Stuff's A-Sproutin'...

Last Sunday I started a few different varieties of tomatoes, black beauty eggplant, and some lemon-yellow cucumbers (round, double-golfball-sized thingies) in peat pots. Today I saw the first of seedlings-to-come:

The reclaimed rosemary bed also recieved some seeds-- direct-seeded stuff that didn't work out back about six weeks ago (spinach, cabbage, lettuce),as well as carrots, onions, and more peas. [The peas out back are still there, having survived snow and, really, too little sun, and are finally beginning to show promise of stretching out and up-- but not nearly so much as little Bird's (indoor) pea!]

It was too early (then) for sowing the backyard bed-- the spring/summer area, I hope-- the soil still too cold (and clay-ey) even for the cool-loving brassicas I put down. I'm confident the front bed will produce better results because

a) it's later in the season;
b) the soil is better-worked;
c) the spot gets great afternoon sunshine.

Them there reasons just boost my hopes of feeding m'self, some, of my own accord.

Also taking advantage of that afternoon sun-- and the indoor clime enjoyed by Evil Genius' Pea [gotta love that! I mean, how many other l'il seven-years-old boys are encouraged to keep pea in the living-room window sill?!?]-- is a nifty window "herb garden". A kit I was gifted 'round Yule consisting of chives, basil, and oregano (plus some "moneymaker" tomatoes, put in the previous peat pot production) provided the seeds; the container was scrounged and seems the perfect platform for pesto-makin's. I'll admit to missing my prior climates' earlier (garden) starting times. I also admit that for NO REASON do I want to be anywhere other than where I am. [Well, okay... I win the lottery tonight, an estate in Hawaii will soon follow!!! Just sayin', dreamin...] I look forward to the coming season/s, to the challenge of the new learning curve; to getting more fruits and veggies this year than any previous because I met the challenge, and conquered.

And to winning that lottery, and building a greenhouse so's I can start all the earlier here-- when I'm not barrelling @ Pipeline! HA!!!

How goes your garden clime and aspirations?

Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

I Have No Doubt... Because I Know You Folks.

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
--Margaret Mead

And, having nothing to do with anything heretofore (if you [c]ain't payin' attention to some lyrics here), I invite you to view the following video. I'd marry the girl on the cover of Contra [the still shot for the album] for naught other than that sexy button nose as an inherent feature of/on any future Cygnu-spawn.... [Her cuteness, strawberry coiffe, and lithe look don't hamper, either...]



Slainte, folks.

Cygnus

Way Too Busy Of Late

I ain't even looked at a computer, really, the last few days. Don't know how much attention I'll pay to the inside thing the next few, either. Got stuffs to do...

Spent the day primarily ripping out established rosemary plants.
Plan on using the bed for summer vegetables-- I hear say the thing is full of sun that time of year.
Bided my time and started [in accordance with Farmers Almanac guidelines], indoors, in peat pots {see 'em, lower right?!?} [so I can get the required weeks' seedlings developed], the tomatoes and cucumbers [and an eggplant or three!!!]. Also been steadily plugging away at the undergrowth out back, wanting to reclaim some area inside the property line for summer lounging, and to keep an eye on future drainage issues/erosion prevention.
Have I mentioned the mess I made of the table for a few days? I mean, the yard I canbeat up well enough-- I'm the out-of-doorsman. The table? Where I should be breaking fast and having my lap warmed by a nice pussy?

Well... no wonder she ain't been 'round of late: No breaking! HAR!!!

Seriously, folks-- my body aches. Hamstrings and lower back ha'e taken a streching and then some the last few days [a few hours' work for barter-- Green Papers for trade-- in Stead of Home work]. My tushie is feeling hill after hill of hauling brush to and fro, up and down, weighted and un...
My hands are cracked-- raw, dry, and pitched...

WHOA!! [Um, by the way--I secretly LOVE this shit! HA!]

And now I gotta haul in pictures to compliment this tripe?

