Scotch Broth

more snow and ice in the forecast. the villita has weathered another storm with her new tenants - well, that's me, henry, benji-cat, and the fish - and another one is on the horizon. i finally bought a snow shovel - i mean, being a girl from rochester, you would think i would have one stashed away somewhere... well, i do now - and i have some salt. you may ask, "is this the special salt with the little men inside?" and what i have to say about that is - i have a snow shovel now, i don't need no stinkin' little men who hide inside the salt.

and so today in preparation for the storm (err...) i made a batch of "scotch broth" - and no, there is not one drop of a single malt in there. it is a soupy stew with lamb, barley, and kale in it. i forgot to get some ingredients at the store - like carrots and celery - so there was a discussion with the mother unit on how important those stupid ingredients are when making stock. well, i made it without them b/c i was not going to go back to the store - and it turned out pretty good. i even had some fresh bread to eat with it. and i made enough for then the snow flies and we are all trapped inside because there is 2 inches of snow out and everyone is crashing into each other because no one can drive and the little men are too cold to come out of the salt and shovel.

the villita's first snow

4" of snow - i measured. apparently, there is a new type of salt the city is using - it doesn't bounce... sticks to the road... maybe inside the little salts there is a tiny man with a shovel?

i saw a cardinal this morning outside my window. i stared at him standing in the leafless tree until he flew away. then i remembered the preface to the thornbirds - i hadn't thought of that since high school...

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain... Or so says the legend.

week in review

Henry with Micky - Judy's dog

Melissa at work - well, on break...

Joanne at Java's...

now, Melissa at work.

Tonight, being New Year's eve, we will travel to Grandma and Grandpa's. I made some sauce - which I was told no one will eat at Grandma's, but I made it anyways -- to share in the start of the new year - help out with dinner. I also made some salmon that is rolled up in cream cheese -- it looked good in the picture, but I just tried cutting it and tasted a little bit -- and well... I don't know about that either. At least the sauce is good.

I don't know that I have any "resolutions" - I actually think that it is silly, because if you are going to decide to do something - why wait until New Year's? I guess it would be a clean start.

Melissa is working again today - she has been working everyday - and she is working tomorrow... which sucks.

But now, I am being summoned to help clean the basement...

The past few days

Attempting to change the language from Greek back to English on my ipod... errrr.... and drinking a tasty "cocktail" Christmas morning.

Melissa, very happy with her heals.

Edwin V. Centola World War 2...

Mommy preparing a tasty lunch.

Christmas eve lunch with Grandpa Ed

Few hours after I get home... at Jen's pad.

Becky, Jen, Annie, Teresa, Danica, Roseanne, and Jen's little girl.

oh and today is... mmm... December 17th - and it must be 70 degrees out! IT feels like friggin' spring! before we know it - the poor trees are going to get confused and start budding!!

I have been listening to a new radio station -- playing songs from highschool and college - songs i haven't heard in forever -- and some that i've never head (which really doesn't mean that much) - but, i woke up with this one in my head this morning.

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

We'll do it all
Everything On our own
We don't need Anything Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's burstin’ into life

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

All that I am
All that I ever was
It’s here in your perfect eyes
They're all I can see

I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things
Will never change for us at all

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

christmas time

the villita... dolled up (if you can see it).

treats? cookies? i foresee coal for the critters...

Turkey Day

what is it about old west movies... is it the lawlessness which is attempted to be brought back to order with guns and ropes? is it the girl, leaning on the porch post waiting for her outlaw to ride over the horizon, is it the cowboy, the marshal, the rancher who wears a hat shading his eyes, drinks his whiskey, stares out onto the vast plains, into the canyon, over the mountains? the fact that you have to rely on yourself, your skills, and the good will of others to survive... small towns, trains, the miles and miles of open land - open for anyone to wander - to claim and settle...

moving the couch

this past week i've been waking up pretty early - heading to work early - doing work things, coming home - last night i rearranged the front room. i love moving furnature -- i basically flipped the room around - gotta live with it for a while - but i think it might work -- if gives a differnt persepective when you sit on the couch. i need a different perspective. i get into ruts that i don't think about - but after awhile start to wear on me. and i gotta do something about. but sometimes it takes an eternity to see that - or do something about them. so yeah. i am happy fall is here. tonight - i may rake up the thousands of 10' leaves that dumped from my tree this weekend. it's naked now, the tree, - with only the pointy bean pods dangling from its limbs. i wonder when they fall... i wish my yard backed into a forest or gully so i could dump the leaves back there -- or big enough that i could make a big pile and burn them -- and yes, i know you aren't supposed to do that.

