Schools out for Summer

Finally, summer is here. I've been busy shuffling L around to various parties. He's so busy I hardly keep up. Beach, mini-golf, cookouts, girls!! He's always on the phone planning where he has to be next. Due to work schedules on a busy weekend we cooked late night with friends - pork chops on the grill, rissoto and salads. Enjoying the decks and stars outside in the cool evenings. B and I slept out on the upper deck two nights and it was perfect with the new moon letting the stars shine bright. The highway is filled with cars coming and going with tourists. R & L have been playing basketball when they are home. The neighbor is moving to Arizona and gave them their basketball hoop, which was really a very nice thing to do, since we lost ours to Wilma last year. P is going to Orlando on Friday to visit friends and go to the water parks. Wednesday I'll be out on a catamaran with my old work friends yearly party at the reef and then to the restaurant afterwards. I've been dressed only in a bathing suit for over a week unless I wrap a sarong around me to go to the store with sandals. This afternoon we'll finish up our hurricane supplies again and take advantage of tax free days this month. Also, we have the shutters for the front of the house and will paint them and get them up next week. The ghetto continues it's R&B scene. All good... We are watching and backing our Miami Heat and of course the Red Sox! Summer,, Summer,, Summer.

Memorial Day

We didn't do much for Memorial Day, just sausages, hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill with potato salad. C and H came over for the day while their parents went golfing. They got here late afternoon, just in time for some food and a round of croquet. A fun day and we had gorgeous weather all weekend.

On the nature front, one hen turkey from the local group of 11 or so reappeared. Perhaps she lost her clutch of eggs to a predator and now has nothing better to do than hang out with us. The pair of Canada geese that had taken up residence in the yard have been gone for about a week and are maybe sitting on their second clutch. We think they lost the first group of goslings to snapping turtles or coyotes.

Plus-size clothing

I think there is a real market for plus-size clothing for women. Mom and I have been looking for something to wear to Laura's wedding in two weeks, and we're having an unbelievably difficult time finding anything appropriate. There seem to be three catagories: very formal (and horrible fabrics); business attire; and casual. Nothing at all semi-formal that would be appropriate for a morning wedding. I may have to get my sewing skills up to snuff. We'll go to Coldwater Creek tomorrow and see what we can find.

Barbaro

I've been thinking good thoughts for Barbaro and am happy to hear that he's doing well. Evidently he's even acting like himself, which is a good sign, although it doesn't mean he'll heal. It does remind me what wonderful and fragile animals horses are, elegant, noble and brave. Not that they are the only ones. Back in my NJ days, a client rushed Romeo, his white Bull Terrier, into the hospital, the dog having just leapt off a second floor balcony to land on the curb below. Someone thought it was funny to stand on the sidewalk and do the Shakespeare bit, until the dog came flying over the railing. Poor Romeo was badly bruised and probably had a couple cracked ribs at least, but for that first exam he stood like a statue. Not a whimper, not a twitch - he looked straight ahead and was a rock about the whole thing. Another time a woman called about a kitten she had picked up off the side of the road. When it came in, it had one eyeball sitting at the top of its cheek. But again, no crying. In fact, she purred through the worst of it. I don't know that they knew we were trying to help, but both animals were more stoic than any person I have ever known.

btw, I ended up keeping the kitten, who turned out to be an excellent mouser.

I had picked Bernardini to finish second behind Barbaro, so I was glad to see him win. Actually, I had three of the top four finishers. Sweetnorthernsaint finished second (I picked him for third), Hemingway's Key was third, followed by Brother Derek, who finished right where I guessed he would. I should have known Hemingway's Key would be in the money! I felt bad for the Bernardini people; good as it is to win, it must be hard to win under these circumstances.

Mr. Bill turns 51

Tonite we had fun, friends stopped by... we had cake... sang, played music, had a few cocktails... Miss P and Mr.R have a couple lingering friends still upstairs on third deck playing dominoes and chatting away.... dominoes are good for that aren't they... real "cuban-keywesters:" they are.!!!

It's a perfect cool, clear nite... the smokey haze that hung over us last week from Cardenas, Cuba (sugarcane field burning) is gone,,, the rain cleared it out... and breathless cool, clean air now... I imagine that with the fields burnt ,,, they are now starting the cutting of the sugarcane... hard work as it is... I love this time of year when we get the haze to let us know it is that time of year... before the rainy season. I'm sure you know why they burn the fields ... because the cane leaves are so sharp they can cut you, so they burn the fields to remove the leaves and then go in and cut the stalks for processing.

Wouldn't it be great some day to go there after when they are cutting and have some sweet fresh cut press squeezed sugarcane on the side of the road??? That's one of my wishes.

In Jamaica , Mr.Bill and I did that... everything smelled like molassas... yummy... well, We are enjoying this little cold front after the rain... still no mosquito activity which is awsome,,, mom sent some coils... AWSOME ... doors open.... breezes flying threw the house.... stars you can almost touch.........

New shoes

How nice is it when the UPS guy knocks on the door and delivers -- SHOES! Everyone knows about Zappo's ... I just got two pairs of shoes today. One pair is a pair my co-bloggers will recognize: Puma Impulse in Golden Palm/Winter White/Otter. You have to love those color names. Why otter? Did some bright bulb in the marketing department think that pumas eat otters? Wait, it gets better. The other pair are Crocs Metro's in Butter. LOL! Crocs are all the rage lately, right?! Ok, I know, I know, alligators and crocs aren't the same beast, but you get the point, right?

