Saturday at the Froggy Bottom Cafe
Your host is Maryb
(Have you met everyone? If not, introduce yourself.)
Your host is Maryb
(Have you met everyone? If not, introduce yourself.)
“And instead of a nice dish of minnows – they had a roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!”
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Beatrix Potter books available next to the door
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Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe/Lounge from earlier)
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That 4 looks good on you!
If you’re a newcomer or a lurker, go ahead and introduce yourself here at the cafe. It’s always nice to meet the other froggies and hang out together at the Froggy Bottom.
Has Froggy Bottom always had that tag line? And what’s up with the time stamps? This cafe says it opened at 10:05 CDT – but it’s only 9:05 CDT.
I have to go out for a bit, but I’ll be back. So entertain yourselves. Play nice!
but it has had it since January when I decided that the sig line about last october’s photo fair was significantly dated.
Eastern time stamp is okay.
to notice things. Or I guess I ignore Froggybottom comments.
I’m going to change my time preferences back to central standard time so at least the time is correct. It’s too confusing otherwise.
Oh, and I’M BACK.
Very cool to see you back! How’s life down your way today? I’ve got lots on my plate and have to get laundry going soon, but wanted to say hello, since you’ve been conspicuously absent lately. 🙁 Now the world seems back on its right track a little more…
I’m trying to get myself motivated to go outside myself and do a little weeding.
Should I be concerned that that my Hydrangea that I put in last year still looks like a bunch of sticks except for some green growth at the bottom? I’ve never had Hydrangea before and it bloomed all last summer.
I wouldn’t be worried. We have quite a few hydrangeas and they all do that. They look dead for quite some time during the year. They’re sort of odd plants, but nice.
Hey Mary, Izzy!
I concur with Izzy… especially in our zone, Mary, there are a lot of things that have yet to start greening up. I’d just say cut the dead stuff back, because they only bloom on new wood, and just let things proceed along the course spring takes it…
thanks both of you.
and hi Izzy.
What’s going on with my favorite American league team?
Oy, oy, oy. They are now three below .500 on a couple of spectacular failures (and one rousing success). The other day they came back from a 6-1 deficit to tie it up in the bottom of the 9th, after which Crazy Carl Everett hit a three-bagger to win the game 9-6.
But the big story lately has been Eddie Guardado, and not in a good way. Last Monday he gave up a two-run bomb to not only let the Red Sox off the hook, but give them a win. OK, that happens, but the other day we were tied 3-3 against the Rangers and he gave up four walks in the ninth.
This is starting to be 1998 all over again. Tolerable offense (not as good as the one we had in 1998, though) balanced out by a weak bullpen (maybe not as bad as 1998, hard to say yet).
when the bullpen throws away the game. I’ve decided that I’m completely against the whole idea of a closer. Let the damn start throw 150 pitches and pitch the whole game. (I know, I know.)
Well, they used to do that in the old days, but apparently back then there were always a few guys you could just cruise through and only have to concentrate on the real threats. This was before Murderer’s Row and the need to bear down on every single batter.
Hard to imagine, but that’s what they tell me.
Wherein I tear apart my cute little Pebble Beach apartment and pack it into a cargo van (which won’t be much fun, especially if it — as it seems to be contemplating — rains.
But the good news is, I’m going home! I’ll see Shadow tomorrow! And all the nice little froggies who talk to me and post their lovely photos in the café will still be living inside my laptop when I get back to LA!!
and be careful to always lift with your legs, not your back!
Have a good moving day and great return home.
Hah! Good advice, AndiF! Thankfully son and hubby are here to help! 🙂
Morning MM! Good luck on the move, and don’t strain yourself, as Andi said. I’m very happy you’ll be back in the family fold tomorrow, and make sure you have your requisite daily requirement of Chardonnay stocked up for when you finish the move! We’ll miss you while you’re gone, but this is for a great cause (yours!), so we’ll survive. 🙂
Thanks for the good wishes, IVG, and the reminder to keep the chardonnay well-chilled!
