The Trouble with Tribbles...

They taunt the cats....


And impersonate holiday personalities...

Thanks, Tom, for the Tribble! I promise to give it back to Richard eventually...

The Legend of the Funky Llama

Many are familiar with the German tradition of hiding a pickle somewhere on the Christmas tree. Well, not many know about the festive holiday tradition of the Funky Llama. Here's how it works...

First, drink a bottle of Funky Llama wine. Drink the whole bottle (after all, it's the holidays!)

Reserve the cork and turn it into an ornament.

Next, hang it on your tree, or even better, hide on the tree of someone you love.

Once it's found, you earn the privilege of hiding the cork on someone else's tree.

Hmmmm.... I wonder where it's at now? Once it's found, be sure to yell "Llama, Llama" really loud and post a comment to this blog so everyone knows it's been found. Otherwise, the Funky Llama won't know where to deliver the bottle of wine...

Winter Visitors

I hope there aren't any hunters reading my blog....

Yesterday a couple of deer stopped by for a visit:


See the video at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Ou-nwxF-A

After they left our yard we saw them sit down on the hill and begin to strip every leaf off of the bushes. I wonder if they eat poison ivy? There's plenty over there!

Yes, I know seeing deer around here isn't that big of a deal, but for this citygirl, I'm always impressed.

Star Wars: The Concert

On Thursday we had tickets for "Star Wars: The Concert" in Cleveland. Here are my two favorite geeks all dressed up and ready to go... I wish Richard would have unzipped his coat to show off the t-shirt I got him for the concert... Oh, well!

Once we got there we weaved our way through the crowd to look at the museum pieces on display. Here's everyone's favorite...

And here's Dad explaining to the crowd how exactly to destroy a death star. It's simple, really...

Hey, what's up with Princess Leia? It looks like she's about to shoot that little kid's knees out!

Who knew that the women's restroom was being protected by a diminutive green jedi?

Richard loves wookies...
The crowds were a bit crazy... Here Dad is trapped and can't get out!


And then there was this kid...

The concert was about to start, so we had to have our traditional self-portrait, complete with double chins.

Just as the concert was about to begin everyone got their seats and many turned on their lightsabers.

We had really great seats, perfect for taking in the light effects.

The museum pieces were really cool, the crowd was fun and friendly, and the music was fantastic. Six thumbs up!

Christmas Trees 2009

Okay, we know we're not the White House, but we thought our readers wouldn't mind taking a tour of our Christmas trees now that they are all decorated and lit.

We've scaled back from the day when we had three separate themed trees, but we have a new theme to unveil this year.

First, we have the return of the snowman tree. Last year we invested in a taller (9 ft) pre-lit tree. I'm going to keep my eye out for a taller top hat for next year.



View at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stg8aJUU18Q

Next, is our new tree for this year. It's a bit smaller but works nicely for the corner of the basement where Richard works on his artwork.



View at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lx6ExatGkQ

Have you seen the new Michelin tire commercial? Richard told me about it and I really didn't believe it until I saw it for myself:



View the video at Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9790DOWUP5o

Normally I don't take any action with obnoxious commercials, but I had my laptop open so I went on their website and sent them an email. I don't have my original email, but it was something to this effect:
"I hate your new commercial. The one with the animals run over on the road. I wonder how this commercial ever made it on the air..."

Pretty short and sweet. The reason I'm blogging about this is because I really enjoyed the email I received in response. I would like to share it with you now...

"Good Morning Maureen;

At Michelin, road safety is a very serious matter and our recent
advertisement is designed to remind consumers that choosing the right tire
can actually impact your stopping distance. The scenario in the animated
scene is representative of a situation that motorists may encounter in
everyday driving. Our intention through the animated spot is to visually
remind consumers that tires can make a difference and encourage motorists to
think about the choices they can make to increase their chances of stopping
safely on the road.

We do not find humor in animals injured on or near the road. In fact, the
spot concludes with the Michelin Man rejoicing to see the animals safe.

Thank you for your email. We welcome the opportunity to serve you."

I don't know why I find this response so funny... I have a feeling I'm not the only person who contacted them about this commercial!

New Beds for Spring

One of my favorite things to do in the garden is pull out shrubs, stumps, weeds, whatever. It's so satisfying! I think it's my repressed archaeologist coming out... A couple years ago we had a small tree split down the middle so we cut it down to about 12 inches and just let the stump sit. I was sick of looking at it and also thinking I would like to have a small border for an herb garden, so I got my spade out and got to work. Sorry I don't have a before picture, but here's the start of the little herb garden:

Please note that I had Richard in the picture to not only give perspective, but also to reassure everyone that he is alive and well and not in what looks like a shallow grave! I do believe the neighbors often wonder what I'm doing out there... Here's the little herb garden with it's blanket of chopped leaves.

On to my next project... In the Spring I want to plant a few blueberry plants and have been looking for the perfect spot. Since blueberries love full sun and acidic soil, I decided that we had a perfect spot between the two hollies and two pine trees. Here's the spot before:

So I got to work with my trusty spade and flipped the sod.

