Saturday, February 21, 2009
PONDering...
Textured Pond Ice
Because I wanted to ~pack right, pack light~ (whoever came up with that idiotic phrase??) instead of overpacking as I usually do, I studied the extended forecast for MO before I traveled out here. And the temps weren't supposed to get below 30º during the night, let alone the daytime, for the entire week. It was 17º when I got up yesterday. 17º! That's a whole lot below freezing. The coat I brought isn't nearly warm enough. Pooh!
xoabb
expects to never study extended forecasts before traveling ever again!
Labels: laments, missourah, photography
Friday, February 20, 2009
O What a Sky it Always is!
Missouri Countryside: Land of the Big Sky
photographed on Interstate 70 East
~
Disclaimer: I love Connecticut where I've lived for 30+ years. However, there is no ~sky~, let alone any big sky in Connecticut. It's just bits of blue here and there after the tree-tops end.
I was so very fortunate to grow up in (my beloved) Missourah. (Yeah, I know that's not the way it's actually spelled, and to the purists, not how it's actually pronounced, but to me...it's my actuality, and always will be, ok??) Though I've not lived in MO for many years, I still pine for the sky that's always found there. It seems to go on and on and on. Wish I could convey what it feels like to see this huge sky stretching out in front of you. It is simply awesome, wonderful, breathtaking, gorgeous...and something one never sees on the East Coast.
All the world is beautiful. Who you are and where you are determines the strength of the beauty you see.
xoabb
expect big beautiful beloved skies!
Labels: missourah, Skywatch Friday
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Frustrations, Indoor Plants & Good Eatin'
Year round, I sleep with the window cracked open no matter what the weather. Usually this poses no outside ~noise~ issues in the least. Yesterday morning was the exception. I was all snuggled in my bed, sound asleep, when I gradually became aware of loud screeching and honking noises. When I came to enough, it was immediately clear Canada geese were coming in for a landing on my parent's pond. I figured there were at least 100 of the suckers, the honking was so loud. Never one to miss a photo opportunity, I quickly dressed and went outside to see the squadron of geese that was causing all the ruckus.
There were precisely two pairs of geese on the pond - that's only four geese, not the 100 I was sure had landed (ok, so I misheard the honks a little)! One pair on either side of the pond and both pairs trying to outdo the other with their carrying on. Mom came out on the deck at that point and told Cody to "go get those geese"!! Cody perked up, looked around and immediately headed off into the woods. Good dog. Mom said they've been working - to no avail, obviously - on Cody's goose-chasing skills.
I was able to video a great (to me at least) sequence of the winning (we think) pair taking off and chasing the other pair out of the pond. It was great - it really was - and you would have enjoyed it - 10 seconds long, you wouldn't even have gotten bored. However....blogger...grrr!! Blogger decided last night was the perfect time to be persnickety about video uploads. So no go on the geese. Dammit.
Instead, I bring you greenery even in the midst of winter. The above photo is the window seat in mom and dad's kitchen, though no one's ever sat in it in all the years they've lived here. As you can see, there's colors galore from at least five different flowering plants (and one white coffee mug I forgot to remove).
Now for the pièce de résistance:
The world's longest and largest nasturtium. Dad has it gerry-rigged all over the greenhouse, and I'm sure he'll have to add more as it grows and grows. No blooms yet but the foliage is just beautiful.
Those parent's of mine have two green thumbs each.
And those thumbs are very very deeply green!
Later today dear friend Bobbi & I are off to Booche's for a slider lunch.
It's my must-go-to lunch destination any time I'm in town!
(I've already emailed that show "Diner's Drive-In's & Dives" that they must-go-to Booche's.)
~~~
xoabb
expect frustrations...and then good eats!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Excellence Enjoyed!
A most excellent fresh green salad was served tonight here at the old Missouri homestead. Lush tender greens of all kinds, rinsed and put in the salad bowl. Gently dressed with a home-made vinegar and oil dressing, and then enjoyed by all of us.
"So??", you say, "What's the big deal?? We have salads like that all the time!"
Not so fast...
When I said fresh, I meant fresh! Here is the box of lettuce Dad carried out from their greenroom to the kitchen for mom to make the salad from. In the dead of winter, we had seconds-old picked fresh greens - there had to be at least four or five different kinds of lettuces! Oh, did I mention how very much we enjoyed that salad?
Such Excellence in Eating!
Looks like this will be the last extremely fresh greens salad we'll have this trip. If I could upload photos faster than one an hour, I'd show you the after photos of the above lettuce box. Quite depleted, that box was, but in a week or so....yum once again!
Labels: ABC Wednesday, garden, good food, good things
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
O What a Difference....
Yesterday's photo was taken this last August ('08). Today's photo was taken yesterday ('09). It's a very brown world here in MO (that grass looks deceptively green). Still beautiful in it's own way, tho. Mom and dad both say they don't remember a browner winter season, but even so, there are hints of the spring to come. Buds getting plump, Little green shoots beginning to appear, birds doing their seasonal birdly things for this time of year...
It's all good.
xoabb
expect anything!
Monday, February 16, 2009
On My Way!
If you're an early morning visitor, as you read this I'm on my way to Missouri to visit my mom & dad. It's been a while and I can hardly wait to get back there!
This is what my parents' pond looked like the last time I was there, last August. I'll take a photo when I get there and let you see what it looks like now, in the dregs of February. Not as lovely, for sure, but maybe I'll find signs of the Spring to come around the pond edges.
Don't you just know I'll love every minute I'm there???
Yes I will!
Bobbert, call me!
Hey there, Kacey - are you in town??
~~~
xoabb
expect a homecoming!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday Serenity
Wherever you travel,
Wherever you roam,
When you come right down to it,
There's no place like home.
~~~
xoabb
expect no place like home!
Labels: Sunday Serenity
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Long Ago Words of Wisdom & an Amarylis
"Nothing incites to money-crimes
like great poverty or great wealth."
~Mark Twain
Hmmm....
Bernie Madeoff comes to mind.
I think Madeoff needs to be
Her island idea is simply the best -
~~~
xoabb
expect anything!
This year's amarylis is blooming - and
just in time for Valentine's Day! Yippee!
Labels: flowers, words of wisdom
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sky Watch Friday - Trees and Blues
Looking to the sky,
Through the bare brown tree branches.
Just beautiful, yes?
~~~
xoabb
expect anything!
Labels: haiku, Skywatch Friday
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Dearth Continues...
And until it passes, I leave you with this photo of my niece having the time of her life in Galway:
Labels: nuthin doin'
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