After I got into bed last night, just before I turned off the television, for some reason which escapes me now, I realized that today (right now) is September 15. Isn't there a quarterly estimated tax payment due on September 15?
Since it was early, for me (about 12:30 or so) I could have gotten up and made a note to self to remember to send a check...but, I just told myself a couple of times to remember it when I got up in the morning. That usually works for me, and it did this time, too.
So, upon waking up with a start...I mean I practically shot out of a deep sleep...at 8:30 or so, the tax payment was my first thought. Then my second thought was that I was hungry. After the usual morning ablutions, I looked in the file and found that, yes, indeedy, I needed to pump some more money into the treasury.
But, first I needed breakfast. I stopped at Jr.'s yesterday to buy a couple of rib-eyes and found...to my delight...that they had rib-eyes for $6.99 a pound. While waiting for them to fetch some plain (they also have seasoned ones) steaks from the back, I noticed the fresh pork pan sausages in neat little 1 pound packages and got one of those. All I've had with my breakfast omelets, pancakes, etc., lately has been bacon. One can get tired of the same old thing every day. I made a couple of small (about 1 oz. each) patties and let them cook while I got my coffee started and got an egg ready to scramble.
My morning coffee of choice lately? I have a Keurig single serve coffee maker and I absolutely LOVE the Timothy's Irish Cream coffee. Quoting Rachael Ray, "Yummo!" I love the smell as it's dripping and the taste. Umm, umm!
I got a corned beef brisket started about 9:30...it takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours. That's another thing I love...fresh corned beef. It's well worth the effort...not that there's much effort involved. I used to put it in a big pot and simmer it for 3 hours, then found that I could wrap it in foil, add some water and bake it for 3 hours. The baking produces much less of a clean-up mess, so that's the way I do it now. I just took it out of the oven and it needs to cool for 15 minutes...which has already happened...so, I'm out of here to have a simply fabulous corned beef sandwich on Jewish rye bread...with onions!
By the way...my hardest thing about writing posts is coming up with a title that hints at the subject. So, please forgive me if they're lame...which, come to think about it might be uncomfortably accurate.
Oh...and the sandwich was sooooo good! I had regular potato chips with it, but they detracted from the sandwich, so I didn't finish them. One thing that might have been a good go-with would be a kosher dill slice. They have really good ones at the Rockit Cafe in El Campo. Wonder what brand they are?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Update on the Cuttings Experiment
I walked out to the mailbox a little while ago and on the way I checked on the five lantana cuttings I poked into the flower bed a few days ago. It was an experiment...one for which I didn't hold out much hope. The cuttings seemed too flimsy and probably should have been made from woodier stems than what I used.
Anyhooo, they seem to be in five different stages of dying. The one I showed in the photo looked about the same...well, worse, but about the same. Of the other four, one is all crispy, one has about 2 inches of stem and nothing else, a third has more stem and nothing else. I didn't see the fourth one, at all.
It's probably fair to conclude that the experiment will fail. But, I still think lantana or something similar would be really pretty out there. Maybe I'll look for some plants the next time I'm at Walmart. Of course, the downside to that would be that watering is sure to be required...at least at first...and I just don't know if I'm up for that.
Anyhooo, they seem to be in five different stages of dying. The one I showed in the photo looked about the same...well, worse, but about the same. Of the other four, one is all crispy, one has about 2 inches of stem and nothing else, a third has more stem and nothing else. I didn't see the fourth one, at all.
It's probably fair to conclude that the experiment will fail. But, I still think lantana or something similar would be really pretty out there. Maybe I'll look for some plants the next time I'm at Walmart. Of course, the downside to that would be that watering is sure to be required...at least at first...and I just don't know if I'm up for that.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Very Lazy Gardener Makes a Stab at Propagation
I was about to walk out to the mailbox to put a few envelopes into it when I remembered what I said earlier about getting some clippings from the lantana and poking them into the flower bed across the driveway. So, I got the clippers out of the cabinet, stuck the envelopes into my pocket and proceeded to clip five 8" long bits from the bush. It occurred to me that the stems seemed pretty flimsy and maybe cuttings should be taken from the woodier part of the shrub. But, what the heck. This is going to be an experiment and I don't really care what the outcome is. It would be cool if one of the five actually roots, but it doesn't matter.
