any bright ideas??

I need to get rid of dirt

     I can't believe I am saying that.
     After all, I have bought probably 50 bags of top soil, cow manure, organic peat and humus and peat moss to build up my raised gardens.  (Which look lovely, all nicely planted, if I don't say so myself.)
     Now I have a cart load of dirt, which at this very moment is filling up with rain water to make it a truly squishy situation.
     I planted two trees today and have dirt from the holes.  And I have dirt from the dirt pile.  And I have dirt from the flower transplant.
     I guess I could hook up the cart and drag it over to Emily's and find a place over there...after all, there is going to be some excavating going on in a week or so.
     But driving at 5 miles an hour on Skare Road is not a very smart thing to do.
     I filled some low spots today.  It is not very good dirt, lots of clay, but I used it anyway.  After all, the grass has grown in it before, so it should grow in in again.  If I plant seed, that is.  So I figure it was good to use in low spots.
     But I still have a lot left!
     Maybe I should build a hill in my soon to maybe materialize Illinois native flowers garden, if I ever get that far.
     It would be a small hill, but it would offer some relief to a flat yard and maybe I could sell it as a natural glacial deposit.
     A pitcher's mound?  Maybe not with my rotator cuff issue.
     I will use some to fill the hole that has appeared in my yard.  It is about 5 inches across.  There is no earth ring around it, so I don't think an animal has done it.  Maybe it's a sink hole starting to form.
     That would be my luck.  Evade a tornado, get swallowed up by a sink hole.
     Oh well.
     If you have any suggestions, please pass them on.  After all, I know at heart you are all thinking dirt thoughts at this point.
     Peace and love.

a light at the end of the tunnel

I feel like I am getting things done

     Seriously, I have done more in the past two weeks than I have in two years!
     I planted my raised garden today.  Usually I don't do that until mid July!  I put in beans, peas, carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  I think I may have spot for radishes....so I will try them.  Maybe a couple of onions.....who knows?  I feel wild and crazy!
     Friend John came out today and we dug up plants at Emily's.  Then we moved them to temporary planting space at my house.  It was quite fun.  I stole some of her hostas to fill in empty spots in my yard....but I don't think she will notice.
     She has a lot of ferns and lily of the valley....but I don't have a good spot for either.  I don't know if she will try to salvage them or not.
     I put my bur oak and my shagbark hickory in the back yard in the approximate area where they will be planted.
     A bur oak is extremely slow growing.  It will be 150 years before it is mature.  Jackie asked me why I planted such a slow grower because we will never enjoy it.  I said, "We don't plant trees for today, we plant trees for the future."  In 3015 some little kid will be sitting out under my oak and an acorn will fall off his head and he will say, "Hmm....i wonder who planted this tree?"
     I had to have a shagbark hickory....we live on shagbark lane!  There isn't a hickory in sight on our side of the subdivision.
     We used to live on Mill Pond.....but there was no mill, and no pond.  I think it was false advertising.  At least on Southview we had a view of the south.
     I still have five projects to accomplish by this weekend.  Throw in a zoo day Friday, and I will be a pretty busy little beaver for the next couple of days.
     Honestly, it feels good.  I have spent less time on the computer and more time working.
     But I did watch the Cubs.  And I am glad of it.  A late inning rally and the boys in blue steal one from the Mets.
     That felt good too.
     Good night and peace to you all.

ding dong, it's really gone!

My door bell does not work.

