Quick Switch Mushroom Pic With Tree Trunk On The Side
I got down and dirty to get this pic for you. And now I have about 100 more all sprouting up in various parts of the grass. I guess it’s the new, fresh sod, baking under the extreme, sudden heat, showered by bursts of sporadic, torrential downpours and then steaming in the resulting, sweltering humidity, every few hours. The last few days have been severe weather alert central over here in the Midwest/Chicago area. In fact we have another one tonight. I actually have 4 weather advisories on my phone at this moment. More thunderstorms and flash flooding on the way with damaging winds and hail until 3 am now, according to the last alert that I just received twenty seconds ago. Free rain is good. More tree limbs down is bad. However, I was spared these last few times. Well, that’s not true. I did have another branch break off and fall into the yard about one minute after the storm showed up. No. That’s not exactly true either. What actually happened was, that we got the alert at 5:55 pm for 6 pm. At 6 pm the wind started blowing, fast and sudden just like the alert said. Gusts to 70mph is what the alert said. Damaging to trees and roofs. Find shelter in low lying buildings. Blah blah. The sky darkened. The trees swayed ominously. Another fierce wind, a loud crack, BOOM. We were standing in the backyard and watched the tree bend, heard the break, and observed a substantial limb slowly slip from the tree, cartwheel onto the neighbors power line, hang there for one, treacherous, breathless, millisecond, then topple over and onto the neighbors garage roof, where it slid very sloppily off the front, catching the gutter on the way down to the ground, where it landed on the neighbor’s driveway, intact and with a loud thud. The gutter was bent but not broken. As soon as the rain let up enough so that we could see to move, I sent my son out to hoist that limb into our yard and bend the gutter back up straight. And that’s how it ended up where it still currently sits. I am tired, tired, I say, of moving tree limbs all around our backyard. It can sit. This is the limb:
So naturally, I was complaining, and all geared up to bemoan fate and nature and all that, until I took a little drive out into the world to go get dinner. This is what happened to our neighbors down the street:
Need a better angle?
Yep. They win. I won’t complain any more about my backyard being the resting place for dying and destitute, wayward branches. At least I can pick them up. This was at 8pm. By 11pm, it was gone. All of it. Every stick, every branch, every limb. Right down to the base of the trunk. Gone. The earth was back in place and the ground was flat. No damage to the house either as far as I can tell. All hail the master of tree removal. I don’t know who did it for them but I am beyond impressed. Three hours, and you can’t even tell anything happened that night. And speaking of night, it’s getting late. Again. I need to end this. Despite the title, this was not quick. Or even a switch. Some bad weather, a picture of something that grows out of the ground, eh, whataya gonna do? One day something really post worthy is going to happen, and, I don’t know. I guess I’ll post it. Maybe I’ll write a story. Or a poem. I have them scattered around this site, ya know, very unorganized like. It’s a search thing. But until then, you get this. And this needs to find a way to end this. Like a band-aid. Quick and painless. Later.
Tempus Fugit
Those benches are not going to take pictures of themselves. Time flies. It’s late. I better get on home. It’s late. I been gone too long. It’s late. I need to stop typing song lyrics and get the kids up. I am an hour behind in my “schedule”. Time to make the boy mad! There’s another bench below. Last year was “Music”. I think this years theme is “Fairytales” or “Fairytale Stories”. We did a preview/drive-by yesterday. It’s hot out there too already. And feels humid. I predict a lot of complaining in my near future. Oh FYI, I switched to Latin. It’s my favorite language. Valē! See you later!
The Curve Challenge. So Many Great Shots Out There. I Need To Seriously Step Up My Game For The Future.
And we just lost internet for the last hour. The BF saw the AT&T guy doing something to the lines behind our house at the same moment our internet blinked out and he literally, got in the car and drove to go get him. Happy ending! He fixed everything! No problem.
So, I see all these amazing pictures and I am humbled. I am splashing around at the water’s edge of a giant ocean of talent. I need to swim out farther or go lay down in the sand and watch the adults play. Speaking of water…I have the underwater shots too. My daughter sent me something else I can use but I was having trouble getting it to download until this morning. That’s coming up later. I have to go get a cake and some chicken and head over to the par-tay. Sun is peeking out. Temperature is rising. Things are looking up. Here are some various curve pictures just to throw out there for fun and then I will stop and go back to my clouds and rain pics that still haven’t made it here because I type too much. Have a hot and steamy afternoon if you are anywhere in the Midwest right now.
