Tattle-Tales – Page 3 – The Arcadian Experience

Thanks for “Ponies”

November 27, 2011November 27, 2011Leave a comment

I’m so thankful Thanksgiving is over… it was just the holiday I needed but I’m glad to get back to it starting Monday.

Tonight we had a special treat. We got back from visiting my husband’s family around 6 p.m. Then my parents came to our house about 6:45 with our dog and we got to visit with them.

We got a rare treat when my dad took up the guitar and played two or three songs. They were old-fashioned, traditional cowboy songs. My favorite of all the music my dad plays. Tonight he played a cowboy campfire Christmas tune and an all-time favorite, “ponies,” which is a song about a horse whisperer.

When I was pregnant with my son, every time I heard the song it would make me cry. Personally I think this song should always be sung in a small setting and acoustically. John Denver recorded the song and it’s featured on his Different Directions album. The produced, recorded versions lose the intimate feel of what the song is all about. This is a beautiful song about a cowboy who understands and communicates with horses in a way that no one else can.

Most of us have encountered a person like the one in the song – a person who has a way with dogs, or horses, or babies or whatever it is that can’t speak. If you’ve ever ridden a horse and been in complete unison with the animal, this song will move you.

Ponies

Somewhere out on the prairie
Is the greatest cowboy that’s ever been
And when he lays his hands upon the ponies
They shudder with an understanding skin

And he says ponies
Now ponies don’t you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day

When the storm clouds in the west
Are quickly gathering
The ponies they run wild there
Before it rains

You’ll see their sleek dark bodies
Brightly gleaming
You know the fire is flying through
Their veins

And he says ponies
Now ponies don’t you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day

And he says ponies
Ponies don’t you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day

Words and music by Jeffrey Bullock

To Catch a Fish

November 25, 2011November 25, 2011Leave a comment

We’re visiting Nanny and Pawpaw this weekend. Pawpaw wanted a new computer so we actually ventured to one of the bigbox stores on Black Friday to find an electronics deal. Remarkably the stores weren’t bad at all – I guess when you go at 6 p.m. all the early birds have gone home to roost.

On our adventure we stopped off at a Mongolian-style grill for dinner. Jdubs has been balking at eating his dinner these days but tonight we had leverage. There was a guy at the restaurant making balloon critters. We threatened Jdubs that if he didn’t eat his dinner then no balloon.

Cute college boy working his way through school just a few balloons at a time.

And this guy was good. He’s a college student at UT-Dallas. Pretty clever part-time job for a college student. Nanny asked if he had to go to a special school to learn how to make balloon animals. He said that he went to the school of You Tube to learn. (A comedian too).

He made Jdubs a goldfish on a fishing pole.

He told us he was available for birthdays and parties, but occasionally he got invited to bachelorette parties, which could get a little awkward… I guess the single girls wanted something other than a fish on a line 😉

Jdubs did good, ate his broccoli and noodle dinner. Thanks Blue Collar Balloon Guy.

Scattered Thanksgiving

November 24, 2011November 24, 2011Leave a comment

Several people have asked me what we were going to make for Thanksgiving. When I say “nothing” puzzled glances follow with raised eyebrows. When your family is far-flung or out of pocket for whatever reason, it’s hard to justify cooking an 18-pound turkey for four adults and a small child.

My grandmother is recovering from the surgery she had last week. The procedure made her weak and tired. I have a family member going through a divorce and another one with a terrible bacterial infection, etc., etc.

So it was just easier and more convenient (and cheaper) for my immediate family go to Wildcatter for Thanksgiving.

A big pile of food ... Tri tip steak, ham and smoked turkey. Mac n cheese, grits, dressing, green beans, broccoli and sweet potatoes.

It was delicious! And we had a spectacular view of the North Texas Hill Country.

View off the southern bluff at Wildcatter Ranch

We had a stellar French Burgundy and when we were done, we went home. No dishes, no leftovers, no nada.

I don’t think I’ll want to do it every year, but I’m thankful it’s an option. We’ll have traditional Thanksgiving feast with my husband’s family over the weekend – fried turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie.

