Ring around the sun

Weather in the Florida Keys sure is more exciting than it is in New England lately. Key Dear sent these photos, taken 4/29/08.

Colors for your fireplace

Pinecone Flames And Firestarters

Pinecone flames or firestarters are burned in fireplaces or fire pits to make colored flames. Many recipes or instructions include a dipped wax method but that’s too fussy and messy–this is the easiest preparation method I’ve found.

Do not mix chemicals together when preparing. Also some advise not to mix colors when burning–so be careful.

Materials Needed:

1 1/2 Gallons Hot Water
1/2 Pound Copper Sulfate (green flame)
1/2 Pound Boric Acid (red flame)
1/2 Pound Calcium Chloride (orange flame)
3 Plastic Containers
Bushel of Pinecones

Wear rubber gloves when preparing these. Also cover tables and counters well – this stuff can stain.

* Pour 1/2 gallon of water into each plastic container
* Add one chemical to each container (one container for green, one container for red, one container for orange)
* Mix well until all the chemicals are thoroughly dissolved
* Take your pinecones and divide into three batches
* Put one batch into each container. Totally immerse the cones into the liquid and soak them for 24 hours.
* Remove the pinecones and let them dry in the sun or set aside somewhere warm and dry. Don’t burn for at least three days.

More Color Ideas:

Allum (thallium): Bright Green Flame
Salt Substitute (potassium): Violet Flame
Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate): White Flame
Table Salt: Yellow Flame
Borax (sodium tetraborate): Yellow/Green Flame

Burn the pinecone firestarters one at a time and make sure the cone is completely burned away before adding another.

*Make sure to completely dry the pinecones before using otherwise they won’t burn.

*Keep these out of reach of pets and children.

Thanks to TipNut.com. I may try this out this summer and give these away as Christmas gifts for those who have functional fireplaces.

Slacker Personal Radio

I've installed more radio programs than I care to remember, but Slacker is a keeper. I listen to it all the time and am very happy with the channels. Mostly I listen to the 90's Alternative station which plays a lot of the songs I miss from the early 1990's (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, AiC, Live, Cracker, STP, Dinosaur Jr...). Give it a try. If you would rather not install another program, you can listen online if you have a decent connection.

Oh yeah, did I mention it's free? It's FREE.

Queenee is doing really well. She's back up in her bedroom as of this past Saturday and she couldn't be happier about that. She is still unpacking and getting reorganized, but she's thrilled to be sleeping in her own bed in her own room again. PopPop is mightly pleased to have the full-size bed, which gives him a little more wiggle room. His queen is now in my room. I've got one box spring on the floor and two mattresses on top of that. It's like sleeping on a trampoline. The second box spring is standing up blocking the tables and clothing boxes that are stacked at one end of my room.

Six months off!

Hooray, Dr. Jacobs has given me a six month reprieve! He was going to reseat the gold crown this morning, but the tooth has moved up quite a bit and the crown will no longer fit. Rather than cast the tooth and have another crown made, we opted to have him rebuild the tooth and hope for the best. It may last six months, it may last two months, it may last five years - it's a crap shoot at best. But it buys me some time to save up for the two crowns I know I will eventually need. I swear, Dr. Jacobs is the best dentist EVAH! If you are anywhere near Rockland, MA, I cannot recommend him highly enough.

Queenee is improving by leaps and bounds now. I dragged her out shopping today so I could try on some trousers. Mind you, I hate trying on clothes, but I've lost some weight recently and have no idea what size I am anymore, so I had to hit a dressing room. We went to Kohl's, because they have tall sizes. Long story short, 12 is too big and a true 10 is a bit too small, so I'm buying 10's, because I plan to lose another 10 pounds and a size 10 should be a perfect fit then. Having determined my size, we hit Building 19 on the off chance they might have new stock. Wow, did they ever. I picked up six pairs of trousers, none more than $12 and all but one pair fit! I'll return that one pair and thank my lucky stars that I hit them on a good day. It isn't every day you find a linen/silk pair of pants for $10.12 that fit you perfectly. Of course, ten pounds from now they'll be a bit loose, but I seriously don't care.

