Absence

Time is in the countdown before the A-Z Challenge
and my illustrious face will be missing. (I heard that sigh
of relief but honest, I always made my posts short).  I've participated 
in the A-Z every year but always tearing out my hair
because April spring is the busiest month of my year. 

What is it (I'm sure you're asking) that keeps an old broad
so busy in the spring. 
    1. Do you recall the post about the big tree being cut down? There is black
weed cloth that now has to be removed AND it's under a foot of dirt. Then I'll
spread black dirt and gypsum over the whole area for another garden.  Here's
a gardening tip........gypsum will improve hardened soil and clay. It makes
soil lovely to work with.

    2. I will then empty the 3 compost boxes (that are now filled with pure
black gold) and spread on all the gardens.

    3. Then it's "clean the chicken coop" that is filled with the missing
ingredient for the black gold and transfer that to the compost boxes. Chicken
poop makes one of the very best fertilizers.

    4. On Pat's birthday all-day rhyming bash,  I got 5 baby chicks that are
now peeping away in the living room.  Names are Larry, Moe, Curly and
Mildred. There's still one to name. Any suggestions?

I do have a crew of buffed men coming on May 19  to finish up the heavy
outdoor work  but I'll probably have most of it done by that time.

I'll be peeking in on you and I wish you all a Happy A--Z  Month.

Go'n My Way?

The early 1950's found me living in Morocco and caring for my
first two babies. Husband came home and announced that I could
begin house-hunting because he was being transferred to an air
base in the Atlas Mountains.

That was good news to me because I always preferred mountain
air to sea air and it would be safer getting out of the crosshairs
of the civil unrest of the revolution that was in it's early stages. I
was literally being followed by gunsights as I'd push the pram to
the market each day. I was always mistaken for being French and
it was the French they were fighting back then, not the Americans.

Early the next morning, I arranged a baby sitter, dropped husband
off at the base and continued up into the mountains to find us a new
home. That was an easy task as I found a pensione almost immediately
and began the drive home.

Bang, flop, flop, flop. A flat. Dang, dang. Even though I was
strong and agile at that time, I couldn't budge the lug nuts.  What to
do on this sparsely traveled mountain road and I could feel new
milk arriving and looking for a baby. (Only the gals know that
feeling)

A big black shiny caddy came around the bend and stopped. The
windows were dark and I couldn't see inside. For a moment my
gut fluttered in slight panic.  The window opened and I saw an
older Arabian gentleman wearing the red/white checkered
kaffiyeh on his head.  In almost perfect English, he asked if I
needed a ride to Casablanca.  I assured him I did and he said
something to the tune of, "hop in." Well, it was only something
 close to that and it was so long ago, I don't remember our exact
conversation.

But it was a pleasant exchange of words even though "in after-
thoughts," I knew I had made a huge blunder when I jumped
into the front seat in enthusiastic American style. Thank
goodness he didn't seem to notice or care.

Mist clouds my eyesight now when I recall all the acts of
kindness paid to us while we were guests in their country. That
was evidently the "old guard" and they are long gone. Times
have changed, governments have changed and nothing seems
the same. A new breed in all the countries and oh....
I just don't know. I simply just don't know...........................
 

What's to Happen?

Do you think we are living in scary times or 
is it business as usual for you without a care
in the world? 

Are you watching the presidential debates or do you leave that up to
someone else?  Trump said he may skip the debate tonight because of
Megyn Kelly but Joe Skousen says it's because Trump doesn't want to
get pinned down at this point with his answers to the Muslim
questions. That sounds more reasonable. Would Trump ever back
away from M. Kelly?  I think not. We'll see if he's there tonight.

I like Joel Skousen's political savvy, just as I liked his uncle, Cleon
Skousen, when he wrote "The Naked Communist" back in 1958.

Have you noticed how America has taken a flip-flop from the
times of the cold war?  Little kids used to check under their
beds at night to make sure there were no "commies" hiding.
Now, that kindly looking old gent and socialist,  Bernie Sanders,
draws in the young people by the thousands.

Do you think there will be an election in 2017 or do you think
there is a possibility of a national disaster?

