WWC: "Orange" and "N"

Today's edition of the Weekly Word Challenge is again brought to you by the makers of Pickled Beef, your supplier for all gourmet pickled meat products. This week's words again allowed The Granddaughter to shine and Granny to display her boundless creativity.

Orange


N (That's right, the letter.)


Bonus Photo ("Granny, you're not gonna believe what just happened in my diaper.")
That's all the time we have for this episode. Please tune in again next week when we will bring you another stunning set of photos of the World's Most Frickin' Adorable Baby (as determined by IntelliChoice, Inc. and viewers like you).

Garden Diary: A Single Step

Write with your spade, and garden with your pen.
--Roy Campbell

Sometimes I think I like the idea of gardening--and having a neat and sparkling clean garden--more than the act of gardening itself. I do enjoy the work, but I have a hard time getting myself out there. I attribute some of that to the fact that I have a full-time job (for which I am grateful), a wife, three teenage children, and a grandchild. And an Xbox.

I have, however, made progress this early spring. I cleaned up most of the clippings from my massive pruning jobs and have only a neat pile waiting its turn for the green bin. I also prepared two rows of plantings, each about 12 feet long. I put in four tomato plants ('Better Boy'), six bell pepper plants, and several feet of kale seeds.

Progress!

The kale seeds sprouted quickly.

Since I promised Granny fresh tomatoes and cucumbers all summer (she mixes them with vinegar, salt and pepper), I will put in cucumber seeds later today. Granny is so cranky if she doesn't get her garden fresh cucumbers and tomatoes.

I had a delightful surprise this morning when I went out to water. The olive tree had begun to drop pollen and flowers all over my patio. This morning, I was seranaded by the hum of hundreds of bees happily picking over the flowers. The buzzing of bees is one of the most peaceful sounds in the world to me.

WWC - Nature and Black

Gramps was slackin' this week for the WWC, so Granny and The Granddaughter are pickin' up the pieces. We admit, we don't have the artistic talents or patience conquered by Gramps; but we tried.

Nature:

California Poppies.

Black:

Easter Dress

... and since Gramps always gives a Bonus Photo:

Gramps is doin' some Serious Cheek Eatin'

With a Wife Like Her, Who Needs a Mugger?

I am worn out. It has been a long week for all of us. We have had visitors and doctors and drama and a host of other time- and energy-consuming busyness. Plus, Granny has been beating me up.

Monday was our 8th Wedding Anniversary. We'll be going away next weekend, so we didn't do anything too spectacular. We went out to dinner with our kids and frickin' adorable granddaughter. That was enough excitement for these two old bodies.

Granny, however, surprised me with a special anniversary gift very early in the morning. I found myself awake at about 3:30, and Granny was stirring in her sleep. Suddenly, without a word, she rolled over, grabbed my forearms and pushed me down on the bed. This was no playful wrestling, mind you. Granny was angry.

I said something to the effect of "what the hell are you doing?" and pushed her off. I held her down for a few moments while she calmed down. When she became still, I tried to ask her what was the matter. She was dead asleep. Through the whole incident, she never woke up. Now I can check off "attacked by my wife in her sleep" to the things that I have experienced in eight years of marriage to Granny.

Granny will concur that our journey together has been rough and rocky, but it has also contained a number of blessings in disguise (including The Granddaughter), a lot of learning and growing, and, through it all, love. After eight years, I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade Granny or our marriage for all the beer in the world. (Or anything else, for that matter.)

Happy anniversary, Granny! I love you. But please stop assaulting me.

WWC: "One" and "Diamond"

The Granddaughter again brought her "A" game for the Weekly Word Challenge. See the evidence below.

One ("We're number one!")
Diamond (Her first baseball game.)

Bonus Photo That little girl sure does love socks. Dee-licious.
Be sure to tune in next Tuesday for more baby goodness.

Garden Diary: Springtime Cometh

Spring is less than a week away, but here in Southern California, things grow all year long--especially weeds. We have what is called a Mediterranean climate, which means that it is relatively hot and dry, but the radical swings in temperature are moderated by our proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

Our house is very close to the ocean, so our weather is a little more damp throughout the year, and during the winter, things can get downright chilly. Certainly it is nothing compared to those of who suffer through hard winters, but for us, it is cold. Our average low temperature in winter is about 48 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius). Add to that the cold winds that blow in from the ocean and generally overcast skies or fog, and I usually stay indoors most of the time.

That means my garden is neglected, and by the time the winter rains have gone and spring arrives, my back yard looks something like this:

Two weekends ago, the weeds were a lot thicker and greener, so I hit them with a popular herbicide called Roundup. It is fairly safe, but please don't tell my organic gardening friends! I have also been trimming the olive tree and bananas. That little olive tree is one of my favorite features of the yard.

During the heat of the summer, I can usually be found in one of these two chairs (depending on where the sun is at the moment) reading a book from the local library and drinking a beer. Life is good.

We live in a house owned by my employer, and we live here rent free as a part of my compensation. Otherwise, we couldn't afford to live in a house and would be in an apartment somewhere. Plus, if anything needs repair, it's not our responsibility. Someone else picks up the bill.

Since the summer heat won't hit us until July, I'll probably put in some cool season crops like kale, broccoli or lettuce. In a few weeks, I hope I'll be able to show off some pictures of neat, clean rows of new plants. Or, the yard will look exactly like it does today. It all depends upon how many zombies need to be killed.

The Best Medicine

I woke up Wednesday with a scratchy throat, and I can tell that I am going to have a rough time getting through the weekend. I'll do my best not to get any of you sick, too, but I can't make promises.

Two nights ago, one of our most anticipated milestones took place. Granny and I were in the kitchen finishing dinner, and our daughter asked us to come into her bedroom. She was on the bed, lying on her back, knees high over her hips, with The Granddaughter resting on her shins.

"Okay, here we go!" chirped The Daughter. She lifted her legs up and forward, and our little apfelpfankuchen slid forward rapidly until the two were face to face. "Whee!" said mom.

And then came the moment. A delightful noise came out of The Granddaughter's throat. "Heh, heh, heh." It wasn't a full blown guffaw, but it was definitely a laugh. Our Baby Boomer was laughing!

I was eagerly anticipating this even before that little girl was born. I remember Xboy giggling and laughing uncontrollably when he was a baby and toddler, and it always brought me deep joy.

Unfortunately, Granny and I spent most of the day yesterday trying to duplicate that laughter to no avail. So far, only The Granddaughter's mother can elicit that happy noise. (I do claim half credit for a single "heh" when I was teaching her the Boomer noise last night: "bluuuagh!")

My two babies: The Granddaughter and Granny

So, I guess I should not be surprised that I am not nearly as sick this morning as I predicted. As they say, "An apfelpfankuchen cheek a day keeps the doctor away."