Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

15 things that make you smile

A. (1) My husband, (2) my brother, (3) my friends, (4) playing my guitar, (5) reading a good book, (6) hearing a good song, (7) seeing a sunset, (8) watching the moon rise, (9) sitting in the dark looking for shooting stars, (10) watching the deer play in the front yard, (11) an unexpected gift, (12) chocolate, (13) an unexpected visit or phone call, (14) writing something that comes out well, (15) having someone else cook.

14 things that make you frown

A. (1) Seeing the face of the former guy in my news feed, (2) hearing bad news about somebody, (3) losing something, (4) not finding the foods I'm looking for in the grocery store, (5) having to cook dinner AGAIN, (6) missing a show I want to watch, (7) not exercising like I had planned to, (8) missing a note/chord when I'm playing guitar, (9) not writing, (10) my husband tracking in dirt, (11) my current governor, (12) missing a phone call from someone I want to talk to, (13) cold weather in springtime, (14) missing a good shot when I'm taking photographs. 

13 things you see every day

A. (1) My husband, (2) my computer, (3) the Blue Ridge Mountains, (4) deer, (5) the shed, (6) the shower, (7) my medications, (8) my guitars, (9) clocks, (10) my calendar, (11) my phone, (12), my desk, (13) my glass of water.

12 things you have always wanted to try

A. (1) Going to Egypt to see the pyramids, (2) getting my Ph.D., (3) writing a book, (4) taking a cruise, (5) learning pottery, (6) walking around the world, (7) being a geologist, (8) being an archeologist, (9) playing on stage in front of 10,000 people, (10) being an astronaut and going into space, (11) acting, (12) learning to speak so I don't sound so "southern."

11 objects that mean a lot to you

A. (1) My watch, (2) my glasses, (3) my computer, (4) my Kindle, (5) my books, (6) my guitars, (7), my cameras, (8) my work hidden in the filing cabinet, (9) the journals that have my poetry published in them, (10) my blog (is that an object?), (11) my phone.

10 places you have been

A. (1) Myrtle Beach, SC, (2) Charleston, SC, (3) Williamsburg, VA, (4) Virginia Beach, VA, (5) Pocono, PA, (6) New York City, (7) Madrid, Spain, (8) Paris, France, (9) California (multiple cities), (10) Florida (Go Disney!)

9 of your favorite foods

A. (1) Baked Lays Potato Chips, (2) Watermelon, (3) chocolate (though I can't eat it much anymore), (4) eggs, (5) meatloaf, (6), chicken, (7), peas, (8) salad, (9) blueberries.

8 things you would rather be doing

A. (1) sleeping, (2) walking, (3) taking pictures, (4) driving, (5) reading, (6) playing a video game, (7) holding hands with my husband, (8) talking to a friend.

7 things you would take to a deserted island

A. (1) My glasses, (2) a big roll of duct tape, (3) a variety of seeds, (4) a big cook pot, (5) a solar powered radio/battery charger thing, (6) my kindle full of unread books, (7) a sleeping mat.

6 things you wish you never had to do

A. (1) Cook, (2) clean the toilet, (3) take out the trash, (4) work for money, (5) pick up the trash after the bear's been in the garbage, (6) cut down a tree.

5 people that mean the world to you

A. (1) My husband, (2) My brother, (3) My father, (4) my friend, (5) my mother-in-law.

4 of your biggest fears

A. (1) not having enough money in my old age, (2) losing my husband, (3) losing my eyesight, (4) getting pancreatic cancer.

3 words to describe how you feel right now

A. (1) Tired, (2) Lonely, (3) Confused.

2 things you're excited for

A. (1) My husband is eventually going to have a hip replacement so he will be out of pain, if we can ever get the surgery scheduled, (2) getting a haircut.

1 thing you want to say to someone

A. "You are the enemy of this country, you should be in jail, and I don't understand why you're still walking the streets."

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Dancing in the Moonlight

Saturday 9: Dancing in the Moonlight (1972)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) The lyrics tell us the moon is big and bright. Do you often take the time to watch the sun set or look at the moon?

A. I do. This morning I was out early with the camera trying to get a picture of the sunrise, but to get the picture I wanted I needed to walk out in the wet grass, and I was still in my robe and slippers. So, I settled for a shot of the moon, which was still high in the sky. A children's moon, I call it.

Sunrise. I wanted to get the mountains behind the trees.

Early morning Children's Moon.

2) The lead singer of King Harvest, Dave "Doc" Robinson, tells us that everyone feels "warm and right." How would you describe your mood as you answer these 9 questions?

A. I have been in a bit of a funk for a good while now, but these are decent questions. Saturday 9 always has good questions.

