In mid-May, our granddaughter Caitlin graduated from UVA with a BA in aerospace engineering, and is on her way to Colorado to get a PHD in Robotics.
In mid-June, our grandson Matthew graduated from Air force basic training at Lackland AFB. From there he goes to Wichita Falls to train as an airplane mechanic.
Both of them graduated in the top 10 percent of their class. Brains and looks. Not a bad combo.
A few days ago, I mentioned that I had a shot of me feeding a snapping turtle, while Pepper and Blazer stood guard, directly behind me. Although it doesn’t show in this picture, that hunk of bread IS on a twig. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I do not hand feed swamp monsters.
Now, picture this beast completely out of the water and me in my bare feet.
I have often complained, bitterly, about our neighbors to the north. They are honestly very nice people, helpful when the drive needs plowing in the winter, don’t beat their kids and animals, and all that. However, they have been known to throw parties that last until the wee small hours, complete with (illegal) fireworks and loud music. They are truck farmers, and don’t have to get up to push papers around a desk or milk cows. The rest of the neighborhood is not so fortunate.
Well, the Good Lord has taken pity on us. The house directly across the street from them has been purchased by a member of the Harford County sheriffs office. The party last night ended promptly at 11:00 PM. How about that!
Just about a year ago, my friend Kay and I started to build a dollhouse. She had offered the use of her dining room table, but we needed to raise the first floor by an inch and a half, and since I have all the power tools here, the project ended up on my dining room table, instead.
We worked at it pretty steadily, but as Kay said, “there’s more to this than I expected”, and it took me longer than I had figured it would. Then we had our Christmas Open House here, so I moved it from the dining room to the back room, and it sat on top of the dryer for months, getting shoved first one way and then another as we turned dials and pushed buttons. Out of sight, out of mind, although I did continue to purchase little odds and ends to go into the house, and “borrowed” other items from some of my finished stores and shops.
Last week, we discovered – oh, horrors – that we needed to get this baby finished by the 16th!
In truth, all that needs to be done is to finish thatching the roof, connecting the lights, and doing a bit of landscaping. However, even that little bit of work can cause more glitches than the average person can imagine. If you’ve ever worked on a dollhouse, you can understand – I had sandwiched the thatching for one of the porch roofs (there are three) between two narrow strips of wood. First, I glued this sandwich onto the roof with the raw wood on top instead of the painted piece. In order to make sure the thatch stayed put, I had smeared glue all over the porch roof, which made it even more interesting. Carefully removed that, and then glued the bloody thatch to the bottom edge of the roof instead of the top. At this point, The Squire decided to take the dog for a walk. Coward. Now that I have fixed that but can’t get the porch roof to stay on the building. I may have to resort to hot glue, which is an anathema to Serious Miniaturists, but needs must.
I ran most of the wiring down through the fireplace, but The Squire and I could not get the wiring for the two lamps in the upstairs to go down the chimney. In fussing with it, I managed to snap the chimney off the roof. We finally ended up drilling a hole through the wall, coming out next to the fireplace, and then tucking it behind the half-timbering. Blessedly, I already had both a power strip and a transformer that work. Whew!
At this point, most of the lights are working, and I’ve started on the thatching on the main part of the house. Tomorrow and Monday should see the landscaping and last minute stuff done.
I most sincerely hope!
In an effort to keep the raccoons from eating the bird seed, and the male fox from eating the squirrels, we have begun feeding both sets of critters out by the woods, instead of feeding the ring-tailed beasts on the carport and the “red coats” in the back forty. In addition to filling the birdfeeders, we still put peanuts and seed in a 5 foot length of PVC pipe outside the den window so the squirrels can get them and the blue jays can’t.
This morning when I went out to feed the “house pets” the pipe was missing.
I looked in the front yard, and The Squire walked along the stream to see if the raccoon had dragged it up the hill. Nada. The pipe is far too narrow for the raccoons to get into, so whatever went on last night must have been very interesting.
A shame we missed the show.
Today’s Gospel was about Jesus being accused of casting out demons by Satan. Fr. M pointed out that Satan was originally one of the archangels – Lucifer, Bringer of Light. And thereby hangs a tale.
The Squire is a McKenzie on his mother’s side, and used to have a T-shirt with the clan crest and motto. One work day at church a teen-aged girl wandered up and asked him with the Latin words meant.
“Well”, he said, pointing to the first word, “you’ve heard of old time matches being called Lucifers, haven’t you?”
She nodded.
“And Non means No.”
Sure.
“And everybody knows what Uro means.”
She nodded again, although it was obvious she hadn’t a clue.
He ran his finger around the belt on the crest. “It just means ‘Don’t pee in the fire’.”
We had a Fish Fry at church this evening, and I had offered to take some of the load off the cook by making gluten-free dishes for several folks at church who have celiac disease.
I woke up this morning to the sound of people screaming, as I backed my car into a large shelf full of expensive knick-knacks. We had arrived at the dinner only to realize I had left the food at home. I excused myself and rushed out to the car, which was inexplicably parked in someone’s living room, and in my rush to leave, hit a valuable étagère.
Obviously, all a dream. The screaming I heard was that blasted Eddie telling me he was starving. I staggered out of bed at an ungodly hour, scared up some breakfast, and made up the mac and cheese, and got the ingredients together for the cornbread, and went back to finish my sleep. Both food items went into the oven at 3:30, and we arrived at church at 4:00 on the dot.
The Fish Fry went very well, but we had one minor kerfuffle.
Many, many years ago, before The Squire and I were even dating, never mind married, somebody broke into my apartment, jumped me from behind, beat me up (yes, that’s a euphemism), and tried to smother me with a pillow. To this day it is worth your life to touch me on the back or squeeze my neck if I do not know you are there. Even after forty years of marriage, if I have my back to the door, The Squire will speak to me before he approaches me. It’s safer that way. If we’re at a concert or a museum, I expect to be jostled and I can handle that, but some poor unsuspecting fellow – a friend and frequent visitor to our parish – walked behind me tonight and gave my shoulders a playful squeeze. I went off like a bottle rocket, and scared the fellow across the table – I think he believed I was choking or something, but when The Squire didn’t move, he decided to wait and see what happened. Poor Frank was dreadfully upset, but we managed to get explanations and apologies out of the way, and all’s well that ends well.
Eldest Daughter treated me to the last two days in Ocean City. We walked the boardwalk (also known as Wal-Mart East), dined at a lovely tea shop, and watched somebody get just exactly what he deserved.
On the way home, we fetched up behind a little old lady doing 40 in a 50 mile zone. Maddening, but bearable. After several minutes, the car in front of us reached a spot in the road where it was possible to pass, and did so. Apparently, the little old lady realized she was blocking traffic (there were fifteen cars piled up behind her), and pulled onto the shoulder. At the same time, a black BMW pulled out and passed the car behind us, and us, on a double solid line, and kept on going as if he’d just put a down payment on the road.
About five miles up the road, we passed a Delaware State Trouper and a black BMW on the side of the road. “Where’s the fire, bub?”
thisendoftheswamp 