We had a good day, (well other than that fight we had). And it was a beautiful day to be outside in the garden. I worked on long-overdue cleanup and winter planting.

The Christmas tree went up with relative ease. As I write, the Aggies and Longhorns are still battling it out. It’s been the holiday I really needed.

Two Things for Writer’s Block

November 22, 2011November 22, 2011Leave a comment

Raging case of writer’s block is still intact (that word always makes me think of male dogs, lol). So short post is in order.

2 things …

Today is the 48^th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. I hope that our country never has to deal with that again and I hope that our country will always respect the office of the President of the United States, no matter who occupies the office.

Secondly, and ironically (since we are such foodies) we are going to have our Thanksgiving meal at a restaurant. I’m actually very excited about this. We will be going to visit my husband’s family later in the weekend and will have a traditional meal. But for Thanksgiving Day, since my family members are scattered and my grandmother is still recovering from surgery, we decided not to mess up the kitchen and go to Wildcatter instead. It’s great to have that option!

And this photo because I like it …

A Few Random Things

November 21, 2011November 21, 2011Leave a comment

After a bad case of writer’s block I decided to start writing about random things … thus random things.

We went to Walmart tonight to pick up my $4 prescription (love that). There was an incessant beeping. When I asked an employee what it was, she said “what beeping?” Really! It was clearly an alarm but nobody seemed to be alarmed! Three or four other people seemed to be as puzzled/annoyed as I was.

Wonder how much the boys in Bentonville paid for the updated logo with the shinny sun?
Then Walmart goes and redeems itself with Blueberry cordials! The find of the month. It’s the greatest combo!

One of my favorite things ...
I was working on a group of photos of my favorite landscape plants when Jdubs posed. Then he wanted me to take a photo of his favorite stuffed animal, Smooshy.

Posing for the photos.

Smooshy -- close up.
Some of the best $14 wine I’ve had, ever.

To hell with Yellow Tail swill.
The fattest Chihuahua, ever!

Seriously, this is the fattest Chihuahua.

She's like a 20 lb loaf of bread.
The cutest little kid, ever.

Jdubs doing "tricks" for momma.
A poster in my grandmother’s bathroom! They don’t even have a cat!

I feel like this almost every single day ...

Photographer in the Making

November 9, 2011November 13, 2011Leave a comment

I came home tonight ready to write my blog post about pies and church suppers and small-town goodness. But when I opened up my camera’s files to see what photographs I had to work with, I got a surprise. (or maybe I should say gift.)

Apparently my son has been playing with momma’s camera.

Jdub’s babysitter, Flor, going down the stairs with coat hangers in hand. (Note blank wall where aquarium used to be).

A picture of Jdub’s foot stepping down on the stairs. (This is a little unnerving for me, but I think it’s very metaphorical at the same time).

A blurry right foot. Better than a left foot, I guess.

A blurry photo of Flor putting something in the closet.

Action shot of Flor. I don't think she was expecting it.

Photo of wall and play closet. The walls are very blue – Jdub picked out the color himself.

Photo of floor/rug in Jdub’s room, and the letters O, P and Q.

He figured out how to flip open the flash … another photo of a right foot, and some trash. At least it’s in focus– progress.

A picture of a partially eaten apple. There are about six just like this one—I think someone pressed the button over and over. We’ve made headway though—we are starting to experiment with composition.

Hopefully this wasn't meant for Snow White.

More experimentation with lighting and effects.

We’re taking risks here – experimenting with composition and perspective.

An artist in the making …

Killing Frost and Terrorist Black Flies

November 2, 2011November 13, 2011Leave a comment

The first day of November was glorious—a bright blue sky, upper 70s, no wind, overnight low in the upper 50s. Totally kick-ass weather for growing a fall crop of tomatoes, eggplants and chili peppers.

This is North Texas …It can be 90 degrees one day and 30 the next; we can have 100-degree temperature swings within the same year.