H U Z Z A H !!
I’m so pleased for you, mythmother. This is great!
I’m absolutely sure the move will go well.
A little note about your dear one, Shadow. Don’t be surprised or hurt if she’s a bit stand-offish at first. Just love her, give her sufficient space — without staring! — & she’ll come back to you pronto.
Good tip about Shadow, WW. I know she’s a bit pissed at me, and confused, since she’s been sleeping in her cat carrier ever since I took her back home a couple of weeks ago.
You may find this weird, mythmother, but unless she comes to you, it’s best for you to ignore her (aside of the basics: food, water, litter). Ever wonder why, out of a group of people, the cat will approach the person who dislikes cats? It’s because what humans consider friendly attention — gazing at, talking to — is generally considered threatening behavior in ‘cat language’.
You’ll see that two cats who’ve just met will be staring at one another; once they turn their faces & ignore one another, they’re getting comfy. It’s the territory thing vis a vis awareness.
If you must gaze at her — hard to resist, I know, considering how much you’ve missed her — bat your eyes slowly & turn your face away. It’s also good if you can yawn: this means you’re friendly & relaxed, everything’s cool. She’ll like that.
Cats certainly want things on their own terms, and Shadow is the quintessential cat! I will let her know that she has wilderness wench to thank for my sensitive approach!
Yes, please give her a good petting on my behalf. Your own love’s the thing, though!
🙂
When she’s good & ready, of course!
Here, let me get that entertainment center for you . . .
< crunch >
Owwwwww . . .
Workman’s Comp!
Every want to get away from it all?
Feeling the need to do the Time Warp again?
Well, step right up, ladies and gentlemen!
This bus goes out to 2450 AD
and THIS one gets you out to 2900!
And whatever you do: Please don’t feed the artificial animals. 🙂
These are some pootie pics to hold you over awhile…I also post them Mondays on C&J at the Orange place….
This one is for me….cause it’s a long climb
Now – quote CaliScribe – the spouse and I are off to run errands and do shopping. Peace and pooties and puppies for everyone.
Yay! Thanks, SallyCat! This should hold me for a while. A few days at least!
Once you are back at home with Shadow, the need will recede.
And you can always go visit Cute Overload.
True!
No, I didn’t write this, it’s by an English guy named Les Barker.
Actually, here’s the page I found this set of lyrics on. You’ll probably enjoy most of these.
I take it that was originally a song? Reading that reminded me of this pic I uploaded the other night, called “Teamwork.”
LOL, that’s funny. My wife says it reminds her of the kids in “Rugrats” getting into the cookies.
The Les Barker piece was originally a poem, but the CD writeup I got the lyrics from says it’s been set to music. Some of Les’ pieces are songs, and others are poems that started out as parodies. For instance, he has a piece called “Reinstalling Windows” which was inspired by (and could be sung to) an old English tune called “When I’m cleaning windows” but I’ve only ever heard him recite it.
He sounds like a fun poet… always enjoy those ones who can take everyday subjects and inject humor into them, unlike some of the “oh-so-serious” poets I’ve studied in the past. Not that they’re not good (Mallarmé, Baudelaire and Rimbaud are some of my all time faves), but a little levity really helps out in life, don’t you think?
You’re talking to a guy who has to suppress his inner clown on a constant basis. So yeah, I’d agree.
Hey there, all — good morning! Hope everyone’s doing well.
Rain, rain, rain today here in the Catskills, with far more seasonable temperatures than we’ve seen lately — about 38F currently, according to our regional weather watchers. The past week has been absolutely stellar weatherwise — clear, sunny, T-shirt weather, believe it or not, with day temperatures nearing 70 (about two months early).
Ergo, here I am as in days of yore, avoiding the outdoors & ignoring my duties — for now.
Great to see you! Did you by chance ever see my response to your post last week about woodland plantings? If not, I’d be thrilled to help you plan some spaces … if you can’t pull that old post up, just let me know and we can coordinate how I could help you out with that.