halloween was fantastic. i think it was the best i've had in the longest time. i dressed up like a retarded ghost - something definatly to improve/ expand on... Patrick came over - dressed like a fierce Viking... a bunch of little kids - hip-high came and "stole" my candy... Henry-dog was a hell of a lot better than he was last year... i got "the pumpkin man" dumped on my porch which i stealthy moved to Andy and Julie's porch only minutes later... it was a lot of fun.

ocho cinco

so yeah. i have not posted for a million years. not much is new. went up to cleveland - got a pile of stuff for march's sale. critters - still doing critter things. put up my scary ghost. made a wreath for my place -- girly, yeah, but i made it for 1/2 the price that i coulda bought one for and it is a hell of alot cooler. cleaned my bedroom for the first time is 500,000 years. and i am looking foward to halloween. really looking forward to it. i think i will be a ghost this year. i've never been a ghost. a cat, sherlock holmes, a witch, a crayon... never a ghost. i wonder why. it is so simple, and clean, and well... "so holloween". ha haaa. yeah. i probably should get some candy.

bonnie and clyde

...they snuck through the gates, skirted all the alarms, evaded security, and they were out. With treasures in their arms they ran... ran through a mass of business suited humans, apparently oblivious of their surroundings. they ran, to a parked car waiting for them in anticipation. they hopped into their getaway and drove. drove as if nothing had happened.

they returned home, turning into the dusty drive and parked. neither one had said a word for the hour long ride. parked behind their house... they sat. neither moved. both stared out the windshield. no words were spoken. and after what seemed to be another hour, they turned to each other. what happened in that car cannot be spoken, but they left the car rejuvenated. it would be another few hours before they got the call. the call to deliver the package.

after showering and put on respectable clothes, tech tools used were placed in storage, behind loose wall stones - awaiting another day.

and then the phone rang. she answered it. it was a foreign voice. not the initial contact. she was not sure if this was a trick. had someone found out? but all the codes were correct - but this was not the agreed meeting point. they were to meet at the train station.

the train station was build a hundred years ago. it had gone to disrepair, but recently became gentrified - hosting a coffee shop and small boutiques. a place for yuppies, although not in a yuppie neighbourhood.

it was now 2:00, and they were to be there at 3, which did not leave them much time. they both got back into the car, and once again sat. hearts were pounding. adrenaline pulsing through veins. this could be the end - or the start of a very good life.

and with a kiss the car started...

hazy shade of winter

yeah - the clouds were hanging low when i left work today. it was beautiful.

so close and yet, so far...

images from the villita

The little green ball on ground is a Gold Drop Potentilla Potentilla fruticosa 'Gold Drop'. It wants full sun, I think it will be okay in this spot - it got a ton of it today.



Weeded... and another Gold Drop, without its drops of gold.



Here, I clipped back the grass away from the walk. Looks a lot prettier now.



I did read how to cut back the roses... I hope I did not kill them...



Evidence that I have not killed all the ivy...





This is where the garden is going next year I think. I'm going to stick the bricks into the ground. I don't know if I want them upright or flat yet.

and so, after reading the newspaper about the multipling papers, i left work, with this heavy on my mind. The only solution for me, at that moment in time was to pull up stray grasses, weeds, chrop more branches, and plant a few odds and ends. I think the yard looks nice. it is really shaping up. if i CHARGED my camera batteries, i would show how pretty it looks. it is starting to look like less of a weed patch and more of a playground for henrydog. oh wait... henry likes the weeds.

and, at this moment, i am writing on my back porch, on m laptom, on a fast, secure, wireless network. Yippee!

HEADLINES: Papers are having unprotected sex and multiplying like rabbits

September 7, 2006. Cincinnatio, Ohio. Papers laying on desks of offices around the country have had an increase in birth rates. As there is nothing to do, often for days, these flat, reincarnations of trees have found themselves madly making love and producing offspring, sometimes in excess of 10 new papers an evening. Why this sudden increase in birthrate? Some experts say that it is because the work is piling up so rappidly that these papers are being forgotton, sometimes abandoned and it is the only solice to procreate. Others say it is because of the poor planning on the part of the owner of the desk. Even when the papers are told to get in files or form piles, this does not remedy the situation. Something needs to be done immediatly. This is a problem, and birth control needs to be given freely to these lonesome papers.

short days, sweaters,
orange crunchy leaves,
runny nose, baths,
meatloaf, fires,
cuddling.

fall.