3) He sings that his friends don't bark or bite. What about you? Is your bark worse than your bite?

A. I think so. I haven't bitten anyone in quite a while.

 

4) He believes you cannot be unhappy when you dance. Do you agree?

A. I think you can be unhappy when you dance, but it can also cheer one up a bit.

 

5) King Harvest was not the only name the band used. They once performed as E. Rodney Jones and the Prairie Dogs. If you ever played in a band, tell us what it was called. If you haven't, make up a band name.

A. I played in a band called Almost Famous, and this was in the 1970s, long before there was a movie out with that name. My father also had a band. His was called Music Incorporated. If I were going to have a band now, I think I would call it Blue Magic Music, after my blog.

Me getting down with Almost Famous.

6) Even though this was a major hit, King Harvest's record label, Perception, went bankrupt in 1974. This decade has been hard on many businesses -- especially restaurants -- and many closed their doors due to covid. Tell us about a shop or restaurant that closed recently, and that you miss.

A. I don't have an answer to this. I know we've had businesses close, but I did not frequent them generally, so I don't miss them.

7) This very upbeat song came from pain. While vacationing in St. Croix, songwriter Sherman Kelly was the victim of vicious gang attack and was left for dead. He wrote this song during his long recuperation, and it helped him envision joy. Is there a song that reliably lifts your mood? (Yes, you can say this song. Mr. Kelly is right, it IS joyful!)

A. Uptown Funk, I Can See Clearly Now, and Band on the Run.

 

8) In 1972, when this song topped the charts, Wrangler jeans were America's best-selling blue jeans. Do you often wear denim?

A. I wear old lady denim.

9) Random question: Which of these is completely, 100% UNTRUE of you: Greedy, lazy, or jealous?

A. I don't think those can be completely untrue of anyone. Everyone has some pinch of those qualities of some sort or another. One can be greedy with money, food, possessions, or people one knows. One can be industrious about work but lazy about doing home chores. One can be jealous of another's success, or jealous of another's wealth, and so on and so forth. What matters is not that we experience these emotions, but how we react to them, and whether or not that emotion leads to action, for good or ill.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

Periwinkle

I ran across this patch of periwinkle* in the hollow of the lower pasture next to the woods. I thought it a strange place to find a flower I normally associated with a house garden but have since learned it is considered an invasive plant now, having "escaped" from old homesteads and gardens and now flourishing freely along highways and forest edges.

It's still a pretty ground cover, but I will leave it at the edge of the woods and not move it up near the house.

*At least, I think it's periwinkle.

Thursday Thirteen

We are all familiar with fairy tales - but mostly the Disney versions. The actual fairy tales are generally much darker than what we have seen portrayed on the screen.

Here is a list of 13 fairy tales. Do you know any of them?

1. "Puss in Boots" (1697). This Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, is about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for his penniless and low-born master. 

2. "Chicken Little", aka "Henny Penny." Dates back 25 centuries or more. A European folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes that the world is coming to an end. The phrase "The sky is falling!" features prominently in the story and has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.

3. "Aladdin." Date unknown. This Middle Eastern folk tale is associated with The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights), despite not being part of the original text.

4. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (1837). This British fairy tale has three versions. The original version of the tale tells of a not-so-polite old woman who enters the forest home of three bachelor bears while they are away. She sits in their chairs, eats some of their soup, sits down on one of their chairs and breaks it, and sleeps in one of their beds. When the bears return and discover her, she wakes up, jumps out of the window, and is never seen again. The second version replaced the old woman with a little girl named Goldilocks, and the third and by far best-known version replaced the original bear trio with Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear.

5. "Jack and the Beanstalk" aka "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" (1734). Jack, a poor country boy, trades the family cow for a handful of magic beans, which grow into a massive, towering beanstalk reaching up into the clouds. Jack climbs the beanstalk and finds himself in the castle of an unfriendly giant. The giant senses Jack's presence and cries,

Fee-fi-fo-fum!

I smell the blood of an Englishman.

Be he alive, or be he dead,

I'll grind his bones to make my bread.

Outwitting the giant, Jack is able to retrieve many goods once stolen from his family, including a bag of gold, an enchanted goose that lays golden eggs and a magic golden harp that plays and sings by itself. Jack then escapes by chopping down the beanstalk. The giant, who is pursuing him, falls to his death, and Jack and his family prosper.

6. "The Monkey's Paw" (1902). In the horror story, three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey's Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.

7. "The Three Little Pigs" (pre-1840). This fable is about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses, made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house, made of bricks.

8. "Tom Thumb" (1621). This was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favorite of King Arthur.

