Peter Black Conservatory

I took these photos inside the conservatory on my visit to New Zealand, November 2007.

To view more photos, please visit Keewee's Garden

We have a thief in our garden

Caught him/her red handed , pawed stealing from the bird feeder.
It isn't the first time this squirrel has been in trouble, as it is missing half of it's tail.

Talk about the cat that got the cream!

As a caregiver, I am privileged to work for some wonderful people. This particular woman and I became very close, but unfortunately, her circumstances changed, and she was no longer able to live in her own home.
During the many hours spent in the company of this person, I learned a great deal about her life and the history surrounding many of her treasures in her home.
A few days ago, it was advertised that the family was going to have a real estate sale of my dear friend's possessions. There was one particular object I was hoping to buy as a remembrance of this lovely lady. Last night I tossed and turned all night just worrying someone else would see what I had my heart set on. I tried to tell myself to get over it, but this particular piece of art was something I had always admired.
8:30am this morning, found me waiting, along with many others for the door to open announcing the start of the sale. As I entered the house, my heart did a flip flop as I saw right there by the sale table, the object I coveted. Immediately I asked the woman who was ringing up the purchases if I could please put a hold on the object while I looked around. A sold sign was placed on the statue and I continued browsing.

Here she is. Quan Yin a beautiful 22 inch high statue.
I admired her from the first time I saw her in my friend's home, and what better remembrance of my friend than something she loved too. Quan Yin is going to be in a place of honor in one of my gardens where I will see her and remember all the special times shared with my friend.

Not only did I come home with my Quan Yin, but all the other Indian and oriental statues I liked.

The lovely lady on the left is made of bronze and is very heavy, the one on the right, appears to be made of resin, although it is also rather heavy for it's size.

The lovely couple of the left looks as though they are ivory, but of course are not, they are probably made of resin. The little guy in front, I thought was made of resin, but appears to be carved from some kind of stone. I think it could be sandstone. Hotei, who is sitting on the stand, also brings some special memories. Every time I arrived at the house, I would rub his tummy for luck. If you click on the picture, you will see that there is a penny tucked on the right side of Hotei's tummy. You can imagine my surprise and delight, to find the penny still there as Hotei sat on a shelf waiting for a buyer. I just knew I had to have him too.

And of course, I could not leave this charming couple behind. They are made of porcelain.

In the second picture from the top, you will notice all the statues are flanked on either side, by two planters. Being the avid gardener I am, I had to have these too. Naturally, on the way home from work this evening, I stopped by the garden center for some pretty flowers to fill the planters. Oh boy what fun I had. I am still smiling from ear to ear with a feeling of satisfaction and delight, with my purchases of special memories.

I have a post up over on Keewee's Garden, showing the planters and how pretty they look all decked out in their new finery.

Never lie to your Mother

Brian invited his mother over for dinner. During the course of the meal, Brian's mother couldn't help but notice how beautiful Brian's roommate, Jennifer, was.
Brian's Mom had long been suspicious of the platonic relationship between Brian and Jennifer, and this had only made her more curious.
Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Brian and Jennifer than met the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, Brian volunteered, 'I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you Jennifer and I are just roommates.
About a week later, Jennifer came to Brian saying, 'Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. I saw your mom admiring it. You don't suppose she took it, do you?' Brian said, 'Well, I doubt it, but I'll send her an e-mail just to be sure.

So he sat down and wrote:

Dear Mom,

I'm not saying that you 'did' take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you 'did not' take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.

Love, Brian


Several days later, Brian received an email back from his mother that read:

Dear Son,

I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Jennifer, I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Jennifer. But the fact remains that if Jennifer is sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now.

Love, Mom

Happy St Patrick's day

May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the people you love.

The Legend of the Shamrock

St. Patrick used the three leaves of the shamrock, a three leafed clover, to describe the Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

While most Shamrocks are three leaved, it is believed a rare four leaf clover, will bring you good luck.

They're Back, They're Back

Three days ago I set out two hummingbird feeders, and late yesterday afternoon, as I sat at the kitchen table eating dinner, something flashed by the window. I was so excited in my trying to tell my honey what I was looking at, that I almost choked on my mouth full of food. Now I am really starting to feel as though spring is truly on the way.

