Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The fun stuff always happens...

when I'm not around (pout)!

On Saturday I ran into town (I love saying that) to order appliances. I already knew what I wanted so I thought it would be, as Anna and her dad used to say, "a piece of cheese."

Well, not so much.

I ended up having to order completely different stuff...oh well...no big deal.

While I was there Mr. B called to tell me I needed a new kitchen sink and should pick one up on the way home.

Okey, dokey.

As I was leaving the store Mr. B called to tell that he and Dolly had a visitor.

A very cute visitor.

At least he took pictures.

Check out the size of those ears!

If I had been here, I would have offered snacks.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Kudzu and other adventures...

Okay, so I've officially been in Georgia two weeks.

I've learned a lot in two weeks.
 
Several years ago there was a company whose slogan was "Covering the South like Kudzu".
I actually did a search and could not find the name of that company, but their thinking was right on track.

Kudzu (pronounced kood-zoo) bothers the hell out of me.
Mr. B likes to refer to it as Krud-zoo.
I wondered aloud to him a few days ago if the person responsible for bringing it to the South was sent to New Jersey and told never to return.
(Interestingly, there was a Yahoo News article about kudzu in New Jersey...hmmm)


This is kudzu....
















It was brought here from Japan by some well-meaning botanist to help w/ erosion....
which it did....
but....
it grows from 4 to 12 inches PER DAY...
seriously.
It takes over absolutely everything...
fences, yards, power lines, houses...
see that dark woody piece hanging from the tree in the center of the picture?
Kudzu vine...















It's bigger around than my arm.

Then there's this...
















Those logs stuck in the fence?
you guessed it...
I intentionally left the fencepost in the pic for size reference.
If you were to inspect the fence, you would note that the vine itself has completely engulfed the wire in places.
This is crazy stuff, y'all!
(Apparently, though, it does have nutritional/medical value...although, I won't be serving it up any time soon.)

I've also learned that there are some ridiculously outrageous insects here....
















This guy is no longer amongst the living, but he startles me every time I walk out onto the front porch.
He is approximately 2 inches long.
Then there's this little cutie....
















Yes, that's a spider...
a VERY BIG spider...
(at LEAST6 inches, toe to toe)
I have no idea what kind of spider...
but he can haul some hiney when necessary.

There are a multitude of insects that refused to pose for pictures, the likes of which I've never seen....
and, let's be honest here....
I've lived in a lot of places...
just saying.

The dirt here is red.
And my lovely white and black dog?
Has taken on a decidedly reddish cast on her head, chest and front legs.

I've also learned that my 61 year old husband is still able to vault fences....
I'm not sure he even knew he was capable of this until he dug up a bees' nest...
Boy, were they po'd!
The good news he was only stung 5 times...
I'm not sure he'd call that good news.
(He sacrificed a shoe, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow to the bees....
for the time being anyway)

It's okay if the color you picked out for your kitchen cabinets is totally grody...
you can always change it.
(even if it means that you'll be waaaayyyy behind on your project goals.)

Did you know that dogs can pick blackberries?
Well, I didn't either,
Who knew that I'd have to fight the dog for ripe fruit?

Oh yeah,
shopping carts are called buggies...
and if you can't find something, it's around here, "summers"
(somewheres).

The guys and gals at Home Depot and Lowes are the nicest people on the planet and
my  best friends.

I've also learned that one very large, outdated, satellite dish can be re-purposed for something useful and lovely...
















Stay tuned for more adventures....

Love ya madly!