autumn among us...

the pear leaves are turning again this year... there seems to be much more variation in the color this year, probably due to the temps getting chilly, then warming up again... over and over...

but I't taken a pic last year, so I thought I'd take one again this year.

Mondo Aloe

Well, again, I don't have anything exciting to add... spent today trying to get some of the yard in order. I'm afraid that with my schedule and everything happening, that it's all gotten a little out of hand.

There is a small, suposedly decorative brick wall in front of my house... I usually find it more annoying than anything else, but I do have 3 plastic planters on top of it, which I usually plant with marigolds or portaluca... for some reason, this spring, I had an aloe that someone gave me, and it had two off-sets, so I stuck 1 of each in each pot. I also put in some cuttings of Stapelia gigantea.

I then proceeded to ignore them. This is actually rather easy, as behind the wall are tall bananas, cannas, and a mexican fan palm, and I'm afraid that pretty much all of them threw their leaves over the wall and the pots... and I'm one of those out of sight out of mind people.

Evidently, the bright shade was just what the Dr. ordered for these guys though... My one 6 to 8 inch tall aloe turned into a monster over the summer

(you can barely see the stapelia in the pot behind the plant... )

the offsets grew up, and they all produced more off-sets... so everything is now uprooted...

well, a lot of the off sets I'll pot up in styrofoam cups and sell at the flea market for a buck or two, depending on the size. The grown ups will go in a bucket with fall leaves around the roots, will sit in a window, and pretty much be allowed to go dormant until next spring.

Same with the Stapelia. I know... I'm supposed to pot them up and baby them... but that's how Grandma did it and she never lost one... so, there we go...

strange days...

but I'm not complaining...

The first pic is a sly bit of silliness on my part.

I spent a huge amount of time making these little "green guys" when I was growing up...

It's really not that difficult. You just find a leaf, gently bend it and press with your thumbnail to cut a little holes. I don't know why it was so fascinating to me when I was a kid, and I certainly don't know why, as an adult, I suddenly remembered it, but there we are. He's kinda cute though...

The following pic is something from the flea market. Western cowboy kitsch is a very definite sub-genre down here in Texas, and we make a lot of sales...

This statue of a mare, with foal underneath her, stomping a rattle-snake flat, definietly fits the bill...

One of the flea market dealers brought in a whole bunch of stuff, then, realizing that he was overstocked, decided to put everything in his booth 50% off... so I walked through the store, saw this and grabbed it for $6.

I then put a $20 price tag on it, took this pic and asked my boss if I could borrow the computer to list it on Craigs list. She said sure, as long as I was quick about it.

So I listed it. No sooner had I clicked the "Confirm Listing" button in the e-mail they sent, then Dustin, the other guy who works there, ran back to the office to tell me that it had sold.

So I had to cancel the listing.

Which means that yeah... I was 14 dollars ahead, but, according to my boss, I was wasting time that I should have been working. Whatever...

Really, I just wanted to make sure I checked in, and I didn't really have anything else to talk about, so there we are. Hope everyone is having a good week!

On Thursday, as I was trying to make my way home on Loop 12 in one of our interminable traffic jams, almost without thinking I made an exit and ended up at the Dallas National Cemetary.

Not too surprising, as many of you know, I tend to visit cemetaries quite a bit... But this one is a bit different. This is where my parents are. I haven't been here since my parents were intered in the Combarium. I don't exactly know why I've avoided visiting, or why I suddenly visited that day, but ultimately I'm glad I did.

The National Cemetary is a beautiful place.

As I pulled up to the Columbarium... I wondered if this was a mistake. It had a been a good day, beautiful autumn weather after the last two days of bone chilling rain. Was I putting a jinx on my good day? Was I self sabotaging the small amount of contentment I'd been able to find?

I know some people find comfort in sitting beside the graves of loved ones. For some, it's an essential part of the grief and healing process. They sit and meditate, and have long internal conversations with those who've gone on before...

I wasn't sure how I'd react.

Nothing.

I stood by the niche where my sister and I had personally hand placed the ashes of our parents, and we had both watched as the man screwed on the marble slab, and I can't say that I felt anything remarkable.

My parents aren't there.

They've gone on to wherever they've gone, and all I was doing was standing in an extremely well manicured and maintained park in the waning sunlight of a brisk November day.

And I was fine.

I picked up a couple of pieces of litter and placed them in a trash can.

Someone had placed flowers in a plastic vase at the base of the columbarium. The flowers had tipped over and I righted them.

There was a little potted succulent at the base of another row ono the columbarium... Knowing that the Caretakers remove all plants and flowers every two weeks, I considered taking the poor doomed thing home with me, but instead I gathered the fallen leaves to take home to root as cuttings, and left the plant to it's fate.

It is a quiet serene place in our modern screaming world. As you stand there, knowing that, as the crow flies, it's less than a mile to a rather maddening road, you can look over the military stones and not hear a sound.

The cemetary is randomly divided by gullies that would be difficult, if not impossible, to clear and mow, and large areas of untouched woods. These are kept as a nature presserve, and signs tell me that these areas shelter many native species.

I like the idea that at night, when the gates are closed, deer graze among the stones that mark our fallen heros, Coyotes slink in the moonlight... and maybe, on some night, a bobcat will stretch out and lay on the sun-warmed cement walk in front of my parents marker.

Mom and Dad would both like that.

I will go back, when I need a fix of quiet and contentment.

Right now I work. I go to church. I go out and have lunch with my friends, and over the next few years I expect to have some fun, and have some hard times.

