My yard, not so pretty

I think this about a third of the giant oak tree that was cut down today, it was very tall.

Half a grapefruit tree anyone?  I don't know why they just cut half and moved on to the other.

This is your cue to start humming the theme song to "Sanford and Son."

Ah, it's been a trying day. Hearing massive limbs hit the ground and the constant whir of chain saws does tend to wear on you. The guys left for the day and what a mess they left behind. Two massacred trees and the junk that was in our fallen shed. We get to spend the weekend with it. Thought about taking that little claw fellow for a joyride around the yard, but I would probably end up clawing the side of the house and getting trapped. 

The oak went down with a huge thud- the diameter of the trunk was 4 feet. There were a few sacrifices as it fell, some flowers, some hedges, a possibly maimed bird and some eggs. (The tree guy felt bad.)  But it was a dangerous tree. Any minute it could have come to life and rampaged the neighborhood. Sorry, that just came to mind when I said it was dangerous. One of its huge limbs fell a few weeks ago and broke the roof on our nice neighbor's shed.  And it certainly wasn't a beautiful thing- it had been chopped in half years ago by us in an attempt to rejuvenate it, which didn't work. There are so many trees around that area, that you can't even tell it's gone. Except for the giant carcass laying in our yard. 

The not-so-nice other neighbor had requested that his fence be rebuilt over the tree stump (which they already did) and he left town this week, so when he gets back he'll see nothing. It will be like it never happened for him. Meanwhile, our yard looks like a bomb hit it. He's right about us having a sh*t yard now. (Yes, that's one of the nice things he said in one of his rants.) But we shall persevere and get things back into shape. We have so much space now! Plus a little justice was served when the rats living in the shed (the whole reason we were getting rid of it and the grapefruit tree- their food source) probably scattered into his yard away from all the ruckus in ours. 

We, however, were mightily prepared for a possible invasion with a pest control service who put our house on rat-lockdown and set out traps along the perimeter of our yard. Unfortunately urban Florida is a haven for them, they love the citrus and warm weather- I guess.  We've never taken a stand with them in the past, live and let live we'd say.  But they were out of control and living in our shed like it was their own personal condo.  I was afraid to go back there.  They were not my friends.  I'm very thankful for our cats right now.  In fact, just to prove her prowess (and perhaps calm my fears of an indoor unwanted visitor) Minnie caught a black snake in the garage for me! Which I had to sweep up and carry outside, lest it get loose in the house. Joy!

I've had enough of snakes, rats, and noisy tree men for the day.  I need to visit a very pristine, quiet place with no nature for a few hours.

P-nut Butter Cookies

P-nut butter cookies, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Made these last Thursday from a great recipe from Martha. They have the best texture, fluffy and crunchy at the same time.  And it's fun to make the crosshatches!  Watch out, this recipe makes a lot of cookies! I freeze half of the dough after rolling them into little balls. (You might also cut the recipe in half.) Click on the title to get the recipe. I didn't get it from martha. com because all the recipes listed were different from the one I had. There are many different ways to make a peanut butter cookie, my friends. This one matches mine from the magazine, even though she doesn't credit Martha. She'd better watch out! You don't mess with an ex-con.

LEGO

As those who know me may be aware, my husband is a reformed LEGO enthusiast. We have a closet full of bricks and catalogs to prove it.  He does still enjoy building occasionally and has supplied the girls with a nice amount of their own bricks- but has not remained as dedicated as his best friend, James.  James has turned his enthusiasm into a successful sideline.  Click on the title above to read his latest delightfully written article on LEGO trains. Keep on brickin' James!

George Carlin

Geroge Carlin. Loved listening to my mom's records when I was a kid. The drug references flew over my head, but always enjoyed the bits I did get. One of my favorites that I still think of today... "A freak accident happened on the highway today--four freaks in a bus hit two freaks in a van." Of course, I still didn't get the freak reference, but I did know freaks were supposed to be funny somehow. I'm sure he helped form my sense of humor. I broke out the George Carlin record at my 16th birthday party, it was a big hit. George did seem to get bitter as he aged, but a lot of people do. This picture reminds me of my childhood for so many reasons.  

Tree Removal Drama

Going to have a huge oak removed from the back next week. I would be sad about it, but it's got to go.  It's dangerously tall and half rotten.  It could fall on one of three houses in a storm, one of them being ours.  Had some neighborly disputes over where exactly the workmen were going to do the chopping.  For some reason our back neighbor really thinks he and his yard are superior to us and our yards.  He's extremely rude and outlandishly aggressive about the whole thing.  He had a yelling match with our other neighbor. My husband played peacemaker, sweetheart that he is.  I am so anti-confrontational.  It all makes me nervous.  I'm glad I wasn't there, I would have burst into tears like a baby and run away.  But hopefully it will all go smoothly and we'll get a few benefits, mostly freedom from fear of a big tree crashing on our house!

More From the Garden

Mushroom Cup, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Here's a little gift left by the fairies. I've never seen a mushroom like this! It's top sloped in like a dish and it held water. It was rather large too. A small bird could take a bath in it, well, a really small bird. I'm fascinated and also somewhat repelled by mushrooms. They seem to hold secrets in all their little folds. Secrets, or scary things that will pop out and bite you!

I was just thinking...

Gnome Thinker, originally uploaded by bossamama.

If you come to my house, this guy is waiting right by the door. But you might miss him, he's quite small, parked in the ficus tree pot.  He kinda reminds me of David Sedaris.

