apply them.

    I’ve decided, though, that I need to pace myself. Spending twelve hours a day on the computer is very likely going to land me in the looney-bin. There are those who would argue that the looney-bin has always been just a stone’s throw away from me, anyway, but I choose to think othewise.

    So here’s my plan:

    I will make a schedule (and keep it) for spending time on my internet “work”.

    I will post to my blog every day. Even if it’s just a picture or a blurb that I’m still evading the looney-bin or whatever. Every day. A pledge.

    I will take a nice, long walk every day (if it’s not raining or snowing or blowing like mad). Walking is something I really enjoy and it’s fabulous “thinking” time. And maybe I can drop a couple of pounds. Funny how I lost ten pounds and kept them off all winter. The minute we got home to “the frozen north” and were sequestered inside because of the weather, I started to pile it back on. There is just no justice.

    I will spend some time, every day, reading. I always read for awhile every night, anyway, but that’s my time for light reading like novels. I’ll spend another hour or so reading to learn.

    It’s almost noon and I started this a couple of hours ago. Had a hard time getting the photos to upload right. Never did get it to work so this’ll just have to do. In any case

  • Spring Has Sprung!

    Wren House in Cranberry Bush

    The snow is almost gone! Hallelujah! It was terribly windy, yesterday, but it was warm. I looked out the window in the morning and Jack’s vegetable garden was still covered with a layer of snow. By dinner time the snow was gone.

    The ice has started to go out on the lake – it’s melted along our beach and it looks soft and mushy beyond that. Funny about the ice going out…one day it’s there and the next it’s gone. A couple of idiots were snowmobiling on it on Sunday. But that’s an entirely different rant…for another time.

    This is a picture of the little wren house in a cranberry bush outside our kitchen window. We can also see it from the bathroom that’s near the kitchen. In fact, when the cranberry bush is all leafed out it pretty much hides the bathroom window. A perfect vantage point for all the comings and goings in the cranberry bush which, by the way, is huge. It’s really a small tree – probably ten feet tall.

    Anyway, every year a house wren builds a little nest in that wren house and we watch from the time she hops in with her first beakfull of straw until the babies are gone. If we’re outside and get a little to close for comfort she scolds us. Whenever I walk under the bush (it’s very tall) I always say, “Just passing through – not to worry.” Pretty cool.

    The past couple of years a robin also has constructed a nest in the branches above the wren house and that’s awesome because we can see the eggs after she lays them. After they hatch we watch them with their little beaks wide open waiting for their mama to bring them a nice juicy worm or bug or whatever it is they eat. Worms, I think.

    The little ones grow quickly. The mama (or papa) still sits on the nest to keep them warm. When the babies are almost as big as the mother, she pretty much has to cling to whatever part of the nest isn’t covered by the babies. It’s a kick.

    Last year, though, at some point after the robin laid her eggs I happened to walk past the cranberry bush and saw the little blue eggs smashed all over the ground. I was sure that a squirrel was the guilty party. Darned squirrels. Made me mad.

    My friend, Karen, (who is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Mother Nature’s creatures) told me that sometimes a wren will destroy a robin’s nest. I don’t know why. Probably because the robin is vying for the same worms that the wren wants. I cannot believe that our cute little wrens with their sweet song would be that aggressive!

    I told Jack that it’s like the cranberry bush is a little village with discrimination – if you’re not a wren, you’re not welcome. I’m going to have to keep an eye on that wren, this year. Maybe the robin won’t come back. Or maybe they’ll live in harmony. Just like we humans do. Uh huh.

    I’ll keep you posted on the comings and goings in the cranberry bush.

  • I’m Squidooing Like Mad

    Today is supposed to be a beautiful warm day and the weatherman says it’s going to hit 54 degrees – woo hoo!! I’m thinkin’ positive! Soon as this snow melts, we’re outside. Still haven’t finished the organizing that I said we were going to do. I’d better get crackin’…today, for sure, I’ll accomplish something. What have I been up to?
    Well, I spent almost the entire weekend on the computer! I’m really into this stuff and I am working on another blog. Not ready for prime time, yet, however. Also, I’ve completed six Squidoo lenses and am working on a few more!

    Jack is going to leave me if I keep this up, though, I think. But this is all part of my search for that “niche” that I talked about a long time ago and if I’m not getting any younger! Gotta get my fifteen minutes of fame. So, hopefully he’ll be patient a little longer.

    I really am looking forward to getting out in the gardens, though. Two of my Squidoos are on gardening – one on lakescaping and one on rain gardens. It’ll be so good to get out there and get our hands dirty, again.

    There’s nothing quite like seeing those wildflowers and grasses go from little tiny things in the spring to full grown a couple of months later. Plus the perennial garden in the front is my baby. My friend Diane shared dozens of her perennials with me and it’s just beautiful now. Well, not this very minute, of course, because it’s covered with snow – ha! But it will be!

    By the way – if any of you get a wild hair to join Squidoo, would you please click the “create a lens” (or whatever it says) button from one of my lenses? That way, I’ll get credit!!

    O.K., I’m off to sort and organize. Well, I’ll have a cup of coffee and read the paper, first, and THEN I’ll sort and organize!

  • We’re Snug As A Bug In A Rug

    I think I’m coming to terms with the fact that spring is NOT here. It’s just around the corner, though. Word is that by Monday it’s going to be in the 60 degree range. Be interesting to see if that really happens.

    In any case, it’s toasty and warm in the house and we’re having fun planning the kitchen redo. The guy from Home Depot (who was scheduled to come out this morning to measure) called and cancelled. Our street hasn’t been plowed and Jack says he’s not going to clear the driveway…we’re not planning to go anywhere and it should all melt in a day or so. “Should” is the operative word, here.

    Remember my “dream job” aspirations? Well, I’m getting back on that. I’ve been having a great time with the Squidoo lenses (pages) and am learning a LOT! It’s fun and there’s a real possibility for some income if I play my cards right. I’m thinking about creating another blog, too. Maybe on WordPress instead of Blogger. I haven’t shelved the plans for a website, either. Really, you just have to stick with it – no matter what your goals are, don’t quit. It makes life so much more interesting.

    So that’s the scoop from here. Nothing too exciting but, hey, that’s life.

  • Spring Fever

    It’s sunny but cold, today. So what’s new?

    I hear it’s not going to warm up until next week so we’ve decided that we’re going to spend these yukky days inside cleaning out closets and getting rid of a bunch of stuff that we either don’t want or don’t need. Or both. Seems like this is a never ending situation.

    First things first – we’ll make a list and then start checking off the things that we actually do. “Actually do” is the operative phrase, here. Since we’re putting in new kitchen cabinets and countertops we might as well jazz up the rest of the house, too. We do have an estimate for the kitchen from Home Depot and a guy is going to come out here on Friday to do some measuring. I think we’ll get a couple of other estimates, too. Don’t want to spend a fortune because we’ll probably want to sell this property and move to a warmer climate at some point.

    So we’ll start by clearing out all the extra things we don’t need, we’ll remodel the kitchen and freshen up the rest of the house with paint. We’ll give ourselves plenty of time – a couple of months, probably. Sort of a Mega Spring Cleaning. Then , by the time spring actually does arrive, we’ll be able to spend time in the gardens. That’s a whole other project…

    It’s a good plan. More later.