If you need me? I'll be hiding in the corner with my head between my knees...

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October 24th is United Nations Day, National Crazy Day and National Mother-In-Law’s Day.



.Now you might love your mom-in-law. You might think that the UN is the best thing in the world and well? You might be crazy enough to want to spend the day celebrating the UN, mother in laws, and crazy people.

But not me.

I'll be hiding in the hammock with a good book tomorrow.





See ya Monday.


Ann


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Just another manic Monday...

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I'm going to get to see my folks and my boat and WB and Pup.



Which I'm really, really happy about.

Will let you know tonight or tomorrow how it worked out.

Cross your fingers, your toes, your nose, and your heart that things will work out.


Love,

Ann



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"The weather is here. I wish you were beautiful..." J Buffett

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Naturally occuring unnatural causes.


(Think about it.)


I'm being tormented (lol) by Pups sense of wordplay and humor. He's got me trying to figure out what he's saying. It's worse than a double negative.


Can you tell me an example of a natural occurring unnatural cause.


I'm stumped.


Otherwise weather's great and so is the day.

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Oh my~!

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So okay. When it comes to cooking? I can. Sorta.


If I want soup?

I open a can and heat the contents.


If I want really good fried chicken?

I go down the road and get it from the best restaurant in the middle of nowhere, put their chicken on a plate, and add some parsley.


Japanese Fusion?

Up the road at this restaurant that specializes in it they'll pack up the individual contents so you can assemble it later. I made the tea.


But even I can make this and not mess up.




In a blender that can crush ice (and not start smoking after the first iced drink),


add


one & 1/2 cup whole frozen blueberries

one & 1/2 cup plain, non fat yogurt

one ripe banana

appx. 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls of lemon juice

one spoonful of table sugar (like a package from the restaurant)


pulse on the "ice crush" button until the whole thing turns purple with deep purple speckles (ie don't leave any of the blue berries whole or ever partly whole.


If the result is too thick you can add just a teaspoonful of non fat milk.

Pour into a tall glass or a bowl.

This should make enough for a glass per person - 4 healthy servings or six if you put it in a bowl

The stuff that we've been making is thick like a milkshake. It's so thick that if you leave out the milk it's alot like soft serve ice cream.

However ,

(unlike ice cream)

this is full of vitamin C, anti oxidants, vitamin A, protein, folates AND it's good for your kids to eat as you get at least 2 to 3 servings of fruit.

And fiber.


It's called a Banana Blueberry Smoothy.

I'm calling it a Barney Blueberry.


Hurray~~~


Thank you Martha Stewart and the folks at EveryDay Food Magazine.


See I can cook.


Sorta.








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Smile

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I talked to my mom.

She and my dad are coming to see the boat.

This makes me so happy.

I am "over the moon" with happy.







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And that's how it happened...

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...that this cranky writter found freedom...







Sweet Freedom



My boat.


It is lovely.


It's a beautiful thing.


My boat she is happy.


Sings freedom to me.


When the world it is dark.

When people they lie.

When it seems like the end.

I hear her cry,

"There are wings on your feet.

There is hope in your eyes.

There is wind off your bow.

On the water you fly.

Take heart in the freedom.

This gift from the sky.

Take the helm.

Take heart --"

Then the wind picks up

And we're off.


10/19/10

Ann



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The eagle has landed...

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Or rather my boat is out of the water.

Hurray. This morning I took photos of the boat. It looks good. I can remember before I didn't have this boat thinking that it would not be possible. Then this past year when it seemed like I would never actually get to work on it but now I'm actually getting the boat situated.

As soon as the mast was down, I closed my eyes, said thank you to God, and then began editing photos. Lots of work to do. I'm going to try to get a boat blog. Hopefully will post photos. There are some really good action shots and excellent photos of the marina.



I can rest easy tonight.


Meanwhile back at the ranch...


The dogs are barking. Gotta get dog food for them and sort stuff out for the coming week. Finally a "to do" list that is happy.