Pink Spider!
You will just have to trust me that this pink-tinged photo of a Wolf Spider is better than my cardboard “cure” stand that I was going to post. Of course I have more pictures of spiders. They crawl all over the place right now. And they’re big. Giant one in the bathroom trying to sneak along the bathtub edge; super fast, rounder, black one trying to dash across the living room floor from the safe couch to the safer fish tank spot; bold and sassy one sitting right on top of the counter next to the paper towels trying not to move, I swear it felt like a spider stand-off; and of course old faithful here, and most likely a hundred or so of his/her relatives, that seem to camp out near the back door when the weather starts turning cold. They grow bigger and bigger and try to build a web across the patio almost every night. As long as they stay away from our “walking zone” we let them be. You have to respect the kind of nature that can survive and thrive in these harsh times. Besides, these kind of spiders aren’t poisonous and they don’t hurt people intentionally. Heart attack inducing creepiness and the ability to jump-lunge at threats or rear up on some of their back legs to look menacing, not withstanding. I definitely don’t want one on me, but you know that spiders do crawl on you at night sometimes while you are sleeping and you don’t even know it! So think about that tonight when you are all tucked in and feeling cozy! Also, it’s a major heat wave going through today and tomorrow, so all the creepy crawlers should be peeking their heads out from wherever they have been hiding in your house to see what the hell is going on. Why is it 80 damn degrees again?!? Let’s walk around this nice warm house tonight and see if we can all figure it out! At the same time! More soothing bedtime tales! I just scooped up one of those long, skinny, brown, caterpillar like bugs, that curl up into a spiral, bulls-eye shape when you touch them, last night after work. He was just scootching across the kitchen floor, going somewhere. I nearly stepped on him because he wasn’t there when I walked through, like, 10 minutes before. Late nights on a slab house. Yeek. (Throw me a comment if you happen to know what they are called. I used to know, but I am too time crunched to look it up right this minute.) Maybe I will post all my creepy-crawly pics the next few days…it’s still pink October, but it is getting close to Halloween and my fav holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and I have alot of “natural” decorations all around my house. Outside and inside. What can I say? I’m kind of a lazy cleaner and those spiders are relentless in their web building! And if you are looking up into my corners instead of focusing on my fabulous, engaging, sparkling company, then you deserve to see the cobwebs! Anyway, here is one more fun fact before I hit the showers and go to work: The debate rages on in the internet world but…people, in general, swallow about 3 to 8 spiders in their lifetime! Some say 3 spiders per year get swallowed up. Some say maybe 8 in a lifetime. The figures vary because no one can really know exactly how many spiders you may be munching on. I believe it is possible, and here is why: because some people leave an open glass of water on their nightstand and drink from it through the night. A spider crawls onto the cup, falls in, and cannot get out. You wake up, you drink, you feel something, but you are half-asleep, and it’s not like you turned the light on to see, did you?? Nope. You swallow, you go back to sleep. That’s one. Now repeat every few years. There you go. And I know for a fact that my daughter has already eaten at least 3 spiders, because she used to grab them right off the floor when she was small and eat them! She was so fast I couldn’t stop her. They were small too. And slow, apparently. She never got sick and she seems fine and normal today. I mean people do eat them as actual food in some countries so it’s not crazy. But I have to go now. Everyone get out and enjoy our last 2 days of sunny warmth. And when you go to bed tonight, keep your mouth closed and a cap on your water bottle. Sweet dreams! Later.
HOT DAMN!!
It is SIZZLING over here! 104 Degrees! Are you kidding me?? I cannot remember when it has been this hot. And it’s not just hot outside, it’s pretty damn smoking inside too.
I have been frantically answering questions in preparation for this big test you may have heard about, and I tend to get a little freaked out when I am not doing good, or good enough; but after a 200 question blitz this morning (and I guess this afternoon), I feel about 97% better that I have what it takes to finish this thing. So it’s break time for now. I have to eat and scrape the sweat and peeling skin off my body from the massive sunburn I gave myself last week when I brilliantly decided to go to the beach and bake for 5 hours without sunscreen. I know. So smart. So shamefully DUMB. At least I’ll be able to DX my own skin cancer. Not funny.