Building 19 is doing a reorganization of their merchandise, and the store in Hanover is looking good. Much more open than before. Queenee rested on a table of carpets while I checked out golf shoes for PopPop - saw one pair, but didn't buy them because they looked a bit narrow. Alas.

She was sore and tired by the time we were through, but she's doing well. In another week she'll be back to work and I'll be back to scrimping and scraping ... ok, I admit, I never stopped scrimping and saving. But you know what I mean.

We had a near tragedy earlier this week when CarrotTop went missing. I had seen her in the morning on my way to work, but she was nowhere to be found that afternoon and poor Lucille was frantic. The following morning brought no good news and no sighting of CarrotTop and we were preparing to give the bad news to the Younger Pea. Happily, when I got home that afternoon and deposited my crapola in the computer room, there, just outside the window, was CarrotTop, big as life and with Lucille right beside her. What a relief! CarrotTop is such a cool chicken - that probably sounds silly to those of you who have never bothered to spend any time with a chicken, but believe me when I tell you, they are more than you might suspect. CarrotTop is very friendly and has a great sense of humor. She is also very old and probably not long for this world. I will miss her when she is gone.

Lucille's scary day

I saw CarrotTop and Lucille in front of the house this morning as I was leaving for work, and explained to them that they shouldn't be in Queenee's flowerbed. This afternoon, I heard Lucille squawking frantically, and CarrotTop was nowhere to be found. I searched under the bushes and checked the coop; I didn't see any feathers anywhere and there is no evidence she was captured by a predator, but Lucille was very unhappy. CarrotTop was always a very independent hen, but Lucille has always attached herself to one of the other chickens and now it seems she may be alone. If that is the case, Lucille will be very sad.


NOTE: When I got home from work the following day, there was CarrotTop, big as life and walking around with Lucille right behind my window. What a relief!

Up the stairs

The weather here has been just gorgeous the last couple days, and was over 70F today. PopPop did some raking and plans to burn tomorrow if there is no breeze. I walked around the yard with the fur and feather children and got a few photos this afternoon. The bluebirds are nesting in one of PopPop's boxes back by the fruit trees. They've been here for a good month now. In another week or two, the Baltimore Orioles and the hummingbirds will arrive.

Queenee decided today was the day to go up the front stairs. It took a few minutes, understandably, but up she went. She was so thrilled to be in her room again, she spent about half an hour just looking at her clothes and shoes. She came down the back stairs, since they are easier. Maybe next weekend she'll be strong enough to make the trip once a day and she can start sleeping upstairs again. She's very anxious for that day!

She has a busy weekend planned. Tonight is dinner with Barb and a jazz concert at Stonehill College. Saturday night is dinner out with Barb again, and Sunday night she has tickets for a show at the local community theater. Busy busy busy! It's great that she's finally able to get out and about. She still isn't doing a lot of walking, but from the car to a seat in a restaurant - she can handle that much walking. She's gradually getting her strength and balance back.

Dr. Jacobs is back from vacation and the restoration of my teeth is proceeding. Another silver filling was drilled out and replaced, and the gaping volcano in the back was rebuilt. If that doesn't hold, that tooth will be pulled, but we'll see how the rebuild does first. Next week we'll see about reseating the gold crown that keeps coming off, then one more tooth needs a crown, and I should be done for a year. Whew.

Happy Blogger Appreciation Day to me

Darren Rouse has noticed the same thing I have - there are a lot of people blogging who get no feedback whatsoever, yet we persevere. He has declared today Blogger Appreciation Day (unofficially, of course). I am perhaps deluding myself thinking that at least some family members check in every so often and appreciate that I take the time to keep folks updated, especially of late, but I suppose true appreciation is too much to expect. It's an odd situation for me in some ways, because nobody in the family has ever bothered to reciprocate. When Queenee had her mastectomy and was going through chemo, I was kept out of the loop altogether, not unintentionally either. I got no phone calls or emails, none, letting me know how she was doing. Knowing how that feels keeps me going here.

