In Flagrante Delicto!!
Meet Romeo and Juliette, discovered in flagrante delicto in the cover of the ugly bush yesterday morning. While initiating a major hack job on an unidentified specimen of a plant that smells strongly of cat piss, probably because it is the favored neighborhood cat marking spot. It may also be a local pet trysting club. While I decided to share this mugshot, I have spared you all the harrowing experience I had several days ago when I separated just such a snail couple and was accosted by the view of snail private parts. Until then I didn't know they had any. Now it is burned in my psyche forever. In a mean moment I wanted it burned in yours too, but then I realized that I don't need that kind of karmic cloud over my head, considering my life in the past two years.After hours of doing their thing and still not being finished, they were fed to the birds as a pair. At least they got to go together. I'm too busy being glad that their tryst will not result in millions more snails to be sad about their fate.
The bushes in question were huge and beginning to swallow our house whole. I have no time for fine gardening right now (will I ever?) and I have dreams of planning and planting wonderful borders around the yard filled with roses, peonies, callas, lavender, salvias, and verbenas too... but in the meantime I simply want to destroy a couple of bushes I have no use for. The piss bushes. believe me when I say that I fully realize that to many out there this very same bush I despise is beloved and taken care of as though it was a family heirloom. I respect that. By the way, does anyone around here want to buy my Japanese Maple for a few hundred dollars? You have to dig it up yourself and not tell Philip you did it. Or that I told you you could do it.
Here it is with all it's fluff and glory hacked off. Next I must use a saw to bring it close to the ground prior to digging the bugger up. It looks like a real mess right now, but someday, like when I'm a hundred years old, people will stop at my garden and never suspect how ugly it was in the beginning. (I must say though that it wasn't ugly when we moved in, it was quite nice, just not my style.)Good news: I sold something on Craig's List for $15.00. Do I get to use that for more beer? Today someone is coming to view my elliptical machine and later someone is coming to view my dresser where it resides at the bookstore. I have Lisa E. to thank for listing all my things online because she wants to help me. Thank you Lisa!!!
I'm very superstitious so I don't want to go jinxing myself, but it appears that our friend's loan agent just might also be a financial magician. We are applying for a refinance that will actually reduce our monthly mortgage by $200 while also absorbing our credit card debt. I will believe it when it all goes through, but he tells me the reason we are eligible for such a good interest rate at a time like this (with the economy sinking lower and lower- thank you rich-ass President Bush for making it so easy for all of us small fry to tank) is because our credit is still very good. Also because we have preserved a decent amount of equity in our home. So if you could all keep your fingers crossed for us? We will still be damn poor, but we won't have to sell our house if this refinance goes through as planned. If it doesn't? Bankruptcy would appear to be the next step.
Meanwhile...my sister has suggested that I go to the local nursery to find out if they're hiring. If you work for a nursery you probably get a discount on plants. I need plants to beautify my yard. You know, to compliment they brown lawn we're carefully cultivating. A few more days before my sister goes back to Los Angeles, and then it will be time to buckle down and get some sewing done. Really work hard on getting my business to grow.
Also, not that this is important to know, but if this loan deal goes through, which it probably won't, the loan agent is also allowing for us to put away ten month's of mortgage payments in a "liquid" account (must do research with my bank on that) to avoid a similar situation. Now, there would be enough for me to buy a year's membership to my gym, which I plan to do if it all goes through. I need that. I haven't been able to go with all this nuttiness going on around here but when Max goes back to school I should find it easier to haul my butt over there. It really feels good to do the work out they "designed" for me there. I will be too poor for a long time to be able to afford that monthly, but if I just pay for it all then I will benefit quite a lot. It really helps with my mental health.
No canning projects have been done this week. All has been on hold. I hope to get back into action next week. There are lots of pickles still to be made, peaches to can, tomatoes, and ratatouille to freeze. Not to mention pears coming up and I am out of apple sauce so I will make some this year. I miss canning already. I've been itching to do some more. We've been waiting for the U-pick season to really kick off at Bernard's farm. Should be very soon.
It's really time for me to see to studio business and planning for my day. We are going to pick some blackberries (my mom, sister, me, and Max) and go to the farmer's market. I need to do some meal planning that doesn't involve five pounds of cheese per meal. I'm thinking lots of cucumber tomato salad with vinaigrette, green beans with potatoes and vinaigrette, beets with dressing-garlic-kalamata olives-and SOME feta, corn on the cob, sauteed zucchini, and some black bean stew with fresh salsa on top. Sound good? What else...?
I hope you all have a lovely Thursday!!
I'm very superstitious so I don't want to go jinxing myself, but it appears that our friend's loan agent just might also be a financial magician. We are applying for a refinance that will actually reduce our monthly mortgage by $200 while also absorbing our credit card debt. I will believe it when it all goes through, but he tells me the reason we are eligible for such a good interest rate at a time like this (with the economy sinking lower and lower- thank you rich-ass President Bush for making it so easy for all of us small fry to tank) is because our credit is still very good. Also because we have preserved a decent amount of equity in our home. So if you could all keep your fingers crossed for us? We will still be damn poor, but we won't have to sell our house if this refinance goes through as planned. If it doesn't? Bankruptcy would appear to be the next step.
Meanwhile...my sister has suggested that I go to the local nursery to find out if they're hiring. If you work for a nursery you probably get a discount on plants. I need plants to beautify my yard. You know, to compliment they brown lawn we're carefully cultivating. A few more days before my sister goes back to Los Angeles, and then it will be time to buckle down and get some sewing done. Really work hard on getting my business to grow.
Also, not that this is important to know, but if this loan deal goes through, which it probably won't, the loan agent is also allowing for us to put away ten month's of mortgage payments in a "liquid" account (must do research with my bank on that) to avoid a similar situation. Now, there would be enough for me to buy a year's membership to my gym, which I plan to do if it all goes through. I need that. I haven't been able to go with all this nuttiness going on around here but when Max goes back to school I should find it easier to haul my butt over there. It really feels good to do the work out they "designed" for me there. I will be too poor for a long time to be able to afford that monthly, but if I just pay for it all then I will benefit quite a lot. It really helps with my mental health.
No canning projects have been done this week. All has been on hold. I hope to get back into action next week. There are lots of pickles still to be made, peaches to can, tomatoes, and ratatouille to freeze. Not to mention pears coming up and I am out of apple sauce so I will make some this year. I miss canning already. I've been itching to do some more. We've been waiting for the U-pick season to really kick off at Bernard's farm. Should be very soon.
It's really time for me to see to studio business and planning for my day. We are going to pick some blackberries (my mom, sister, me, and Max) and go to the farmer's market. I need to do some meal planning that doesn't involve five pounds of cheese per meal. I'm thinking lots of cucumber tomato salad with vinaigrette, green beans with potatoes and vinaigrette, beets with dressing-garlic-kalamata olives-and SOME feta, corn on the cob, sauteed zucchini, and some black bean stew with fresh salsa on top. Sound good? What else...?
I hope you all have a lovely Thursday!!