Oh, wonderful! Thanks for your response, iVG — haven’t seen it, but I’m sure I can pull it up.
Good to see you, too! Thanks for sharing the garden image downthread — wow! What fabulous color!
Thanks… this week has been stellar for the tulips and daffodils around here, and more are opening every day. All these fire colors are really helping to re-invigorate me for planting, especially given the last hectic month at work… this is the first Sat. in 4 weeks that I haven’t had to bring work home! I feel somehow strangely slackerish, lol.
Btw, where’s Family Man? I’m behind in my slacker homework…
I’m behind in my slacker homework…
I’m pretty sure that’s impossible. If anyone unslacked enough to grade it, I suspect the best grade you could get would be for blowing off even buying your notebook paper.
I think that was a compliment? Hehe. Check out pic below… I posted it with you in mind, and as a public service for WW… but I’m sure she already is familiar with these. I plan on getting some great pics today when I get outside, so will keep you posted.
How’s it going for you today Indy? Seems like many around here are either in the process of big moves or planning them… yours coming along ok?
My house and life are in total chaos, thanks for askin’. 🙂 Such is the nature of a cross country move, I suspect.
Beautiful pix, as always. I’ve only recently gotten into gardening, myself, but am looking forward to being out of the high mountain desert where it’s hard to grow things (unless you have some Anasazi mojo going on) and in Ohio where it will be much easier.
PS. I am terrified of bees. They hunt me. I do not know why. One chased me all the way across my parking lot the other day — I’m talking nearly 100 yards. It wanted my blood, I just know it.
Those cross-country moves are a be-atch, I know. SO glad I’ve not had to do one of those since 94, when I fled FL in a rented truck and never looked back. I didn’t want to turn into a pillar of salt, ya know! hehe… not so sly Sodom joke there.
Heh, I’m originally from Miami. I left in a Nissan Pulsar (just try to get more than 4 duffel bags, a lover, and a guitar into one of those) in ’95 and haven’t been back since, so I more or less know what you mean.
Glad you’re getting a little breathing space today, IVG (or is that gardening space?). As I just mentioned in response to scribe’s community diary: balance is key.
I pulled up your initial gardening reply to my request. THANK YOU for the seed info & your very kind offer of further help.
I love seed catalogues as a matter of course & your links make me very, very happy indeed.
To give you any truly useful info on the land I’ll be working on, I’ll be making a trip there shortly & will check it out more carefully than I have, in terms of soil etc. I’ll be happy to use your email address, if you don’t mind. It’s likely that I can also send photos, if you like. In fact, I may have one here of the general look of things .. let’s see ..
Thanks so much again for your offer of help. I promise not to take undue advantage of you.
😉
Don’t worry about taking advantage… if I reach saturation point, I’m quick to let folks know. But I do love helping people green up the land, and am excited to consult for you. No fee needed, just good gardening karma is sufficient for me.
Yes, go ahead and use that email, just make sure to put WW from BT or something in the subject line so I can add you to my allowed list when it gets caught in the spamblocker.
to plant when you get that space… to my mind, these are absolute garden essentials! We planted these monsters back in 99, and they get enormous every year, overwhelming the space and usually top out at over 4 feet. Ours stick around most of the summer because they’re in protected shade, which makes them the envy of others who plant them in sunnier spots and then watch them wither up and go away come end of May.
Bleeding heart Dicentra spectabilis easy to find, easy to grow and so beautiful. Right Indy?
Beautiful image. I like those a lot! I’d imagine they’re attractive to the bees & butterflies, too — always a big plus in my book!
we positively cater to them, and consider ourselves fortunate to have a bumblebee hive somewhere on our lot… which horrifies a lot of people but we love them! I just don’t understand why people are so skittish about bees… because without them, there would be no flowers! That’s what I keep preaching to largely deaf ears… people want pretty flowers, but no bees <sigh>. Now I’m really excited to help you plan… since you’re bee/butterfly friendly!