9.  "Cinderella" or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale known throughout the world and one of the oldest of such stories. The protagonist is a young woman living in forsaken circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between around 7 BC and AD 23, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.

10. "Sleeping Beauty" (between 1330 and 1344). This classic fairy tale is about a princess who is cursed to sleep for a hundred years by an evil fairy, to be awakened by a handsome prince at the end of them. The good fairy, realizing that the princess would be frightened if alone when she awakens, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace asleep, to awaken when the princess does.

11. "The Elves and The Shoemaker" (1812). This fairy tale is about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful elves.

12. "The Fisherman and His Wife" (1812). In this tale, a poor fisherman lives with his wife in a hovel by the sea. One day the fisherman catches a fish, which claims to be a one that can grant wishes and begs to be set free. The fisherman kindly releases it. When his wife hears the story, she says he ought to have had the fish grant him a wish. She insists that he go back and ask the flounder to grant her wish for a nice house.

The fisherman reluctantly returns to the shore but is uneasy when he finds that the sea seems to become turbid, as it was so clear before. He makes up a rhyme to summon the flounder, and it grants the wife's wish. The fisherman is pleased with his new wealth, but the wife is not and demands more, and demands that her husband go back and wish that he be made a king. Reluctantly, he does and gets his wish. But again and again, his wife sends him back to ask for more and more. The fisherman knows this is wrong but there is no reasoning with his wife. He says they should not annoy the flounder, and be content with what they have been given, but his wife is not content. Each time, the flounder grants the wishes with the words: "just go home again, she has it already" or similar, but each time the sea grows rougher and rougher.

Eventually, the wife wishes to command the sun, moon, and heavens, and she sends her husband to the flounder with the wish "I want to become equal to God". Instead of granting this, the flounder just tells the fisherman to go home, stating that "she is sitting in her old hovel again". And with that, the sea becomes calm once more, and the fisherman and his wife are once more living in nothing but their old, dirty hovel. 

(This is one of my favorites.)

13."The Frog Prince" 1842.  In this tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince, whom she met after dropping a golden ball into a pond under a linden tree, and he retrieves it for her in exchange for her friendship. The Frog Prince, who is under a wicked fairy's spell, magically transforms back into a handsome prince. In the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw the frog against the wall, at which he transformed back into a prince, while in modern versions the transformation is triggered by the princess kissing the frog. In other early versions, it was sufficient for the frog to spend the night on the princess' pillow.

Do you have a favorite fairy tale? There are many, many more.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 753rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Redbud and Dogwood

I shot these photos on Sunday; on Monday, we had sleet, snow, and ice. Good ol' Virginia weather!

Mooving On In

My husband and I took a ride on the utility vehicle Saturday evening. Usually, when he visits the cows in the Kawasaki Mule, he takes them sweet feed. 

 The cows see the Mule and think, "Oh, treat!" They came after the Mule, with gusto. And got a little close.

 

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What’s the weirdest smell you have ever smelled?

A. The smells in the hospital or at a nursing home.

2. What would be the hat to end all hats? What could you wear on your head that would make people stop what they are doing and stare in awe and amazement?

A. It would have to involve a pineapple.

3. What is something that everyone looks stupid doing?

A. Falling.

4. In 40 years, what will people be nostalgic for?

A. Democracy.

5. How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza?

A. I don't care about it one way or the other.

6. If animals could talk, which would be the rudest? 

A. Squirrels.

7. What’s the best type of cheese?

A. I am not a cheese aficionado, so I'm not the best person to ask. We mostly use cheddar.

8. Where is the strangest place you’ve urinated or defecated?

A. Eww. Not going there.

9. In one sentence, how would you sum up the internet?

A. People have all of the world's information at their fingertips, and they watch cat and dog videos and argue with each other over opinion and have no idea what a fact is anymore.

 

10. Which insect could you happily do without seeing for a good long time?

A. Cockroach.

11. What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever worn?

A. I don't know, probably some dress my mother made when I was young.

12. What’s the weirdest thing a guest has done at your house?

A. I don't generally have guests at my house long enough for them to do weird things. A kid once tried to eat the candy cane decorations off the Christmas tree, if that counts for anything. They were plastic (the decorations, not the kid).

13. Is cereal soup? Why or why not?

A. No, cereal is not soup because it doesn't have some kind of base, like bouillon or whatever. I'm no cook, so again, not the person to ask.

14. What is the sexiest and least sexy name?

A. Antonio for men, Jolene for girls as sexiest names. Least sexy name for men is Jethro and for women its Margaret. Just my opinion. 

