A Sphinx on the Loose!

I have to start by apologizing to my cousin, Lynne, who will be going "Oh yuck!!!"

Our dog, Homer, thinks these Sphinx Moths make the best toys ever, but he thinks he's a cat.   This time of year they're thick around the lights outside and yes, they're huge.  He had one last night which got loose and was flying about the den, and I honestly thought at first it was a Hummingbird!  We haven't had one quite as big as the one pictured, but pretty darned close.

Poor Wally.  It's his job to catch and release.  When possible.  Most of the poor things are munched to death, but the few that survive get released out front where he can't get to them - except I'm thinking all of the feral neighborhood cats will be feasting.

Ah, spring has sprung!

The Little Wiglet that Wouldn't

Back in the sixties, big hair was all the fashion, especially these neat little wiglets!  They were really pretty and easy to just comb your hair up and slap in a few hair pins; you were set to go!

Sounds pretty good, no?  Well, mine was like a rabid animal that was out to get me!  I was walking through the parking lot at Knott's Berry Farm and a breeze kicked up.  My angry wiglet went flying off my head like Rocky, the squirrel, rolling over and over through the debris and leaves.  Off I went, chasing the errant hair when I noticed a car load of guys checking out the situation.  I guess they weren't animal lovers because they tried really hard to run over the squirrel!  They were laughing like drunken hunters, causing me to run all the harder, while keeping one hand over my now naked head!

I caught the poor thing and slapped it on my head, dirt, leaves and all.  The guys laughed at drove off.  I'm sure they're probably telling their grandkids about the time they chased a poor girl's pet.
~~~

Same wiglet, another story.  When I was in high school I was in the performing choir.  Our director was famous for creating the "Singing Christmas Tree," which was a scaffolding arranged like the skeleton of a Christmas tree.  There was rope providing a way of climbing up and also on which to hang Christmas lights.
We all wore green choir robes which were heavy and certainly not intended for climbing!  I had a duet so my spot was right under the star on top so I had some serious climbing to do!  To create a dramatic effect, and not have the audience watch us scramble up the tree, like monkeys, the lights were off.  As soon as we were all in place the Christmas lights went on, and the candles we were holding were turned on.  It was always quite awesome.

During my awkward climb, my poor little wiglet got hung up in the rope causing it to go askew.  So now I had the task of climbing up the scaffold, holding on to my choir robe, my candle, and now my hair!  It was tilting over the side almost to my ear.  Talk about cockeyed!  I managed to reposition it and reattach it with the hair pins.  When the house lights were turned on I was all in one piece, albeit with a slightly off kilter head of hair.
(This is a link about the tree and its creator, Mr. Alex Encheff, the best teacher I ever had, bar none.  Sarge may be interested that the choir in subsequent years participated in events at Pearl Harbor, the first to do so)
http://www.pearlharborsurvivors.org/Tribute-MrE/index.html

One more tale (no pun intended!)...I was restocking inventory in the shop, hanging stuff on pegboard.  There were metal hangers hooked to the pegboard on which the item was hung.  I bent over to pick up some product and when I stood up, the wiglet was - yep!  You guessed it - hanging on the hook, leaving me looking like a nitwit.  I grabbed that puppy (or squirrel!) off the hook, slapped in on my head and went to the stockroom, horrified, wondering how many people had seen that gruesome display.

Remember, these events happened when I was 16-17, subject to much embarrassment.  When I told my mom what happened, she said "Have you thought of using bobby pins instead of hair pins?"  Duh....

Spring!

Spring is here!  I love this time of year, when ol' man winter is still

lingering in the air, not yet ready to yield to the warmer days ahead.

This was taken from the cemetery, about a mile from our house

  It has a wonderful sweeping view of the valley.   

I'm not certain what type of tree this is - my guess is it's a flowering plum.  

I love the way the little blooms look like butterflies dangling at the end 

of fairy wands.  Oooh, am I waxing poetic?  

Have a wonderful week, my friends! 

A Delightful Day

What a great visit we had with the kids!  Our Marine is snuggling with Ryleigh, our great-grand (she had an ear infection and this is the biggest smile I was able to get!)  Our Marine is still a kid - check out the horns on gramma's head!  I'm 5'6" so you can tell our Marine is one tall drink of water.  His grandfather, my former husband, was 6'5" so we know where he got his height gene!

The top photo and the pool are just a couple of reasons we hate to go home after spending an afternoon there.  When they were having the house built, the coffered ceiling wasn't being done correctly, and Doug told the guy he expected it to be redone. The worker asked Doug what difference did it make.  You don't use the dining room that often!  Needless to say, it was fixed properly!  That seems to be the attitude of today's workers...

The pool is my favorite place to be.  When all of the plants bloom and the palms put out new fronds, it is absolutely gorgeous.  Daughter has planted so many roses and Birds of Paradise, it's a colorful, tranquil spot, a wonderful place to be....

April Fool Photo

I love these roses!  We bought the plant last year and the flowers have been awesome.  We had a few oranges left and I thought it made a neat shot...
~~~We got to see the kids yesterday.  Our Marine drove up from 29 Palms to surprise his sister - and she was.  He doesn't think his unit will see any more action (how he would know, I don't understand, but I hope it's true).  Ryleigh, whose 3rd birthday was yesterday, had a touch of an ear infection/cold.  I didn't get any real good photos since she felt so punk, but I have some to get posted anyway.  She is such a character!