I needed something to punch a hole in the ground, so I grabbed the frog hose thingy. (I knew the word for it a couple of hours ago, but have since forgotten. It's to prevent the hose from scraping over flowers, etc, when one is pulling it to different areas. If I think of the word again, I'll be sure to put it in here.)
I poked a hole and dropped the first "cutting" in and them smashed it closed with my foot. It had been just a couple of minutes since I cut the piece off the bush and it was already in a swoon. I continued on with the other four and each looked as bad as the one before it. I didn't water them, because a) it rained all day yesterday...surely that's enough dampness, and b) I don't care very much. Certainly not enough to fool with dragging a hose way out there. No telling how long that would take me. First a 50' hose wouldn't be long enough, so I'd have to connect a couple of them and then connect to the faucet and then wrestle them out there. Plus, all of the hoses are dirty, which would be annoying. Going back and forth with a bucket of water would take less time, but would be heavy and, well, refer to b).
GUIDE! That was the word...a hose guide. See photo below of the frog hose guide and the very sad looking cutting nearby (which looks like it's bent over puking or maybe about to faint). The frog looks suspiciously pleased. And, by the way, if I were actually using it as a hose guide, it would be pushed down much further.
I needed something to punch a hole in the ground, so I grabbed the frog hose thingy. (I knew the word for it a couple of hours ago, but have since forgotten. It's to prevent the hose from scraping over flowers, etc, when one is pulling it to different areas. If I think of the word again, I'll be sure to put it in here.)
I poked a hole and dropped the first "cutting" in and them smashed it closed with my foot. It had been just a couple of minutes since I cut the piece off the bush and it was already in a swoon. I continued on with the other four and each looked as bad as the one before it. I didn't water them, because a) it rained all day yesterday...surely that's enough dampness, and b) I don't care very much. Certainly not enough to fool with dragging a hose way out there. No telling how long that would take me. First a 50' hose wouldn't be long enough, so I'd have to connect a couple of them and then connect to the faucet and then wrestle them out there. Plus, all of the hoses are dirty, which would be annoying. Going back and forth with a bucket of water would take less time, but would be heavy and, well, refer to b).
GUIDE! That was the word...a hose guide. See photo below of the frog hose guide and the very sad looking cutting nearby (which looks like it's bent over puking or maybe about to faint). The frog looks suspiciously pleased. And, by the way, if I were actually using it as a hose guide, it would be pushed down much further.
More from the Very Lazy Gardener
I decided to walk out to look at the hydrangea early (relatively) this morning to see how it was doing after the rain which fell all day yesterday. I figured it must be pretty happy. It looked about the same...no better, no worse. But while poking and feeling around it with my foot I could tell that no new dirt had magically gotten itself there to fill in the voids. And some of the pine needles seem to have left their assigned spots. Maybe I should make more of an effort.
The lantana, on the other hand, is as happy as a plant can be. Could it be all the regular watering it's getting from the irrigation system? It never occurred to me to water it regularly...it just looks like it prefers to be on the dry side. But, honestly, even if it had occurred to me, I wouldn't have followed through on it. I feel like I've done my part by bringing it home from Walmart and planting it. I did actually consider snipping a few cuttings from it and poking them into the ground in "flower bed" out front...across the driveway. What do I have to lose? The lantana is crazy spread out onto the concrete, so I would just be pruning it a bit. By poking the cuttings into the ground I get to skip the tedious steps of digging a hole and removing a plant from a pot. If it makes it...yay! If it doesn't, who's gonna know? Win, win...right? Maybe I'll do that later.
I also walked around the entire perimeter of the house, pulling the occasional weeds that have sprung up in the new landscaping. I blame Wayne for having Rudy & Joe spread that lousy sand in the beds after all the giant, old shrubs were removed. There are now places where nutgrass has popped up and I haven't had to deal with nutgrass in ages. The rest of the sand pile, which lurks in the side yard is full of johnson grass and nutgrass and other weeds.
