This life ain't no fairy tale

What you are about to read is a true story.
The names of those involved have not been changed.
The location: my yard
The time: last night
The characters: Me, Big Daddy D, a frog and perhaps Reepacheep

Last night as Big Daddy and I were lying in bed, waiting for sleep to draw the curtains on the day I heard it. Right under our bedroom window, the chirruping, rhythmic call of a frog ready to procreate.
After commenting on how charming the frog sounded I slipped into sleep.
Some time in the wee hours of the morning(3:28 if you really must know) I was pulled from a slumber that for once this week was untroubled by bloody vampire dreams. What was it? My sleep fogged mind could not process the sound. Is it the "smoke" detector? Is the gas stove on, bleeding particles into the air? As I stumbled through the house looking for the source of the metallic chirping I realized the sound was only in our room. A brief stop by the window confirmed my dawning suspicion that the culprit of my wakefulness was the lonely sound of that frog calling out for a mate, his song greatly diminished over the hours(count them, 5)of unsuccessful broadcasting.
I lay there, fortunately not long(final clock check 3:42 cause I know you want to know), listening and wishing for silence, and as I once again drifted into dreamland his mournful tune stuttered to a halt.
Relating my tale of yet another wakeful night to Big Daddy I was, as usual, mildly perturbed by his assertions that he at least had not suffered the froggy serenade and had had a peaceful night's sleep.
Later, just moments after morning goodbyes Big Daddy D comes back in and says,
"You're not the only one who got tired of that frog-it's in the driveway and something pulled it's leg off"
"You're shitting me?!?!"
I run outside to look-barefoot in the cool drizzly rain-and sure enough there is Mr. Frog, belly up with one front foot and the opposite back foot chewed off, dead as Mr. Kennedy, lying in state behind the mustang.
"Yikes! Don't run over him, don't pop him! You have to get him off the driveway! Throw him in the grass or something!" (I'm such a girl sometimes)
I suspect Reepacheep, in doing one of the weird things that cats do, read my mind and got rid of my pesky suitor.
I mean, I wasn't gonna kiss that frog.
This life ain't no fuckin' fairy tale.

Reepacheep would rather sit out in wet snow than come inside some days.

I will be back soon with pictures and recipes and blathering I promise. After nearly an entire summer away from home I have a real need to get settled in first-get some workable routines going and all that stuff.

And naps, lots of naps.

Karma is a bitch sometimes....

As some of you might already know B and I have tried unsuccessfully to rescue and rehabilitate two late hatching bantam chicks that got severely pecked by a hen that wouldn't take them into her brood. The first was so injured I'm actually surprised it didn't die right away.
The second appeared to be less injured and surprised us by living through the night.

We decided to name her Stevsie after that first night.

Love and Hope blossomed and twined around my heart as each day progressed. Four days and four nights are more than enough time it seems to become entwined in those two emotions. I began making plans for Stevsie's return with us to Asheville and thinking of how to keep her safe from cats and dogs until we could find her a good home amongst the growing community of urban chicken keepers there.

Really though, I could tell yesterday that she was getting weaker, not stronger.

As a matter of fact little Stevsie died this morning in my hands. The little chick just wouldn't wake up this morning and shuddered her last peep as my tears fell on her soft downy body.
I am still crying as I type.
On to the Karma bit.
The hen that pecked the three chicks and ultimately killed them was herself killed by a neighborhood dog last night. It was quick but there you have it.
The flip side is if we can catch them we will have the 4 bantam chicks from her brood-all healthy thank goodness-to take home.
Big Daddy D's gonna love it dontcha think?
I at least have the beginnings of a smile again.
How's that for Karma?

I've been busy...

Chasing spiders with a ginornous red truck...

Taking kids to Oreo stacking contests at tiny grocery stores...

Stacking 17 Oreos, the Kid won!

Finding just exactly the Crepe Myrtles covered with Spanish Moss that you might imagine...
When Moms stay up til all hours of the "ahem" morning drinking Lemon Drops the kids will put themselves to bed...

In the recliner...
In the rocker...

And of course the couch...

Some mornings even Opal doesn't want to get out of bed...

Adventuring here...

Looking at Mother Nature's porn...

Aaahing at Mother Nature's cathedral...

Posing for terrible photos...

Taking good photos...

Taking bad photos of waterfalls...

Going down 232 stairs-and then back up...

Observing strange fungi...

Applying "permanent" purple make-up...

Posing for a gratuitous bikini photo...

Saving a snake the size of a linguine noodle from a spider web...

Running from the PoPo cause we were having too much fun...

Laughing with my sister about our horrible dining experience...

Enjoying a small park in a tiny town...

Admiring my artist in residence at work...

Proving that my eyes are blue...

