susan*jayne

how limp my pansies are

2009-05-25T12:59:00.002-04:00

I wouldn't be a very good actress but I have learned to portray my conversations with much animation. My sister was deaf from the time she was 17 years old until she passed at age 50 so I soon found myself acting out my words with movement and exaggerated expression to help her better understand me.

As my Mother's hearing diminishes I begin moving my hands or body to help along the conversation. I realized this clearly today after I flung myself onto the couch to describe how limp my pansies are when they don't get proper watering. I must look like the perfect idiot. ha!

Corner Nest Antiques in Elizabethton, TN

2009-05-17T16:39:00.004-04:00

I found this sweet little stool (there are four legs under the fringe) and a couple of other goodies in an "antique mall".

This particular place is called the Corner Nest Antique Mall and is located in Elizabethton, Tennessee. They have a cafe right in the middle of all the sectioned off areas called Apples To Oranges that's supposed to be yummy and focuses on locally grown food.

In addition to the stool, I had a beautiful Summer floral wreath made for the front of the house so they have that section of beautiful floral garlands and wreaths and there is also niceplants and flowers for sale. Their geraniums are huge, red, and thriving.

Like I needed another hat I bought a black velvet one, ala 1950s/Lucy and Ethel, that's hard to photograph so you'll just have to take my word for it.

There are lots of these co-ops around east Tennessee and western North Carolina that focus on high end hand-made items and antiques. "Antique" can be loosely interpreted and there may be the occasional styrofoamed snowman or crocheted oven mitt but for the most part (90%) the items are very worthy.

The Corner Nest is buzzing like a beehive in this droopy economy. The prices are great and on my first trip I bought as much as I could carry out when I went there Friday. I may bring a wheelbarrow for my next trip.

Return For Deposit

2009-05-12T11:46:00.010-04:00

I went to Vest's Greenhouse today to pick up some flowers. Mother and I haven't been there in decades. We got wave petunias, peach impatiens, pansies, and geraniums. I still want a hibiscus or two.

I'm trying to tidy up the landscaping in the front yard. There are two bushes that I have shaved down as much as I can with electric hedge trimmers and they're still too large so it's time for them to get cut waaaaay down by a pro.

These are boxwoods that have been here for 50 years when the house was built in August 1959. The most unruly one got sheared down to a fresh start a few months ago and new leaves are sprouting already.

The guy unearthed a 16 oz Coca-Cola bottle that looks to be at least 30 years old; probably 40. It says "return for deposit" on the bottle and on the bottom it says, MIDDLESBORO. Remember when you paid extra for the bottles and returned them to get your .05 back. Does anyone remember when the deposit on drinks was .02? Nah, me either. =)

The same house I COULD NOT WAIT to leave at age 17 I returned to find much love and comfort in. There's an invisible force that gives me satisfaction. Return for deposit?

Someone's Got The Sweet Tooth

2009-05-04T13:41:00.003-04:00

I do my Mother's weekly grocery shopping and try to buy healthy foods. We stopped by the grocery store and she wanted to get ingredients for a Cherry Cheesecake from scratch, natch.

She's 86 and walks with a cane but her freedom is important to her so I let her go in alone and leisurely cruise the grocery aisles. (I wish she wasn't afraid to use those motorized carts)

She came out with all the stuff to make the cheesecake PLUS

chocolate pudding,
chocolate ice cream,
and two lemon pies!

She's 5' tall and weighs 100 lbs so this might last her for the rest of the year! Ha!

Caroline Costa sings Hurt : Incroyable Talent, 9 October 2008

2009-05-03T13:40:00.001-04:00

This young girl is a super talented singer whose video is currently making the rounds.

Happy Easter, Dear Friends

2009-04-11T22:39:00.002-04:00

My "little Mommy" (she's 4'11" and 97 lbs.) always asks me to come to church with her and Sunday morning I am going with her and then we're going to eat afterwards.

I hope you're all able to spend some time with your family this holiday week.

Dave's Garden

2009-04-07T12:20:00.005-04:00

For several years now whenever I need to look up something pertaining to flowers or fuits, etc, I usually visit Dave's Garden website first.

From the website: Dave's Garden is an informational website where a large, international community of gardeners can learn from each other and find resources offered by the gardening industry.

It's much more than that. It has all the zones for planting, migration info, photos of plants and flowers from every zip and postal code. Forums of expert gardeners and piddlers like me all congregate to learn and/or help one another.

The Garden Watchdog at Dave's Garden is a free directory of 6,760 mail order gardening companies. And Plant Scout helps you correctly identify your plants. Plants and Seed Trading, also a great section.