15. What fictional character is amazing in their book / show / movie, but would be insufferable if you had to deal with them in mundane everyday situations?

A. Buffy Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: This is the Way the Bunny Hops

Saturday 9: This Is the Way the Bunny Hops

(From the archives)

 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Why do you suppose there are so many songs about Santa Claus, yet very few about the Easter Bunny?

A. Ain't too many words that rhyme with Easter.

2) This song was written by The Kiboomers, two early education teachers who are passionate about the power of music to help kids learn. Tell us about a teacher who had an impact on your life.

A. Lots of my teachers and college professors impacted my life. In the second grade, Mrs. Wright gave me a B in reading. It was the highest grade in the class and when I asked why I didn't get an A, she told me it was because I didn't read with inflection. She picked up a book and read it in a monotone. "That's how you read when you read aloud," she said. Then she read it and gave it life. After that, I did the same, got my A, and was even asked to go read to the first-grade classes.

3) Legend has it that the Easter Bunny was introduced to America in the 1700s by German immigrants. These children waited for a magic creature who left colored eggs. Today's kids dye Easter eggs themselves. When did you most recently color eggs?

A. Longer ago than many people have been alive.

4) The Easter Bunny is usually shown carrying a wicker basket filled with eggs, toys and candy. Is there any wicker in the room you're in right now?

A. No. I don't like wicker. It is a dust collector.

5) While marshmallow Peeps are manufactured all year around, they are most popular at Easter. Do you prefer the chicks or the bunnies?

A. I don't eat Peeps at all. I think they horrible.

6) A little time in the microwave can do ugly things to a Peep. Have you ever nuked a Peep?

A. Can't say that I have, but it would be an interesting experiment.

 

7) Would you prefer a hollow or a solid chocolate bunny?

A. Hollow. Less calories.

8) A traditional American Easter dinner usually includes glazed ham or roast lamb. Which would you rather have as your main course?

A. Ham. Although we are having turkey this weekend.

9) Easter is considered the season of rebirth. What makes you feel refreshed or rejuvenated?

A. A shower.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

Thursday Thirteen

1. I'm all out of love . . . or gas in the tank.

2. Nothing from nothing . . . means somebody needs to go the grocery store.

3. A coat of many colors . . . will keep you just as warm as a solid colored one.

4. The landslide will bring me down . . . but there's nothing like spring to lift me up.

5. I'm standing on a corner . . . waiting on my Uber ride.

6. Feeling better, now that we're through . . . cleaning the toilets and mopping the floors.

7. You walked into the party . . . and told the hostess you loved her cheeseball.

8. Hey! Have you ever tried really reaching out . . . for common ground and something to talk about besides politics?

9. I've been walkin' these streets so long . . . that my feet hurt, and I need to sit down.

10. I know your eyes in the mornin' sun . . . need a pair of sunglasses to protect from UV rays.

11. Busted flat in Baton Rouge . . . means I need to ask for a hit to my Paypal account.

12. Stuck inside these four walls . . . means we've had a pandemic for two years and counting.

13. So many nights, I'd sit by my window . . . and take photographs of the moon.

Do you know the first lines to these old songs? How would you rewrite them?

____________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 751st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Pretty Flowers

 

An Even Newer Cow

One of the new cows dropped a calf the following morning.

The baby was eager to get to its feet. It takes them a little while, though.

Mom was very attentive.

I received a warning moo when I ventured close to the fence. Stay away!

A quick kiss before going back to cleaning the little one up and helping it to its feet.

New Cows

Increased the herd a little this weekend.

They were hungry after an hour's haul in the cattle truck.

They already know who's the man.

More hay, please!

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

These are hard questions. I decided to answer most of them with quotes from Lord of the Rings.

1. Do you own your things or do your things own you?

A. I own my things. When things own you, decay comes.  "The old wisdom born out of the West was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons." - Gandalf

2. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

A. I'd rather not answer this question. But here's a Lord of the Rings quote to ponder: “But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.” – Celeborn

or this quote:

“Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror.” — Gimli

3. When you are 80 years old, what will matter to you the most?

A. Other people. “For behold! the storm comes, and now all friends should gather together, lest each singly be destroyed.” – Gandalf

4. What do you have that you cannot live without?

A. My heart. “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”  – Haldir

5. When you close your eyes what do you see?

A. Everything. “You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous.” - Galadriel, Lord of the Rings

6. What sustains you on a daily basis?

A. Hope. “But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.” — Samwise Gamgee

7. What are your top five personal values?

A. Kindness, creativity, honesty, loyalty, open-mindedness. “Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” – Elrond

8. What personal prisons have you built out of fears?

A. “Courage is found in unlikely places.” – Gildor

9. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?