After a coating of wet newspaper (hey, I found a good use of all of those extra Buchtellites) the patch got a layer of chopped leaves and pine needles. By the way, wet newspaper works WAY better than dry! Last year I used dry paper when I created the asparagus patch. This worked so much better and kindof reminded me of paper mache.

I'm hoping we'll have some blueberries for pancakes next summer!

Early morning visitors

Yes, we live on Deerfield Lane. This morning we were greeted by this lovely threesome as we were leaving for work...



Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS7J5Ij_8qg

The background noise is the sound of Richard's Civic idling as he watched from the safety of his car. Did he think the deer would attack? (He claims he didn't want to scare them away). Yes, I talk to the animals, and yes, the neighbors think I'm strange...

At least the neighbors won't need to do that much weeding this weekend...

Two super-easy vegan recipes

Mom cut out a recipe from a magazine and passed it along to me since she knew Richard loves pumpkin soup. Even better, the recipe is from Edensoy, so it is also vegan. The recipe for Quick Curried Pumpkin Soup is available at the Eden website.

I would hold off garnishing with the spicy pumpkin seeds until you're spooning into your mouth, otherwise they get soft and chewy. The Eden pumpkin seeds are really tasty... love them! Next time I make this I'm going to add a tablespoon of garam masala because, well, I love garam masala. (I pretty much put it in everything...)

I also wanted to do something with cauliflower and didn't want to steam it since my big pot was in use with the soup. So, a couple minutes with Google and I came across a roasted cauliflower recipe on the Simply Recipes site.

Instead of Parmesan cheese is use Galaxy's Parmesan Vegan topping. I love the lemon flavor in this recipe. This was a big hit with Richard as well.

Aside from being vegan, the best thing about these recipes is that they were so easy and the pumpkin soup was very fast.

It's funny... I have a huge collection of cookbooks but I'm finding that some of my favorite recipes are off of the Internet or clipped from a magazine. Someone needs to remind me the next time I'm in Border's that I don't need to buy any more cookbooks!

Putting the Garden to Bed

Well, the huge oak tree has made it through to the Fall and we're hoping it makes it through to Spring when we'll have saved enough money to cut it down. So this will be the last Fall that Richard will have the MASSIVE amount of leaves to deal with. With all of the leaves off the tree we can see the nests better. Looks like we'll have one big family of squirrels needing to find a new home in the Spring...
So, we had a nice layer of chopped oak leaves to cover the garden for the winter.

We're experimenting with a compost heap as well. We cleared out a small area in the brush and Richard made a big pile of grass and chopped leaves, and I've been adding kitchen scraps. Today when he turned the pile he thought it was getting a little moldy, so we'll have to figure out how to fix that...
I'm also experimenting with burying kitchen compost into holes in the garden bed. Hmmm... We'll let you all know how that works out!

One of the biggest surprises in the garden this year has been the asparagus patch. The ferns are starting to turn yellow, so I'll probably be cutting them back in a few weeks. When I went up the hill to take a look I found that they had these pretty little berries on them.

Aren't they pretty? I think they look very festive. Hopefully that means we'll have a bumper crop in the Spring!

The next item on our "To Do" list will be to create another new little garden patch so we can plant blueberries in the Spring. Hopefully the warmer weather will hold out so I can get out there with some wet newspaper...

It's a bird... It's a plane...

It's Burrito Man!!!!!
Rick was in the mood for Chipotle tonight. And then I remembered a post on Facebook (thanks, Lindsie!) that they were giving away a free burrito on Halloween to people dressed in foil.

Turns out he got TWO free burritos... He said it was a pretty fun crowd at the Belden Village location, although the staff were running around trying to get all the free burritos made.

Now THAT'S what I call trick or treating!

Scout likes to be organized....

A few weeks back we (Mom, Jen, and I) took a trip down to Columbus to shop and check out the latest offerings at the Container Store. (Yes, it's a store dedicated to containers...)

One of my much-needed purchases was a few shoe organizer shelves for my closet. Unfortunately, Scout found a new purpose for the little shelves:

She believes the shelves make much better kitty bunk beds. And they make a really cool noise when she rubs her paws on the wire mesh...

This is how we roll...

Normally, we try to keep up with the yard work and pick away at it each weekend.

Well, this year, as many Ohioans are aware, our weekends have been plagued with cold and wet, not making it very pleasant to be outside pulling weeds. And I don't go outside when it's not very pleasant...

So we found ourselves in a situation where we had way more yard waste than we could handle with buckets, bins, and the back of the CRV. So, we had to turn to the hauling experts....

When we picked up the truck we thought it was going to be way too big for what we had in mind. But no worries, I decided we would take advantage and fill it up!

Fortunately, part of the project was clearing away some brush on the hill to make room for a couple small compost piles. Next year most of the garden waste can go into a compost heap. This year it was off the recycling center.

Thanks, Dad, for helping us out today! It really helped us get done quickly. We're all pretty sore right now, and unfortunately there was one injury...