Sometimes, I will do the right thing, and sometimes I will make bad decisions.

I'll probably break my heart.

But, most importantly, I'll survive.

(note: still no camera... these are cell phone pics.... not bad for a phone pic, huh?)

Flea Market Stuff!

well, some of you over the past have expressed interest in the flea market stuff... so, I thought I'd show you a couple of things...

But first, I have to apologize. There's still no damned camera in the house. These were taken with a cell phone, specifically so that I could list on Craigs List... People in Flea Markets tend to list on CL to get a wider range of buyers. That, and when people come to pick the item up... Often from 50 miles away if they really want it... they usually look around and buy a few other things too. Seriously, a few computer savy dealers in the mall can make a big difference to the enitre store... In my listings I always reveal that I'm a flea market dealer. I don't think it's fair not too actually...

Now first... a couple of velvet matador paintings... believe it or not, there's a large market out there for this sort of thing...

A pretty cool oval mirror... 4 feet by 28 inches... it's pretty nice... but don't let it decieve you. The frame is plastic...

And these are actually way cool... 2 vintage diner counter stools. Right now I've got them marked at 45 each. They were rescued from a diner that was going out of business in the early 70's. Neat, huh?

And that's my fantabulous post for the day.

It's really appalling how much you depend on your digital for blogging, isn't it? I mean, I used to be able to actually write... now I have a hard time without illustrations...

Well, I'm back...

not that it's going to do us any good... now that my DSL is up and running, my camera has called it quits. Guess I'll drop by a pawn shop and see what's available for cheap.

just checking in...

on a friends computer... My DSL is down and out... it's entirely a pain in the ole ass, let me tell you. But I didn't want anybody thinking that I was ignoring them so I borrowed a computer to pay bills and check in with everybody.

Hope y'all are doing well, I should be back next week.

buzz buzz buzz

It's really bizarre when insects don't act like they're supposed to, isn't it? Life just isn't like they tell us it is in grade school science class...

Take these bees for instance. At the house of an older lady that lives down the block, these insects have been clustering every evening around her porch light...

Now, everybody learned in grade school that bees go home to the hive every night and re-emerge every morning to go about their business of polinating and nectar gathering...

My first thought was that they were somehow missing from their hive and were just clustering on the light for the warmth it puts out... but they've been there all summer. And our night temps don't drop that much in the summer... about 10 to 15 degrees. It's quite common for us to have temps in the upper 80's every evening, so I doubt warmth has much to do with it...

Whatever the reason, they are a menace. I've checked thoroughly, and there's no hive in the neighborhood. I don't know what they're doing. Except being a menace... you see, every morning there's a bunch of bees who have lost their purchase all over the sidewalk, yard and porch... ambling about in a lethargic manner and getting caught in the fur of Miss D's little dog... which brings them inside where they suddenly wake up and just aren't happy. It's quite a nuisance.

Miss D, a few days ago, sprayed some sort of insecticide on the poles and lights when no bees were present, and it seems to have been enough to repel them and keep them at bay... no more stung doggies or senior citizens... but I would like to know what was going on...

well, I promised I would try...

I promised I would try to find SOMETHING to blog about... and it was as good a day as any to do it... three... count them, three, whole deliveries today... to absolutely no place interesting. But, between deliveries... I pulled off to the side of the road to have a good pout and there was this unused cattle pasture there...

I saw some Snow-On-The-Mountain... which is some sort of Euphorbia. They're interesting plants... green except for the leaves around the tiny flowers. Here they grow wild, but in some parts of the country, people actually buy seeds and grow the things as annuals in the yard...

and the common burdock is putting out it's burrs... which are interesting when they're green but danged annoying when they dry and stick to you...

And this next plant I've always heard called ground cherry. There's several different varieties and colors... They're a close relative of the common ornamental Chinese Lanterns, and also Tomatillo, or husk tomato's that you buy in Mexican markets and are instrumental in making Salsa Verde.

As you can see, the 'cherries' on this variety are small and purplish black inside their lantern shaped husks... and these have a sweetish flavor... I understand that they make a very good preserve. The more common yellow ones, or at least the yellow ones in my area, are hideously bitter. I once experimentally tried one and spent the next 30 minutes spitting after the initial gag...

And that's about it.

Hope everybody out there is doing well... have a great day.

OK... it's been more than a month since I posted.

Not really sure how that happened, except to say that September is not my greatest month. This September held the 1st aniversary of my Mothers passing, the 7th aniversary of my fathers passing... those are the two biggies... but this September also held a few other fun days... Let's just say that it's not a good month for me.

That, and there's been absolutely nothing to photograph... which explains the total lack of photographs I suppose. Now you could, argue that there's plenty of things to photograph, it's just my mood... and I guess that's a pretty valid argument actually, but also, there's been no interesting destinations at work driving, no interesting things at the flea market, and, until the recent rains, nothing growing in the yard.

So, no matter what the reason... there's still a big ole lump of nothing...

The only thing I've done yesterday that's in any way, shape or form interesting is turn cheap silk flowers into pins that flower pins that I sell at the flea market... women buy them to pin on their hats or jackets. And, that's not really interesting... it's only vaugely craft-ish, and anyone who can run a hot glue gun can do it, it's just that nobody does...

As for other news... I ushered at church. Which consists of standing by the door, handing out bulletins and saying good morning. And passing a collection plate. No big deal...

But I was feeling all guilty that I hadn't posted, so I'm taking care of that now.

Now, in contrast... October tends to be a good month for me. So you should be seeing more of me... Later...