I just dug up about a million crinum lily bulbs!
And Badger helped.
Little People
StandardWhen I fire up The Sims Arthur always comments on “your little people”. I never played with dolls growing up, always preferring horses and dogs and even cows to the play dates my mom set up. Barbies? Nah, too boring.
Yes, I even chose chores over plastic babies.
Anyway, I started playing the Sims with the first iteration and though 3 is my favorite, as usual I moved into 4 when it was released. New has to mean better, right? Not when you’re talking about sims. I know people who won’t leave Sims 2! And 4 is just a mo better version of 2.
Just some pictures because I’m stalling until it gets really hot til I go outside and work in the yard. Heh…
Dawn Roarke, who wasn’t at all sure she wanted to be a plant sim… but being a scientist, quickly got with the program. Dawn loves pink and usually has pink hair. Thought it funny she didn’t lose her pink eyebrows (probably because they’re custom):
A female vamp whose name escapes me. Lost her during the last re-install.
Julie in Oasis Springs, who had twins and was thus blessed with 2 toddlers at the same time… poor thing didn’t get a bath for days…
…and some views of the city of San Myshuno, the part we can’t go to.. I miss Sims 3!
Scorched Earth Style Gardening
StandardSince the plumeria and graviola are a memory I figured ‘wot the hell, Archie?’ and undertook a full sweep. Zero fucks given.
The lilies are to be dug up and relocated where they aren’t so close together (Crinum hari-kari).
Those idiots behind me are probably regretting cutting my beautiful ivy down now… heh…
Lots still to do, obviously…
Après Irma
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It’s alive!
Well, we survived. Again. But really, how many times can one tempt fate? I lost track of how many hurricanes I’ve been through.
I took before pictures, as one does… but no after. The pictures would come out looking like modern art that nobody understands because everything is swathed in green and brown roughage; the result of the almighty raking a giant comb over the land at great speed.
We were more ready for this storm than any other, which thankfully was not needed. Luckier than most, we were only without power for 24 hours and internet for a few days. I’d rather have power than internet, but it felt odd and I didn’t even turn my pc on til it came back up.
Kudos to the city of Margate and Broward county, both of which kept everyone updated via Twitter and Facebook.
Now… there are three other systems to keep a weather eye on… and have I mentioned that I WANT TO MOVE??
Front to Back
StandardRoughly half my hopes for survival rested on this lovely front I’d named George.
And then he occluded.
We’re in the Fort Lauderdale area and have prepared as best we can… and are still working… but how do you really prepare for a Cat 4/5 storm?
Sure, we have brand new impact windows… but I’m worried about the old doors. I’m worried about the roof. I’m worried that the whole damn house will go. I saw it, after Andrew. It just took my roof and most of my stuff, but down in Homestead, entire communities were wiped from the face of the earth as though they’d never existed.
I know, just like Galveston. And every other place… And all I can see when I close my eyes is the Andrew devastation.
If you’re in this, know that I’m praying for you.
Bastard front.
Hurricane Prep/Disaster Kit
StandardThis is my master list so I’m dropping it here.
GENERAL
- Silicone caulking for bathtub drains to hold water. The caulk will not affect the taste of the water and cleans up easily. Just use a thick bead around the seams and it will pull away cleanly when dry.
- Manual can and bottle openers.
- Folding stove, oven mitts. Better to use a camp stove or grill; but don’t use them indoors. In a pinch, you can use ”canned heat” (Sterno, etc.) but it will only heat food; it won’t cook it.
- A battery-operated radio and/or television.
- Extra batteries.
- A windup clock.
- Battery-operated lanterns and enough flashlights for each member of the family, plus extra batteries and bulbs. Candles and kerosene lights can cause fires and severe burns. If you must use candles, never leave one burning unattended.
- Duct tape.
- Lightweight fire extinguishers.
- Wrench to turn off household gas and water. Keep it near the shut-off valves.
- Chain saw, gassed up, oiled and ready.
- Generator.
Puppy in a Box
StandardOr ‘Emotional Roller Coaster’
It’s been an odd month. I’ve deleted and resurrected this post three times, trying to wrap my head around recent events…
Not sure where to start, so it will begin where I did: California in 1956. Young woman becomes pregnant with spawn of cad and a couple takes the baby girl (me) at birth. Young woman then marries and a couple of years later has another little girl, which she keeps.
I’m the puppy in the box, the one she gave away.
I’ve known my adopted status for most of my life and have felt every emotion you might expect.. especially gratitude for having the parents I did, even though everything wasn’t always perfect.
Well, not long after I found my half-sister on Ancestry, I also discovered a picture of my birth mother. Taken in December 2015, she is standing next to my half-sister and they’re both smiling.
The Why
StandardTabi Bee wrote a lovely post (the only kind she does!) about blogging ideas and of course it got me thinking.
One of the post ideas is why you started blogging. So simple an idea, but based on who you are and why that first post appeared… well, it could get complicated. Which is why it’s such an inspired idea!
I started blogging October 17 2001 on blogger. Though I’ve moved the blog to and from many platforms and hosts, back then most of us started there. And every move the blog was wiped clean and started anew. Most people ported their archives, but what I had to say seemed to mean very little in the long run.
Perhaps because I started talking about politics early on, trying to understand events -it was right after 9/11- and went on talking about them for over ten years… until I burnt myself out. That’s why mostly pictures now, I think. They’re peaceful and people don’t call you names because you post them.
I actually went back to the original blog and deleted many of those posts and put pictures up instead, not that there were any hard core political screeds there… Maybe it’s my age, but there’s a calm that comes when you turn off the tv, don’t pay attention to the politics of the day and focus only on what is truly important.
So that’s the why I started… but why don’t I just let this thing die a graceful death? Hard to tell, really. Maybe I’m just clinging to it out of nostalgia.
Lady
StandardI’ve been thinking about Mrs. Strauss.
Margaret Strauss was a intelligent woman with common sense and a spartan style in both speech and design.
A formidable force in my narrow young world, her friends called her ‘Lady’,a gift from her Papa after the early demise of her mother. She carried that name throughout her life but I never called her anything but Mrs. Strauss, no matter how old we both became.
She and I first became acquainted when my mother went to work at her daycare center. Childless, widowed, a retired school teacher as well as former legal secretary, she decided to open a daycare where children would be properly cared for as well as started on the right road to learning. Forever into a project, She purchased and renovated a house across from the local grade school for her dream of the perfect early learning environment. She also lived in the house directly behind the school, her way of being close . The whole deal was revolutionary in our small Texas town and quickly drew many parents wanting an alternative to the norm of daycare as they knew it.
The Carousel Child Care Center was open for many years, but I think ultimately she lost too much money just trying to do it right.
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Crepe
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I couldn’t decide; I liked them both. Click to embiggen.