     The mailman came to the door yesterday and knocked because he rang the bell and .....pfft, nothing.
     How does a doorbell go bad?
     The front and back door are dead.  I thought maybe it was the button part, but it is strange both buttons would fail at the same time.
     So how does one go about fixing a doorbell?
     My first impulse is to buy a new one...but then it has to be mounted.
     You may remember:  I am a klutz!  I am not gifted at home repair.  Anything I touch turns to rubble, like a King Midas in reverse.
     I could call someone, but that can be expensive and it usually turns out I could have done it if I really tried.
     I don't think I have ever replaced a doorbell.
     This one had one chime for the back door and two chimes for the front door.  Or vice versa.  I could never remember.  I always went to the front door,and when no one was there, I would go the back door.  By then the people had gone around to the front door and were ringing the bell again.  It was like who is on first, only in real life.  With doorbells.
     I have to put it on my list of things to do when I am done playing solitaire and checking Facebook.
     I have several tasks on there already.
     I will give myself a window of between May 13 and Aug. 5.
     I will call myself first to verify a time.
     Notice I am using customer service tricks from companies that provide cable service or other types of service in the home.
     In the meantime, if you stop by, knock loudly.
    And if you hear loud music, just come on in, following the words of that old rock and roll spiritual:  "If the house is a rockin', don't bother knockin' just come on in."

how old am I?

I had a birthday today

     I am confused.
     I turned 67 today, which means tomorrow I will be on Earth 68 years, right?
     After all, we celebrate the end of our year, not the beginning.  So my birthday came at the end of my 67th year....so in just a minute I will be in my 68th year of life.
     In my world, a child has his first birthday the day he/she was born.  But in the real world, that birthday comes at the end of the year.
     Humans must be the only animal that celebrates birthdays.
     Dogs don't know when they were born.  Cats are clueless and could care less.  Fish never have a cake with candles to celebrate.
     We are the only species to do so.
     And when did we start?  Hallmark wasn't around, so somebody had to be the push behind birthdays.
     I can't imagine Igor and Betty in the cave when one of them turns to the other and says, "Ugh.  Birthday.  Happy. Bring food."
     Maybe they drew pictures on the wall of the cave to highlight when a baby was born, but usually the pictures are of animals, not people.
     Or during the Black Plague, did people take time out during all the burials and rat killings to bake a cake?  I don't think so.
     Presents are another issue.
     Who thought of giving presents on birthdays?
     Did Lincoln get tickets to a play for his birthday?
     Did some poor schmuck get a trip on the Titanic for his?
     And why are they called buffalo when they are really bison.  Would we honor Bison Bill Cody?
     Anyway, I had a pretty good birthday.  Talked to Julia; Julia, Emily and John gave me a Rolling Stones concert seat, Starbucks gave me my choice of coffee, Stone Eagle gave me a great sundae while at dinner with  great friends, Jackie got me a Miss Kim......and no, that is not some sort of hooker, it's a lilac bush that has fragrant flowers.  And the Cubs won.
     I guess I will stick around for another year or two.
    Aging is an adventure.  I hurt in places I never hurt before, I forget things.  I get confused.  My hair is thinning and my belly is expanding.
     But along the way I have had some good times, made some great friends, had lots of laughs, mourned the deaths of family and friends, seen the world, warped some minds, and had a lot of wine.
    Thanks to all who said Happy Birthday and to those who have been my friends through all 67 years.  Or 68.  Whatever.
     Peace and love to all.