Did I mention the Olympics, by and by-- all the energy expended wondering why Ice Skating judges are so blindly prejudiced [as in 'to pre-judge']?

Well, then... I shant. You seen for yerself, aincha?!?

Slainte, folks. Gotta get some bean soup[told ya... they makes me scrounge here 'bouts...] and prepare for the fishing attack I'm launching the next day or three...
Slainte.

Cygnus

Real Standards:

Remember When You Were...

Sole judge, jury, and [executioner?] creator of a leafpile's worthiness?

LIVE, Folks.

Slainte.

Cygnus

Headline Caption Contest:

{Your Words Here!!!}

Leave your best headliner/ caption in my comments section. I'll invite welcome accept input as to the most, um... shall we call it Intelligentianus? comment [That's "Smartass" for the laltilliterate wordsmiths amongst ye], but, penultimately-- Swan-Pun intended-- I DECIDE...



I choose you, I'll send ya something. Not much; just some seeds or something.

Kinda a warm-up to March, y' Grok?!?

Slainte, Folks. Look forward to hearing from you...

And, THANKS...

Cygnus

Sorry 'Bout The Absence...

Been really busy the last few days. Lots of stuffs to do 'round the casa, getting ready for upcoming spring-- which, as always, will spring faster than we are ready for, no matter our readiness-proclamations! ha!

Primarily some gardening research and planning, which ties right in with my prepping. I saw the question posed a few days ago on someone's blog title: "WHAT DID YOU DO TO PREP THIS WEEK?" Well... prepared for a lotta vegetation and flora come late summer, I can answer honestly. Still got a lot o' work to do... too much to clarify here, and enough to warrant the vagueness herein-- both "to do" and "been doin' ".

Top it all off, my Lady-Flower drove in from Florida, Saturn's Day nacht, back from a ten-day traipse 'cross the Carribbean seas. The following day was Valentines, and the very next her birthday.

Okay, I'll be honest and admit I BITE, having not done much for either. But, somehow filled the time with ... well, 'acceptably pleasing' itenera...

Also, I'm currently in the brainstorming phase for a first on this blog; something fun AND beneficial for all, I ken: a GIVE-AWAY-- neat little preppers' additions [I believe] handy for rounding out emergency pack gaps and/or future bartering. I'll keep you posted-- when I get some concrete idea of what exactly I'm thinking.

So... LONG WAIT, eh?? HA!

Hope not, folks! In fact, I'll step out on a limb and set an 'Indian Birthday' deadline: I'll give YOU stuffs on the day I were spawned upon this now-suffering globe!

[DAMN; now I gotta actually think and PLAN some she-aat out! HAR!!!]

Slainte, friends! Thanks for the patience!

Cygnus

I Get The Shirt,

The Irony Of That.

My question is, if that IS a gun at his neck, then, um...
can some'un explain the smile???

I don't mean physically; no explanation save shitty hygeine-- and mayhap a lotta meth-- there. What I do mean is...

Well, then again, maybe with the meth factor I answered my own question.

Peanut gallery???

Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

6 dubbl-oh 5

3..2..1...

Another Movie What You Gotta Read First:

A Clockwork Orange.

Hope you can appreciate classical music, as well. Else...

You'll never slooshy Swan-Boi...

Slainte!

Cygnus

A Good Day For...

???

Sleeping?
Nah. Too much to do.

Eating?
Well, always nice, food. Still, That only takes so long.

Um... "cuddling up"??Hmm. Ditto... 'Sides, I got the house to myself for another two days.

Meh!! Not according to Farmer's Almanac.

Yardwork?
Not today:
Snow started light and soft about four hours ago; I was watching the birds eat and noticed a downy flake or three float down. I didn't expect many more. I was mistaken.

A few moments ago
and it's not done yet.

Okay by me; I figure there will come a year when I'll be sick of it all. This isn't gonna be the one. In Texas, I might have seen some flakes (SNOWflakes; plenty of the metaphoric ones, eh?) every five years. I'm glad to be somewhere now that the reality of four seasons sparkles as beautiful.

