Does Your Mother Spray Paint Her Flowers?

 Mine does.

Poison Hemlock (Normally white)

Some Things Never Change

  I found this  book last week at the antique store.  I'm familiar with the time period, but not the President.  It's been quite interesting. I learned that after being shot by an anarchist, doctors tried to keep him alive by feeding him beef juice through his rectum. (??) He died a week later.
  As with nearly all history books, this one, too, contains truths, half-truths, and just plain lies. The author claims the assassin suffered from the worst of foreignism (except that  he was born in the US) and that it was "a small dispensation that we can't even pronounce his name!" (Czolgosz)  The author is correct that McKinley did not want the Philippines when he aquired it along with the other islands after the war with Spain. He claimed the President spent several sleepless nights trying to decide what to do, then God told him to keep the Philippines, while making the savages moral Christians.  I don't think the people there got the same message from God, because when they decided to fight for independence, McKinley sent 70,000 soldiers and slaughtered a couple hundred thousand of them, with a large percentage being  women and children.
  After researching this a bit more, I learned that McKinley's election (the first one) campaign was the very first in US history to be financed by corporations. So really, things haven't changed much at all. Rename the countries here- and  I think the quote from Mark Twain in 1900 sums it up perfectly--"I bring you the stately matron named Christendom, returning bedraggled, besmirched, and dishonored from pirate raids in Kiao-Chou, Mancheria, South Africa, and the Philippines, with her soul full of meanness, her pockets full of boodle, and her mouth full of pious hypocrisies."   Amen.

You're Safe Here

 Turkey season starts in a couple days. I thought hunting was over, but apparently there are animals available to kill year round. The turkeys here, like the deer, are very laid back.  They gather on the sides of the roads, watching as you drive by.  They stroll through your yard at all hours of the day. I don't think they move very much.  If your eyesight was poor, you could find them by their calls; they gobble loudly over and over.....yet the hunters will still spend large sums buying camouflage clothes, hats, gun covers, and camo beer can insulators. I bet the bullets cost more than what the turkey meat is worth;  they are not meaty looking, but tall and leggy. I've never seen any tiny turkey heads mounted in their living rooms, so what do they do with them?  The thrill of the hunt, you say?  It's about as difficult as hunting a  loud rocking chair.

  She likes to wander back and forth across our driveway. She naps behind the coal pile. At times her gal pals will join her.  Maybe they're gossiping about the male who lives in the back yard. She's not really this fat- she was ruffling her feathers up.

He likes to hang around the edges of the yard, but as the picture shows, he's not too scared to come close to the back door. I hope they get together so we can see some turkey babies.

Well, Paint Me Green And Call Me Gumby!

I  drank buttermilk, and I liked it. I needed some to make ricotta. The milk didn't smell too bad, so I took a sip. I had memories of Grandma Z persuading her grandson and granddaughter to try it, and both of them upchucked into the sink. I was expecting nastiness, but it just tasted like buttery milk.  The next day I added it to cake frosting, and this morning I mixed a bit in with the scrambled eggs. It was finally pointed out to me that I bought low fat, thus it lacked that blobby globbiness. I don't think I'm brave enough to try the other kind.

Vintage Finds

I don't know why I like these things so much.

Pimp My Garage

No, we're not polka-dotting our garage. We had a freakishly warm day last week, so someone decided to get the garage ready to be painted by caulking it (even though someone else told him that the cold weather would soon be back). It looks even better at night, when those psychedelic solar lights are flashing like disco balls.

Odd

We drove to Hornell today for groceries. We were bundled up in our coats; the snow is still deep, but mushy. As soon as we reached the main highway at the foot of the hill, the snow disappeared.  Totally. The trees are in full bloom, the grass is green, the roads and fields are dry. It was so much warmer--there were people wearing shorts!  The river and creeks have a lot of rushing water, though. That was the only sign that I could see of the storm.  There's a dairy farm that we pass, and their driveway and cow field is always muddy after a rain; even this place was dry.  Drive home---our snow is still the same, even though the sun is out.  I let Rusty out the back door, and it was too cold for me to stand outside and wait for him.  Weird.