My trip around the house couldn't have taken much more than 10 minutes. There was a nice coolish breeze and I didn't mind it at all. But, I did notice that I should probably deadhead the roses again. Geez! Does it never end?
The lantana, on the other hand, is as happy as a plant can be. Could it be all the regular watering it's getting from the irrigation system? It never occurred to me to water it regularly...it just looks like it prefers to be on the dry side. But, honestly, even if it had occurred to me, I wouldn't have followed through on it. I feel like I've done my part by bringing it home from Walmart and planting it. I did actually consider snipping a few cuttings from it and poking them into the ground in "flower bed" out front...across the driveway. What do I have to lose? The lantana is crazy spread out onto the concrete, so I would just be pruning it a bit. By poking the cuttings into the ground I get to skip the tedious steps of digging a hole and removing a plant from a pot. If it makes it...yay! If it doesn't, who's gonna know? Win, win...right? Maybe I'll do that later.
I also walked around the entire perimeter of the house, pulling the occasional weeds that have sprung up in the new landscaping. I blame Wayne for having Rudy & Joe spread that lousy sand in the beds after all the giant, old shrubs were removed. There are now places where nutgrass has popped up and I haven't had to deal with nutgrass in ages. The rest of the sand pile, which lurks in the side yard is full of johnson grass and nutgrass and other weeds.
My trip around the house couldn't have taken much more than 10 minutes. There was a nice coolish breeze and I didn't mind it at all. But, I did notice that I should probably deadhead the roses again. Geez! Does it never end?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Very Lazy Gardener
Rainy, rainy day. The yard really needed it. I haven't mowed in a couple of weeks as the taller grass shades the roots. Yeah...let's go with that.
I stood in the garage and took a couple of pictures to post here. My intention was to show the rain, but I ended up just showing the vitex tree and foxtail ferns on one side of the garage and the lantana, redbud tree, agapanthas, coiled up hose and the nice, big pot that Wayne broke when he got out of the truck without putting it in PARK. The lantana is so happy there. It's planted too close to the driveway and is just spilling out on the concrete. (I put that there a couple of years ago...not the fault of anyone else.)
I'm tempted to plant more lantana...the only thing holding me back is I don't want to have to water them. In fact, I am tempted to put all sorts of things around trees and in flower beds that have large shrubs just waiting to be the backdrop for them.
Robin and Chad gave me a beautiful hydrangea for Mother's Day. It had been positioned, in it's original pot, under a slowly dripping faucet. All during the landscaping, the guys would move it out of the way and I would put it back as soon as they left. So, Mother's Day is fairly early in May, right? The landscaping was done in July. Last week, on about September 1, I finally took the hydrangea (which by now is looking pretty sad...some crispy leaves, other stunted looking leaves, and yet, a hopeful stem with a pending bloom) and dug a hole in an area Jeff said would be suitable. It's about 8 feet or so in front of some very large shrubs with more very large shrubs to the east of it. There are two (untended and unwatered, for the most part) crepe myrtles in front of and to the right and left of the hydrangea. So, basically it's in the middle of, but not very close to all those things. It will get some sun in the afternoon. The hole I dug was half-hearted...not quite deep enough. I kept putting the hydrangea in it and smashing it down with my foot, then pulling it out and making a few more stabs with the shovel. I repeated that about three times before I decided it was now or never. I put the plant in the hole, but didn't really find all the dirt I had dug out of it. Where the hell did it go? So, I put as much dirt in as I could and smashed it down some more and covered the rest with pine needles. I'm pretty sure there are lots of voids in that soil. I watered it. And that's that! Well, I have watered it a couple more times and now it's getting plenty of water from the rain. I hope it does better than I did...which wouldn't take much effort on it's part. After I planted it, when I came into the house, about the first thing I saw was the card that was on the plant when they brought it. It had all the info I needed about how to care for it, where to put it, how to plant it. Let's just say that out of the eight steps of direction, I correctly did Step 2: Remove the plant from the container.