Let's talk about these Crocs for a minute. They really do run large. I ordered a full size smaller than usual and they are plenty big, even for my misshapen feet. But the real shocker is the weight. Make yourself a cup of hot chocolate. Put two large marshmallows in there and let them melt for a minute or two. Now take them out and hold them on a plastic spoon. Imagine what the marshmallows would weigh if not for the spoon. That's about what these shoes weigh. Unbelievably light, and supposedly they mold to the [misshapen] shape of your feet as you wear them. I'll update that in another month or two.

I bought myself a $3 t-shirt at Job Lot last week. That's about the extent of my spending on myself these days, so two pairs of shoes is a cause for celebration!

If I wasn't a 6' tall crip, I could really get into shoes. I remember wondering how Imelda Marcos could have so many pairs of shoes. The idea no longer eludes me.

New England flood

May 2006 flood - Andover, MA.

D took some photos last night before the water had risen to its peak. Those condos in the background are very expensive. I hope everyone had flood insurance.

It's a real mess. Major roads north of Boston are closed. Many towns are largely under water. This is the worst flood NE has seen in about 80 years, we are told.

D has more photos. When he uploads them, I'll link to them from here.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Queenee32 and Key Dear!

Check out PostSecret's Mother's Day posting. Some wonderful, beautiful and sad secrets are shared there. I'll have to check out the book next time I go out into the world.

Nabaztag

ThinkGeek will be selling the Nabaztag bun starting this week. I will have one. Oh yes, I will have one.

Next Blog

I've been clicking on the "Next Blog" link for the last couple of days, just to see what's out there. A few thoughts:

- I'm impressed with the ability of people who are obviously not native English speakers to get their ideas across. Their English isn't exactly correct, but it is intelligible, moreso than many people who grew up here. I was reading one blog written by a young woman in Portugal who has started a small business of walking and babysitting dogs for other people, because it is her tragedy that where she lives, she cannot have a dog. Now this may not be what the average person considers tragic, but you know exactly what she means.

- There are a lot of people blogging who are very young (under 18) and have very good eyesight; people who blog in the dark; or a combination of those two things. If you want someone to read your blog, try having the font size bigger than 8px, which isn't 'kewl' anymore anyway, and fix your contrast issues. Dark grey text on a black background isn't cutting edge, it's bad design and a good way to have no readers.

- Many 'Christians' are very close-minded, but not all of them are. Some of them are willing to respect your choice of not accepting Christ as your personal savior. They'll be sad that you are going straight to hell, but they'll let you go without a constant harangue about it.

- Too many right-wingers have no idea what anyone else is thinking because they only talk to each other and get their news from Rush. Newsflash: he's on the radio making money off you. Our current administration is flourishing because they have successfully promoted a culture of ignorance. How sad is it when the President can brag about never reading the newspapers and get re-elected. You think he's a good ol' boy who would sit down and have a beer with you? Not a chance. But the League of Rove has you all figured out. They know if they say something loud enough and often enough, you'll believe it. They know that if they make sure you are too worried about paying your bills to worry about what they are doing with your taxes, they can do what they want. And they'll keep giving money to those who don't need it, because that's life at the top of the right-wing food chain and who gives a shit about the rest of you. They don't. Note I'm not saying Republican. These people are not the kind of Republicans I recognize. </rant> edit: I don't mean to imply that the Democrats are any better, because they have been wildly unsuccessful at articulating a position on anything. They can't figure themselves out, nevermind anyone else.

- There is some good music out there that you will never hear on the radio.

- There are many blogs who have removed the toolbar from the top of their blog, along with the "Next Blog" link. It's annoying to have to go back and then forward again. Why are they so desperate to keep you on their blog? Then there are people who put a corner banner over the "Next Blog" link. Word of the day - choice. Try making a point without forcing it down our throats.

- This blog design is very popular.

Anyway, there are some good reads out there and a lot of brand new blogs. Good luck to the two young ladies who have come out and are happily living as a couple. Thanks to the people who post the elephant jokes, they are great. And to all the Moms out there, keep blogging.

Redbud in bloom

The redbud tree just outside my window is in full bloom and it is gorgeous - although maybe it should be called the dark-pink-bud. I'm posting this from Flickr. I expect we'll eventually run out of space if we keep uploading images to blogger, so I'll upload to Flickr instead. It's not nearly as intuitive as the Flickr people think it is, but if you have a wee bit of experience with source code and websites, it's easy enough.

Fishing for a BITE

Call me crazy, when he goes fishing I say my prayers. Logan and his buddies love to shark fish after snapper fishing. They pride themselves on the large ones. Yes the barracuda was alive and then released, and yes the teeth are too close to him and the gaff is being held ALL WRONG, but,,, they came home intact again. The nurse shark never came onboard. They did try to dehook it with great effort and finally cut him away.

Museum of Science

I meant to put one of these photos up last week - oh well. Dinu and I were at the Museum of Science a week or so ago and I finally saw the butterfly room. Nice. Not conducive for a good hair day, but you can't have everything. The butterflies were largely uncooperative, but occasionally one would deign to pose. Sometimes two! I have no idea what kind of butterflies these are, suffice to say they are pretty.

The latest

Here are two additional photos of the turtle since
he figured out which was the bottom jaw bone.

I am finally here

Hi girls, I am finally logged in so now I can post.

Australian lawn weed might cure some skin cancers

Amazing what you can do with the "raw sap of petty spurge".

Initial trials show just two applications of the PEP005 Topical gel on two consecutive days cleared up 71 per cent of basal cell carcinomas, or BCCs, the most common type of skin cancer.

Makes you wonder how much native knowledge is lost. My man (Steven Seagal) made a mediocre movie about this theme, but he was too heavy handed. US Army helicopters dropping flower petals? C'mon Steve, you can do better than that.

Anyway, the point is, we're destroying the rainforests and modernizing the few hunter-gatherer societies that remain, and we have no idea what we may be losing in the process. I wish I had an answer.