You Throw Like A Girl

Spring is finally here! (Let's hope we don't get more snow.) My lovely tulips and daffodils are opening. I took this picture of wild daffodils while hiking in Alabama 2010. They seemed to grow everywhere like dandelions do here.

Yesterday I put out three hummingbird feeders, although the tiny wonders are not due back for a couple more weeks. Today I was enjoying a view of the birds at the seed feeder. Soon they flew off, and a bunch of orange fluff took their place. Red squirrel! Banging cans together or just shouting, I chased it off several times, only to watch it sit on a tree limb above my reach, laughing at me and twitching its tail. Later, I ran out of the house and lobbed a can of tomato soup at it, hoping to really scare it away- but after three tries, I only succeeded in denting my soup can.

It's not that I particularly hate red squirrels, but I do not want them around eating the birdseed and also- if they get into the house they are known to chew on electrical wires. Maybe it's time for live trapping and transplanting. Hmmmm

Spring Almost

With balmy weather and lots of sunshine, birds are singing, flowers are sprouting up, snow is melting. It lifts the spirit to feel refreshed and warmed. (Rain is on the way, of course.)

Balancing my carbohydrates with protein seems to keep my energy level, no spikes or downward spirals. My slacks are fitting more loosely, which is good.

I almost dragged my bike out, but the remaining daylight hours after work are still limited. Soon?

The Lowly Scrubbie

Some time ago, I submitted an article about thin green nylon scrub pads to a women's magazine and never heard a word back. I supposed that everyone else in the world has discovered how handy these can be (especially since they are sometimes hard to find) but perhaps there is one person out there who hasn't.

While attending a quaint old country church I noticed black scuff marks on the finished wooden floors. Going back later, I easily lifted off the marks by rubbing gently with a stiff scrubbing sheet.

Scrubbies are useful for exfoliating heels and soles of the feet after a shower or bath. (You could dampen a scrubbie and use a light touch on moistened elbows and face, followed by lotion or cream.)

To open a stubborn jar or turn a tight faucet, these pads grip almost as well as a rubber gasket.

My most recent discovery occurred after washing a black fleece cap and finding lint clinging to it afterwards. Brushing the damp surface with the green scrub pad removed the lint and restored it to almost new condition. This might or might not work on sweaters that have "pilled."

I cut each 4" x 6" sheet in half, then in half again to get maximum mileage out of these useful little scrubbers. Let me know if you have any other uses for them.

Box-ing

Okay, I admit it, I have a box fetish. Well, maybe not exactly a fetish, but- I hate to see a clean, sturdy box go to waste. When I'm in the grocery store, I would rather shop with a box on my arm than push around a rolling (screeching, sticking) cart. If an item doesn't fit in the box, I don't buy it. Often halfway through a quick trip to the store, I have to pick up an empty box (from a bottom shelf or stock clerk's pile) because I'm gathering more than I can carry. (I was so sure I wouldn't need a cart).

My significant other becomes nervous when I pick up a box at a store. "You can't take that box home!" I am warned. Is there concern that I might turn my living space into a warehouse???

A clean box can be re-used for many things. Long narrow boxes like shoe boxes make good dresser drawer organizers for socks, etc. Empty envelope boxes nicely hold greeting cards that I intend to send to family and friends someday. Sturdy boxes stacked on on their sides are a substitute for book shelves where there is a furniture shortage. Arranged similarly by the entry way, they may hold boots and sneakers neatly. On that top shelf of a closet, open boxes on their sides will keep stacked sweaters or folded slacks from falling down.

If one is creative, tray-type boxes covered with fabric or contact paper will serve as attractive desk-top organizers. I recommend stashing a box in the back seat to keep the inside of the car/mobile-office tidy. Putting groceries into a larger box in the trunk can prevent bottles from falling over/rolling around/spilling their contents.

Boxes can be pressed into frugal duty almost anywhere. I feel like I'm forgetting some other clever applications.

Have I convinced you yet of the value of the lowly box???

Cornfields

Summer is winding down: tree leaves are tinged with orange and all but the most persistent weeds are dying. Purple thistle and goldenrod grace the roadsides.
At the Farmers Market, tables are filled with a colorful display of produce including fuzzy peaches, gleaming green peppers and orange-red tomatoes.

While riding my bicycle between cornfields I saw the sunlight glinting off a sea of green leaves. This poem came to me:










a-Maize

Tall cornstalk's gone to tassel
Green ear's topped with silk red
Flat hollows in the rows disclose
Where weary deer have bed.
8/19/2011

Taraxacum Officinale

From Euell Gibbons' wonderfully informative field guide "Stalking The Wild Asparagus" I gleaned this information:

Expressed juice from dandelion roots was used in times past to improve the health of those who suffered from vitamin deficiencies in fall/winter. Roots dug up in spring can be treated and cooked like sliced potatoes. Newly sprouted greens from the springtime plant also make wonderful salads. Ground up roots may be used to make a coffee substitute, and the flowers are an important ingredient in making dandelion wine.

I'll not slam dandelions, no. As a child, I often picked these harbingers of spring to gift others. And suffered brown sticky fingers due to the "milk" oozing from broken stems. There was a way to weave them into a garland... In late summer I blew their downy fluff to "make a wish" and watched as myriads of white-winged brown seeds floated aloft on any available breeze, bound for new homes. Indeed, I could actually admire these composite flowers (flowers within flowers) for their tenacity (Can you ever really uproot one of these plants?) and proliferation. Don't tell anyone, but from time to time I have enjoyed the view of a field gold with dandelions (glad that it was not my own lawn). So, who designated them "weeds?"
This poem I wrote a while ago comes to mind:

Weed Lament
Dandelions' sunny heads
springing up where 'ere they please,
in and out of flower beds,
bringing gardeners to their knees!

Life Is Just A Bowl Of...........

How lovely is the fruit of the season! Each month offers something new. Today was moderately warm and breezy- happily lacking the recent oppressive humidity. I always feel more alive when the humidity is lower. This was Farmers' Market day in a nearby town, so I went to check out the produce displays. Dark green cucumbers gleamed, the season's first peaches blushed, purplish plums beckoned, yellow or dark red cherries beguiled. I opted for 1/2 bushel of peaches to can and a decent sized basket of sour cherries for jam.

Having previously given up on using the clever "cherry pitter" tool, I devised a simpler and faster (for me) method of removing the pits from the sour cherries: Take a handful of washed/de-stemmed cherries, use a sharp paring knife to pop the skins, then squeeze the cherries one-by-one over a small bowl, removing the pits by hand. Well, it worked for me and my first batch of cherry jam is sitting prettily in small jars cooking on the counter.