Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Dreamin'....






Here I go again, dreaming of cars. Or should I say vehicles, because the Carver One is quite difficult to describe. Three wheels. Front part corners like a motorcycle while the back wheels stay planted to the pavement!

Top shot is a Fiat 500.

I'll take either one of these, but of course neither is available in Canada. Yet.

Whew!

That was a close one!!!
Among all the things I am getting done today is LAUNDRY! The washer has been making funny noises for a couple of years now (don't laugh - it still works) and tonight it died. Or so I thought. I was in the next room when I sensed something not quite right. Too quiet - didn't hear the cycle finish - then heard a 'click' followed by a hummmmm. Opened the top- dead still with towels in sudsy water. Then noticed a burning smell in the area! I figured the motor finally burned out. Talked to the other half on the phone and resigned ourselves to the fact that we are appliance shopping this weekend, after I call and price shop, seeing that we are at least 30 minutes from a store. WELL, after a half hour I plugged it back in and away it went, continuing from where it had stopped. WHEW! Seems to be working fine now and burning smell is gone.

Also watered the new seedlings and plants tonight, did the dishes, made a pretty good crab pasta salad for dinner, played with the dog and watched a bit of TV. Oh yeah, was online too.

Getting psyched for lots of visitors in May - yippee!!!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

You MUST watch this - Susan Boyle!!!

Get the tissues, click on the link below, sit back and be wowed!

In a world full of bad news and negativity please take a few moments to share in this good news and positiveness. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I wasn't.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OcQ9A-5noM

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Din din

East Coast Crab Cakes.

Mashed potatoes flavored with mayo, Parmesan and chipotle.

Steamed cauliflower.

Now, what do I make on Wednesday???

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Hmmm...not sure what to say to this one.

Swedish church unveils Lego Jesus model for Easter

Sun Apr 12, 11:49 AM

A statue of Jesus Christ entirely made out of Lego in a church at Vasteras on April 12, 2009. While most Christians mark Easter with prayers and song, the Swedish church opened its mass Sunday by unveiling the life-size Lego statue, its pastor told AFP.  Photo:Jonas Ekstromer/AFP

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - While most Christians mark Easter with prayers and song, one Swedish church opened its mass Sunday by unveiling a life-size Lego statue of Jesus Christ, its pastor told AFP.

Churchgoers had donated nearly 30,000 Lego bricks to build the 1.78 metre (5.8 foot) high statue, said Per Wilder, the pastor of the Oensta Gryta Church in Vaesteras, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) west of Stockholm.

"This work began a year and a half ago so we saw that the initiation date was fitting in well (with this year's Easter holiday)," Wilder said.

"It is a fantastic installation and it will be there as long as we think it is in a good spot," he said.

"All those I spoke with were full of praise, saying how fantastic the model looks and how much good work we put into this," Wilder said.

The model was based on Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsens's 19th century work Christus, which depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Wilder said the statue would remain permanently at the church and there were no plans to sell it


Friday, April 10, 2009

Spring plantings.

Gorgeous Azalea by the front door, with a contorted Witch Hazel behind it.



Unbelievably huge Lenten Rose in the shade garden at the front of the house.



Avacado tree started from a pit. If grade school kids can do it, so can I.



Front row:Green Peppers-Early California Wonder. Back row: Tomato - Sub Arctic Plenty.



Left row: Tomato-Big Beef Hybrid. Right row: Pepper-Super Chili.

We also moved one rose bush to a sunnier location and relocated two Leather Leaf Viburnum to a shadier spot. California Poppies that we planted weeks ago are finally starting to come up, now that we have had weather that is a bit warmer. I read that the plants here this Spring are about 3 to 4 weeks behind schedule.

More updates as things happen.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

In a lusty mood.

2010 Nissan 370Z



Mercedes Benz 250SL


Those of you that know me should not be surprised. I could Live/Sleep/Talk cars 24/7! With the warm Spring weather upon us, and winding coastal roads at our doorstep, somehow a sunroof just doesn't quite give me the full effect. If I had my druthers I would have one of these two in my garage for days like today on the Island. With most of my hair gone I don't have to worry about the wind messing anything up, just make sure I have applied the SPF 50.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Digest THIS!

The English Language!

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England ..
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns
down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES THEN

PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES AND THE GERMANS, GERMS.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Spring has sprung!

We finally had a really ideal Spring day on the weekend so we took advantage and did some gardening. Below are some existing and new plants in various gardens around the yard. Not pictured are 6 Ceanothus (California Lilac) that we recently added as well as a few Stonecrop to little nooks and crannies in a large rock retaining wall that separates the upper gardens and house from the lower as yet untamed area of the yard. We also have seedlings started of tomato (2 varieties), green pepper, hot pepper, yellow Cosmos, Rudbeckia, Giant Sunflower and Malva Zebrina. The seedlings will soon be relocated from the house to the greenhouse, once we get the tables back in. It's a lot of work but I am loving it!! And it seems overnight the area garden centers have just exploded with stock, and they don't even have the hot weather annuals yet!

Fern-leaf Cypress, to go into a cobalt blue pot.



New Golden Bamboo added to the yard.



Front garden showing some of the remaining Winter colors.



Small alpine plant smothered in blooms in the rock garden.



Daffodils and Pieris blooming in the front garden.