Pondering the world

Now do you see what I see?

Once I took the doors off of the cabinets, I saw it:

A raised bed garden.  Yes, I know that some of the cabinets are particle board and only likely to last one year.  Let's be optimistic and believe that the garden itself will be successful, shall we?  If it is, then I can get better materials and rebuild them next year.  If not, I haven't lost anything, since I was going to cut the cabinets up and toss them anyway.

Cabinets have no back, and once I took the doors off, I had a box, which I cut in half vertically.

So far the tomatoes have perked right up; they seem to love their new permanent home.  Pole beans are planted behind them, green peppers in front, and I dressed them up with marigolds and lobelia.  In the large bed to the right are planted a row of okra and a row of nasturtiums, which I've never grown successfully before.  I hope to actually get edible flowers from them, which I plan to pop into an ice cube tray, cover with water and have flower ice cubes for our high teas. 

The smaller planters to the right have lemon cucumbers and a mixture of squashes--zucchini, yellow squash, and the little round green ones, whatever they are.

I hope in a couple of weeks to have little sprouts popping up all over, so I'll take more pictures then.

keeping it all inside

I've been floundering in negative space lately:  I fired a housekeeper, we had some difficult guests who caused both damage and aggravation, and we spent nearly every available minute in May working to clean up the mess left by last year's association board. 

Everyone talks about the bad things that happen, the idiots and incompetents in the world, right?  We call it "venting," so we can get it out of our system, maybe have someone lend a sympathetic ear.

But it seemed that the more I said things out loud, the more all the negative stuff compounded.  It feeds on itself and simply gets bigger.

So today I resolved not to say anything negative out loud.  That's not to say I didn't think a few negative things.  But I just wanted to not say negative things out loud.

And you know what?  I felt better all day.  I tried to stay neutral about things in my mind or at least say, "oh, well, we'll have to work on that a little more."

It's like the scene from The Birdcage where a dancer in rehearsal says "I don't get it."  Robin Williams goes on to demonstrate the range of choreographic interpretations the dancer can use, cavorting and displaying his wide range of impressionistic talents:

"You do an eclectic celebration of a dance!  You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse!  You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham, or Twyla! Twyla! Twyla! or Michael Kidd,  Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!   ... but keep it all inside."

If I can keep that mental image, I can even giggle about it, which will help me be more positive about keeping it all inside.

fair warning

the perfect gift

Yes, Dorothy, we have a theme going.  You'll recall my frustration with last year's association board members, who left us with a huge mess (now known as "Flying Monkeys"). 

Early this afternoon, Bette called and asked me to stop by later because she had something for me:

Perfect.  It comes with four little flying monkey missiles (bottom of photo) and a bullseye for target practice on the back of the package card.

It even has a sight on the barrel, so the aim is pretty good, but the range is not very far.  It doesn't matter.  This baby goes with me to the next board meeting, and if anyone gets out of line, they're not more than 8 to 10 feet away.

"Beverly Hillbillies" in Spanglish

When I wake up to my local public radio station Monday through Friday, I hear classical music.  But on Saturdays and Sundays, it's all Spanish music broadcast.  Interesting--I may not speak Spanish, but I sure know all the popular songs.

Steve was getting dressed and I had just stepped out of the shower when he said, "Am I hearing what I think I am?"

"Yes, indeed, you are hearing the theme song from 'the Beverly Hillbillies' in Spanish."

"That's interesting.  They were singing the song, blah, blah, blah in Spanish, and then 'kick him out the door' in English."

That would be Spanglish.  They do that a lot here.

New Mexico native finds new home

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--Despite heavy local traffic and many people in the immediate area, this New Mexico native has taken up residence in the Old Town area.

He has most recently been seen in the courtyard of the Bottger Mansion Bed & Breakfast, apparently hoping to snag another finch for his lunch.  He has also been sighted strolling across Old Town Plaza. 

His scruffy appearance indicates  run-ins with other locals, possibly birds defending themselves or neighborhood cats already in residence.

Further meals of finches from the Bottger Mansion may result in him looking even scruffier.

Do you see what I see?

Remember these?  They're the yucky cabinets I yanked out of our storage building back in January.  I had no particular plan for them, but I couldn't even give them away on Freecycle because they're in such bad shape.

In this photo, I'd already taken the drawers out and removed the doors from the cabinet on the left.  I figured that I should just break them up and put them in pieces in the trash.  They're looking pretty tacky at the end of the driveway.

I've learned that sometimes either procrastination or just getting diverted onto another project is a good thing.  Sometimes the right solution comes later.  I call it "simmering," like soup on the back of the stove.  The longer it simmers, the better it gets.

Sometimes my best solutions pop right out when I'm doing something that doesn't take many brain cells, like doing mountains of laundry or taking a shower.  I read once that most people only use about 30% of their brain power at any given time.  What does the other 70% do?  It simmers....

And sometimes I turn the corner and suddenly see the answer.  That's what happened last week.

Do you see what I see?  Handy Andrea's at it again.  Stay tuned.

flowers make good neighbors

When we first moved to Albuquerque, the planters and dirt areas in front of the two little buildings next door were full of weeds.  Clay and Jack, his dog, lived next to our bed & breakfast. 

I asked if I could plant flowers there.  At first Clay just didn't care, but then he grew to like the flowers there.  The building farther to the left is a studio, so they arrive in the morning, go to work, and never even look at what's outside.  When Tom's cactus acquired some kind of fungus and died, I dug it up and sank a pot in the ground.  (It's all sand there, so anything planted in the ground dies immediately).  The pot holds pansies in the winter and portulaca all summer.

Clay and Jack moved out, Marlene moved her studio in, and she appreciates having lovely flowers without having to care for them.

These neighbors are now very good about watching out for our property, collecting the mail and paper when we're on vacation, and doing small favors when asked.

Why do I keep my neighbors' front areas planted and tended?  Because if I don't, the weeds that would grow there spew seeds that the west wind carries directly into my yard and driveway.

A good offense is the best defense.

not your normal first day of summer vacation

Never mind that last week it was 94 and we were all in shorts.

Today was the first day of summer vacation for the school kids... and we had snow.

I swiped this picture from one of the news station websites.  I myself would have taken a lovely photo of the Sandia Mountains covered with snow, except it was snowing and we couldn't see them.

Down here in the valley it was cold and it's been rainy for two days.  I don't think it ever got above 57 degrees today.  I got soaking wet during a rainstorm at Costco this morning, and this afternoon it hailed. 

On the other hand, the plants are loving all the extra water.  Once it warms up again, they'll be leaping out of the ground.  I had planned to mow the lawn today....  oh, well.

I've got my eye on you

What in the world was I reading?  I found a note I had made from a book I was reading for the following:

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle:   

"The act of observation will ultimately affect the thing being observed."

The Wikipedia entry has to do with quantum physics, and I know I wasn't reading about that.   Well, maybe it was mentioned in some oblique way. 

I was probably thinking about the statement as it might pertain to just about anything else--business, politics, whatever.  Doesn't everyone behave differently when they know someone is watching?