Get 'em, Granny.

Things around these parts seem to have devolved into posts about my garden, my kids, or my cats, with the occasional recipe or vaguely hunting related post figured in.  Not much about the real world.

That's because anytime I go looking at the real world for anything to talk about, I just get sad.

Except for this story...it kind of made me smile...a bit.

89-year-old woman fights off sword wielding robber with golf club

I get the feeling that they guy doing the robbing was not a professional. 

Boy oh boy.  I am sometimes unhappy with my job...but I am blessed that it prevents from having to rob stores with a sword, where I get chased off by an 89-year old woman, before making my escape on a BMW.

Moses Lake is a little bit over an hour from here up on I-90...next time I'm swing through town, I will have to visit Frank's Superette and throw a little something in the tip jar. 

It took a while, but...

So, about two weeks ago, we brought home a new kitten. 

The last time we brought home a new kitten, we were pleasantly surprised at how well our old, fat cat got along with the new kitten.   Surprised, and WAY spoiled.

This time around, things were a little different.  As soon as we brought the kitten in the house, there was hissing back and forth, even while the kitten stayed in the cat carrier.  When we let her out, there was no war...just more glaring and the occasional hiss if the cats got to close to each other. 

That was the status for a few days...the occasional nose sniff, which then turned into a quick hiss, or snarl, and then running away from each other.

As the week went on, the nose sniffing increased, and the hissing and jumping decreased, until my wife sent me this picture today.

Let's say it all together now: Awwwwww.

Now, that is GOOD.

Several weeks ago, while buzzing through a Trader Joe's near my mom's house, on a total whim we picked up a jar of 'Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl'.

After buying it(wrong order!) I found out the Speculoos is a type of shortbread cookie, and that in Europe it is available in a spread form.  So...shortbread and chocolate swirl.  Even after the fact, that sounds pretty okay...but with no immediate need for it, it went out into the garage.

Until I came home from work today.  It was not a good day...and I can't even really say why.  Oh...not for security or anything....it's just...not good.  Lacking in satisfaction and fulfillment.  Just kind of a pity party type of day.  SO...I went home and opened up this bad boy.  I guess on one hand it's a step-up....in years back after a day like this, I would have popped open a beer or three, or hit a fast food drive-through(yeah, I'm an emotional eater). 

I was totally unprepared for the party in my mouth that was going to come out of this jar.  In fact, as I put a second spoonful in my mouth, there was only one way I could describe it.

Days of Future Past

One of the things I did make time for while my wife and kids were out of town was the X-Men: Days of Future Past movie, and I'm glad I did.

If you are a X-men comic book fan, then you will have heard of the Days of Future Past Story Line: It's time travel....to change a dark, dark future, the minds of one of the X-men is sent back into their younger body to try to change things. Specifically, they are trying to stop the creation of the Sentinels, mutant hunting robots who soon exceed their programming and take over the world(basically).

In the comics, Kitty Pride(Shadow Cat) is sent back.  In the movie, it's Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. 

I thought it was a good movie.  I've been anticipating it since they first announced it...and it lived up to my expectations, which was a fairly high bar.  The acting was really good...I'd watch Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawerence, and Hugh Jackman, and Peter Dinklage order Chinese food. The only negative is that there isn't enough time for all of them. 

The action scenes got me to plow through plenty of popcorn.  The scenes set in the future are amazing...well choreographed to show the type of teamwork you would expect from people who have spent 15 years fighting for their lives.

Does the 'time travel' McGuffin fix everything?  Probably not...there are still a few things you just need to take on faith(but let's face it, it's a movie about time travel, superpowered mutants, and flying robots...you're probably willing to bend a bit on belief).  It cleans enough things up to allow them to keep the series moving forward.

On an overall comic book movie scale, I rank this movie pretty highly.  Top 5,certainly...up near The Black Knight, Avengers, and X2. It's better than Godzilla was a few weeks ago.

Now to look forward to Guardians of the Galaxy.

Not sure I can improve.

It's Memorial Day.  Last year, I put up what I believe to be a good post, looking to the actual meaning behind the poem 'In Flanders Field', showing that it is not as anti-war as some folks would have you think. 

It all comes down to the final stanza for me...and while last year, I thought it was about Supporting the Cause(kind of a 'next man up) feeling...I'm seeing more now.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.      

Those last few lines...it's about more than just carrying on...it's about 'making it worthwhile'.  Kind of the sentiment that Tom Hanks is trying to get across at the end of Saving Private Ryan when he pulls Matt Damon's character in close and tells him " Earn This".  Make the sacrifice worthwhile...justify my sacrifice.

I'm not 100% certain I am doing that everyday.  Hell...that's lying.  I am 100% certain I am NOT doing that Everyday.  I'm not even 50% certain I am doing it 50% of days.  I'm not sure what I could do to be worthy of that sacrifice.  I try to live a good life.  When I can(when it doesn't hurt to much, again, let's be honest here), I help others with less than me.  I'm not as active into charity or politics as I could be. 

I do do what I can everyday to make my wife and kids smile. 

I hope that, AND saying thank you, is enough.

The Garden

You'll have to forgive me, for two reasons: one, I'm not quite sure where the better camera is...it got stuck somewhere when we got back from San Diego, just not sure where, so the pictures aren't the best.  Also, this is one of those posts that is just as much for me, so I can remember things, as it for you fine folks out there.

 

So...that's the main garden area, with my 6 raised beds.  From left to right: Tomatoes in the front bed, tomatoes/tomatillos in the back, the middle has peppers/summer squash in the front bed, and peppers/cucumbers in the back, and finally, to the right, there are cherry tomatoes/winter squash in the front bed, and in the back there is cauliflower, and a cucumber, and winter squash again. 

I'm kind of stumped, because in the right side bed, my cherry tomatoes look OUTSTANDING so far.

 

Meanwhile, in the left-hand beds, my tomatoes look, well...not as outstanding.

 

 

Hmmmm.  It could be 3 threes(well, many things I'm sure, but only three that come to my simple mind): Too much shade(it is the shadier half of the garden), the soil is not as good, or I didn't do a good enough job of breaking up the roots. 

 

I just don't know how patient I want to  be.  I've already decided that I am going to replace the tomatoes in the rear bed...they look even sadder than the ones in the front bed.

 

Other than the raised bed, my beans are starting to look pretty good, having survived some early chewing on.  They are at the stage now that I walk by once or twice a day and help convince the beans to wrap around the twine.

 

 

Finally, I have my container garden. 

 

 

We've got some cauliflower, two of kale, two of tomatoes, and then the one on the very right is pumpkin...little sugar pumpkins.

 

Now, one thing I am committed to this year is pumping extra goodies into my plants...the ones in containers, raised beds, or even the ground.  We have no shortage of eggs, so those get crushed and added to the soil, and then I've been making compost tea, AND in one of those 'don't hurt, might help' things, I've been adding Epsom salt to the soil as I plant, and then weekly when I water(one tablespoon per gallon).  The magnesium and sulfur are supposed to help.

 

It's still not even June, so I don't want to give up on anything too soon.  One of my goals for the year was to start as much as I could from seed, and see if it worked.  It's why I'll probably keep those slightly stunted looking tomatoes going...







Success?

Well, one step closer anyway.

I haz made a pretty in my garden!

Those are the first two flowers from the Fairy Squash seeds that I started back in March.  Now, obviously...this isn't a flower garden, and the pretties aren't goal...but it's not a negative either.

Not success yet, but one step closer.  As I take advantage of this weekend alone to get some gardening done, you might have to sit through more pictures later...but pride compels me to weed the garden before taking any more pictures.