Meantime, I got some foreign "-ing" words/practices to exersize: mopping, dish-washing, sweeping-- you know, kleening en generaux.
Guess I better grab a broom...

Man, I'm glad I doubled up on the beer run yesterday! HA!

Slainte, folks!
Cygnus

Cap'n Tripps...

Forget Nanny.Gov. Anybody Read The Stand?...

Should.

And be afraid.

BE VERY AFRAID...

Slainte. [HAH!!!]

Cygnus

A Song About Freedom And Oppression

With what I just read over at MAYBERRY's blog, this video came to mind.

Let's not let this become an Orwellian world, folks. I mean, any more so than we already have...



Slainte, folks.

Cygnus

Now It's Official:

I Can Call This Place Home

Taco meat is on the range: nachos for the superbowl.
I have a nice screwdriver at the ready-- replete with a very smooth Russian import.

But those aren't the reasons.

The folk lovingly refered to as "the Trolls" [they roomed in the downstairs section of the casa] officially moved out. But that's only a contributing factor.

"Contributing how, oh Swan of Swans?" I can hear you asking thru the eather-- or ether, or airwaves, whatever your modus communicati.

Well, I could tell ya, but wouldn't you rather I show ya? Hun huh wouldn't ya huh??!

Well, okay then...

Several stack-racks of bowling balls -- one of the trolls is an avid bowler-- and large tool boxes were cleared from the garage. No, I dinna move my vehicle in; I did something far, far more important with the space...

Now to stock the reefer with frothy adult beverages and get an erasable board-- but even those are extraneous. Well, not really, but...

I DID throw my first round,
and it only took me four darts to find me mark:
The fifth woulda been there, too, mais alas-- wire-spit! So it goeth sometimes...

Anyhow, folks, y'all have a good night. I gotta go make coconut margaritas in honor of the Lady of the House's watching the game from somewhere in the Carribbean Sea-- we'll be watching together, if vicariously! ha!

Slainte, folks! Hope the Saints not only lose but loose hard! HA!!!

Cygnus

It IS The Source

It'll Change Your Life Forever...

If you've never been here... Well, I'm sorry. Really. I am.


There are no words. To ride the ocean...

Salinte, folks.

Cygnus

I've Got A Problem

Several, in fact...

Gonna be tought to pinpoint. But...

I'll just express the night. The last several days, actually. So, here I go.

Remember when you were youth? Did anyone load your plate with shit you didn't like, and refuse you dismissal from some formal setting until the crapoleum was gone?

I call bullshit. I pinpoint overweight youth of America--hell, overweight Americana in general.

Food: The Golden Rules

Eat When You're Hungry
Eat What You Want
Eat Consciously
When You're Full, STOP.

MORAL: If you dinna load your own plate, why the fuck should you be asked to 'clean' it???

In school, did some old biddy-- male or female-- tell you how to hold your writing imlpement? Did they say "do this first, then that second, then..."

Calling All Bullshit!!! ...

I Have No Golden Rule Here--- but... What Works For YOU???

As an adult do you see a solution to some moronics @ work that your supervisor never will, that s/he will never comprends? And, you've expressed as much to them, and they have some "go with the flow/ we have a system" tripe?

Wonder why they're the manager?

Well... So do I. So have I. So did I.

Slap caugh syrup down your kids' gullet at every throat-hack? Quit. It could just be an immune system building strength.

The writing implement?
Hmm...

I heard that tripe tonight. I made some observations. Then told L'il Dude "I hold mine the same way {as you do} [the 'wrong way', according to those 'in the know'] . And, y'know what? I write like a Champ!!!" [Then, I commenced beating my chest like a gorilla---RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE MORON FEEDING HIM THIS LINE O' SHIT!!].

My handwriting SUCKED as a youth. I'm male-- we aren't generally known for penmanship.

