Time Flies..

When you're having fun, and even when you're not. We've had some fun, but mostly we've been busy. On the go. The July calendar has 5 genuine, free, do-nothing days.

Seriously, if I had a do-nothing day, I'm sure I'd guilt myself into doing something with it. I don't do nothing very well. I don't do much of anything really well either, but I'm better at doing something than doing nothing. Over-achiever guilt issues suck. But I have teenagers who play sports, so I don't have to worry about how I would handle my down time.

My summer is slipping through my fingers like a handful of sand.

Like this sunset, that was gone within 5 minutes of my seeing it...

But I saw it, and I guess that's what counts.

Going,

Going,

Gone.

Wild Orchids and Bushwackers

We took a family trip to Washington DC this Spring Break, and after seeing the orchid exhibit at the Botanic Garden, I took the plunge and ordered this drink at the Hyatt lounge. It was a very interesting mix of flavors and I've made them at home a few times since.

I don't measure this one, but pour by eye or by the glug. 3 glugs works for me. You might want to start with 2, or maybe you know you like 4. You know how much vodka you need, right?

Wild Orchid

Use a tall glass filled with ice. Add:

Clementine or Orange Vodka
Orange & Mango Juice (I buy mine combined, but separate works too)
Splash of Sour Mix (I buy this stuff too, it's too sticky to make)
Stir and top with a Dash of Chili Powder.

It' the chili powder that makes it. Hot and sweet and exotic. Like a wild orchid.


My other absolute favorite slushy blender girly drink is the Bushwacker, courtesy of Sharky's on the Pier at Venice Beach Florida.

Bushwacker

Combine in Blender:

4 oz Cream of coconut (CocoLopez)
2 oz Kahlua *
1 oz Black Rum or better yet, Coconut Rum
1 oz Dark Creme de cacao
4 oz Milk or half and half
2 cups Ice

Makes two tall glasses. Now this part is really, really important.

Top with a lot of whipped cream, drizzle with chocolate syrup and dust with chocolate sprinkles or shaved chocolate. Straws are mandatory. Yummy.

Enjoy!

* A few years ago, I thought I'd have to break up with my best drinking buddy, Kahlua, because I need my sleep and my ass is fat enough. But guess what? I made up this recipe and it works pretty good. I've been refilling my old Kahlua bottle forever now.

Decaf Lo-Cal Kahlua

1/3 cup instant DeCaf coffee (the recipe said 1/4 cup, but I like it stronger!)
1 cup water
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup brown sugar
Microwave or heat to dissolve sugar

Add 1 TBS vanilla and 1 cup vodka. Mix and enjoy.

Since I only use this to make White Russians, which requires Kahlua and Vodka, I add another cup of plain or vanilla vodka to the mix and it's ready to go. Ta-Da!

Thanks Nancy at Away We Go for the link to Think Tank. I do love a party with cocktails!

Going West

Just because this clip is so awesome, a cross post from my book blog, Catch 22.

I haven't read Going West, but now I want to.

Enjoy the art, the words and the accent. Those New Zealanders. I love them.

Mel on Mel

We interrupt our regularly scheduled nature programming to rant for just a minute about Mel Gibson's "alleged" recorded phone rants.

What an ass.

After admitting to hitting his girlfriend in the face while she was holding their baby, and threatening to kill her, while managing to call her a whore and insult women, blacks and mexicans, the fourth tape was released today.

Just a few highlights.

"I deserve to be b***n first! Before the f***ing Jacuzzi! Okay? I'll burn the goddamn house up, but b**w me first!" Gibson, 55, thunders, so enraged that he's left panting for breath.

Oksana Grigorieva, 40, also apparently sought the number of Gibson's therapist, giving him more ammo to unload. "Don't you ever speak to him! Find your own g*****n therapist! Because you've got problems more than me!"

Oksana maintains supreme calm throughout the new three-minute tape.

Gibson seems to be raging over an incident that occurred with Grigorieva the evening before (honestly, it's hard to tell). "I should've woken you up and said f****ng b**w me b***h!" Mel explodes. "I should've f***in' woken you up and said, 'B**w me!' You would've liked that better, yeah? But you need the g****n sleep!"

Oksana defends herself, saying she waited in bed for him but fell asleep. This sends Mel careening off the deep end once more: "Waited and waited! What, two and a half f***ing minutes?! You're f***ing snoring. Don't you dare."

