OKIETIME

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Hummingbirds

I realize I am obsessing about the birdies, but they keep faking me out. I saw one yesterday. We had a front move through today, so maybe today is the day. Some lovely large Monarchs are on the butterfly bush the last 2 days and over the weekend the gulf fritillaries were around en masse. I have 3 black swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley in the front planter, so they are still going strong. I am going to go to TLC tomorrow and get some parsley plants . Fall is the perfect time to plant them. I need to figure out where or how to get milkweed.... The Centennial Cattle Drive is in Kingfisher today. I wish I had gone to see it. One of the better events to celebrate 100 years of statehood.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Birds

I didn't see a hummingbird today. It could be the last day. It was very warm, 90 plus and windy. I'll watch more carefully tomorrow.
I was at the dentist today. Just a cleaning for once. I need a porcelain crown on a front tooth and several others in the back. That will be next year.... The tooth in front looks horrible, an old porcelain has deteriorated from having the braces covering it.
School lunch bunch tomorrow. Hmmmm. What will the ladies have in store?

Sunday, September 16, 2007

No cooking involved



I found everything that was pickled and smoked and preserved that we had on hand and that was dinner! Salami, ham, pickled onions, pickled red pepper, sharp cheddar, herbed goat cheese, beets, Oklahoma pecans, and a few crackers. Click on the picture to get the full effect!

Friday, September 14, 2007

Backyard Buddies


The hummingbirds are still here! A front is coming through today, will they leave with the warm air??? I can't figure out what causes them to leave-fading daylight? Cool air? Lack of food? Can I solve this mystery?

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Sad Anniversary

It's just flat out sad. I watched the old 9/11 footage on MSNBC in "real time" just as it was on that Tuesday morning in 2001. The firefighters marching toward the WTC after the first building had collapsed and before the second one fell. Marching toward death.

I remember seeing a documentary filmed by 2 French men who just happened to be filming the NYFD that day and in one "scene" the NYFD had made a sort of command post in the lobby of the WTC and you could keep hearing these really loud crashes in the background. Turns out it was the bodies of people who had decided to jump hitting the cement just outside where the firemen were trying to figure out what the hell to do. You could sense the terror. Thank you to the film makers for not showing some things that they could have. One of the heroes from NY who helped in the OKC bombing lost his life on 9/11. Raymond M. Downey. It was all more than senseless. There is no way to comprehend it. Americans are nothing if not honorable. We show our faces to our enemies.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

There was a box turtle in the yard on Friday and I didn't have it together enough to get a photo of it. Lottie the Chocolate Lab "found" it and brought it over by the patio door. Luckily her soft mouth didn't injure it. I quickly got the dogs in the house so I could examine the little guy, it was an ornate western box turtle, T. o. ornata. It had red eyes so it was a male. I spent at least an hour watching him and when I went in to get the camera and charge the battery he disappeared!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Addio Maestro

Birthday week....holiday week.....worked at the CC on Tuesday, a madhouse. Myrla is a saint. I decided to go to the Edmond Farmer's Market on Wednesday morning. It was good, not great. I got a Frankoma honey pot and some Oklahoma honey to fill it, some tomatoes, peaches, onions and beeswax candles. Today a massive head and neck ache, sore throat, I think it's allergies, but for a while this am I thought I had something more. I was finally able to keep down some Tylenol at 3 o'clock. According to the news ragweed pollen is through the roof.

Today I did see one hummingbird, activity has slowed. I still don't know if there are fewer birds or they are coming to my feeder less. It is windy, hot and humid. It's usually just hot and windy this time of year! We had a little rain yesterday and we will get rain tomorrow. Our front lawn looks so fabulous I just can't get over it. Some years we have had to water almost everyday to keep it alive much less green. I was able to figure out that the noisy amphibians in our yard are Woodhouse's Toads. I snapped a picture of one that was out in the daylight for some unknown reason, probably disturbed by a certain dog....

World news is depressing. Luciano Pavarotti died yesterday. I cried twice today upon hearing nessun dorma from Puccini's Turandot on the various broadcasts ...no one sleeps...now the great tenor does. One of a kind. Osama Bin Laden is rattling his sabre. German's foil a huge terrorism plot. I guess the foiling part is good news!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Happy Birthday

My birthday always signals that summer is over. Most of my life in the northeast summer really was over by September 3rd, here in OKC we still have lots of warm weather yet before frost and leaf dropping and pumpkins appear. MDH cooked and cleaned like mad today serving up a delicious breakfast at an appropriately late hour and a delicious mid-day guacamole snack followed by an evening meal of chicken, salt potatoes, salad, wine and cake. The applesauce cake was made mostly by MDD - a little collaboration was involved to get it done, it was good, more like a spice bar than a cake. It had a cream cheese icing. We have decided that home economics should still be taught at school to help kids fulfill all aspects of their life. It's a lot of fun to be able to cook and bake and most kids today aren't getting any help in these skills. Food TV is about the extent of it. We will start home schooling in home ec and other life skills! Industrial Arts I suppose.
I got a butterfly field guide, a new book about the Clarks of Cooperstown, a Road Runner watercolor, a Hummingbird print, (I'll add the artists name later)$75.00 , a purse, 2 pair of earrings, and a super duper stapler.

Hummingbirds are still here. I saw a couple of robins, cardinals, doves, blue jays, the usual suspects. Several butterflies.The Toledo branch called this am and the Norwich branch called in the pm. Everyone is well. All wishing me a happy 51st.

I need to mention my pain level, I think this is a good way to remember how it changes from day to day. It was horrible all week and weekend. Swollen ankles and legs. I finally took the hydrocodone at night for 2 nights so I could get rid of some of the discomfort in my legs ankles and heels. Feels like someone is taking a hammer to my heels. It was better but came right back the same. Why is it so much worse some times and not others? Tomorrow will be a good test I have to stand for 2 hours at school I can see if that aggravates or it is the same level of pain. Today I took 2 large arthritis Tylenol in the afternoon, seems a bit better now at 9 pm.

Glad to be 51.