Nothing a Batman bandaid couldn't fix, though :-)

New "Simon's Cat" video on Youtube

It's no wonder why everyone in our household (kitties included) are huge fans of the "Simon's Cat" animations. We have a mighty bug-hunter (Buttercup) and she especially likes this one...



If the video doesn't play, here's the direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y

Buttercup would like to tell you something...

How do I avoid washing the bathroom floor?

I sit on the couch, watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta, with my laptop, looking for cute cat videos on Youtube.

Seriously.

But I hit jackpot when I saw a link to this kitty video when I was checking out the Mean Kitty channel.

I know it's long, but I just love the music and the epic battle scene.


Direct link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP1cRJdwQHs

It does make me sad, though, that our $150 cat tower has never seen such action. This is probably the most exciting it ever gets:

Scout really likes to knock down my Cats Meows. That's as epic as it gets in our house...

Maybe I should play some dramatic music while I wash the bathroom floor?

Next year, someone please remind me....

...that I don't need to plant 12 varieties of tomatoes!

Please remind me that Richard doesn't eat tomatoes.

Please remind me that I don't know how to can. Better yet, remind me to learn how to can.

Please remind me that I belong to a CSA and can pretty much count on a steady delivery of tomatoes throughout the late summer.

This is what I harvested this morning:

And this is pretty much what I harvested yesterday and the day before, too!

Well, I guess you can remind me that there are plenty of people at work and home that are happy recipients of home grown tomatoes. How'd that panzanella turn out, Mom?

Okay, I'll probably still plant a ton of varieties next year, because, well, I like it :-) It makes me happy to see what works and what doesn't and learning how to be a better gardener. It makes me happy to hear how much better my tomatoes than the ones you can buy in the store. And it makes me happy to go out to the garden every day and see what lovely treasures are out there to greet me.

Okay, never mind. Don't remind me. I'm off to eat a tomato. Yes, I know it's only 10:30 in the morning, but I've got a lot of work to do!

This year I decided to take a chance and grow one heirloom tomato variety. Last year I tried several heirlooms, and I don't think I got one decent tomato from any of them.

This year I planted green zebra not knowing what to expect. Look how pretty...

Turns out that they are ripe when they start to turn a little bit yellow, so the top two I picked too early and I don't think they are going to ripen. But the one tomato was perfectly ripe...

...and extremely tasty! Sorry the pictures are a little out of focus. I ate the tomato before I looked closely at the photo, and well, the tomato wasn't available for a re-shoot. :-)

Gone Fishin'

With three cats with three distinct personalities it's hard sometimes entertaining them all at once. There is one toy, though, that they seem to all enjoy in turn. It's the kitty feather fishing pole.

Henry in Action

Here's Henry (and Richard) in action...

Henry gets a bath... (and so does Richard)

One of Richard's favorite pastimes is to taking his dad's dog, Henry, to the dog park. He's had lots of trips to the park, but he's never had the pleasure of playing in a pool... until today!

At the end of the summer the Oak Knoll Wading Pool in Massillon opens the pool to doggies wanting to cool off on a hot summer day. We stopped by with Henry during the large dog time slot. We've got some video footage, too, but thought we would post some pictures in the meantime.

That's one wet springer spaniel...

"Hey, were'd everyone go?"

Checking in with Richard...

Henry made a new friend, a 7-month old chocolate lab named Hendrix.

One wet dog in a truck, coming right up...

One wet husband in a truck, coming right up...

At some point in the afternoon I got covered in mud. I think it was one of the great danes shaking off near me. It was worth it, though... Henry had a fantastic time!

Ruh-roh....

I've always suspected that we've had poison ivy on the hill next to our house, but I've never developed a rash while bush-whacking. Now I'm thinking I might need to take some precautions this year when I head over there with my pruners...

Hey, what's that creeping into the lawn?
Oh, no, what's that further into the brush?

Yikes! Its seems like we have an official infestation of poison ivy....

Now mixed in among the "leaves of three" are some lovely virginia creeper vines. So this isn't solid poison ivy, but I'm thinking there's a lot in there.

Now, does anyone have any recommendations? Roundup? Bush-B-Gone? Anyone want to come over and pull some weeds?

What the...????

Okay, I've been blaming the neighbor's struggle with a large groundhog for the various half-eaten tomatoes on the vine. Then today I was picking ripe tomatoes and found some strange looking "droppings" on some of the leaves. Then I saw the half-eaten tomato in the picture... It took my eyes a couple moments to focus on the freaky bug sitting on the branch munching on the half-eaten tomato. Yes, I screamed a little and did a girlie freak-out dance for a few minutes before I could compose myself.

Last year I found a smaller tomato hornworm on my cherry tomato plant, but it was NO WAY as large as this one.

Since I couldn't bring myself to squish a bug this big I took a large leaf garbage bag and tied it shut and threw it in the garbage. Do you think it can find its way out? I sure hope not....

By the way, that's a full-sized tomato in the picture...