More Snow Stuff

The chicken is for you, Tanya

April Snow Days

It looks like he wants to get out of the snow, but he actually just hears that darn helicopter flying around inside.

More Evil Than Squirrels

Just the sight of the RC helicopter makes him bark nonstop, so you can imagine what he's like when it starts flying. It takes him half an hour to calm down after the experience.

Welcome, Zaza Whiskers

Your grandson (who's still waiting on that Camaro) told me he sent you the link to the blog. I'm typing with one hand because I know your dial up is slow. While you sit surrounded by roses, lilies, hibiscus, and wild flowers, this is what we woke up to this morning:

I never liked the beach - the gritty sand, my hair tied in knots from the wind, the blazing sun - but it's starting to sound very inviting to me.

Companions Wanted

Some people are pickier than others.

Pete's even posting in the want ads now. (I'm scared for Pete's friends, neighbors, and strangers, too. As Pete would say, "Beware...be very ware")

Maiacopa-Cabana

Sadly, I think I'm beginning to understand his rants. I still think it would be impossible to diagram his sentences.

Ferny Goodness

Aren't they weird looking?

Dumpster Diving, Country Style

We found an old garbage pit in the woods. An old homestead must have been near by. It's mainly filled with broken, but colorful, glass.

Animal Crossing

This is where the animals always cross from the woods to our driveway.  The first picture is a little pond that someone dug - it's filled by a natural spring. The deer drink out of it. Next to it is the tree in the second pic. You can tell a bear's been scratching here.

Aliens!

We're pretty sure this is a petrified Ancient Alien head. Quick - call the History Channel!

On an unrelated note, we spotted this UFO over our back yard. This is going to the Science Channel.

(Remember when the History and Science channels used to be about history and science?)

Amusing Himself

I found him alone in the room (rare), playing happily.

Finally!

Welcome Back, Angry Pete

You were missed! We wondered whether you were taking a vacation or else having your meds adjusted. Let's see what's knotting your knickers this week...

Flowers

Things are finally blooming and the nurseries are opening.

Snow Queen Clematis

Finally identified these. They're called Trout Lilies

Hunting The Elusive Leek

People up here love to get together and eat - pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners, harvest meals, and this time of year, ham and leeks. The leeks grow wild in the woods. They're supposed to taste fantastic, with tales of the whole town smelling like leeks. I searched the woods around here - pulling up everything green and sniffing it - but I could find no leeks. Friday, we went to see relatives and strolled through their leek-worthy woods. After tasting them, I think the whole thing may be a joke. They are just glorified onions.

I think I'll wait for the next big food extravaganza later this summer - beef on weck. 

A trillium, something else we dug up on our leek hunt.

He Should Have Known Better

I just won a $2,000 bet with my husband over whether or not we got the Breaking Bad channel, a.k.a. AMC.

(Our new favorite show, previously seen only on DVD)

You Know What They Say About Big Hats...

Not your stereotypical Yankee.

Or is it?

What's Wrong With Kids These Days?

Finally--an upset villager who I agree with.  This man originally wrote a few weeks ago about his visit to the seniors( I think there are over 100 graduating, so this is a large school for the area). He was complaining about the lack of interest in the scholarships he had available. Supposedly, he had a tough time even getting the students to listen to his speech. He wrote that a year ago, most of the applications the alumni club received were not even filled out correctly. I can't believe (or maybe I can) that only 4 kids would be interested in extra money. I realize it's not much, but it would at least pay for a few books.

April 11--Snow!

Rusty Making The Rounds

What Is This?

Can anyone identify this bush?

Pay Attention, Tree

Now listen up, Mr. Apple Tree. I don't want to see any new growth or buds for the next couple of weeks, at least. I know the sun has been out lately, but you know we'll have another frost before long. Lots of people are depending on you for pies, cobbler, sauce, and jam.

(It actually started to snow as we were taking this photo.)

Got Milkbones?

Darn that Grandma; she brought chocolates for him but nothing for me!

Recent Find

$3 at my favorite shop in Hornell.

Autodidactic

He taught himself 3D modeling with Sketchup, and now he's just started to learn how to create Flash animation. (As usual, it's all about the robots)

Huggable