Welcome to miscellaneous musings no. 8! Time to share the odd, the curious, the silly, and the other miscellaneous things that have captured my attention since my last musings update.
Here's a collage of some award-winning tree trimming done this year by our power company's contractor. 😠The three trees pictured front one of the nicer homes in my neighborhood. If it's proven nice landscaping can add to the value of a home, then is it logical that bad work like this can take away from a home's value? I would venture to guess yes, it takes away. I call this the slingshot trim.
I suppose the contractors were trying to spare us all from ending up like this little guy did in my neighborhood (below). The photo was taken with an old cellphone, and it's not pretty, any way you look at it.
This next guy was spotted in the backyard of a recent estate sale. I'll call him Herbie. Cute.
My little book reader in my garden - I call him Augustine - was standing amid my black-eyed Susans this summer, and I'm always snapping photos while outside. Besides the light and shadows in the side-by-side image below, do you notice anything of major difference? It's the weed in front of him!
Weeds that grow that high - seemingly overnight - are a constant source of hilarity to Mr. P. and I, since we both patrol for weeds on a daily basis. I was actually readying the left frame for a garden post when I noticed it, and went back out to pull the weed and re-take the shot, lol.
Okay, here's one for the books. My neighbor bought a house a couple blocks down river last year, and he is building his own dock and deck. Very cool, he had the state's shape worked into the design of the dock, which he built first. While working on his deck one hot, summer day (it will be the same shape, extending out and over the riverbank), he felt like he had water in his ear, thinking it sweat.
His family enjoyed some time on a nearby lake that following weekend, but the 'water' in his ear worsened, with pain and a sense of loss of hearing. An appointment with his ENT doc revealed - get this - a TICK, attached to his eardrum! Oh, yes it was. Removed by what he said was the most painful procedure he's ever felt in his life, and a strong dose of antibiotic drops, he still has a slight loss of hearing (selective, he says, depending on whether his wife is talking, hehe). When asked how he's doing a month later, he responded, "I bet I'm known as the tick guy with your friends and family, aren't I?" Well, yes, as a matter of fact, you are.
Another tick story....my grown nephew and his wife were desperately trying to remove ticks from their furbaby a few weeks ago. Three days in a row, they had to muzzle her while attempting tweezing the nasty things. Ultimately, they had to take her to the vet, only to find they were trying to tweeze her - get this - NIPPLES! Poor baby, she got ice cream as a consoling gesture, and tweezing privileges have since been revoked from her people.
I've mentioned before I plant angelonia in my annual flower beds for summer. It's a sturdy, drought-tolerant plant. I noticed something when you cut it, as I sometimes do when the plants get leggy. (It's the purple spires in the background of the photo below).
You know the residual smell that asparagus can leave behind once you've eaten it and later pee? Well, that's what angelonia smells like when it's cut. If you don't know that smell, that doesn't mean you don't produce it, but rather you lack the genetic ability to smell it. It's a DNA trait. Well, I must've been first in line when the sniffer trait was handed out, because I don't miss much at all when it comes to odors. Just ask my kids (or first husband) if they could ever past my sniffer.
As if that last topic wasn't gross enough, here's the clincher, pictured below. You know what that is, don't you? That's the ultimate cleanse, my milestone birthday gift. Holy moly. I'm the girl who likes to eat breakfast as soon as my feet hit the floor, and eat well over 2,000 calories daily (typically more than Mr. P. any given day). So, having a diet of just applesauce, chicken broth and water the day before the procedure was brutal enough. (the Clorox was for my OCD throughout).
My last colonoscopy (10 years ago) called for tablets and Gatorade to drink, but this year's was simply to drink enough antifreeze (just kidding, not really) to down a giant. Seriously, I was told to take 4 Doculox and then two hours later start drinking that entire 8 oz bottle of Miralax in 64 oz of Gatorade. Miralax is polyethylene glycol, which is made from ethylene glycol, the main ingredient in antifreeze. Needless to say, I was glad when it was over. Now get this: after the procedure (and Mr. P. was there, so he can attest to this), my Dr. came in and said he's never seen a colon as long, especially for a person my size (!?). So, I guess one could say I am certifiably full of you know what!
By the way, polyethylene glycol's in a lot of other things we drink, eat and use daily. Do we have rocks in our head for drinking, eating that stuff or what?!
Speaking of rocks, are they doing this thing in your town, where rocks are painted and hidden? Below is the first one I found, sometime in July. Mine had specific instructions polycoated on the back, noting the page on Facebook to post and then rehide. It seems to be a fun pastime for many, whether crafting, hiding or finding. Though mine is somewhat plain, I've seen some spectacular artistry on many rocks. Kids, especially, seem to take great joy in finding them, although I was pretty excited too.
Apple season...the Golden Delicious apple was originally discovered in West Virginia, first called "Mullins Yellow Seedling". In 1915 the Stark Brothers Nurseries bought the tree and the rest is history. History, that is, until late in 2016, when the original property on which the apple was discovered was sold at auction. This link tells of the apple's history. I don't how much the property sold for.
I'll leave you with this little clip below. May you always enjoy learning something when given the opportunity. And just like this little girl learning to hula hoop, may you always feel free to use your creative license as you choose.
Here's a collage of some award-winning tree trimming done this year by our power company's contractor. 😠The three trees pictured front one of the nicer homes in my neighborhood. If it's proven nice landscaping can add to the value of a home, then is it logical that bad work like this can take away from a home's value? I would venture to guess yes, it takes away. I call this the slingshot trim.
Okay, here's one for the books. My neighbor bought a house a couple blocks down river last year, and he is building his own dock and deck. Very cool, he had the state's shape worked into the design of the dock, which he built first. While working on his deck one hot, summer day (it will be the same shape, extending out and over the riverbank), he felt like he had water in his ear, thinking it sweat.
Another tick story....my grown nephew and his wife were desperately trying to remove ticks from their furbaby a few weeks ago. Three days in a row, they had to muzzle her while attempting tweezing the nasty things. Ultimately, they had to take her to the vet, only to find they were trying to tweeze her - get this - NIPPLES! Poor baby, she got ice cream as a consoling gesture, and tweezing privileges have since been revoked from her people.
As if that last topic wasn't gross enough, here's the clincher, pictured below. You know what that is, don't you? That's the ultimate cleanse, my milestone birthday gift. Holy moly. I'm the girl who likes to eat breakfast as soon as my feet hit the floor, and eat well over 2,000 calories daily (typically more than Mr. P. any given day). So, having a diet of just applesauce, chicken broth and water the day before the procedure was brutal enough. (the Clorox was for my OCD throughout).
Speaking of rocks, are they doing this thing in your town, where rocks are painted and hidden? Below is the first one I found, sometime in July. Mine had specific instructions polycoated on the back, noting the page on Facebook to post and then rehide. It seems to be a fun pastime for many, whether crafting, hiding or finding. Though mine is somewhat plain, I've seen some spectacular artistry on many rocks. Kids, especially, seem to take great joy in finding them, although I was pretty excited too.
For many a West Virginia coal miner out of work (and that's a lot), this link spells hope for potentially many. It's an initiative called Green Mining Model Business Program, designed to turn formerly black gold (coal mining surface mine sites) into purple gold (fields of lavender). I hope you'll take the time to click on the link and read it. I hope it succeeds.
I'll leave you with this little clip below. May you always enjoy learning something when given the opportunity. And just like this little girl learning to hula hoop, may you always feel free to use your creative license as you choose.
Rita C. at Panoply
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