The couple have restraining orders filed against each other and are warring for custody of 8-month-old daughter Lucia. "You're a liar and you're dishonest and you're f***ed up! So you stay the f*** away from me! Take care of your f***ing son and I better have my daughter! I just want my daughter and a maid! It's a lot less f***ing trouble! They clean up after themselves, they make your g*****n bed, which you did not! You don't have to worry about emotional blackmail or any of the other bull***t you put me through. I just need a nice woman to look after my beautiful daughter."



Domestic violence, racism, anger management issues, these I managed to stay quiet about. But bitching about blow jobs to a new mom is where I draw a line in the sand.

Hey Mel - get some help and go f*ck yourself.

Love,

Mel

Chicago Sunrise At Sunset

A sliver of the moon, and my favorite daylillies, named Chicago Sunrise, at Sunset. The flash washes out some of their color, but they are still lovely.
These are planted in a hotter and sunnier spot, and fight coneflower and money plants for space, so they are smaller and lighter colored.

These shots are natural light, no flash, taken this morning, in the shade of the house. These are the happiest flowers in my yard. I love the variations between the two patches, one striped and pinker, the other curlier and more magenta. I am constantly surprised by the variations in thier color as seen by my eye and the camera. I'm sure time of day and lighting make all the difference.




They should be named Chicago Sunset though, don't you think?

And of course.....


Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers (or daylillies!)
Blossoming even as we gaze

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

When Oooh becomes Ewww...

I was taking some evening bees in the coneflower shots....

This new moth caught my eye, and, if you know me, you know a new kind of moth is a Big Deal. It was on my Joe Pye Weed, a native prairie perennial that grows from nothing to almost 10 feet of lovely pink blossoms every year. The bees and butterflies love it and so do I - it's amazing. So I'm in the shadow of monster flower trying to get way too many good pictures, up to my crotch in iris, daylily and lamb's ear. Butterflies are fluttering everywhere and there's three kinds of bees and I'm very still and distracted, trying to get a shot with the moth and butterflies in it.

It is an ermine moth or Ailanthus Webworm Moth. I love the design and colors.

Suddenly, I feel something wet on my foot. Moving. I look down and see this slug stretched almost 4 inches across the top of my foot, where the mary jane crocs don't cover it. I let out a moan/scream that starts low and ends high, hopping around and shaking my foot like a crazy person to fling it off.
Once I calmed down, I put my shoe next to it for scale - US women's 7 - and it climbed back on. Ew. It was harder to shake off the shoe than my foot. And the slime - gaak. I was completely repulsed and mesmerized at the same time.

How about that air hole? Ugh. It was the biggest freaking slug I have ever seen. I let it go, which was stupid, because it's been eating the heck out of the leaves of the Joe Pye. I didn't want to interact with it any more than I already had. It's a spotted garden slug, which one article said can grow up to 8 inches!! This one stretched out was maybe 6, and that was plenty.

So, garden photo OCD lesson learned. Eyes open and keep moving!

Sorry if I grossed you out!

Oooh Look!

I made that joke about ADD people and said Oooh look a butterfly! and my son just wrinkled his nose and said that is you, mom. I suppose so. I can't concentrate on much else if there are butterflies and moths about. Here are some things I saw in the lovely mountains of North Carolina, where I decided I shall live if the world gets any scarier. It's easier to feel safe up a hill with a stream trickling by, where you can't be bothered with the news or the papers or the world, just some NPR music or Garrison Keilor, or how far or where I want to walk today. You just never know what you'll see, something beautiful, something sobering, something sad.

I didn't see any big moths, just the leftovers from where the birds ate them. The circle of life, I know. I just hope their eggs were laid first. All told, I saw 5 or 6 kinds of butterflies and over a dozen different moths, many who patiently sat for my camera. The leaf is just because it caught my eye.







This moth is called the one that looks like bird poop, or the Beautiful Wood Nymph. I love the fuzzy legs, and the bright golden yellow underwings, which were impossible to photograph.


I believe this is a Great Spangled Fritillary, just like Ms. Moon's.

These Pipe Vine Swallowtails fluttered around in pairs, and stopped often at mud puddles and dirt piles to eat or drink. They would land with their wings upright, but as I got closer, they would flash this brilliant blue display to try to startle me, so I got a great photo after several tries.

I saw but couldn't catch Eastern Black and Yellow Swallowtails and Clearwing Sphinx Moths and a handful of bark colored small moths. This year I couldn't find the Rosy Maple or the Virgin Tiger Moth or the Clymene Moths which I have seen in past years. They seem to come and go in cycles, in nature's mysterious way.