Since 1994, 3,510 companies have been reviewed in the Garden Watchdog, and 46,579 comments have been posted (33,043 positive, 5,268 neutral, 8,268 negative) by 24,273 customers.

Hope you enjoy it. Favorite the link and thank me later. :)

Where'd You Go, Spring?

2009-04-06T12:28:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago I got out my favorite (only) pair of white slacks and other spring tops-- sleeveless and short sleeves, I'd packed away. Mentally putting together all the pieces for the coolness of the pending warm weather.

I found a pair of beautiful white sandals (heels) that had been $75 and got them for $14.00.

Also a week ago I got a beautiful pedicure with yummy oils and bought some good lotions. They painted my toenails a shocking pink.

But I'm waiting...it's still quite cold here in Tennessee. Winter got an extension.

I keep passing over the summer tops and pants in the closet for the long jeans and sweaters and I put those white shoes back in their box.

My feet still look stunning and I admire them just before I slip some crew socks and tennis shoes over them.

Now the weather calls for a light snow tonight and tomorrow. Where'd you go, Spring? I'm waiting.

Easter Cake Pops

2009-04-05T10:22:00.002-04:00

Sugar pearls for the body and tiny hearts for the noses. The ears are brown rainbow chip sprinkles and the eyes are melted candy coating dotted on with a toothpick.

These pops that Bakerella makes on a stick really fascinate me although I'd never be able to do it. Very cute.

link

Head Case

2009-04-04T10:50:00.002-04:00

Does anyone watch Head Case on the STARZ channel on television? I don't have STARZ and had been wanting to see this program so I was happy to find the latest three episodes on their website.

They're just 24 minute shows and to me it's the funniest thing I've seen in ages. Hysterical. Remember that it's rated "R".

The blurb on the website:

Meet Dr. Elizabeth Goode, Ph. D (Alexandra Wentworth), a brash and judgmental therapist who uses her own unconventional methods of therapy to treat the elite of the entertainment, sports and music industries. Her unique brand of treating the celebrity psyche has made her the “it” therapist in Hollywood and NY with an undeniably thriving practice. Rosanna Arquette, Andy Dick, Ione Skye, Lea Thompson, Richard Kind, James Denton, David Alan Grier, Greg Grunberg, Monica Potter, Joel Madden, Christopher Lloyd, Jason Lewis, Jonathan Silverman, Jennifer Finnigan, Ahmet Zappa, Trudie Styler, Cindy Margolis and Jeff Goldblum guest star as themselves in this Starz Originals series that the New York Post hails as “unscripted, unusual, funny and real!”

Watch Videos

Time For Hummingbirds, ETC

2009-04-02T20:36:00.004-04:00

I fixed some sugar water and hung out the first hummingbird feeder of the year a few moments ago. Spring is busting out all over east Tennessee.

The guy finally came and cut the grass today. I have paint bought and waiting on the handy man to apply. His schedule is, shall we say, loose and he said he'd get to it next week which is to say he'll probably begin Wednesday or Thursday and finish up the following week. But he's nice and has been the maintenance man around here for ages so we accommodate his flexible schedule. The house is 80% brick and so there's not that much he has to paint. The gutters and trim work and a little siding on the front. Plus shutters.

During the fresh paint event of next week I'll go order two new entrance doors and two storm doors then stand back and see what else needs sprucing up. I'm thinking some new landscaping but I don't know if I want to put in that kind of expense right now.

There's the big annual yard sale Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4 in my neighborhood, Golf Course Acres so it always brings good bargains and long lines of traffic. The police came last year to direct it. I've bagged up things to go to the Salvation Army and may just put it out front for free during the event.

That's all I have for now. Love and smoochies to all--

CHANGES at Easy Bake Coven

2009-03-30T17:19:00.004-04:00

**UPDATE:** April 4, 2009. I have my easybakecoven.net website back up. I'm still going in circles, for sure. To tell you the truth I missed my old website so much and wanted it back so I signed back up for it again. Sometimes my intuition is right, sometimes it's not so I still have my http://easybakcoven.net website.

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I've changed my website url on Easy Bake Coven (http://easybakecoven.net) to http://easybakecoven.blogspot.com.

New website address

Feed

I'm cutting back on my expenses and since I don't keep EBC up like I used to I thought I'd just put it back here on old faithful, Blogspot. :) I've sorta come full circle I guess you could say since I started out on that url.

Fmylife

2009-03-25T12:00:00.003-04:00

FMyLife - My life sucks but I don't give a f***. Your everyday life stories.