By the way, I am so proud of myself for learning how to put a collage together. It took me a couple of hours playing around,and some frustration, before I finally figured out how it all fit together.

Moon Over

I took this one through the kitchen window about 7.30am this morning. It is a little fuzzy, as I had to zoom in, and I left the flash off so it would not bounce back into the camera lens, off the window glass. Still, you can appreciate the sheer beauty of the moon, as it slips slowly behind the Cascades.

Orange Pecan Breakfast Cake

1 pkg. Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe cake mix
2/3 cup water
3 large eggs
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tbsp. grated orange peel
2 tbsp. Orange juice
½ cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup fine graham cracker crumbs
2 tbs. butter or margarine, melted
1½ tsps Cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375F

Grease and flour two 9 x1½ inch round layer pans

Combine cake mix, water, eggs, and ½ cup butter in large mixing bowl.

Mix cake as directed on pkg. Fold in 1 tbsp. Of the orange peel

Divide batter evenly in pans.

For the topping, combine the chopped pecans, brown sugar, graham cracker crumbs, 1tbsp orange peel, butter and cinnamon. And sprinkle evenly over batter in pans.

Bake for 25 minute, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Heat the orange juice in the microwave and stir in the powdered sugar and drizzle over the warm cakes.

Now go make a pot of coffee to go with a large slice of the breakfast Cake.

As I forgot to take a picture of the cake, before it was all eaten. I, err ummm! borrowed one from:
www.recipetips.com/

This is where I have been.

I have not been lazy about posting to keewee's Corner, I just kinda' took a detour. My detour has taken me to:

Blotanical was created by Stuart Robinson of Brusselton, Western Australia. It is a place where a huge family of garden bloggers, from all over the world, show their own particular style and interest in gardening.
I must say, I have become quite addicted, to spending time reading the many, many blogs and sadly Keewee's corner has suffered. I must not let that happen anymore, so I will try to be more diligent in my posting.
So if you enjoy gardening, drop by Blotanical, and I can almost guarantee, you will be hooked too.

TWO WAYS TO LOOK AT EVERYTHING

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken woman swigging her drink, as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asks, "Do you know her?"

"Yes," I sighed. "She's my old girlfriend. I understand she started drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.

"My God!" says my wife. "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"

So you see there really are two ways to look at everything...

Awwww geee!!

As an ex-pat Kiwi my heart still does a little flip flop whenever I hear a kiwi accent.
Thanks to Raewyn for sending me the link to this cute TV advertisement from New Zealand.

In case the Kiwi/ Aussie accent is hard to understand, here is a translation.

What are you doing this weekend?

I'm putting up a retaining wall.

Doing it yourself ?

Nah! I'm going to get some bloke ( man) in

Oh, come on mate (friend) do it yourself

She's pretty big job

You'll be right

You reckon?

We can knock it over in half a day

Yeah?

Get a couple of mates around

Hey Jonesy!

Huh!

Give us a hand with the job Saturday?

Nah, your dreamin!

Aussies!

Yeah!

No surprise there.

Through the garden gate....part two

These photos of some lovely gardens in New Zealand, were taken in 2007 during one of my strolls around the streets near where I was staying.

Kiwis are known for their love of gardening,
and it shows in many of the beautiful gardens.

A lovely garden nestled beside the house, surrounded by an attractive white picket fence.

Pretty pink, purple and white flowers
along one side of the driveway.

Such a tidy attractive front yard.

This garden I found to be very pleasing to the eye, with the different colors and textures of the foliage.

A neat little boxwood hedge, surrounds a flowerbed of mostly white flowers.

The plants in front of the fence and growing over the arbor sure make a beautiful display at the end of the driveway.

Majestic old trees grace the front yard of this home.

More beautiful trees and shrubs, line both sides of the driveway leading to the house.

Many of the homes have interesting gates. I liked the design of the iron gate at the entrance to this home.

