A Funnel Will Fix It All Right

For its next idea British Petroleum (BP) is going to stop the Gulf oil catastrophe with a funnel.  Really.  As we speak or read, rather, steel workers are building a 98 ton, dome-topped funnel.  They'll tow it out to sea and then lower it onto the ocean floor.  As an aside, BP confesses that it's never lowered such a device to 5,000 feet and admit that 'difficulties may occur'.  "There's no guarantees," Tony Hayward of BP told the Associated Press.  "We'll undoubtedly encounter some issues as we go through that process."  He's probably referring to issues greater than his bad grammar.  I'm just thinking.
A funnel.
Wait a second.  I think I saw that movie.  It wasn't very good.

Time to Plant Again

Here's the thing.  We don't need a south 40 to grow our own vegetables.  Any sunny spot will do whether its in the back yard, on the patio, on the balcony, or even inside in a room with lots of light.  Container gardening takes away the excuse.  And, come on.  It's hard to believe you don't have a container.  You can put potting soil in just about anything that will hold water -- a flower pot, a bucket, an old wash tub, a plastic watering can or even a plastic sand bucket.  What a great way to recycle old containers once intended for some other purpose. 
Just choose a container large enough for the plant you want to grow.  For example, a large tomato plant needs about 35 quarts of soil.  A pepper or eggplant needs about 20 quarts of soil.  Container plants require a watering balance -- not too much and not too little.  But here's the good news.  Nowadays you can buy self watering containers for your garden.  Take a look at earthbox.com to get an idea of a self watering container.  Give it a try.  The worst that can happen is that you have an adventure.

Radioactivity Is So Yesterday

Yesterday evening ended the period in the life of Scraps the Cat during which she was radioactive.  She's feeling kind of a let down -- like 'what am I if I no longer glow in the dark -- postpartum blues type of thing.  She's still pretty special in my book.
And besides, I've still got the box of diminishing in radioactivity cat crap to deal with.  Come to find out medical waste companies don't want it because it's not their type of radioactivity.  The hazardous waste people don't want it either because, well, it's just not that hazardous.  And for sure the land fill people don't want it.  At least not for awhile.  The hazardous waste people suggest just boxing it up and waiting a month because the half life of this particular radioactive stuff is 8 days.  In a month, they said, it will just be regular household garbage.  Yet another blow the the fragile ego of Scraps the Cat.
So that's the plan.  Just wait a month.
Sounds a whole lot better than getting tracked down by the landfill people and fined heavily for dumping cat crap before its time.  For a month, then, we'll just have a box labled 'Danger - Do Not Open' taped up and put off in a corner of the garage.
Scraps is hoping this whole thing will inspire a movie.  Or at the very least a second helping of treats.
You never know.  I'm sure she'll get at least one of her wishes.  Life is like that, sometimes.

Helen Philpot Is Back

Helen and Margaret have been friends for over sixty years.  When she was eighty-two, Helen started writing a blog to help her stay in touch with Margaret.  Lately Helen hasn't been writing very often and I worry when too much time passes between her posts.  When she does post several hundred people read what she has to say. She's liberal, pro choice, pro health care reform and thinks the presidency of George Bush was one of the great disasters to ever befall this country.  Her language is colorful and would probably embarrass most other women her age.  And every word she writes she writes to her friend Margaret.
Helen may have become a little slower since she started her blog but she still reminds us all that passion and wit and the determination to have your voice heard are not the sole realm of the young.
Helen reminds us that our job is to live until life ends.

Up The Creek And The Bag's Too Small

And in that case what you've got is a 'blivit' if, of course, you use the word 'blivit' in its purest sense in which case what you've got is ten pounds of trouble and only a five pound bag to put it in.
Scraps the Cat remains redioactive for one more day.  As of Monday she will no longer glow in the dark nor will we require protective clothing when we pet her.
Of course, you do understand that Scraps does not actually glow in the dark nor do we suit up when we get near her.  I speak metaphorically if you get my drift.  Along those same metaphorical lines is my use of the phrase 'ten pounds of trouble'.  You see, Scraps, like all other living creatures, digests that which she eats and neatly deposits that for which her body no longer has use in the litter box she shares with Rudy.  Since Scraps has been radioactive that which comes out of her - to put it bluntly - is also radioactive.  Come Monday morning Scraps will be fine.  Come Monday morning we will still have at least ten pounds of neatly deposited into the litter box radioactive crap currently contained in a five pound container.
How to get rid of radioactive cat crap will doubtless be the focus of upcoming posts.  In the meantime, what we've got in our garage is a 'blivit' and not a metaphor.
We'll keep you posted.

Back to Ice Cream

Yes - the weather is warming up and here I am again, back at it - craving and eating ice cream. Not just any ice cream but, "Fosters" medium vanilla cone. Yum, yum. The other day there was such a long line at Fosters that I didn't have time to wait so I pulled into McDonalds and ordered their vanilla ice cream cone. I discovered that I was so spoiled by Fosters deliciousness that I was sorely disappointed in McDonalds' product. I'm a true blue customer of Fosters without any doubt. Let's hear it for Fosters!

A Rose is a Rose

I know a rose is a rose but, my roses are extra special. In the past, I've employed a gardener to tend to my garden and, in particular, my roses. Well, as luck would have it, this year I didn't hire a gardener. I decided to work the garden myself -- much to my amazement. The roses are blooming now and are bigger and more beautiful than ever -- and -- I owe it to my green thumb which I never knew I had. Not only have I discovered my talent for roses but, I actually realized my hidden ability to draw. Now, everywhere I go, I have a sketch pad and a #2 pencil. I fill in the colors with colored pencils when finished. My sketches actually look like the real objects. In my wildest dreams, I never knew I was such an artist. Hidden talents are wonderful to discover -- another smile to add to my "List of Smiles".