Absolutely — to my mind they’re fascinating, superior creatures, embodiments of the cycle of life. They’re great!
I guess averse feelings toward them are just training — Mama says, ‘Bees! Dangerous!’ & so they are. I s’pose folks who want flowers & no bees can just plant plastic ones & dust ’em off in dry weather.
😉
Here’s an image of ‘the lay of the land’, for you, IVG. No ‘greening’ needed, exactly, but there are level spots — it’s a matter of plateaus — that could use some bee/butterfly friendly color & some healthful herbs, possibly a few veggies. I won’t mess with the plant life holding the slope in place.
I have six acres all told, NE to NW facing moutainside (winter sun!), zone 5.
This photo was taken in early June, from a fairly level spot, where my shelter will likely go, looking down on another level spot of about 1/4 acre, where I’d eventually do my ‘serious’ gardening; the 14 x 20 decrepit cabin below & the old shed to the right will come down.
There’s quite a bit of sun down there in summer, alternating with shade as the sun travels; this photo was taken on a partially cloudy day.
I believe the slopes themselves will take some ginseng; it’s traditionally grown here & the Catskills actually supply some of America’s best. I’ve worked with ginseng before; as with any plant under my care, it doesn’t need much.
Wow, that’s beautiful! I’m so envious, but if I can help out, that’s ownership enough for me, considering a good person is taking stewardship on it! NE to NW sounds like a great exposure for lots of stuff, and that sunny spot should be ideal for butterfly/bee plants. Otherwise sounds like “dappled shade” as the gardening books like to say.
We’ve tried ginseng here, but never had any luck with it in our urban setting, but it sounds like you have an ideal environment for it. I’ll have to consult more w/herbalist hubby to see what he thinks about herbs and such. But you appear to have a great space for really doing some cool things!
Think ferns, my dear… we love em!
Oh, yes — we’ve definitely got lots & lots of those, of the type known, oddly enough, as New York ferns.
Go figure!
‘Dappled shade’, eh? OK, good to know the terminology.
Of course, I hope you know that you & all our pond-mates are continually welcome to visit & chill out, should you find yourself in the mountains here.
Most everyone else gets the shotgun treatment — & yes, I do own a shotgun & am a far better shot than Dick Cheney.
😉
Once I’ve constructed a sizeable shelter I’ll even have a crash-space for my pond-mates, most definitely including you & hubby.
As of now, with regard to herbs, I have bergamot (bee balm) in mind, hopefully some Echinacea (aka purple cone-flower), some mints (especially of the feline-friendly variety); wild native chives (bees & butterflies adore it!); none of the illegal ‘herb’ variety (been there, done that). That’s about as far as I’ve gone with those thoughts.
I truly love the papavers & hope to plant some of those, as well. The somniferum can be legally grown as an ornamental, I believe. Just stay away from those seed pods!
😉
About ginseng: it generally does like cool, north-facing slopes, with plenty of big shade trees.
We got em! Have tons of seeds too, if you never need any…
And Bergamot? We got tons of that too, Red and Purple!
And coneflowers too, we’ll be giving tons of those away soon, too bad you’re not ready to plant!
Your delphiniums are beautiful.
Hey CG! And thanks… I haven’t seen these come up yet this year, but am hoping they didn’t die off… but I bought a bunch more this week, since I seem to lose a few each winter… this variety is called Sky Blue in case you’re interested in finding some.
Gorgeous! Beautiful images, IVG. What a wonderful garden you have!
Thanks very much for the seed offer. I’ve actually got plenty of seeds, but they’re some years old now. Don’t know if they’ll germinate, though they’ve been stored fairly carefully. I guess we’ll see — & will let you know if you can be of assistance here.
Nice to see that the plants I’ve mentioned can share space in such a lovely way.
That looks like a great to plant some roots.
Just got back from my walk. The oaks are out now so the woods are almost at the green day when everything is so intensely green that even the air seems to have a green aura.
Hey there, Andi! Good to see you.
