In case you haven't gotten the picture...

If you come to visit us, we will take you outside to play. The Rock's friend from school visited this weekend and, you guessed it, we did some of this:

It totally looks like the cactus is poking me! (it's not. But not to fear! I'd already been stabbed by a few poky plants.) (also, if you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you can see my intense concentration...or consternation).

Just another plug for the FP being the BEST PLACE EVER. (or, maybe just the Pokiest Place Ever. Hard to say.) --Lu

When Em came to Town

My good friend Em visited this weekend and she brought the rain with her, just like last time. She's a brave girl so she opted for mountain biking even though rain was threatening. The threat was fulfilled in the form of DOWNPOUR and FLASH FLOODS!

I can't adequately tell you the thrill of riding through rushing water where just an hour before there was none. The brown water splooshing up over your handlebars, all over your legs, your poncho only barely noticeable because you were already soaked when you put it on...

The adventure didn't end after we'd gotten back to the truck. The Rock later said, "I know about flash floods, so before I drove through the wash I looked up it..." What he said to Em and me was "Look at that!" There was a two foot wave of water rolling down the wash! We were 5 seconds too late to make it across safely so we waited 20 minutes for the water to get a little more manageable. Then we waited 20 minutes again when we had to cross the same wash half a mile down.

On Monday I secured proof of The Rock's love of animals/crawly things:




(we nicknamed this the Pool of Wonders because it's a cool little pool in the rocks, there's an 'island' in it, AND there was a beetle (shown), a snake in a crack on the back wall AND! a dead tarantula floating in the water).


I vote this one of the Top Weekends in the FP. Thanks Em!

The Grand Potato Experiment

When we converted our dirt plot backyard into a garden, I insisted that potatoes--Red Potatoes--be included. This led to me also insisting that tires be used to increase our potato yield. Being the romantic he is, The Rock returned from a mountain biking excursion with a present for me--a truckbed full of used tires. (and I must note that he carried each tire up a hill to his truck! Now that's love, people.)

For several weeks (or was it months?) we used those tires to increase our liklihood of being voted Best Redneck Front Yard--but when no award was forthcoming, The Rock stacked the tires neatly in the backyard until our potato plants grew tall enough to need additional tires.

Eventually each grouping of plants had 3 tires as shown here:


Because some of the plants started dying we decided it was time to harvest the potatoes. (Which was convenient because my roast recipe this week called for 2 lbs. of red potatoes).

Eagerly, I set out to dig up the left tire stack. Later that day The Rock dug up the right tire stack.

This was our total yield:
Note the AA battery for scale.

[also note me wincing because the ONLY potato in my entire stack of tires was the size of a pinto bean. It isn't pictured above...I threw it away in frustration.]

However, our Ugly White Grub yield was significantly higher. I don't have a picture to verify this--and you might be glad for that. They were quite...well, grubby.

After smooshing a few grubs, I found a better method of disposal--the black ant superhighway running just behind me.

Ironically, we'll proably be trying to ward off those very ants come spring, and they now have extra strength to fight back because I made it rain grubs one fine September day.

The Rock and I had a pow-wow and we agreed that next year we're going to grow potatoes the old fashioned way in light of this year's results.

We haven't decided yet what to do with the tires...we might recycle them back to the front yard. Or maybe we'll get a little more creative...

Blowout

Cowabunga Cowgirl

One of my friends in the FP has horses. Seven to be exact. And last week she offered to let me go riding with her while she trained one of her young horses. (I don't know horse lingo, so I'm writing this in layman's terms...and poorly constructed ones at that).

Note to my 10 year old self: riding horses is still as cool as you thought it was, except better because you actually fit on the horse and can even swing yourself up into the saddle unaided on the first try.

Thanks to my friend, I didn't just get to be cool and ride a horse, I got to look cool (a rarity) too. She brought boots for me and I found a pair that mostly fit. I've had trouble before with cowboy boots: while hypothetically the boot is the right size for my foot, I can't get my foot into the boot. I attribute it to having high arches (though it could be incompetence, me being a city slicker and all), which make it practically impossible for me to smoosh my foot down into the foot-space because I get jammed up in the ankle-space (layman's terms, remember.)

Somehow (read: with much tugging and grunting and pulling) I managed to get the boots on my feet. And then I got to walk around all cool and cowgirl like and ride all cool and cowgirl like. My cool and cowgirl like self deflated though when I went to remove the boots. My friend had to get out of the car, kneel down in my driveway and physically pull the boots off my besocked feet. She was laughing at the idea of my neighbors watching the event, so it took a little longer than expected to yank the boots off (that, or the fact that she had to squat on a practically vertical driveway and pull with all her might while trying to not fall hard on her backside when the boot finally flew off). I, meanwhile, was giggling and offering words of encouragement such as "Pull HARDER! YOU CAN DO IT! GO, FOOT, GO!"

So much for my cool and cowgirl like image.

--Lu

Playlist Update

Last week I started listening to music at work. It's the first time I've tried it on a regular basis. Until now, I've avoided music altogether because I didn't want to have to veto most of the songs requested/brought in by the tweens I work with.

It all started in one of my desperate forays into our little town library. I found four CDs that I couldn't resist.

Billboard Top Hits 1975 -- 1979 (I know that's 5 CDs, but, actually, 1977 is awol so it wasn't really an option)

I checked them out on a whim more than anything else.

And...I've loved listening to them! For instance, right now Abba's Take a Chance On Me is playing. And I just sang along to Dream Weaver by Gary Wright and I Go Crazy by Paul Davis.

Oh man. What about Reminiscing by Little River Band?!

More surprising than my own enjoyment is the fact that the tweens recognize and LIKE some of the songs too. When pressed, they'll say, "Oh, it's on a commercial," or "It's in that one movie."

Maybe I like the CDs so much because because I grew up listening to those songs. To be frank, on most days you'll catch me avoiding 70's music. I hardly ever dredge it up from the depths of my ipod playlists.

But this time...
It's just, once I started listening it brought back, well, not really memories per say...more a feeling. The songs feel comfortable, familiar, safe--like an old friend.

P.S. Um, the music videos, well, they don't convey that same feeling. The Abba one made me snicker and possibly roll my eyes at the awful 70's clothing and the hazy lighting (does that really make women more attractive? I've gotta ask The Rock about that). That doesn't change the fact that the song is AWESOME! --Lu

Note to Self

1 and 2/3 cup of oil cannot be substituted for 2/3 cup oil. Even the delicious goodness of brownies cannot overcome such an error.

Better luck in the future.