Bird was participating in some formal writing exercise wherein his handwriting was not the challenge-- his comprehension of words was.
I ask...how the fuck does correcting his holding of a pencil aid in his sentence structure comprehension?!?

Yup... IT DON'T.

["Doesn't." I illiterate on poipose...]

L'il Bird told me at one point tonight, "I like my mom's rules better..."

There's a very loose structure here at Casa De Crazy, from sleeping times, to eating, to playing...

En generaux, we all do as we feel.

UNSCHOOLING, it has been refered to [as].

I could be ranting, I'm certainly raving. Yet...

I know I have good penmanship. I developed it by writing. ON MY OWN.
Granted I know-- because I were drilled in-- sentence structure. But-- how to hold a pencil?

Shut the fuck up!!!

I out-scored all others at the task of sentence diagramming. Because I was corrected DURING SPEECH-- when I spake. I learned by listening and conversing.

And, why should I eat what YOU like?? We're different persons!!!

I've not yet set my step-father foot down with this person whose charge Bird is in whilst Momma is away for some week or so. But... it ain't far, that stomp.

I only stood for so much-- correction: only took in so much-- during my youth, and I'll only let this one take in so much. I'm letting it go-- tonight-- because the kid is learning that different 'bosses' have different rules, and we all have to learn to navigate different flowing waters.

But... forced eating? Nae. Hullo, LardA[ss A]merica. [Then someday he'll be mandated to pay for some forced health care in itiative?? PFFT!!!]

Or, be made to "Write this way!!!", then pleaded to, to accept text-verbiage as acceptable on college entrance exams?

Well, lettuce mention... Colleges ARE formal learning institutes...

"Here, hold the fork like so..."

And grow and grow,and become a Fukk U. graduate?!?

Two of the three previous words, Folks...

Cygnus

Re: Made In The U.S.A.

The different colored text in this post is a forwarded email from my mom (verbatim). I thought it appropriate to pass on. Here seems as good a spot as any.

Many of you already do this. I'm going to make more effort.

One Light Bulb at a Time

A physics teacher in high school once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American.
Good idea .. . one light bulb at a time . . . ..

Check this out . I can verify this because I was in Lowes the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA. Start looking ..

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job . So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now.. I do not buy it any more. My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico ... now I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.
This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labeled, "Everyday Value".. I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - They were the same except for the price ... The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland, Ohio.

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here..

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets... yep, you guessed it, bounce cost more money and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA ! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!
My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago .. ........)
Let's get with the program . . .help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U.S.A.
I Passed this on ......... Will you ???????

Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE!!!!

It Got Fixed... So There Will Be No Bride!HA!

Remember that tiller I killed couple weeks ago? Ne mas muerte! Seems the right oil [2-cycle versus 30-weight... DAMN!!] makes a difference. Go figger...
I opened the intake chambre, damped up the pool of fuel I'd primed in trying to chase the old stuffs out, looked for a carb to clean (alas, no spagetti there!), replaced the spark plug (and am still convinced it dinna need so; least now I have a spare!), and...

Hell, I dunna know . But I do know that when the blessed thing were reassembled cranked yestere'en, it dinna object to blaringly waking up the neighborhood...

I'm still wondering how I'm going to belay the water-logging going on in the low section of the garden. This year, I mean-- I know in one or three the sunken pit cum swimming hole will be inches and feet of black soil...

I have much work ahead, and, weather-cooperative, will get a good bit of it done.

Regardless, I know this: I'll continue jumping the gun, planting stuffs ahead of their [recommended] time.

The peas are doing fine.

Something planted weeks and weeks ago is coming up in the raised-brick area.

I've checked charts; I've checked the back of seed packs. But, penultimately, I'll check my instinct. Rather, I'll listen to and abide thereof.

Ain't failed yet, folks...

Slainte!

Cygnus

Which Direction Does Your Rook Move??

Sure, On A Chessboard.

What about when she gots a packing peanut on her arched back?!?



Slante, folks!

Cygnus