Sounds quite wonderful there about now. Here, we’re still a little far from the ‘green day’ you refer to — quite a luscious time indeed! The rain we’re expecting for the entire weekend should move things along very nicely, though; as of right now, our trees are dressing out in pink & Wildcat Mountain across the river has some lovely salmon hues.
Sound wonderful.
How’s life been treating you? And how are the cats?
Thanks for asking, Andi. I’d say life’s treating me well at the moment. Plans for relocation move forward: the landlord’s been given notice, building plans are basically finalized, lumber priced & ready to order, offers of recycled lumber & neighborly help received.
And it’s spring, spring, spring!
The cats are doing very well, too — though today they’re indoors & a bit bored.
That sounds so exciting! I know you’re out in the wilds, but if there’s a Habitat for Humanity Reuse center anywhere within driving distance you should check it out. I was just there this morning and there are hundreds of new and used windows, wood floors, kitchen cabinets, interior and exterior doors, doorknobs and hardware, toilets and sinks, mantels, posts and columns, railings, you name it.
Greetings, o luscious one. Good to see you!
I don’t believe there’s a Habitat outlet here, but I’m familiar with their treasures. I lived out of the Asheville center. It was wonderful!
We do have similar privately owned centers nearby, however — & of course the town recycling center (aka the dump) just a few miles from here, where similar items can be found & carted off, with blessings. I picked up a lovely old pine door there yesterday, for the main entry to my dwelling, with glass panels, locks & hinges still intact.
Unfortunately, someone thought to paint one side a nice Ivory Soap pink, but that can certainly be changed.
Hope you’re enjoying your NC springtime!
I want a dwelling. So far my house is just a house, but dwellling sounds so much more profound!
It can also be substituted for the word ‘shack’ !
😉
The Love Shack is a little old place
where we can get together
Love Shack bay-bee!
Love Shack, that’s where it’s at!
Huggin’ and a kissin’, dancin’ and a lovin’
wearin’ next to nothing
Cause it’s hot as an oven
The whole shack shimmies!
I am so sorry, but it had to be done. Hope you have a great day, WW!
Love it, Indy! Thank you!
I wish you the same great day. Onward we go!
As you get closer to actual construction time, don’t forget dada’s and NDD’s offers of how and what to do advice and mine of how and what not to do.
I hope the housebuilding goes well. Building our house was both one of the most stressful things and one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.
Thank you, Andi. I sure do remember those blessed offers of help & advice; won’t hesitate to take y’all up on it, if need be.
I know I travel with good wishes.
Thankfully, I’ve already been a primary assistant in building one home (the one my landlord now owns) & have a very clear idea about what I’ll now do — a project far smaller & simpler to construct, basically a very nice temporary homestead just to park in as I get to know my land, about 12′ in diameter, with additions possible. I think I’ll be ok; I’ve kept it all very simple & within the realm of singleton effort.
If you do find you need assistance, you might try what we did — we got a recommendation from the local high school voc ed department and hired a kid to help us from the program who was willing to work for a very reasonable amount of money because he was delighted to get some practical experience.
Thanks again for advice.
I do have offers of neighborly help, fortunately, as I can’t pay anyone; typically I work with them on a barter basis, which tends to work out between low-income folk.
I’m planning for working alone, though, just in case. Ergo the minimal size of the dwelling, aside of other practical concerns (ie heating): there’s nothing too big there to lift myself.
And now, to the woodpile. It’s still chilly here.
I don’t know if you are familiar with the Discworld series of fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett, but they’re some of my favorites. Death is a recurring character in them, and while he has many attributes of a living being, he really doesn’t understand the living. When I first met Death in one of the early books of the series, he was tending to roses and bees. The roses were black, of course, and in some vague undefinable way not exactly like roses among the living. But the best part of that scene was the image of Death, looking over his roses, while a bee lazily buzzed into one of his eye-sockets.
