Watering Hole

Thursdays here are plant care day.  I've come into possession of several succulents, and am trying to keep them alive.

I put the little pebbles in to make things look cute.  Sprouting on the bottom left is cilantro, I think?  I've been so carried away with the plants and the little pots that I didn't keep the seed package.  

Air plants are around, too.

I really like the hand holder.  The other is some part of a teapot, I think, but I can't figure out how that would work.

These aren't real.  I added the pink, yellow and white to the dark purple.  It may be a bit much, but I do like how the arrangement looks.  I'm usually crap at arranging flowers.

I had a philadendron from middle school to college.  Those were years when talking to your plants and playing them music were very in.  My philadendron was named "Gibb."  Gibb heard a lot of Bee Gees, Emmylou Harris, and Delbert McClinton.  He was also the source of cuttings for several of my friends, so he may yet live on.  I'm working on names for all these new plants.

Empty/Full

It's hard to wash a colander. 

The thing I dislike washing most is a pizza cutter.

It looks like my ginormous gardenia bush has gone almost entirely barren.  Just a single bloom.

I may have to have it taken down.  It's been a glorious friend for lots of years.  My mother said that gardenias made her think of the days after Dale died;  apparently I had them all around the house.  I honestly don't remember a lot from that stretch of time.

Today hasn't seemed like a Wednesday at all to me.  Am I the only one?  It's seemed more like a weekend or something.

In I-want-to-move-but-I-need-to-clean-anyway news, one dresser has been completely emptied.  The book chest at the foot of my bed is empty.  The kitchen is as bare as it can be with someone still using it.

On the other end of the spectrum: my Lincoln books case is full.  FULL.

(Ignore the surveyor's stake in the corner.)  This might mean I can't read another one.  Well, buy another one, at least.

Things Of Which I Am Tired

Down on one knee proposals.  If I were in my early 20s, I might feel differently, but I doubt it.

Hearts made with hands or fingers.  Again, this opinion might have been different before.

Mr. Beast.

Losing tape measures.  IT WAS JUST RIGHT HERE.

"You've Got a Friend in Me."  It worked on me in "Toy Story," but every other Instagram post uses it.  Please stop.  Same with "A Thousand Years."

Things "vibing."

Holiday Food

Memorial Day here was sun, clouds, RAIN, clouds, RAIN, sun, STORMING RAIN.  Anyone hoping to spend time behind a grill today was probably mightily disappointed.  I very-slow-roasted a honey garlic tenderloin for myself yesterday.  Corn on the cob and a salad rounded out my inside picnic.

Dale loved to grill, but always on a gas grill.  Personally, I think the smell of a charcoal grill and meats cooked on it is hard to beat.  I live a little over a mile from both a hamburger place 

and a steakhouse

so I get that luscious aroma pretty often.

Pet Peeves

1.  Misused/misplaced apostrophes.  ("The Smith's invite you to their luau."  The Smith's what?  And which Smith?  "Smith" there is singular.  This makes me CRAZY.)

2.  When actors are playing scenes that call for them to drink something, and their cups or mugs or glasses or whatever are plainly empty.  

3.  When people say, "shaking your head 'yes.'"  You shake your head "no."  You nod your head "yes."

4.  Police don't light up their sirens.  They light up their lights.  You do not hear their lights and sirens.  You only hear the sirens.

5.  "Where at?"  Just "where."  Simple.

6.  Has anyone ever named a pet "Peeve?"  (I know this isn't a pet peeve --- more like a tangential thought.)

7.  "Whenever" instead of "when."  "Whenever you were at the store..."  How about,"When you were at the store..."

8. People bucking if you call them "Sir" or "Ma'am."  It's not an age thing, it's a respect thing.  It's manners.  It's politeness.  Maybe that's my Southern upbringing, though.

9.  "Reesies."  This gets quickly and almost painfully under my skin.

10.  People cracking their knuckles.

Heading Into the Weekend

Spirit Animal, am I right?

It's the Little Things

Welcome the latest addition to the hall, which is pretty much Equine Alley at this point:

Mostly horses there, while two lions are in the bedroom.  I'm almost at the tipping point: enough framed prints to build a tiny house, as opposed to a tiny house having enough wall space to accommodate them all.

This week has been productive.  Lots of moving and thinning out and re-sorting.  My back feels it, and there's a painful cardboard cut on my left middle finger.  When you break down box after box after box, that seems unavoidable.

Sec

YMy 2026 Nativity has arrived, and it is another mini one which fits inside a mint tin.  The Holy Child looks as though He's holding His breath until someone hands over the frankincense!

Or, for those of you whose memories go back far enough, a member of Bobby Benson's Baby Band.

I Do Not Like

1.  Liver.  It will always be first on a list like this.

2.  The word "pot."  Can't explain it;  I just don't.

3.  Spice without flavor.  Food should be a good time, not an endurance test.

4.  Runny eggs.  Ick.

5.  Meringue.  It probably hurt my mother's feelings when I would immediately slice off that my piece of her pies.  It's why I don't care for macarons.

6.  Chocolate ice cream.  Except for 

7.  Ignorance trying to mask itself with arrogance.  You know who you are.  And we know who you are.

Time to Count

Election Day in Georgia.  I was pleased to see a full parking lot at my assigned polling place.  I early voted at the Co-op Extension Office.  You should remember that that's the place with a really big chicken.

I like voting here.  It's seldom busy, and the poll workers are very friendly.  Actually, all the poll workers I've dealt with here have been lovely.  There's one woman at my assigned spot who knows that I'm always going to compliment her hair.  When she sees me, she starts turning her head around and laughing.  

I Do Like

1. The  smell of
leather.  Preferably worn, ideally in a barn.

2.  A level.  A plumb line, not so much.  Give me a good level.

4.  A good, strong bass line.  The kind that makes your feet tap, almost involuntarily.

5. A well-fitting men's suit.  You already know how I feel about men's hats...

6.  Snack Pack lemon pudding.  I didn't even know it existed until a few weeks ago;  now I'm hooked.

7.  Chimneys that still stand after houses are gone.  

8.  Rolled/folded/pushed up sleeves.  I also usually enjoy seeing sleeves rolled/folded/pushed up.

9.  These pants!  I might have had the chutzpah to wear them when I --- and my body --- were younger.  I will always love a good bell bottom.

Miss Kim Begins Putting Plans Together

For the porch "haven," I've begun looking for runner rugs.  What do you think about this one, with the miss-them-with-a-simple-glance bats?

Of course, there will be little knicks and knacks bought for decoration, but the main purchases will be a runner and a chair.  The searches have begun.  They must both be purple.  That requirement immediately narrows the range of choices.  Do any of you have recommendations for rug and/or chair purveyors?*

*"Purveyors" because I've been watching "Deadwood."  Other words from the series are a little more bawdy.