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Hugs if anyone is reading this.

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Y

Pass the salad dressing...

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Today was a good day.


It wasn't the day that I'd planned because if it had been I'd have been meeting the guy from the bug extermination company. Instead I got to meet some of the most interesting people AND began the process to haul my boat out of the water.

I. Am. So. Happy.


And scared.

Boats are made to be in the water. Like hippos, boats in the water are so graceful.

On land? I don't want to think about all of the things that could go wrong. I'm like the expectant father to this process. I'm praying that all will go well.

Got to get sleep. Tomorrow will come soon. Lots to do.


Hugs



PS

(I just like the video, Gentle Reader. That's the beginning, middle, and end of it. If you're name is Julia or you like sailing? Hurray. But not to worry, as I said, this isn't about a person. I just like the song. Like this one two

)


Stevie Ray Vaughn





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I was reading another blog when I saw the post...

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Ah the road not taken.

The one you don't take because of responsibilities to yourself and others.


I've marveled at the folks who could pull up their "roots" and travel half way across the world in a boat with kids and and pets in tow. They see the world not with indifference but with a total lack of all the terrible things that could happen. "How could they do this and subject themselves to ..." then follows the list of all the things that "responsible grownups" should avoid.



"Hello. My name is AuthorAnn and I am a responsible adult who avoided all manner of possible dangers to self for the sake of my family. Those possibilities that I didn't foresee were helpfully pointed out by other family members who, while they were off doing all manner of daring things, made sure that I was tucked away safe. Kind of like a chair in storage. Always safe and ready to be "sat on" when the whim occurred. It's been one year since I've decided that maybe that wasn't the best thing to do. Lucky for me? I lived to tell the tale.

"Welcome, Author Ann."


You can wait. I did. I stayed in the same place for many years.

But.

If I could do it over again? I'd take Pup out onto the water as soon as I knew that he could hold on and think for himself. How could he learn that he could meet the unexpected and thrive? Who'd teach him this? We'd sure have had a better time than all the "responsibility".





There's a difference between the well lived life remembered and the regrets of the road not or no longer taken.


I'm taking my family with me.

Before it's too late and I get too old to do so.





Hugs,

Ann

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Lactose intollerance my a$$

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Here I sit.

The only thing that stands (or sits) between me and total olfactory melt down is a kitchen stool.


If I'm right?

I'll only fart in humiliation.

But if I'm wrong?


I'm going to have "chocolate pudding" pants.



Intestinal flu is the worst.



Going to watch the Rockford Files.


Love,


Grammy





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Hmmf

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You know what.

If I don't get a comment on this blog pretty soon?


I'm going to make up another blog and have that fictious person comment here.

At least if I'm going to be talking to myself it will look like an actually conversation.


:-/



Or ?


You could say hello, Gentle Reader.

After today I could use a friend.





People here are cranky.


:D


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And one more thing...

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Never.

Ever.


Ever.

Refer to the cheese on a pizza as toe cheese. Especially if it's your very hungry roomate's pizza.


I didn't know their face could get that colour red.


Off to listen to I Spy reruns through my next door neighbor's window as I do hard physical work out of doors. I would have watched it too but for my roommate who seems to be angry.


Plus they're watching Sports Center.

I know. I don't care either.

LOL


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Helpful household hints from GoatHerderBoy

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Hint # 356


Never put iced tea into a hot mug that you just got out of the dishwasher.

It will break from thermal expansion.





Please note:

Apparently it's wrong to test the theory of thermal expansion on your roomate's favorite football mug.

They don't really care about the wonder of science.

All they care about is that there better be another beer mug in the cabinet and a case of beer in the fridge on Saturday or someone will be in big trouble.


Tends to make them mad.


That is all.


Oh and Old Miss (or is it Mississippi State (I forget) no longer has a mascot.

I know, I don't care either but it is true.

Their future replacement mascot might be "the land shark."

Again? I know I don't care either.

The thing is you shouldn't say what I did when I heard it.

