mother day 2007...

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

saturday

the rock wall




more bricks...



and i cut the grass - and now i drink a beer.

okay mommy...

here are some pictures foy you...

my deck with the umbrella that was in the basement - and my plants that i hope will thrive - and the blue pots i stole this weekend (my basil is in one and the rosemary is in the other).

the peonies...

a little thing i built - i moved some of the moss that was growing by my basement and planted it on top of it -- the moss hasn't died yet...

these are the 4:00's and moon flowers and the morning glories... i still have one pot where the plants just started coming up - and i don't know what they are - but the will live here with these guys...

the side yard with the grass you planted...

and the snake henry killed... i knew you wanted to see that.

a year later...

henry pondering the once mud pit... wondering which spot of the new grass to pee on and dig up...



my garden...



my blueberry bush. yum!

my backyard

my fire.



what i did tonight.







henry. overlooking his kingdom.

another rainy day

the sauce is cooking. i'm trying something a little different -- well, i'm trying to get the sauce to have layers of flavour. i put in the mysterious carrots and celery this time. i think i will blend them all up when they are done and dump them back in. but it is a sleep kinda day. i've been really tired this week. the villita is a wreck - papers strewn everywhere - my plants are homeless at the moment because i took their table away. but, i think they might get it back. but here are some of my plants... grow little guys, grow...

what good cowboys drink...

so, i am sitting here -- with the windows wide open, no tv, no music -- and a bottle of sarsaparilla that i bought down the street. it's nice and quiet. today was a nice day, although i was a little grumpy, but it was sunny and warm - i put in a plastic thing that people use to edge gardens - well, i used it to try to keep my ever-eroding front lawn from ending up on the sidewalk. i used some stones to make a little channel for runoff from the house - all knowledge of water management i learned from grad school... um, yeah. my daffodils bloomed, and my crocuses - and there are little buds on the trees. it's nice.

so today, i thought i would paint my hall -- part of it -- because everything is white and i wake up and look at a white wall - and so, i finally decided to do something about it. after 3 trips to lowes - i finally got some paint that i think i like -- it's pretty soft -- actually, it might be hard to see that i did anything -- so, i may have to make it darker, i don't know. but - while i was painting, i climbed the ladder to get to the ceiling and stick my head right in the fan. POW POW POW -- oooch...so now i have a big lump on my head. it's pretty funny but it does hurt -- and you can see where the two blades smacked me. i decided to call it quits at that point.

gotta know when your ahead i guess... ha haaa ;)

now, i am waiting for the storm that was supposed to be coming -- see if my graduate degree is of any use...

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