I remember this Mediterranean style home, from the days when I used to ride past on my bicycle, on my way to and from school. Nothing much seems to have changed, except the trees are larger.

Dabnabbit!!!

Sheesh! I though we were done with this stuff. I guess mother nature has her own ideas, and has sent us that frozen pellet kinda stuff, which is going to be fun to drive on this morning, as I go to work.

"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now..."

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

by A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

Whenever I see buds on cherry trees, I am instantly transported back in time, to sitting at a much used, kid initialed, wooden desk, in a classroom at an old school.

I clearly see, in my minds eye, my lesson book on the desk. This book, as were all others we used to write our lessons in, were about 8 X 10 inches, lined, the pages stapled to the cover through the center page and were covered, as was required, with wallpaper or some such material. Most of the kids used wallpaper, which, besides being attractive, made it easy to spy your book in the pile left by the teacher after she/he had finished grading your work.

Back to what I was seeing in my minds eye. I can see my lesson book on the desk in front of me, the poem written on the left side of the page, in what I thought was my very best handwriting, and to the right of the poem a beautiful drawing of a cherry tree in full bloom, with very green grass, and yellow flowers growing around the base of the tree. I am sure the flowers were daffodils, as we were also learning the poem The Daffodils, by William Wordsworth. This particular teacher was really into poetry, much to the disgust of some of the students, especially the boys.

Ahhh ! memories, aren't they grand?

Masks of the Borucan Indians

On Wednesday the 18th I was fortunate to get the last seat available, on a bus trip to the Flower and Garden show in Seattle. One exhibit showed the beautiful art masks of the Borucan Indians of Costa Rica.

These brightly-painted masks are carved from a single piece of locally grown cedar or balsa wood, and represent the brilliant flora and fauna of the Costa Rican forests.

The outline of the animals or plants of the masks is drawn on a piece of balsa wood.
Each mask usually includes the face of a Borucan shaman or forest protector, surrounded by orchids, birds-of-paradise, neon-colored frogs, exotic toucans and quetzal birds, and often a jaguar. After the objects are sketched, they are roughed out and then more finely carved, with every piece rendered in 3D.

It takes about a week to make one mask.

Mask-making among the Boruca predates the Spanish Conquest. The art form evolved with mask-making to celebrate "Danza de Los Diablitos" or Dance of the Devils, representing a stylized battle against European invaders in which the Boruca emerge victorious.

The ancient craft, however, was dying until one master carver, Ismael Gonzalez Lazaro, began a program to teach the techniques to younger members. Soon, the young carvers began filling out their masks with the beautiful plants and animals thatsurround them, and thus was born the hybrid "masca ecologia" -- ecological mask

I would have bought one, two or possibly more of these beautiful works of art, but sadly the were way out of my price range. The cost for a 12 inch mask was around $450. perhaps when I win the lotto *grin*

Rocket - A tribute

Rocket- 1998- 2/17/2009

Rocket was the most extraordinary cat I have ever had the joy of knowing. He arrived here at Castle Completely, as a very young kitten, in the hands of our dear friend Lorie.

One day, back in 1998, my honey, MrC. who was still feeling very sad due to having lost another kitty, answered a knock on the door, and upon opening it, was surprised when a hand thrust a little black bundle of fur into his hands and a voice said "you need this"

Our friend Lorie, happened to see, someone dump a box of kittens behind a grocery store, she rushed to pick them up, but only managed to catch one, and knew instantly where this scared little kitten would find a loving home, even if the person she planned on giving it to, was saying they did not want another cat

When MrC saw the kitten, he said he really did not want another kitty, but Lorie decided the fate of the kitten right there, by getting into her vehicle and driving off, to leave MrC and the scared little kitten get acquainted.

Mr C says animals usually let you know what their name should be. Right from the moment the little black kitten arrived at Castle Completely, rather than walking, he ran everywhere, hence the name Rocket.

Rocket had many toys, simple things like a piece of electrical wire he would carry around in his mouth, dropping it where we would have to walk over it. Of course he usually was close by when we would step over his piece of wire, in the hope we would pick it up and toss it across the room or down the hallway, so he could chase after it. To our delight, quite often he would retrieve the wire, and bring it back to us, so we could toss it again. I told you he was an extraordinary cat.

On several occasions, MrC awoke in the middle of the night feeling hungry. The first time it happened, he went out to the kitchen to get himself a snack, and discovered Rocket sitting by his empty food dish. My honey put food in Rocket's dish, decided he wasn't hungry after all, and came back to bed. The second time it happened we thought perhaps, this kitty was telepathic, the third time it happened we knew for sure. *chuckle* From then on Rocket always had a little food in his dish when we went to bed.

I am sure Rocket looked forward to Christmas, as this was the time the Santa kitty, would bring him his favorite gift, tissue paper. Lots of tissue paper, to roll on, to shred with sharp claws and to play with, until there was nothing left but shreds which seemed to slowly disappear as the weeks went by.

When my honey was so ill last November - December, Rocket spent every day and night sleeping on the bed, close by, watching over him only leaving his side for food, water and potty breaks. This illustrates the bond which grew over the years between MrC and Rocket. They understood each other, Rocket using sounds, what MrC referred to as words, a communication between the two of them you had to see and hear to appreciate.

Rest in Peace


Please click Here to leave a message for MrC

What kind of romantic am I?

Once in a while, just for fun, and out of curiosity, I answer the questions in one of the hundreds of silly surveys out there. Most times, I think the results are way off. This time the results are fairly accurate.

You're a nurturing romantic.

To you, romance is about supporting each other -- cooking a nice meal for your beloved, laughing at his corny jokes, or pretending to like his crazy relatives. You like flowers and chocolates just fine, but would prefer hand-picked posies to an expensive florist's bouquet, and homemade cookies to anything at the Godiva shop. It's the same with anniversaries or romantic getaways: you like them, but what really brings out your romantic nature is fluffing his pillows when he's sick. Similarly, you swoon when he fixes your stuck window, or even helps you fold the laundry. Your deep understanding that true love means caring for one another is sure to bring you a rich and lasting relationship. Just be sure you don't get too cozy -- enjoy your party of two, but don't let it shut out the rest of the world.

Not much to report

I really haven't much to report on this past week's activities. I have had a busy week working and then coming home to take care of the usual chores. Our cat, Rocket is still hanging in there. We took him back to the vet, so we could be shown how to give him fluids at home, thereby saving expensive visits to the clinic every day. Fortunately, we have a friend who is a retired RN, so she stops by every day to administer the fluids.
Today, MrC and I are going to drive up to Oak Harbor for dinner. MrC has been working very long hours for several weeks, along with taking care of our sick kitty. Our stress levels have risen, so taking some time for ourselves is essential.

An Atheist in the Woods...

An atheist was walking through the woods.
"What majestic trees"!
"What powerful rivers"!
"What beautiful animals"!
He said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.

He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him.

He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out, "Oh my God!"

Time Stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident." "Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer"?
The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now , but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian"?

"Very Well," said the voice.

The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:

"Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."

A tough week, and it is not over yet.

Blogging has been, to say the least, very light this past week. What with shuffling my work schedule around, so we could take our sick kitty to the vet a couple of times, and then coming down with a cold it has been a busy, tiring week

Our Kitty, Rocket, who is 11 years old, was acting very lethargic last Sunday, and was more so on Monday. MrC and I felt this was unusual for Rocket, so we took him to the vet. As the vet checked him over he could feel something out of the ordinary in Rocket's abdomen. After taking a blood sample and an ex-ray to determine what he had felt with his hands, the vet showed MrC. and I the ex-ray which showed a mass in Rockets abdomen. Surgery was scheduled for early Tuesday morning.
We received a call from the veterinary clinic early on Tuesday, to say that Rocket's blood work showed he had an infection, so we took him back into the clinic to have some fluids and the first of a series of antibiotics administered.
We will be taking Rocket back in to the vet, probably for another blood test, to see if the infection has been decreased by the antibiotics, so surgery can be performed. Sadly, there is still no guarantee that Rocket will survive, it all comes down to what the vet finds and what he can do about it.