Saying, "What the feck is a landshark and what does it have to do with football in Mississippi?"
also tends to piss people off. There's all this upset monologue about this player who put his hand on his head and called it a fin and himself a "landshark". Then it gets worse when you say, "So?" and they beginng telling the story of how -- it's just not worth it. It really isn't.

Especially if you've just used their football mug as a science experiment.



(PS Hurray Hurray it's Thursday and TBBT is on. "Bazzzinga!)



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Me too - except for the hammock...

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'I want to make love in the worst way. Standing up in a hammock."

@DollyLomma on Twitter.


This is what I'm going to be thinking about when they step the mast. For the record, DollyLomma and I are complete strangers and I'm no stalking pervert. Honest. But the idea of this precarious and hopefully profitable endevour is so much like lowering the mast that it just seems fitting.


By the way DollyLomma, if I during the mast stepping I start laughing til spit comes out of my nose?

You'll know whose fault that is.

LOL

No more procastinating.

Gotta go do something.


GBH


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NB

I have found today that you can make a lovely meal out of bacon bits, ranch dressing, taco chips, and jar spagetti sauce. Just dump all in a bowl and add very hungry stomach. Close your eyes, swallow, and mix well. Acutally chewing not required.

Also found out that I have a chronic need for a boat trailer and a mast raising system.

And cable.

And a working cellphone.





Sigh,





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Imagine

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Sigh. This is one of those, "It's 12 noon and I'm eatting an orange posts. Can't be helped because well the truth, "I'm going outside to hammer stuff, saw stuff, plant stuff, and work on the boat stuff.", seems boring.

Some thinging just are and you have to struggle though it. It would be a good day to get an encouraging email, hear from an old friend, or find money under the couch cushions.


"Hellloooo Gentle Readers."



I'm going to be working on the boat and the garden type things for the next couple of days. The posts will be brief. The weather outside is so much better than it was this summer. Gotta spend it like the ant and not the cricket.


It's lettuce tables today while I have the help.


Hugs,


AuthorAnn


PS "...grow tables..." ARE NOT a euphanism for anything nefarious. Far from it. It's a great way to grow moveable beds for lettuce.



Playlist?





Cya.

Dear tv's Craig Ferguson,

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AAAAAAhhhhchooo.


...hiccup...

I used to think that it was just the male population who were big babies when sick.

Then I got the flu. The really bad kind that had me litterally sitting like a tree stump on the couch. A big sloth of a whinny baby covered in mucous and fuzz from the fuzzy blanket that someone wrapped around me. It got so bad that WB stayed home and fed me soup. I have hazy memories of him reassuring me that I was not going to die and that I'd feel much better in 24 hours. Then he fed me more soup. (At first I thought he did this to be kind but now I'm thinking he did it to get me to stop whining.)

Not just the guys who do it.

Hugs and get better,


Smile away





AuthorAnn

These two

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These two songs have been in my mind lately.



(Please ignore the video and just listen to the song on this first Youtube. It was the only good copy of the song that I could find this AM.)










Is it just me or do these two songs sound almost alike both in melody?



...

We've been working outside again.

The weather is brisk and sunny. Beautiful. The boards have been cut for the grow tables. The lettuce in the trial tables have surpased my expectations. We're now able to eat Red Leaf and Butter Crunch lettuce, Basil, Parsley, Chives, Mint, and Dill. There's arugala and tomato plants on the ready for transplanting. Have a new metal grow table and most importantly? A green house set up.

There's a fella who showed us how to grow squash, cucumbers, peppers, and egg plant in containers so that we can move them. This was good news because we can move the location for the best water and light. We can also control the soil that we plant in.



I'm really looking forward to having fresh produce to eat.


If anyone would like to know how to make a portible growing table for lettuce? Post in comments and I'll be happy to tell you how.


As for the rattlesnake? Well alooooong time ago I had a couple of biology/zoology clasees.

I disected it.


Back soon and hugs,

AuthorAnn


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Back outside again.