This site is worth checking out if only to observe fragile human nature, which has always been a hobby of mine. People post their predicaments and you judge it by clicking on either "I agree, your life is f***ed" or "you deserved that one".

Sunday, Sunday

2009-03-22T13:12:00.002-04:00

* Although I'm saturated with basketball I'm ready for more today. Yesterday was such a good day for basketball lovers. To watch guys play for the love of basketball and pride of their team and school is way better than watching the bloated egos of NBA.

* Vanilla Slaw. Has anyone ever heard of that before? I saw a recipe today that had basically the ingredients for cole slaw but with an added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. I wonder if it's good like that.

* I took some photos of the famous Covered Bridge today in Elizabethton, TN, today. When I upload them I'll post them here. I finally bought myself a digital camera and although it's an inexpensive model, I am still trying to figure out the bells and whistles on it.

*Okay. Over and out. And Love is the Answer.

Riddle me this, Batman.

2009-03-19T13:29:00.005-04:00

I Have Two of Them ...
they are above the waist ...
and they are thin.

These are cartoon big but I admit I'm jealous of the big lips. Mine are just two thin, sad lips. I have some great teeth but when I smile my lips disappear.

Probably the least favorite part of my body. That and having no eyebrows. And then there's the ...

Why do I even care? sigh

2009-03-18T00:08:00.001-04:00

Obama and I picked the same Final Four! Our somewhat odd team out is #2 ranked Memphis.

Selection Sunday, was it good for you?

2009-03-15T23:29:00.001-04:00

I have Duke as a #2 seed, Tennessee as a #9 seed and my alma mater ETSU, no less, as a #16 seed. I don't think they've ever been invited to the dance before.

Media Recommendations

2009-03-15T22:32:00.003-04:00

I saw one good movie and one good television series premiere this weekend.

The movie was The Reader, in which Kate Winslet won her Oscar award. And on tv I accidentally happened upon Kings, a sweeping drama about a fictional country and king and the politics, corruption, and family that's involved.

The movie, The Reader, was mesmerizing, although the nudity and sex was more steamy than I am comfortable with watching. I hate watching sex for sex's sake. If it fits and adds to the story, fine. And it did.

Kings pulled me in while channel surfing and hooked me all the way through. I was even crying I tell you. The young man is great and Ian McShane, from Deadwood, is perfectly cast as the King of Gilboa.

Cows and Cupcakes

2009-03-13T13:15:00.004-04:00

I happened to run across two interesting blogs this week. Pioneer Woman and Bakerella.

Pioneer Woman lives in Oklahoma on a cattle ranch and is a wonderful cook and photographer and Bakerella has a blog where she lovingly bakes and documents it all. These girls not only can do it all but they look good while doing it.

Pioneer Woman has contests from time to time and the latest one chose winners to visit her ranch and stay at their lodge. Bakerella was also there to share and demonstrate her cooking skills; specifically her popular cupcake pops. The camaraderie and the cooking look like great fun and their respective blogs make for an excellent escape.

Thanks, ladies. I enjoyed my virtual visit.

Keyboard Breakfast

2009-02-28T13:53:00.003-05:00

Does anyone eat at their desk while they're at work or at home? I may be the only slob who does that. That may explain the crumbs I find in the keyboard.

Inconsequential details: Plates are mine I've had since the early 60s. Glass is from Christmas.

Pink grapefruit, brie on toasted wheat bagel. OJ fresh from the juicer.

HAPPY WEEKEND, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!

Amid the grieving, a rare act of sportsmanship

2009-02-20T00:17:00.002-05:00

A beautiful story about sportsmanship and love for your fellow human beings.

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The coach never considered any other option.

It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or that this was a chance to beat a big city team.

Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before.

Only this time it was different.

"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said.

Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.

link

Hell's Kitchen

2009-02-19T21:01:00.001-05:00

Yay! Hell's Kitchen is back tonight after a two week break.

While You're Down There...

2009-02-18T13:42:00.002-05:00

If you bend down to pick up something and stay down there looking around to see if there's anything else you can pick up while you're down there, that's a good sign that you might be getting old.

Show Me Your Belly - 17 mos

2009-02-14T13:11:00.001-05:00

Show Me Your Belly - 17 mos
Originally uploaded by sujaco

My grandson, Phoenix, taken this morning and sent via phone to me.

Snowing Today

2009-02-02T15:31:00.004-05:00

My back patio and yard. My yard has so many trees that snow has a hard time getting in but you can see that the golf course below the yard is already white.

From the driveway you can see the snow has begun and this is what I have so far at 3:30 PM. Whee! Hope we get more.