Herbs

My first indoor plantings of basil, dill, cilantro, and parsley are all from 1" - 3" tall, and as soon as the secondary leaves appear, I will thin them out. Today, I planted more dill, plus chives and sweet marjoram. Tomorrow, I will plant some more. I can't wait until it is warm enough to start planting outdoors. I love my new house and am excited about planting herbs and flowers that will just make it look more beautiful outside. Many of the perennials I want to plant I will get at a garden shop, probably in April. Today, I looked at the agricultural supply store on River Road, but they didn't have any herb seeds. I will probably have to buy the rest of my herbs as established plants.

The cold weather seems to have settled into SW PA again, and the forecasts show 40 degree highs. Of course, that is better than the 0 or 10 degree highs! When can I fish again? (I can technically fish now, but it is too cold for me.)

Comcast Cable sent out someone on Monday to see what was wrong with my cable tv hookups. The DVD and VCR players didn't work, nor did the volume controls on my remote. The guy they sent did a great job, and took the time to explain how to use everything. Comcast is different from Armstrong and Adelphia were, and is more complicated when using DVD and VCR players. Anyway, the DVD player works great. When I tried the VCR, however, there was a tape stuck in it from goodness knows how long ago. It finally came out, but now the tapes won't stay in. The little door won't come down. Rats. My stuff is getting old just like I am, and I wish I knew how to fix everything. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have gone to college but rather, would have gone to a tech school and learned how to do all this stuff.

New disappointment of the day: Consumer Reports says their tests on wrinkle creams prove they don't work.

Yuk....It's Valentine's Day Again

My last post talked about the Spring Tease, and it was. Today we have snow flurries after several days of extremely high winds....hurricane force not far from here. I came home from shopping a while ago and walked down the road to recapture the lid to my garbage can. I'm glad it is red because it is easy to see.

I thought my drug store was closed because the front door was boarded up. It wasn't closed, but the glass had been broken by a would-be thief, would-be because he/she didn't get anything. The world has changed in more ways than one.

A year ago yesterday, someone I loved told me goodbye. Two days before Valentine's Day. So now I hate this day of hearts and roses and chocolate. I hate being unloved and alone. I look around and see lots of women who don't look so hot with men who do. Go figure. I have come to the conclusion that men want ugly, fat, stupid, untalented, and uneducated women. That leaves me out in a couple of ways. (You figure out which ways.) I used to think younger was one of those qualifiers, but it doesn't seem to be. Everything I am is not wanted by anyone. I know, I am singing the 'pity me' song. Sorry, but that's how I feel.

Springtime or Just a Tease?

Last year, March is southwestern Pennsylvania was beautiful with warmer than usual temperatures and early blooming of plants. Today the temperature is almost sixty degrees following last week's wind chills of seven degrees. I realize it is still the middle of February and cold weather is forecast for the last week of this month, but these occasional hints of spring perk up the spirit and remind us of nature's cyclical renewal.

When I went to sleep last Saturday night, some of the snow had melted but there was still quite a lot of it on the ground and on the driveway. When I looked outside Sunday morning, I couldn't believe my eyes! All the snow, ALL of it, was gone. Amazing. Today I was outside looking for early spring plants beginning to peek out, but there aren't any yet. It could be the prior tenants didn't plant anything, or it could just be too early.

I planted some herbs in small pots a couple of weeks ago, covered them with sandwich-size plastic bags, and watered them daily. They are all sprouted and growing. When the soil is warm enough and all danger of frost is gone, they will be ready to plant outside. Today, I will go and buy some more potting soil and plant some more seeds. I can't wait to start working outdoors and caring for my herbs and flowers again. I also cannot wait to go fishing!!!

Art For Sale

I am going to be showing and offering for sale some of my pencil artwork. You will be able to see current pieces to the right under "My Art of the Day". Prices do not include framing, although that can be arranged at an additional fee. Please know I hold the copyrights on all my artwork.

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Goodbye to 2008

This has been an odd year for me. As things turned out, I had more time to recuperate from surgery than I needed but that was because I lost my job because of the surgery. I had time to fish, but found it wasn't as much fun to fish alone as it is with companions. I began to do freelance writing, and found I enjoyed it and although it doesn't pay enough for the number of hours it takes, it does help fill the gap between what I have and what I need. I was finally able to move from a house I detested into one I love. I have found old friends care about me and I treasure the time with them. I have finally understood that God does love ME, unconditionally.

My wish for the new year is that my children accept the Lord and teach the same to my grandchildren. I pray they will recognize the Biblical teachings concerning Mary, the Mother of God, and will KNOW that Mary, as a mother, has the same unconditional love for her children as does the Lord. I pray they will understand that a penitent heart and a request for forgiveness is all that is needed to start over. I say this as a mother and grandmother myself. Amen.

Merry Christmas!

It is difficult to believe it has been one year ago tonight that I was rushed to the hospital from my youngest daughter's home. Needless to say, my recall of last Christmas is not great nor are events in order. All I know for sure is that I spent Christmas Day in the Grove City hospital and that my family was called together because my outlook for recovery was not good. The morning after Christmas, I was moved to Butler Memorial Hospital where I had quadruple bypass surgery. The next eight days were spent in ICU and the next two in a step-down unit. Finally, I went home to my daughter's house on January 3. I don't recall much about New Year's, either.

My daughter asked me to come again this year, but I declined. Not so much because of fear of a re-run, but rather because I don't want to miss Midnight Mass at my church. I have much to be grateful for, even with all the negative events since my surgery. My cardiologist and cardiac surgeon both told me they didn't expect me to survive. The surgeon said someone must have been watching over me. Yes, that would be the angel I saw prior to surgery.

Today I am also recalling Christmases of the past. There are so many!! When I was a child, the only two children in the house were my brother, Bill, and me. Our family, like so many others in the '50s, didn't have a lot of money. Throughout the year, the only toys Bill and I received were the comic books our father let us buy when we went shopping. Those comic books were read and reread many times over. Christmas, however, was another story. Our parents didn't spare any expense and Bill and I received many, many Christmas gifts. I loved Christmas and still would love it if I wasn't alone.

I always had an extensive list of gifts I wanted, a list compiled from the Sears and Spiegel toy catalogs. Most of the time, I received what I asked for. One year, when I was in 6th grade, I got into a heated argument with another student who said there wasn't a Santa Claus. I insisted there was, because I had seen him on two occasions. Finally, the teacher drew me aside and told me the other student was right - that my parents were Santa Claus. I was crushed.

That same Christmas, as it turned out, was the one that my parents ordered our Christmas gifts from the Spiegel catalog. When the gifts hadn't arrived by Christmas Eve, my parents went to Vandergrift about an hour before closing time. It was dark and snowing and most people weren't out still shopping. Our Christmas gifts were bought at a small hardware store. If I hadn't been told at school that there wasn't a Santa Claus, I guess I would have found out that Christmas Eve anyway. Christmas was never the same, in a magical way of speaking, after that Christmas.

I know I was pretty old to still believe in Santa in 6th grade. I encouraged the same beliefs in my children, and I have found out in recent years that they only pretended to believe because they knew I wanted them to believe.

Well, I am still that little girl who wants to believe in the magic. That kind of hope has not stood me well in life, especially in relationships. It has helped my artwork.