(February 2011. It was 10 degrees. 113 degrees August 5, 2011 after 10 p.m. )

I knew something was up because the last two days have been filled with black flies acting crazy, terrorizing me – at home, the office, the coffee shop, everywhere.

Black flies are one of the most annoying critters on Plant Earth. I grew up on a ranch with lots of animals pooping nearby, let’s just say you can never have enough fly swats, fly paper or bug zappers. But when the flies swarm and act crazier than usual, you know the weather is about to change. After a sudden killing frost you can walk around and see thousands of fly exoskeletons on the ground.

As a gardener, I know the end is near for my tender annual vegetables—it’s November. I’m in USDA zone 7B with an average first frost date of November 14. But, I’m clinging to the hope that I can nurse my plants along, especially since they just started producing fruit after surviving a wretchedly hot, bone-dry summer. (No exaggeration, it’s on record as the driest, hottest summer since 1950).

So I pulled up my trusty weather app on my iPhone and sure enough … big cold front moving in—decidedly not good for the garden.

I put in an emergency call to handyman husband to get supplies at the hardware store and I made a mad 5 p.m. dash to the feed store to get plastic sheeting. An hour and a half later we have the garden covered. (I am not going back out there to take a picture, Ok I took a picture this morning.)

The temps went from 70 degrees to 45 in about two hours with winds gusting up to 40 mph. I made one last harvest, just in case.

Jalapenos are beautiful, fruity and spicy-delicious right out of the garden.

Serrano peppers just off the vine.

Thanks for the help, sweet husband. Eggplant parmesan is in your future.

Hometown Halloween

November 1, 2011November 1, 2011Leave a comment

Halloween is one of those holidays that, as a kid, you look forward to all year long. I remember moving to a neighborhood after college and looking forward to greeting trick-or-treaters, only to find that there weren’t many kids around. And they didn’t go to a stranger’s house, even if it was next door.

Halloween moved into the category of a reason “to party” as an adult. Then I left the big city and traded my zero-lot line home for a traditional neighborhood in a small town. Now married with a kid, I live on a street where I know everyone’s name, and their dogs’ names too.

Halloween has once again become something magical and full of whimsy. All the things I remember as a child growing up in a small town. My son, John, was adamant about being Mario this year. (I’m glad we had Fox News on … that always indicates that my dad is at my house.)

Here in my little town they do it up right. There are car loads and trucks pulling trailers full of kids, decorations and an abundance of children weaving through streets and yards.

My son is trick-or-treating at the across-the-street neighbor’s house – he got homemade sugar cookies. That doesn’t happen in the city. People will think you are trying to poison their kids, even if they live across the street. These neighbors are also retired teachers that taught science and algebra to me.

And it’s on! We trick-or-treat on something I call the “miracle mile” also known as Rodgers Drive. We can walk up our alley, cut through a neighbor’s yard and walk a one-mile loop and get all the good loot.

It’s a gaggle of girls plotting their next Halloween maneuver. How much you want to bet that this basic scene will occur many times in the years to come? I’m glad I have a boy.

There are multiple generations waiting on the door step to give out candy because there are so many kids …

Not the greatest photo, but you get the idea… there are quite literally thousands of kids that stream through this cool neighborhood. (We actually don’t live in this neighborhood, but we’re in walking distance!)

The intersection at Randy and Rodgers Drive … I wasn’t kidding when I said cars, trucks and trailers full of kids.

After our loop we end up back at our house and answer our own front door for the second wave of kids. Halloween is something of a marvel in our town. It really is something that looks like it was staged for a movie. By the way, we live in a place where we leave our kids outside to play in the street, which seems crazy in any place other than Arcadia.

Garden Calamities, Bad Kids and More Bad Dogs

March 31, 2011March 31, 2011Leave a comment

Garden Calamities, Bad Kids and More Bad Dogs

7 to 10 days ago I planted a few rows of spring plants that are space-savers—ideal for my intensive gardening plan. These are also the plants that give you quick pay-off in terms of gardening—radishes, mesclun, rocket (aka arugula), spinach and carrots. All sprout quickly and can be harvested between 25-45 days. A super-speedy turnaround considering our beloved tomatoes can take up to 90 days to mature.