Pondering the whys of crooked trees covered with fur...

Ooooohing over boat shaped houses...

Aaaaaaahing over lighthouse shaped houses...

Checking my bank account to see if I could buy this $1.5 million house made out of grain silos...

Excavating fishy remains...

Observing cousinly love...

And cousinly annoyance...

Enjoying time with my sister at sunset... Being grateful for that one last great day with Loved ones...

I have indeed been wonderfully busy.

Procrastination...

Here's the recipe for my soon to be famous Red Bean Salad:

1 tbsp fresh thyme

1 tbsp fresh rosemary

1 tbsp fresh parsley

Chop fine and put in your big bowl-the one you will be serving from cause there ain't no sense making a big mess-this is supposed to be quick and easy!

1/2 to 1 tsp onion powder

1/2 to 1 tsp garlic powder

You can use fresh but I am all out and going out of town so why bother? I recommend a very fine dice on these if you do use fresh-I like the red onions I've used in the past for this btw.

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

crushed red pepper flakes

To taste of course-I like kind of a lot

1/2 cup celery diced fine-like 1/4 inch dice-it's not that hard and when it's that small it's just crunchy.

I also chop up the leafy top but some people don't like to-whatever!

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1-2 tbsp lemon juice-go ahead and use the little squirt bottle stuff-no sense blowing 5 bucks on lemons this time around!

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Give a little stir

1/2 jar of roasted red peppers

1 can artichoke hearts

Rough chopped of course.

Give all of this a really good stir, taste it, and add any other seasonings you think it needs.

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed.

Fold these into your mixture and let sit for a few minutes-well 10 to 15 at least would be nice!

This salad only gets better in the fridge and it is very good cold or at room temperature.

My favorite is room temperature with a nice slice of toasted bread-baguette or sourdough usually- and the girls the same. This is an extra juicy recipe because I like to sop up the extra "dressing".

Big Daddy D likes a little meat though, so for him I put in some canned chicken or tuna. This works out well since he gets home and eats well after we do and we all get what we like.

Enough procrastination-I need to get the Kid's room finished while she's not around to mess with everything as I'm trying to get it put away.

Today is a Wonderful Day!

So once again my super twin powers did not activate(probably because I don't have a twin, since I know-I just know-I have super powers!) which left me with an extremely sore back-probably whiplash related as it is a pain that runs parallel to my spine, all the way down to the tip of my tail bone. But I am not here today to whine about pain and life's toils and troubles.

We have exciting things coming up in the months ahead!

Very exciting!

The Kid and I are off to Florida again next Monday for close to 3 weeks so that B can finish out her job on the horse farm. That has the potential to be great because I will be close to my cousin(of the original They fame), a FB/blog friend, and of course the rest of my sisters-all just a couple of hours away! My other sister and her kids are coming up to the Farm too!

When we finally get home I will be making another trip up to Wandering Girl's place to pick up my new.....KITTEN!!!!!!! I am so excited. She rescued 3 little kittens who had lost their mother in a tragic road crossing and posted pictures of these tiny little things and there he was! This little orange kitten I just knew without saying was a boy, that he was for me and that his name is Blue. I think he's polydactyl too!

(Did I ever tell you how I was plotting to steal a Hemingway cat one time when we were down in Key West but this morally upstanding guy I'm married to put the brakes on my "evil" plan?)

They were only 3 weeks old at the time of rescue so WG has spent many hours taking care of these little precious fluffballs and teaching them how wonderful people can be and I am so grateful I can't express how much!

Last but certainly not least we have a Foreign Exchange student coming here the first of September! She is from France and will probably be staying with us the entire school year. I am really looking forward to this opportunity for all of us. Wouldn't it be nice if B was able to go and stay with M and her family next summer? What an exciting prospect! I do hope the girls get along! Fingers duly crossed.

That is it for now.

Whoops! I need to go change clothes and get ready to pick up the Kid. We have a date to go fly a kite this afternoon!

*I got the picture here: http://madmonq.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/wonder_twins1.jpg

Fuckin' Friday Ya'll!

It's another Fuckin' Friday and I have a big WHAT THE FUCK going on right now.
We went on vacation for 2 weeks at the beginning of July, as you know. What you might not know is that I gained FOUR FUCKING POUNDS!
I came home determined to lose the FOUR FUCKING POUNDS by resuming my gym/treadmill activity and the usual cutting back on calories. My goal was/is to reduce by 5lbs and 3 inches(cumulative) in 4 weeks.
It has been TWO FUCKING WEEKS and I have not lost even ONE FUCKING POUND!
I confess I have no accurate idea about the inches except to note that my clothes nearly fit the way they did FOUR FUCKING WEEKS AGO.

MOTHER FUCKER!