I stood in the garage and took a couple of pictures to post here. My intention was to show the rain, but I ended up just showing the vitex tree and foxtail ferns on one side of the garage and the lantana, redbud tree, agapanthas, coiled up hose and the nice, big pot that Wayne broke when he got out of the truck without putting it in PARK. The lantana is so happy there. It's planted too close to the driveway and is just spilling out on the concrete. (I put that there a couple of years ago...not the fault of anyone else.)
I'm tempted to plant more lantana...the only thing holding me back is I don't want to have to water them. In fact, I am tempted to put all sorts of things around trees and in flower beds that have large shrubs just waiting to be the backdrop for them.
The Vitex tree and foxtail ferns
The lantana, redbud tree and broken pot
Robin and Chad gave me a beautiful hydrangea for Mother's Day. It had been positioned, in it's original pot, under a slowly dripping faucet. All during the landscaping, the guys would move it out of the way and I would put it back as soon as they left. So, Mother's Day is fairly early in May, right? The landscaping was done in July. Last week, on about September 1, I finally took the hydrangea (which by now is looking pretty sad...some crispy leaves, other stunted looking leaves, and yet, a hopeful stem with a pending bloom) and dug a hole in an area Jeff said would be suitable. It's about 8 feet or so in front of some very large shrubs with more very large shrubs to the east of it. There are two (untended and unwatered, for the most part) crepe myrtles in front of and to the right and left of the hydrangea. So, basically it's in the middle of, but not very close to all those things. It will get some sun in the afternoon. The hole I dug was half-hearted...not quite deep enough. I kept putting the hydrangea in it and smashing it down with my foot, then pulling it out and making a few more stabs with the shovel. I repeated that about three times before I decided it was now or never. I put the plant in the hole, but didn't really find all the dirt I had dug out of it. Where the hell did it go? So, I put as much dirt in as I could and smashed it down some more and covered the rest with pine needles. I'm pretty sure there are lots of voids in that soil. I watered it. And that's that! Well, I have watered it a couple more times and now it's getting plenty of water from the rain. I hope it does better than I did...which wouldn't take much effort on it's part. After I planted it, when I came into the house, about the first thing I saw was the card that was on the plant when they brought it. It had all the info I needed about how to care for it, where to put it, how to plant it. Let's just say that out of the eight steps of direction, I correctly did Step 2: Remove the plant from the container.
The hydrangea is waaaay back there, the small lighter green clump in front of the big darker green shrubs
I would have tried to take a better (closer) photo, but it's still raining and I didn't want to look any worse than I already do.
Monday, September 6, 2010
How Old Am I, Anyway?
That's a question I ask myself every time a particular commercial is aired. This afternoon I'm celebrating Labor Day by sitting in my recliner playing Free Cell while watching a "The Nanny" marathon on TVLand. The commercial I'm talking about is for acid reflux disease. The product is called AcipHex. "If your burning, bad taste and belching won't quit, talk to your doctor. It could be acid reflux disease......Side effects may include pain, sore throat, infection, gas, and constipation. Other serious stomach conditions may exist......"
Seriously, if those are the possible side effects, don't they sound worse than the symptoms they're supposed to treat? But, the part that makes me look up when I hear the commercial is the name of the drug. AcipHex...pronounced "ass effects." I don't know how they can keep saying it without laughing. And they do keep saying it. I know I giggle every time I hear "ass effects".
Didn't anyone say it out loud before they pinned that name on it?
Seriously, if those are the possible side effects, don't they sound worse than the symptoms they're supposed to treat? But, the part that makes me look up when I hear the commercial is the name of the drug. AcipHex...pronounced "ass effects." I don't know how they can keep saying it without laughing. And they do keep saying it. I know I giggle every time I hear "ass effects".
Didn't anyone say it out loud before they pinned that name on it?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Old Photos and Memories
Well, I thought I might actually just watch television tonight since I'd spent the entire day on the computer. But, I only managed to watch a little while...playing a game on my phone during the commercials...before I decided I wanted to have the computer on my lap. I guess it's official...I'm addicted to the laptop.
