Watch out, or owl hoot you.

Last Spring, after a bike ride to the dollar store, I dragged the kids into the garden center at Lowe's so that I could soak up the smells of the unaffordable flowers for a while.

And they smelled divinely expensive.

Since we are unemployed, I take my luxuries where I can find them.  Lowe's is good to me.  They charge not for smelling, nor touching, now gazing upon their lovelies.  Not ever.  That's good recessionomics, I think;  Drawing me in so that I am indebted to their kindness for life.

With three children, a large, bulky camera, and a few bikes in tow, the young fellow working in the garden center recognized folks who are easily awe-struck.  He knew we would appreciate the secret he was keeping.

And we did.  We very much did.

You see, perched high atop a load of mulch on one of their towering shelves of goodness was her ladyship, The Greateth Hornedeth Owleth.  And opposite her position on the other side of the garden center was her faithful guard, his highness, Lester the Mage.  Or at least I think that was his name.  It's all a bit foggy.

Between them on the floor of the Lowe's Garden Center, I felt a bit like Atreyu trying to pass between the staring laser eyes of death at the Southern Oracle.

I'm fairly certain that those birds could blast us to pieces with their penetrating gaze.

"Or I'll bomb you with my digested field mice!"

That bolthead is about an inch across. It holds up twenty foot tall iron fencing. That's a big bird poop.

Even as we left, Lester watched, eyes fixed upon our every footfall, as we, whistling, strode to our bikes and rode away.

Weightless

I found these pictures today from one day last Spring when we went as a family to walk the mall.

Meeka, wore her necklace in her favorite way:

in her hair.

Little did Nevan and Mayzie know that we came with a purpose.

Torture.

But our evil plan failed.

They liked it.

They spun 'round and 'round

and upside-down.

Not once did they even

barf chunks.

Our evil scheme failed.

We should have known better than to think we could get the best of kids who are

From March 21, 2009.

Where I've been.

It started with the ulcers, then it was the boutiques, then it became the bakery.  Now it's all three compounded with a broken tail bone.  


I'm a lot of fun.


I've tried five times to upload pictures.  Each time has been a failure.  So, HERE is a link to an album of things I've been doing instead of blogging for the last six months.  Enjoy!


Please visit my Fans of Swirl Bakery Facebook Page.  

Bridge to a bygone era.

Day 14,  Part 1

I thought I would share with you, the

I've been visiting it for as long as I can remember.

It is a

We drove through it in Vanbi, but we returned as

And as explorers.

Another place, once passed by my ancestors,

then by my parents, by me, and now by 

my children.

Finally, we turned around and drove back through it, rewinding time, in search of the

Grandma's Front Porch

Trip*Day 13

The morning started right. The sun was out, the weather not too humid, the forecast seemed perfect for an excursion.

Well, it wasn't so dry that the lense didn't fog when I went outside.  That would never happen on a sunny desert day back home.  Never.

It should have been my warning sign.

We were ready for a little hiking adventure.

We hadn't been at Fox Ridge 5 minutes when we were already making fast friends.

Do you think that Harriet would like to meet ol' Grandpa?

She'd probably like to meet him for dinner.

Another thing we don't generally find in our desert habitat: 

skyward vistas of green.

It was serene.

The longer we hiked, however,

the more humid it seemed to become.

It was wearing us out.

We passed this path, which we would ordinarily have taken,

but it was sooo mugggy.

We had enjoyed our exploration,

but my munchkin was tired.

And so we left the woods in search of refreshment.   

Heading up the highway to Charleston, I snapped this shot when the Farmer wasn't looking.

We were so hot and drippy from our hike.  We knew just the place to go for an ice-cold and frothy root beer.

It is the "World's Creamiest" after all!

Before heading back to Neoga, I had one more stop to make. I wanted to visit the Genealogical Society and see if they had a plot chart for a specific cemetery. But that's another post.

When I see these old lamps and clock with the "1834" at the top, it makes me wonder at what life would have been like here, when going to Greenup was going to Town. I can just imagine the life of my ancestors.

We had been out for several hours by this time and were ready to head back to our favorite little Grandma.

It's a marvel to think how much imagination can be wielded on the little lot whereupon Grandma's house resides.  It's no bigger than a giant's footprint, but it holds so much happiness at it's heart. 

My kids leaped countless times across the rain ditches that serve as moats to hGrandma's little kingdom, just as I did as a child.  They walked to the  little corner grocery all alone  to purchase candy or the last ingredient needed for supper, just as I did as a child.  They rediscovered the secret passageway of the adjoining closets in the back bedrooms and every well-used hiding place, just as I did as a child.  They caught many a small creature under leaf, just as I did as a child.   In fact, one of my favorite photos of the trip is of just such a catch, taken on this very afternoon while we sat on the porch with Grandma, just as I did as a child.

This toad is quite possibly the many-greats-grandtoad of a hoppy progenitor caught by my own hand a generation ago.

Eventually, our little friend jumped away and took refuge

It wasn't long before we were making acquaintance with this

We left our new friend to guard the begonias.

We did all of this, with Grandma

right there with us,

laughing with us,

chatting with us.

It was wonderful.

With all of the friendships we made on that front porch,

Grandma, is our favorite.

My Grandma is just a little person...

...but she has made a big impact on me. From her example, I have learned

kindness,

patience,

optimism,

 frugality,

friendship,

service,

compassion,

forgiveness,

endurance,

good cheer,

charity,

a love of creatures and growing things,

and to always keep a sense of humor,

especially about myself.

I have a long way to go, to walk in her tiny size 4 footsteps.

I hope I can be some small replication of her goodness someday.

I love her. It's been no secret who my favorite person has always been. So much so, that I have a daughter by her same name.

We spent the afternoon on that front porch and in the evening, we were joined by my beautiful Aunt Connie.

Meeka just LOVED Connie! And I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual!

While sitting on the front porch watching the little white fluffs fall through the air, Mayzie caught one.   I tried to tell her that they were cottonwood seeds, but she would hear none of that.  She was certain they were creatures.  She brought it over to my doubting eyes, and lo and behold, she was right!

It was a tiny wooly aphid.

Next she'll be catching faeries, I have no doubt.

Eventually, night fell and after catching and releasing more than our fair share of lightning bugs, we went inside to get

Just another perfect day, as they all seem to be, in Neoga.