AuthorAnn. Snake hunter.

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LOL. I now know how to hunt and skin a rattlesnake.

Wait one second.

If you are an environmentalist fixing to yell at me about about food webs and ecological balance. Please look up and re read that sentence.

Again?

"...I now know how to hunt and skin a rattlesnake."

Pffs.

Thanks to the Discovery Channel, Craig Ferguson, and Shark Week, I also know how to swim with sharks and wrassle an alligator.  Just checking my schedule here -- wait lemmie see-  yeah- The only alligator in my future is a puppet named Wavey and I don't think that I'll be swimming with sharks in the near future.

"Knowing" and "doing"?

It's all about the words.

Now where was I?

Ohhh yeah....

 

Pssst. Want some toe tappin' fun? First, turn the sound for the first video to on while you watch the second video with the sound off.

LOL Crocodile Rocks with Penguins.


Laaaah la la lah la laaaaah....


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Angels Among Us

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Yesterday?

I learned how to kill a rattlesnake.








You may be wondering what that has to to with this song.



All of my life, I've had the blessing of angels watching over me. This isn't to say that life's been all good. There have been some really tragic things that have happened to me and my family. It's just that somehow the kindness of these angels have helped my family and me survive.

Then yesterday they kept us safe.

I don't know how to explain it. I really don't.



It's just that yesterday?

I listened to the angels who've been guarding my son and me our whole life.


I listened to that voice that whispered in my heart, "Take your son with you when you clean the dog pens.

So I did.


I listened to that voice when it whispered, "Don't let the dogs out of their pens."

So I didn't.

I listened to my son when he said, "Mom, is that a rattle?"


It was.


I listened to my pups when even after we'd decided that the snake had gone, they kept barking the alarm.


That snake was still there not four feet from us.


I listened to my neighbor when he said, "Stop. Don't go any closer."


If I'd not listened, it would have been a catastrophe.

The rattlesnake in the wood pile might have been missed until it was too late. The one not 8 feet from my pups. The one that would have surely bit my pups if they'd been let out of the kennels. The one that would have surely bitten my son or myself had we gone one step closer.


I listened when that whispered voice, who has guided me my whole life said,

"Listen."





I read that you should start each day saying what you're thankful for.


This morning? I'm thankful that my neighbor happened to pass by just as we were going to find that snake and I'm thankful that I listened to that whispered "inner voice" who guided us and kept us all safe.


"I believe their are angels among us..."



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Howdy

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I keep having people tell me that they've got money or that someone I've crossed paths with has or in this economy had money and then they look at me kind of funny as if to see what my reaction is.

For the record (and because this is kind of one of those silly games that really wastes all of our time), I'm glad when folks are doin' good. So good for you rich folks. The thing is I'm really kind of busy at the moment and most of the people I'm hearing about probably are too. Good for us both.

I've been outside some and have met a new person or two. The weather is changing and we're finally getting some rain. We need it. The rain was so heavy and the trees were already changing because of the lack of water (we think) that there are now alot of leaves on the ground. Looks like Fall. Green house should be going up. It's early but I think I'll go ahead and begin weathering in the dogs too. I'm not going to miss the heat but I'm going to miss the 5am sunrises. It's alot easier to get up. This cool weather/late sunrises makes a person want to sleep in.




Ah and then there's the mid term elections coming up. All that nervous anticipation and speculation. I don't want to even hear about it. And yeah, I do vote. I'm just tired of hearing about these people.


I sure wish this was the old blog. There's alot happening here. Turns out we were correct in our presumptions. To every thing there is a season. We're prepared but it would just take waaay to much back story to explain why that's important. I am glad that I have the boat. Glad that Pup and WB are here. The dogs are doin' okay and so is most of the other living things here. LOL I swear that after today, I really do feel a bit like we live in the middle of a zoo. At least we've still got all our fingers and toes.


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Hope you are doing well Gentle Reader. I don't have a clue who you are. If you'd post that would be nice.



Ann

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