Sounds a wee bit gruesome, Omir, but definitely in my irony realm 🙂 For some reason, that reference about the bee in the eye socket reminded me of 2 movies I love… the old Dr. Phibes films with Vincent Price… one of my all-time favorite classy, yet cheesy actors…
It’s not gruesome at all. In fact the Discworld books are some of the funniest books I’ve ever read. The book I got the description from, Mort, is about Death wanting to go on holiday for a while, so he hires an apprentice, shows him the ropes, and takes off. Unfortunately the apprentice screws up by allowing a beautiful princess to live when he shouldn’t have, and the rest of the book is about Mort’s attempt to set things straight again.
Pratchett is an interesting mix of side-splitting humor and serious writing. He spoofs the fantasy genre for all it’s worth, but at the same time creates interesting and memorable characters.
Sounds like a great read, Omir! Thanks for the recommendation.
Here’s a link to the book at Overstock. Powell’s will have it too. This is the first Discworld book I read, and IMO it’s a very good place to start.
Thanks for the link, Omir!
I’ll soon be living without tv or ‘netz access, so good reading material will be crucial.
Glad to see MaryB is back! And Andi, always a relief to see you and the gang holding forth! A lovely day in the making here, and I’m going to charge up on my coffee and get ready to tackle more garden work and laundry today… the tulips are in full regalia, such as this pic from yesterday suggests… but even more opening today. Wish we had some dogwoods nearby though… Andi, those pics yesterday were simply amazing!
This angle barely begins to suggest the rest of the stuff in the background, but I think it does these a bit of justice…
Not doing all that great today. 🙁 Just struggled out of bed, got to get myself moving…but no energy, no motivation.
Hopefully I’ll be better later in the day…
Hope you get a burst of energy. I hate when I feel like it’s a Monday when it’s Saturday.
Hey there Cali… sorry to hear you’re not feeling well today. I hope that improves for you soon!
Btw, did you see KO last night? I was so embarrassed that the local fire dept was named Worst Persons in the World!! But I hadn’t heard that and didn’t blame KO for mocking it.
Wow, Gorgeous! I’ll have to check into planting some of those! I only know them by name, so thanks for the tip Andi!
I didn’t realize that there was anything about flowers and gardening that you didn’t know. I’ve only experienced trillium in the wild so I don’t know how they do as a cultivated plant.
Don’t be shocked, I’m very knowledgeable, but I do have huge gaps in my learning. Trees and shrubs, for examples… witness the other day when I gave you that “non-help” LOL. My other half is much more up on those things than I am… guess we make a much better pair together on filling in the gaps.
My second cheer of the day: huzzah!
Love the trillium. Just love ’em — another definitive spring harbinger. They’ve just come up here, no flowers yet.
I knew my homestead land was a very special place when I noticed them growing there in closely- clustered groups of three. Generally I only see them singly.
Gorgeous photo, Andi! Quite lovely.
Andi these are beautiful — I love trilliums. White trillium are the official flower of Ontario. Where I grew up you’d find them everywhere — in the ditches by the side of the road, masses of them in the woods. As kids, we were always told that we’d be arrested if we picked them b/c they were the provincial flower! So I’ve never seen them anywhere but wild. 🙂
Hello maryb! It’s so good to see you back!
Good luck mm on your move day!
Hi ww!!! :*
Lovely pix as usual IVG!
I’m off for a bit, but will check in later … See ya!
to go camera shopping.
Back atcha, Miss O! Enjoy!
I’m afraid I’ve gotta split, too — chores etc, ho hum.
See y’all soon, I hope. Have a good Saturday.
Need to get the laundry hung out and the garden work going, so I’ll leave you all with one last pic of that Crown Imperial that’s not supposed to bloom until late May… ah hem, this was on 4-21-06!
This is its first year, and though it was supposed to be red I’m happy to see this, and expect it will get even bigger next year.
You all have fun and enjoy the day. Will probably check back in the lounge later if I don’t have to take a nap… hehe.
I’ll bet she must be totally wrapped up in that new camera of hers. (jealous!)
Late afternoon cafe is now open.