These quick-return crops have already started to show signs of life … this photo was taken on Monday, 7 days after they were planted.

See the little sprouts coming up … I have no idea what this is because I didn’t properly label my rows – oh well. I will be able to identify them once they get past the initial phase of sprouting.

Then Tuesday, I started writing this piece and decided to take photos showing progress. I went out to the garden to take photos, but there was evidence of a minor Garden Calamity.

A big dog print in my raised bed … I only planted half of one raised bed and that is the only place the dog tromped thru. Of course it’s right in the middle of a planted row.

I still didn’t get the story finished, so after work on Wednesday, I went to take another progress photo.

Then another Garden Calamity struck … usually when that happens it has to do with a bad dog. Yesterday it had to do with a kid … my 4-yr old son came into the house and declared: “I water momma’s flowlers. I help jew, mom.” I didn’t think a lot of it, but then walked out to see what he was talking about.

Seedlings almost washed away by a 4-yr old.

Holy Garden Calamity, Batman! I don’t’ think 4-yr olds understand that you can’t put the sprinkler wand/spray head thingy right up next to the seedlings. And this story has changed drastically since the initial draft, due to Garden Calamities.

100_1674 — Bad kid, good kid? Definitly a cute kid!

More to come on tomatoes and spring gardening in North Texas… I’m dying to plant my tomatoes, but the old farmers say, “thunder in February, frost in April.” And we had thunder in February along with a frozen foot of snow and ice that cancelled school for a week. I’m going to wait a few more days on planting my tomatoes. Hopefully I can avoid future Garden Calamities.

96 tomato plants ... almost ready for a North Texas garden home!

Perennial Favorites and Bad Dogs

March 18, 2011March 18, 2011Leave a comment

Perennial Favorites and Bad Dogs

I was just writing about spring and how I love to watch things grow … and it’s even cooler to see perennials emerging from their winter slumber.

Half the time I forget I’ve planted them, then I will start to see this little bit of green peeking out. After an investigation, I realize it’s not a weed, but a perennial.

This is a lilly -- not sure which kind yet.

Love perennials … they are more expensive than annuals, but if you select the right varieties for your area, you will be able to enjoy them year after year.

I personally try to have a good mix of perennials and annuals. One of my most favorite annuals of all time is the pansy.

Look at this pretty, happy pansy face! Fortunately where I live, I can plant pansies in the fall and they will usually overwinter then grow all spring until the end of April. Then I rip them out and replace them with something more heat tolerant.

This is Mexican sage, a hearty perennial.

Mexican Sage waking up from a long winter's Siesta

Sometimes I find this in the garden… bad dog … if you can’t tell by the photo, my dog Ruby, dug in the flower bed and dislodged this beautiful specimen of Mexican Sage.

I love Mexican sage for my particular area, because it’s hardy and blooms continuously, it can withstand the hot Texas sun and summer, and requires very little watering.

mexbushsage — Mexican sage in full bloom -- pretty!

This is a variegated sedum, another hearty perennial that can grow just about anywhere in the U.S.

Sedum_verigated — Verigated sedum in its full bloom, in the late summer or early fall.

What’s the difference?

Annuals complete their lifecycle in one growing season, meaning that an annual plant can grow from seed to maturation (seed reproduction) in one season—snap dragons, petunias and pansies. Generally most garden vegetables are annuals.

Perennials have an ongoing lifecycle, meaning they come back every year after a period of dormancy. Trees and shrubs are good examples, but other flowers are salvia, daisies, sedums and chrysanthemums. Some perennials are grown as annuals in northern climates because they are not cold-hardy. A good example of this is dusty miller. It’s a perennial where I live, but in Kansas and north, it’s not hardy enough to overwinter.

BTW … for those of you North Texas gardeners out there, we are coming up on our last average killing-frost dates this week and next. For more info contact your local Texas county extension agent– they know all the scoop for your county’s growing particulars. (PS– if you live in a different state they have extension offices too).

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: