Some "farmer trueisms"

…Letting the cat out of bag is whole lot easier than getting it back in...


…If you think you’re a person of influence, try bossing someone elses dog around…


...Bloom where you are planted...

Random thoughts -

The snow is gone, it's 57 degrees out and raining like the dickens. They are predicting flooding in our county by morning - we are luckier than other places in the state - flooding has completely shut down I-5 near Chehalis/Centralia! (about 90 miles south of Seattle).

Thankfully the President of The Sudan pardoned Brittish teacher Gillian Gibbons (who was sentenced last Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation for insulting Islam because she allowed her seven year old students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad) and have let her safely return home to Great Britton. Many Sudanese said they thought it was an innocent mistake which could be forgiven after an apology, but radicals called for her to be flogged, or even worse, killed. (now what does that teach those seven year olds?) The Sudanese government has been under pressure in recent years because over 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have fled their homes because of ethnic and political conflicts in Darfur. I'm sorry, I think maybe some of the Sudanese people spend too much time in the sun or something.

My co-workers & I have "adopted" the sister-in-law of one of our fellow employees. This young woman is serving in the Army in Kuwait. We have put together five boxes of "stuff" to send to her - food items, fuzzy socks, stamps & stationery, a VISA gift card so she can buy international phone cards, other cool and fun stuff. Items on the list were a little slow to come in, but people really came through over the weekend. I hope it cheers her to know that someone is thinking of her over the holidays.

Neelix jumped up and RAN over to the back door a little bit ago. I looked down to see what he was looking at and there was A POSSUM - its little beady eyes were checking out the cat door! I waved my arms & shouted and it ran away. Hopefully it'll see this as an "unfriendly place" - (by the way - do you know what's the difference between a Possum and an O'Possum? An O'Possum is Irish.....) Ok, so much for lame jokes...

Gwennie is down in Alger visiting one of the boys at Tom and Donna's farm. We're hoping that she will produce some wonderfully spotted babies for us. Actually there was some concern last fall about her "gender" so to speak - larger horns than most horned ewes, agressive behavior, and kind of a bass voice. But after a trip to the vet, who checked out all her "girl things" and proclaimed there were no "boy things" about her, (other than her big horns, agressive behavior and deep voice). I guess we'll see in about the middle of April if all her "girl things" are working correctly...

Ok, I'm randomed out - think I'll watch the news and go to bed. Thanks for checking in.

And this is...

a hops plant - commonly used in the making of beer.

It also grows like the dickens and makes a nice shady arbor at the end of the greenhouse

These are resurrection lilies or sometimes called "naked ladies" because the leaves come up and die down, the pop, up comes the flower. I took this picture a couple of years ago down in Oregon - there were huge clumps of them all over this little town. I've planted them in our garden, & I've gotten the leaves, but never the flower stock. Sigh - maybe someday...

We got about 1/3 of an inch of rain this afternoon. It is welcome.

Have a nice weekend

Who Says Justice Doesn't have a Sense of Humor?

Or, who knows what you’ll learn when you are surfin’ the net - -

The Jockey Club is a private organization designated by Kentucky to track and approve names of race horses. (who'd a thought?) Without an approved name, a horse cannot race at a Kentucky track. When horse owner, Garrett Redmond wanted to name 4-year-old horse after "Sally Hemings", Thomas Jefferson's most famous slave and reputed lover – the Jockey Club (rightfully) said, “NO!” Their bylaws forbid horse owners from using names of famous or notorious people without special permission and the club's rules also say that "names considered in poor taste; or names that may be offensive to religious, political or ethnic groups" won't be approved.

So, following the path of common day actions, Mr. Redmond sued the Jockey Club, saying the denial had deprived him of constitutional rights. (OK, and what constitutional right would that be?)

Judge Alice Batchelder, writing for the three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, said Redmond has other options that may be approved by the Jockey Club, "To be sure, the First Amendment protects horse owners' rights to free speech, and we do not foreclose Mr. Redmond indiscriminately from asserting that right, but the right to free speech is not absolute in all contexts,"

Batchelder went on to write that because the Jockey Club is a private organization with power delegated by the state, it may restrict free speech so long as it doesn't discriminate against a specific viewpoint. (Go Alice!)

She also quoted Shakespeare's "What's in a name?" and cited the band America in rejecting Redmond's appeal. "In short, because he has spent three years insisting he has a constitutional right to name his horse 'Sally Hemings' and that no other name will do, Mr. Redmond now finds himself, like the songster of the 70s, having 'been through the desert on a horse with no name”. However, if he really wants to race or breed this horse in Kentucky, Mr. Redmond will have to come up with a name that complies with the Jockey Club's rules, Batchelder wrote. "A quick look at the Jockey Club's Registry confirms that 'Horse With No Name' is no longer available."
For the full article from Fox Sports Interactive Media, click here.

Seven Random Facts -

Many in the cat blogosphere have been passing along the Seven Random Facts Meme this week. So many have done it that the last one I read just said they tapped "you" & "you" & "you" etc, get the drift - so I have decided that we (Neelix & Sinda & I) would take up the challenge and tell you some random things about ourselves - hopefully you'll still be speaking to us by the end of the seven...

#1 - (Tina) I grew up on a wheat farm in North Central Washington - there were 12 students in my high school graduating class - I went through all 12 years with nine of them.

#2 - (Tina) My hair is long - down to my waist (& I just had about 6 inches trimmed off!) The sides are dark blond - but the top is white - my own little skunk stripe!

#3 - (Tina) I love books - (John would say I hoard books) - I probably have over 100 cookbooks - and yet my favorite one is probably the 1960 Betty Crocker Cookbook that was my moms. I have all of the Taste of Home annual books. I also have all of Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries to the most current, I have ALOT (50 or 60?) Nora Roberts books (however they may be going back to the bookstore for credit soon - need more room on the shelves) I have all of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books. And Dianne Mott Davidson & Maeve Binchy, to name a couple of my othere favorites authors.

#4 - (Tina) I drive a teal colored 1991 Ford Festiva, affectionately called the Jelly Bean - they are great little cars - way too reliable, so they took them off the market. I Love that little car.

#5 - (Sinda) I just had my 17th birthday - I have lived with my "bean mom" my whole life, except when I was a tiny baby living with my birth mom. My favorite thing to do in the summer is drink out of the waterfall in dad's garden - but mom doesn't like it when I come in with wet legs.

#6 - (Neelix) Mom & dad found me at the Humane Society about 10 years ago - I was a very tiny kitty and very sick (the V-E-T said I probably shouldn't have been adopted out because I was so sick, but mom & dad took very good care of me and nursed me back to health) As a result of being so sick as a baby, I don't have a meow. I have several different chirping sounds - like "thanks for opening the door, it's about time you got here" and my "when is dinner?" chirp.

#7 - (All) We love to sing. Tina used to sing and play her guitar at a restaurant every Sunday night - she did it for 21 years. She is an alto and to this day, when she sings along with the singers on the radio, she sings the harmony part. Neelix & Sinda like the song the B.Kliban wrote

"Love them little mousies, Mousies what I love to eat,
Bite they tiny heads off, Nibble on they tiny feet"

Well, that's all folks - hope you were entertained - I couldn't close without my favorite garden photo from last week - what a sweet face! Oh, and "Tag! You're it" Don't forget to share YOUR Seven Random Facts.