What's Growing in the Garden

Here are some things growing in the yard around my house.  Some of them were here before, most were planted by me...

Crepe Myrtle, I would have picked a lilac variety, but this will do.  The new buds are lovely...

Mexican Sage.  A prolific perennial, I have it in several spots. I love the lavender flowers.

Bleeding Heart-via the south.  This is different than the Bleeding Heart that grows most other places.  This vines up my front porch and receives constant comments.

Lovely tomatoes.  I believe these are the Roma grapes.  Grow like the grapes, but bigger than the tiny ones.  Good thing I planted these, huh?

Gee, can't remember the name, but believe it is a butterfly bush of some sort.  Moved it around and found the perfect spot, it has shot up to almost 5 feet tall this year! Update: It's called Fire Bush- thanks Jen!  Fire Bush, ha ha ha.  A little late for that.

Age

Went to try on bathing suits a few weeks ago. Always an interesting experience, this time towing the two girls along. As I viewed myself in the mirror I said to myself "This one looks kind of old." Hazel asked me what I meant, I told her it made me look like an older person and I didn't want to look like that. So, kind girl that she is announced as I tried on the next suit "That one makes you look like you're 10!" After I laughed, she then she started gaging each one, "That one makes you look 50! That one makes you look 39!" It made a usually distressing outing very fun.

Finished!

hoffman, originally uploaded by bossamama.

I actually finished a book. In 3 days no less. It meant not getting a few things done around the house. But it was worth it. Had that feeling I used to get over the long summers as a kid when I would read a new book everyday, stay up all night reading, go back to the library to stock up on more. Thanks Mom for giving me a book that could bring that feeling back. And what a dreamy, heartbreaking book it is- worth every moment. Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman.  Try not to read any descriptions, or you won't get to enjoy the surprises.  It shocks me how much people give away in reviews sometimes!  But be warned it can be a sad book.

That's Love

That's Love, originally uploaded by bossamama.

For the beautiful baby boy...

Bad Cat

Bad Cat, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Mickey the cat makes me very angry. Here he is all nonchalant while dirtying up our dining room table. Who knows what happens in the night. It can't be good.

We had a busy, busy weekend spending time with our great friends from Missouri. Time opens up in front of you endlessly when you first meet, then suddenly it's all over and back to everyday life. I have to start implementing some structure to our summer days or there are going to be 3 angry females at the end of each day.

Got my face back

Got my hair cut today after waiting for months. It was grown out and out of shape, it was just going to pasture on my head. I didn't realize how much my hair effects my whole body. I stand up straighter, I look people in the eye and my face looks different, I swear. It was like it was hidden before. And my grey hair is not nearly as noticeable. I don't even think I will color it, it almost looks like cool little highlights. Longer grey hair on me looks messy and sad. My extra cool hair dresser only charged me $25! He said I was the special of the day. He's very nice. And he's cut down on using the "f" word. He now just says "f". But he still calls me dude a lot. Which I find amusing. Rather be a dude than a ma'am!

Bossa Nova Queen

Inspired by another blog, I'm bringing one of my favorite singers here for your listening pleasure -- Elis Regina singing "Águas de Março" circa early 1970's

I'm dedicating this to Kendra! Welcome Baby!

The Day After

Tablecloth, originally uploaded by bossamama.

The girls were supposed to let me sleep in. I guess they did by an hour. Finally rambled out of bed then was surprised by the ring of the doorbell. We all forgot about the life insurance nurse arriving to give an exam. Embarrassing pajama/bird's nest hair door-answering ensued. Of course I had also boycotted kitchen cleaning yesterday and the house was a bit of a mess.

Last night went out to eat very late. Decided to make it a tradition the last day of school to take the children out to dinner embarrassingly late- 9pm to be exact. We closed the restaurant down along with another family with a young child- embarrassment erased (we left before they did!) Out in the parking lot had an interesting experience. H. was dutifully waiting near the car-standing very still while I loaded up Little L. It took a while so I told H. to go around to the other side of the car with Daddy so the lady who was parked right next to us could back out. I motioned for the lady that it was clear. She then rolled down her window and yelled at me with a very mean voice "Maybe you should keep an eye on your kid!" Apparently the irate lady had had a bad date- I had heard her walking to her car and turning to her date sarcastically saying "Thanks for the great dinner!" Gee whiz.

Yesterday had the sewing bug still, made this tablecloth and a toss pillow cover from fabric I've had for years. I've simply been throwing the unsewn fabric on the table as a cloth. Which was okay except it had to be folded to fit and it was all frayed at the edges from multiple washings. Now maybe I'll go around and hem up all the raw edges in the house!

Run dear turtle!

Run dear turtle!, originally uploaded by bossamama.

An exquisite ceramic sculpture by H.

The last day of school

The last day of school, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Can't believe it's already here. The last day of first grade. Of course at the beginning of the year it seemed so far away. This school year turtles were sculpted, reading was perfected, math was a cinch, lots of friends were made. Her whole life is stretched out before her, the decisions are hers to make. Such a sweet, good little girl- I'm so happy to know her.

A gift

A gift, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Finally got the two tote bags done for H.'s teachers. The only trouble I had was with my sewing machine and dropped thread. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what was wrong, scheming how I could get a new fancy machine if this one was broken. I finally realized that the thread had dropped out at the top. I was relieved as I was only halfway done with the first one. It took me a few hours to put together the first one. The second one took about an hour of assembly and sewing. I'm going to make some more and see if I can sell them! I hope the teacher's like them.

Fabric After

Fabric After, originally uploaded by bossamama.