Where do you think the stock market is heading?  Do you
think the Feds have scrapped the bottom of the barrel or do
you think they'll try a QE4? Everything seems to be in another
bubble right now. Will they burst and then fly around the room
backwards, like pricking a balloon? I have several
close widow friends who have their money tied up in the
market and naively trust a stock broker.  I suggested it may
be a good time to get out and buy metals. Nope, they trust
that "same as a shoe salesman," looking out for their best
interest.  Oh My God.

Just a few thoughts to ponder.

One of Those Days

That night, there was a warm rain and then it froze and froze and
froze. Next morning, the news showed hysterical shots of  cars
smashing and people falling. My chickens were bewildered as
they slid across ice and fell, another fell, they were all falling
in a skater's mish-mash.

With garbage bag in hand, I was trying to make my way up a
small hill to the alley garbage can. Seemingly from out of no-
where, a white knight in the form of a youthful, agile young
man ran sliding down the hill and said, "Let me put your garbage
in the can." He further explained he was a guest at the neighbors
across the alley. I expressed my thanks and I was grateful to
return to the house in one piece.

The next morning I was feeding the chickens and that same
white knight was again in the alley with his dog.  We exchanged
a few pleasantries and I asked him if he had eaten his
breakfast. When he said he had not, I offered him two warm
fresh eggs I had just taken from the nest. He came over in a
second and we were chatting about chickens, organic food
and gardens.

He was Gary from California and he was telling me about his
organic garden on the roof of his house that was in the heart
of a city. I envisioned a raised bed or two, growing the usual
vegetables, as he was getting his phone out to show me a
video of the garden.

OMG....... he showed me a video of a fairy tale garden.  The
whole top of this vast area was filled with small trees, lush
plants and greenery everywhere. It was magical. There was
even a greenhouse building that put my little greenhouse into
elf category.  It had been a small building, that was being
discarded that he took apart and revamped it into this. The
whole garden was rustic, it was wild, it was bursting with
the fruits of the earth, way up there, with only the blue sky
as a backdrop.

After we said good-by and he left to have his breakfast,  lol I
thought of countless questions I wanted to ask.  By that time
I was wondering how much reinforcement a roof would need
to support a garden of that size.

So dear friends, you never know what delightful conversations
will follow an encounter on a slippery-slope, in an alley, on
the way to the trash can.

Life is Measured by the Hole in the Shoe

Each generation has a rendezvous with it's destiny 
                 

May I be so bold as to suggest that the first 10 years of a person's life
sets the stage for the beliefs, goals, attitude and ambition for the rest of
that life. My life started in 1930, two months after the stock market
fell, ringing in the start of the depression. The 1st ten years of my
life surrounded me with a poverty never since seen in this country.
The only way to describe those ten years is just to say, poverty
reigned supreme. Think of scenes from the "Grapes of Wrath" and
that is how I remember my childhood.  I'm not saying it was all
gloom and doom as the human spirit can find joy in any situation.

Today I laugh at people who say they are poor while they are
surrounded with new autos, iPhones, TV's, computers and oh yes,
plumbing. No one seems to lack life's material offerings and free
 food is always available (although be it GMO's).

The word "waste" was never in my vocabulary.  I can't under-
stand why people go to a restaurant, pay for a plate of food,  eat
a few bites and leave it. Recently, I was trapped into going out
 to a family breakfast with a few members of the younger
generation.

I distinctly heard them order "extra bacon" and when
 the waitress came to collect the plates, they were still brimming
with bacon,  I quickly snatched bacon from the plates and questioned
"You're not eating this bacon?"  I know.......I'm an embarrassment
but in my memory, wasting bacon is a sin, yes, a sin right
up there with "Thou shall not commit adultry."  LOL

The other day as I was taking off my shoes,  I noticed a small
hole in my sock. Without even thinking, I got out my sewing
basket and a light bulb and was starting to mend my sock. OMG
what was I doing? I had just given generous Christmas bonuses
(enough money that a family could have lived on for a year back
in the 30's) to delivery people and people who had helped me
throughout the year and I WAS BEGINNING TO MEND A
SOCK?????  Crazy......huh? This time, almost embarrassed
for myself,  I tossed the sock and put away the sewing box.
My happy thought was, that I DO know how to weave threads
to make a sock look like new. I also know I could still cut the
perfect size cardboard to cover the big hole in the bottom of a
shoe.

DO YOU THINK THESE SKILLS WILL EVER COME 
IN HANDY AGAIN?