One of her presents was a baby doll.  When dad set it up, it started talking - in SPANISH!  Argh.  He opened it up and found a switch that put it English.  Sheesh.  I guess I should be glad it wasn't in Chinese.  I guess that's next.

I'm in the mood to rant about the state of the world, but I don't want to end on a downer!  Peace, love and blue skies for you this week!

Well, another week has gone by!  I guess the earthquake really did knock the earth off it's axis - we're spinning out of control!  Every morning I wake up, make my protein shake (every a.m. for ten years!), and turn on Fox.  Meghan Kelly is my favorite in the a.m.  I wait to see what the craziest thing of the day will be, and sometimes it's really hard to choose!  Between Chucky Schumer's ad libs (ha, ha!) and the President's odd ball group of cronies (boo!), radiation spilling into the Pacific....  And yet, no one will tell the truth.  Maybe Obama needs to hire an astrologist.  I think he uses a dart board to plan his dirty deeds.

Okay....enough of that joyful stuff!  It's Friday p.m. and I'm watching True Crime stuff; hubbys' watching a Doobie Brothers DVD.  We went to Costco yesterday to pick up my meds.  Costco is the cheapest place for prescriptions.  Having no insurance, I was going to have to pay over $300 just for one.  Costco is so cheap it's actually less than what I paid with a co-pay with Blue Cross! 

We stopped at Marie Calendar's for an early dinner.  I call it Old Fogie Hour.  The geriatric crowd seems to love MC's.  The prices have really gone up and the food just didn't seem as good as usual.  Our favorite Mexican restaurant changed hands and the new chef isn't cutting it.  Ay Carumba!  Our old faithful Mom and Pop Mex restaurant has finally closed it's doors for good.  Most of the places are too cookie-cutter for our taste buds, so we're on a replacement hunt.  We like the authentic stuff .  Now that funds are dwindling I guess we'll have to settle for Taco Bell (ugh!).

The photo at top?  I took it at the park several months ago and played around with it.  With the sepia tones it reminds me of an Asian screen print.  I kinda like it.

The "kids" are driving me nuts.  Homer loves chew toys.  The problem is he devours them!  The stuffed babies don't have any stuffing left after a couple of hours, so I have to be vigilant to make certain he doesn't eat it.  He chews up hard rubber toys, too.  He and Katie love to play tug-of-war with them, and they act like kids.  Katie will steal a baby and run outside with it with Homer at her heels.  Next thing we know, Homer comes flying through the den with Katie at his heels - and so it goes.  I buy them chew bones and treats but they are too expensive for every day.  Never a dull moment! 

It was in the high 80's today, the highest of the year.  I know you guys that are battling snow would change places with me in a heart beat, but I prefer the 60's-70's.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow (yay!) and then back in the 60's Sunday.  Our rain fall for the year is double the normal and I'm thrilled.  Time to get the hoe and do some prep for the flower beds.  My favorite time of the year!

Happy weekend to all of you!