What I did all day was scan old photos into the computer. Not all day. But enough of it that I didn't do much else. I had already scanned all the photos in our wedding book. After 45 years they had turned a sort of mauve. I did that yesterday or the day before, finally.
Last year, when we were looking for photos of Robin for the wedding video, I went through all our old photograph albums. You remember them, don't you? Back in the stone age people took photographs using cameras with film and then we actually took the film somewhere (usually the drugstore) and had it developed and actually had pictures printed. And if we were really on top of things we put the pictures in albums, too. While I was looking through all the albums and boxes (many of them didn't make it into albums), I took our wedding album upstairs with the intention of scanning the photos. That never happened for whatever reason. But the book stayed upstairs, becoming the base for a stack of other stuff.
So, as I said, I did finally scan our wedding pictures. Luckily, back in the day, the albums were nothing like the albums of today. There were a mere 25 photos in the album. Plus one that was evidently the picture we put in the paper.
The weddings of yesteryear were pretty far removed from the weddings of today, too. My dad had saved the receipt from the reception which was held at the Magnolia Tea Room...the large, old home of a large, old, mostly deaf woman. She baked the cake and provided the dishes and coffee service and whatever else was needed at the reception. She could be a tad cranky and was fairly inflexible...things had to be done her way. No music that I can remember, no dinner, no dancing. Just cake and a little visiting, then up the stairs to change into our traveling clothes. Down the stairs, pose for a picture and race out to the car while being showered with rice. I'm not sure, but I would be really surprised if we weren't out of there by 10 PM...and the wedding started at 7:30! The bill for the reception...$300. Seriously!
There was only coffee and punch at the reception...but, it was a different story when the guests moved to my parent's house where they partied hard, so I'm told.
What I did all day was scan old photos into the computer. Not all day. But enough of it that I didn't do much else. I had already scanned all the photos in our wedding book. After 45 years they had turned a sort of mauve. I did that yesterday or the day before, finally.
Last year, when we were looking for photos of Robin for the wedding video, I went through all our old photograph albums. You remember them, don't you? Back in the stone age people took photographs using cameras with film and then we actually took the film somewhere (usually the drugstore) and had it developed and actually had pictures printed. And if we were really on top of things we put the pictures in albums, too. While I was looking through all the albums and boxes (many of them didn't make it into albums), I took our wedding album upstairs with the intention of scanning the photos. That never happened for whatever reason. But the book stayed upstairs, becoming the base for a stack of other stuff.
So, as I said, I did finally scan our wedding pictures. Luckily, back in the day, the albums were nothing like the albums of today. There were a mere 25 photos in the album. Plus one that was evidently the picture we put in the paper.
The weddings of yesteryear were pretty far removed from the weddings of today, too. My dad had saved the receipt from the reception which was held at the Magnolia Tea Room...the large, old home of a large, old, mostly deaf woman. She baked the cake and provided the dishes and coffee service and whatever else was needed at the reception. She could be a tad cranky and was fairly inflexible...things had to be done her way. No music that I can remember, no dinner, no dancing. Just cake and a little visiting, then up the stairs to change into our traveling clothes. Down the stairs, pose for a picture and race out to the car while being showered with rice. I'm not sure, but I would be really surprised if we weren't out of there by 10 PM...and the wedding started at 7:30! The bill for the reception...$300. Seriously!
There was only coffee and punch at the reception...but, it was a different story when the guests moved to my parent's house where they partied hard, so I'm told.
Here we are emerging from St. John's Catholic Church in Taiton. St. Philip's Catholic Church was being remodeled and weddings were being held in the gym. I said, "I don't think so."
Not one of your towering cakes found at receptions today. I think there was a Groom's Cake, too...but, I'm not sure.
We're about to leave the reception...all dressed up in our grown-up, fancy traveling clothes. I was almost 20; Wayne was almost 22.
We're making the dash to our car...not a limo. We drove to Houston and stayed in the apartment that was going to be our home. We left a couple of days later for our honeymoon in Las Vegas...where I was underage and couldn't take advantage of any of the free drinks included in our honeymoon package.
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