I’ll hit some review later tonight and get ready for another 200 Q’s tomorrow. I hope it’s HOT again! If you can’t go out you might as well stay in and study! Here’s a picture or two of the beach. It was nice. Started off clear as a bell then got cloudy. Super windy too that day. The riptides were giving my kids free entertainment.
Anyway…stay inside if you can, the sun is getting lower, but it’s still too hot to play. And if you have to go out, be careful, drink that water and avoid the angry, wild-eyed, super-sweaty people with mayhem on their minds. Later.
Dawn gets the blood out of anything
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Dawn Dishwashing Detergent gets blood out of anything. Seriously. Clothing. Furniture. Carpet. Throw rugs. Anything that can get stained, dripped, splattered, etc. with blood can be quickly and easily removed with some Dawn and cold water. (You can probably use any temp water, but I always use cold). Anyhow, just squeeze some right on the stain and rub it, scrub it, brush it, whatever, and the stain starts lifting and moving. Rinse, repeat, or throw it in the washer, until it’s all gone. Even if something has been washed AND dried, it can still take the stain out. I am always amazed that it works as well as it does. Like, literally no trace. Well, CSI could probably pick it up, but that’s a whole different problem.
So there you go. Tip for the day! This info might come in handy later when you go outside and realize it’s about a billion degrees and all the crazies who can’t take the heat start flipping out and causing some mayhem. Now if you get caught up in any bloodshed at least your clothes won’t get ruined! Stay cool! Drink lots of water! Later.
That goes for the BF too
Sniff. Hopefully he’s actually on his plane. It’s already been delayed by two hours for some unknown reason. Nothing like spending longer in the airport than the entire time you will actually be flying! Sorry honey! I sniff because I am sick. Or something. I thought it was allergies but I think it’s just a combo of 100 degrees outside and 60 degrees inside. Also, I like having my man around to complain to when I feel whiny. But…I guess if I can type, I am not THAT sick. And if that’s the case I better get on the books. That test is coming up fast. More practice questions! At the bowling alley! Kids are awake and requesting to go out into the world. Maybe I’ll post later. If not, XO to the BF. Love and all that good stuff! L.
Running is NOT an option
I was behind this Jeep on the way home from school one day. Pretty cool I thought. And now I have a place to put it! I’m going to just have to face the fact that I cannot use my foot the way I want to. Since I broke that toe (or two) three weeks ago, the swelling and bruising have gone away but the pain remains. I’ve been walking on it and doing various other dumb things, like trying to bowl, droppingamotorcycleonit, and even trying to run. Fail. I hobbled out one fourth of a mile. Being generous. My son was walking faster than I could run. And the next day, forget it. I couldn’t even put my shoe back on and the top of my whole foot was kind of fat and swelly.
This is the first time in my life that running can not be my main form of exercise. Walking is really pushing it. One more reminder that I will not live forever. Suh-uh-ucks!
So I have to find a way to do cardio type, but stationary, working out. Preferably with no shoes. I have some Yoga X and some Kenpo I can do from the P90X workout system. And I have to say, Jillian Michaels Beginner dvd’s are pretty good. It’s something new I added to my page, What We Have In The House Right Now. (I’m trying to do this fabulous site and update all this old information.) Anyway, like I said a few days ago, we are trying to accomplish alot this summer. Body and Brains. Now that daily school is over, exercise needs to be the only option along with healthy eating. The weight is creeping up and so is my B/P. We weigh again tomorrow to see if any of our small changes this week have knocked out an ounce or pound or two. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy big. Remember, if you are doing it too this summer, anything the same or less is good as long as you are moving every day and trying to make the better choices.
Speaking of which. I need to get some water. It’s HOT over here! 96 degrees. I guess the heat is here to stay for awhile. I’m going to take that water and sit out in it for a bit. Sweat some of the gunk out.
Oh wait a second, Two and a Half Men is about to come on the TV. That reminds me of my favorite kind of water made by Skyy. Yes, I have seen them all, but that doesn’t make them any less funny or easier to watch with a big glass of. Of. Ummm. Liquid.