So, to my fellow ignored or ostracized or bitched-about-and-made-fun-of bloggers, Happy Blogger Appreciation Day to you. I know just how you feel.

Speaking of Queenee, she saw the surgeon today and he is very pleased with her progress. X-rays show good healing is happening with her ankle and he thinks she will be ready to go back to work in another couple weeks (after May 1). She has been freed of the heavy leg brace and has a smaller one she will wear for support when she walks. Now she needs to relearn how to walk! It's been so long, she's fairly unsteady, but her strength will return with exercise and she'll be good to go just in time for summer.

One happy byproduct of this downtime has been that she has been unable to use her right arm for anything much. No swelling because she's been out weeding her flowers!

11 weeks today

Queenee is starting to get around a bit better now. She still uses the wheelchair for most traveling, and she definitely needs help going up/down the three stairs on the front porch. Negotiating stairs, among other things, will keep her out of work for another couple weeks. She still needs the walker; maybe once she has a smaller leg brace and can use a cane, she'll be able to walk more, but she's lost a lot of strength, so she'll need to build back up gradually. She is also unable to drive as long as her right foot needs some kind of solid support. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and we're hoping the x-rays look good enough to put her into a smaller leg brace. The heavy walking cast is getting on her nerves, even though it is excellent for stabilizing her ankle. Frankly, I think she should give it another week, but that's just me being cautious. The problem is putting her other foot into a shoe that elevates her left leg to the same height as the walking cast does with her right leg. I think if she were better balanced, she'd find moving around a lot easier.

Meanwhile, Spring is beginning to make an appearance here. Some of the trees and bushes are starting to bud and the birds are in full voice. There is a very loud peeper right out by the front porch and he makes a helluva racket at night. The crocuses have been out for a couple weeks. Now the daffodils are blooming and the forsythia looks to be next.

The Peas are in Orlando this week. We were watching the weather forecast this morning and saw frost predicted for the Orlando area on Tuesday. Unbelievable. The Elder Pea will not be happy with that, she is a warm weather girl.

Ten weeks after

It's been ten weeks since the Queen's accident. The doctor has said she should be able to put 100% of her weight on the ankle now, but she is still having pain whenever she tries walking. I think she needs some new x-rays to be sure the screws haven't moved and that the bone, fragile as it is, is healing properly.

Her ribs are actually healing very well, she has virtually no pain at all and can cough and sneeze without any problems. This is the reverse of what we expected - we thought the ankle would heal routinely and the ribs would take months.

She does manage to get out and about a bit. We went to Ikea, where they have a very slick wheelchair-shopping cart combo. The cart snaps to the front legs of the wheelchair and puts a basket right in front of the seated occupant, while not interfering with the actual operation of the wheelchair. Nice. In most places, the person in the wheelchair has no way to put anything anywhere other than their lap, and things tend to fall off when you are wheeling around.

DamCat just spent a week in hell for her job. She was in Baltimore Mon-Thu last week to get a new computer system up and running. Unfortunately, it seems the people who were supposed to be sure everything was in place and ready did not get their work finished before it was put into operation. Not a fun business trip at all. Now we'll see if anyone in a decision making position learns from this experience.

A few days ago we spotted a very large coyote strolling through the back yard. You don't think of coyotes as being tall, but this one was very leggy, probably as tall as Lucy was. S/He trotted around for a few minutes (the chickens were not out, so not in any danger this morning) before going behind the stone wall and disappearing into the woods. We couldn't tell if it was male or female, but I'm thinking maybe a female out looking for a bite to eat. We'll be watching for her.

PopPop is preparing for Spring. He has some tomato and pepper plants starting from seed that he will transplant into the garden, and his tractors are both ready to go. This Wednesday will see the start of the golf season, something he has been yearning for for weeks now.

Spring brings the morning choir. I love hearing the robins, they have such a beautiful song and you only hear it for a couple weeks when they are mating. I'm watching out for the grackle dance too - with luck, I'll get some action photos this year.