A. “Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them.” — Galadriel

10. If you haven’t achieved it yet what do you have to lose?

A. “Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.” – Bilbo Baggins

11. What three words would you use to describe the last three months of your life?

A. Boring, worry, anxiety.

12. Is it ever right to do the wrong thing?  Is it ever wrong to do the right thing?

A. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” — Frodo (quoting Bilbo Baggins) 

13. How would you describe ‘freedom’ in your own words?

A. The ability to do what I need or want, without infringing upon the needs, desires, hopes, dreams, air, etc., of other people. 

14. What is the most important thing you could do right now in your personal life?

A. “When in doubt, follow your nose.” — Gandalf

15. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

A. Reading and playing video games.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Jingle Jangle Jingle

Saturday 9: (I Got Spurs That) Jingle Jangle Jingle (1942)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a cowboy who is very happy about his single status. Is your closest friend married or single? Do you think he or she would be happier if their marital status changed?

A. My closest friend is married, and no, I don't think she would be happier if her marital status changed.

 

2) Our cowboy is riding merrily along on horseback. Do you often ride?

A. I do not ride horses.

 

3) John Ritter/Jack Tripper used to sing the refrain of this song as he got ready for dates on Three's Company. Were you a fan of the show? 

A. I watched it occasionally.

4) This was a top hit for bandleader Kay Kyser, who was popular during the Big Band Era. In those days, orchestras played behind vocalists, bandleaders were stars, and dances like the jitterbug and lindy hop were popular. Can you do either of those dances?

A. I am not a good dancer. I cannot do either of those dances.

5) Kyser's orchestra featured many vocalists over the years. Harry Babbitt and Julie Conway sing this week's song. Another vocalist who toured with Kyser was Mike Douglas, who went on to host a syndicated talk show from 1961 to 1981. Do you recall The Mike Douglas Show?

A. I remember it, but I don't recall much about it.

 

6) Kyser suffered from arthritis and wanted to retire from touring in the mid-1940s but he couldn't because he was contractually committed to concert appearances. Is there anything on today's to-do list you don't really feel like doing?

A. Running the vacuum.

7) Kay was a popular radio personality who combined music with comedy and quizzes. Today's most popular quiz shows are Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. On which show would you be a more successful contestant: Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune?

A. I would hope Jeopardy! I've never been a big fan of Wheel of Fortune.

 

8) In 1942, the year this record was popular, Aretha Franklin was born. What's your favorite Aretha Franklin song?

A. RESPECT

9) Random question: Do you sing in the shower?

A. Of course I do.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

Thursday Thirteen #750

Things that make life better:

1. Hope

2. Dreams

3. Laughter

4. Magic

5. Friends/Family

6. Love 

7. Creativity

8. Dinner

9. Wishes

10. Art

11. Compassion

12. Hugs

13. Peace

____________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 750th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Exterior Spruce-Up

When we built this house, we put the rear where the front should be. Back then, when you built a house on top of a hill, you put the front of the house toward the view.

However, we drive up to the back of the house, and everyone comes in the back doors. I don't think anyone has ever come through my front door. There are no steps leading to it, and no real reason to walk around there.

In fact, the only time I know of anyone using the front door, or the small porch there, was one year when the UPS man left a package there during bad weather when no one was home, and I didn't find it for three months.

The back part of the house is where the heat pump is, and we've always kept a flower bed around the heat pump. I started out with perennials, but soon switched to roses only. My husband's grandmother was a prize rose grower, and she gave me starter plants.

The roses never did as well as I wanted. The ground here is Virginia clay, and that doesn't grow things well. Mulch and flower food helped, but since the roses were never strong to start with, they easily caught disease and were home to aphids and Japanese beetles (although come to think of it, I haven't seen Japanese beetles in some time. Maybe the stink bugs ate them.)

Of course, I am older now, and I've some health problems, so weeding and keeping up with this little plot had become something I wasn't doing as well as I wanted.

Monday, the last of Grandma's roses went to the compost pile. My husband had decided he wanted something that looked better there.

It does look better, and once I buy some flower baskets there will be flowers. Also, there are mums in the old whisky barrel.

Of course, all of this could have been avoided if we'd reversed the house to begin with, so that the heat pump was not by the driveway, main entrance, and patio.

Live and learn.

Still a Little Country

This is one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar, I think. I've known for as long as I can remember. I am playing a Dean Vendetta electric guitar. The background rhythm was recorded on a Boss RC-3 Looper station using a Yamaha acoustic guitar. The looper station supplies the drums.

The song is Help Me Make It Through the Night, by Kris Kristofferson.

 

Too Many Deer