Later.
Well it’s not real original but…
YOWZA!! That’s HOT! 101.3 degrees F at 2PM on 6/7, here in the ChicagoLand area. That’s pretty high for us. In June. ZERO to 100, that’s how we roll out here. Wednesday was a little cooler (only got to 98 so no one cares too much about that) but today—Thursday, it’s back down to 65. And it’s storming again. Raining and flooding. The usual. I have to go to school now, so I’ll be outside breathing in all of that good pneumonia atmosphere. My chest is NEVER going to feel better.
Rest the brain, rest the body. Running will have to wait a few more days.
Sunny and hot followed by dark and violent. The day is just oppressive as hell until it suddenly isn’t. The Earth is surely trying to tell us something. Spinning wildly and throwing storms all over its surface. Tossing more limbs into my world anyway. Luckily most of the big ones are gone now. The winds are going to have to try a bit harder and go for a whole tree, although I’d appreciate it if they all just stayed where they belong. Anyway, this was after our walk in the woods. Temp dropped about 25 degrees, wind picked up, sky went dark and kind of green, and the rain poured down. Sideways, actually. It was bizarre. But it was fast. The camera didn’t even really capture how menacing the sky looked. The auto focus kept lightening up the pictures. I don’t have the right equipment for the really threatening storms. I can only catch my views from under a shelter. It was nice after though. Humid still, but cooler. Just getting us ready for yesterday.
The thing we learned from this last week of rainfall is that our gutters are crap. They are full of so much junk that water can’t even collect in them, it just pours over the top and makes a nice waterfall around the perimeter of the house. And I had steel, mesh guards over the tops. They were being slowly destroyed, one by one, due to the basketball hoop in the driveway. Seems the roof and gutters are easier to hit with the basketball then the net. The house and garage looked like they were missing teeth.
Thanks to another day of heat and boredom, we decided to take all the guards down and clean the gutters, finally. Should have done it about five storms ago, but it’s such a pain and I can’t reach them without a ladder, and isn’t that really a man’s job?? It is.
Before I get a nasty comment here, let me just clarify that by “we”, I mean, the BF. He, and he alone, did the actual gutter cleaning. Climbing up and down, hands in the muck, removing the soggy, stinky, rotting leaves and whatever the hell else sits in there and blocks the drainage. He even had to dismantle one of the downspouts to get it unclogged. But they do all flow so nicely now. So thank you. I do appreciate all the hard work you do. And we didn’t spend any money! That’s a good weekend project right?!? Now I can hardly wait for the next rainfall!
I did do some stuff to help. I did accessory things, like move the garbage can closer and hand him the hose to flush out the small debris. I think I even moved a ladder at one point. Don’t judge. I am sick. I can’t breathe remember? Besides, I also pulled my dead daffodil and wildflower plants out. I raked the dirt and fixed the border so we can put something prettier there. What I like to call my “wildflower” area in front of the house, most everybody else calls weeds. Things grow in that spot so well, that they just look weedy.
At any rate, we accomplished a lot and the front of the house doesn’t look like like derelicts live there anymore. It’s plain, but we can add some pizzazz next weekend. That’s when we’ll spend some money. Timbers, rocks, flowers…I have pics of all the “before’s” and I’ll get the “after’s”. You know I will. And hopefully, I seem to be getting a little more consistent posting lately, so hold onto your hats people, it’s going to be a crazy summer! I guess it’s not as exciting as some things, but this site is free and you can feel better about your house by comparing it to mine!
I need to get some “going out in public” clothes on before my kids get here. My son has another doctor appointment today to make sure he’s cured and can participate in the last two weeks of “school”. Which is basically field trips every day. He’s going to Springfield tomorrow. It’s the whole history-Constitution-Land of Lincoln thing. Very exciting. Hopefully he’ll take good pics and you can see it too!
I’ve got a few other ideas to spice up this site and get it flowing faster. More pictures, less words. Here’s a few small teasers: “Benches. 2011.” “Stevie Shadows.” “Target Summer Fun.” “Nerf Guns.” “Stink Bug.” Oh yeah. It will be as thrilling as it sounds. Until later.
just shy of pretty 