where to go...what to eat

We usually go out for dinner on my birthday

     And that happens to be tomorrow.
     In answer to the question, "Where do you want to go?"......... I am stumped.
     We had steaks today.  (Fresh ones, not ones left in a car for 18 hours.  and DJ, I don't know what they do when they age beef.  They air dry it, or something.  Mine was car dried...except it wasn't dry.)
We had a big dinner partly because it was Mother's Day, but mainly because Bob and Anita are in from California and they came out with Judy.  (For those non Dickow knowers, Bob and Judy are Jackie's siblings, Anita is Bob's wife.)
     Emily and John also were here, so it was a fun day catching up, seeing pictures of what California living is like, and just visiting.
     The down side...we did watch the Cubs and Bulls lose.
     We had Mexican Thursday, pizza Saturday night...... I don't have a taste for anything locally.
Heaven on Seven in Naperville would be nice.... barbecue is the theme.  But it's a long way to go for supper.  Diamond Dave's in Rockford, maybe.
     Not a big chain fan, although I do get a senior discount at Denny's..... but it's not a special day type restaurant.
     I'm thinking Stone Eagle in Rockford.  Variety, nice atmosphere..... good food.
     I do get a free piece of chocolate cake at Portillo's.... but again, it's a place we go to a lot.
     So, here's my challenge: Make a suggestion.  Post it in the comment section. Help me out a little bit here.
     I hope all the moms out there had a great day... to be honest, it is days like this I do miss my mom and think of her.
     She was a funny lady, I mean she had a good sense of humor.  She fought a long battle with breast cancer, but never gave up.
     She was lousy with a checkbook.  Every couple of years we would just close out the account she was using and move to another bank.  It was the only way to balance her checkbook.
     She would round entries off.  If she wrote a check for  $24.50. she would round it to $20.  A $26 check would be rounded to $30.  It was always amazing when we closed an account that what she thought she had was pretty close to what she actually had.
     I suggested Jackie do it that way, but no go.
     Anyway, hats off to all moms.
     Peace and sweet dreams.

now that was a mistake

Sometimes I am pretty stupid

     I said sometimes.  Not always.  Sometimes.
    Yesterday I went plant shopping.  Since we ended up at Blumen Gardens in Sycamore, it seemed necessary to stop at Ollie's.  It was very good....peanut butter M and M.  Dripping good.
    On the way home it rained a little, not a lot, but it looked dark.
We hit Headon's for some steaks for Sunday.  Jackie's brother is in from California, and we are having a Lombardi clan get together.
    I also bought a cherry turnover, because I love cherry turnovers.
    So far, so good.
    Got home and it was raining a little harder.  I got the walker out of the car, Jackie's purse, unlaoded the plants, left the car door open so I could grab the meat, took out the bush, closed the door, went in the house, went out, had some wine.........fun night.
    This morning I could not find my turnover.
    There are no dogs in the house, so I figured I just put it someplace odd, as I am prone to do at times.
    Checked the pantry, checked the dining room table.  Then realized I put it in the fridge with the meat.
    So I opened the fridge and........no meat.
   Then I realized why I had left the car door open....so I could grab the meat.
    I called Headon's at 9 and asked them what would happen if I left steaks out in the car for, say....17 hours or so.  "Would they be safe to eat?" I asked.  He hemmed, hawed, and I asked, "Would you cook them and serve them?"
    His answer was quick:  No.
    I am not going to tell you what 7 New York strips cost.  I am trying to forget that.
    But rest assured, my guests won't die of food poisoning.

looking for a little pot today

I bought some plants today

     I know what you are thinking, you drug crazed sex maniacs!
     But they are flowers.  Lots of flowers.
    And a bush.
    We had some winter die off.  So I wanted to replace the plants with the same type.
    One of them, the coral bells, proved a little harder than I thought.
    Plum pudding is not a common coral bell, evidently.  I went to four different places before I finally found them.  It was like a garden shop tour of northern Illinois.
    Coral bells are Heuchera.  I can't say the name.  I try, but the people at the flower places just look at me and smile and call it something totally different than what I thought it would be.  So I call it coral bells.
    Sometimes my language skills are like Joey in Friends when he auditions for a French speaking role.  I don't have an ear for language.
    I have some young people coming over tomorrow and they will be planting my flowers.
    Emily won a work day at From the Heart.   Emily can't use that right now, for some reason, so Focus House kids will rake and plant for me tomorrow.
    Then I have to buy some gas for the grill and finish the vegetable gardens so I can plant those.  (No, I don't have to buy gas to finish the vegetable gardens, it's a run on sentence.)
    If it rains as much as it is supposed to tonight, the whole plan could be put on hold.  Nobody wants to dig in the mud.
    If worse comes to worse, I'll have to do the planting myself and say to heck with raking the ditch.
    Now that is a devil may care attitude, if I don't say so myself!