I love a bargain!

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Daisy

La Petite forgot to pack a few essentials last time she visited, so we headed to Kohl’s to take care of her needs and (of course) browse the clearance racks. My take-home was amazing.

La Petite bought a few basics and a pair of shoes. I bought – well, you can see it here.

Two sweaters, two shirts, and a dress

The sweaters were hanging on the wrong rack to begin with. La Petite picked them up, said, “Oh, this isn’t my size. It’s your size, Mom.” If they shrink, she has dibs. The sweater on the right had a snag in the hem. As for prices:

Bargains galore!

I got an additional 20% off the sweater with the snag. Then, after adding it all up, I handed over my 30% discount coupon.

My bag with its five items cost less than La Petite’s two. In fact, my bag full of new clothes cost about the same as the steaks I bought for supper at the meat market.

They practically paid me to shop. Readers, have you had bargains so good you had to blog them? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear about yours.

Trash Talkin’ Trump

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Daisy

Dear Donald;

Since you have so little respect for me, I don’t believe “Mr. Trump” will do. Your perspective on women is unbelievable. I mean this sincerely; I can’t believe that any decent man in the 21st Century would refer to women as bimbo, disgusting, fat pig, gold digger,

But Donald, you outdid yourself when you knocked Megyn Kelly for being a strong debate moderator. You called her a lightweight, one attempting to be tough. Your statement would have been bad enough if you stopped there, but what came next was (I have to pause and take a breath) – what came next was this. “You could see that there was blood coming out her eyes, blood coming out of her [brief pause] wherever.”

Make no mistake, Don, we know exactly what you meant. By implying that Kelly was tough on you because she was menstruating, you put yourself down much more than you did her. Ever see the movie Annie Hall? They had this discussion in Annie Hall, how the male lead responds to everything the female lead says by blaming it on her period. 1977, Don. The movie came out in 1977. The calendar today says 2015.

Hey, Don. I’ve got news for you. Women make up just over 50% of the American electorate, and we vote. You have insulted a lot of individual women during your very public life, but they’re not the women that ought to worry you.

You should be worried about women who vote.

The Harvest

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Daisy

We had three rabbits visiting all weekend because La Petite was here. You know what that means: lettuce!

Fresh as it gets!

It’s been the strangest season for lettuce. Normally, the second batch of lettuce is done by mi-July, if not sooner. I’m harvesting the first crop of lettuces right now.

Still waiting!

Even after harvest, there’s more to be had. I predict a lot of salads and BLTs this week.

Meanwhile, “Chuck” was busy relocating a peony that we’ve had in the backyard since we moved in. It meant a lot of digging on a hot and muggy day, and thirst quenching with strawberry lemonade.

Dig. Dig. Dig.

The large peony is now beside the northwest corner of the house. It’ll get enough sun, and we’ll enjoy it more.

The new home!

If you look closely, you’ll also see the sod from the peony’s new spot. It’s filling an area that had been weeds. If you look even more closely, you’ll see the little black dress, er, fence. I picked those up at a rummage sale a while back, and I knew we’d use them eventually. Chuck’s research (a la Google) told him that tomato cages would be good, but I haven’t used traditional tomato cages for years.

My harvest wasn’t big this week, but you can see other gardeners’ bounty at Daphne’s Dandelions.

There’s a Storm Coming In – not quite an encore

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Daisy

It’s literal and it’s figurative. There’s a storm brewing in my state.

Skies are clouding over and the temperature is dropping. The radar shows lots of green (rain) with patches of yellow and red representing the stronger storms within. The forecast predicts thunderstorms overnight and through tomorrow.

That’s the literal storm.

On the figurative side we have a storm of ideology, a flood of hard feelings, and the thundering sound of voters wanting their voices heard. There’s a yard sign here and a bumper sticker there, with patches of letters to the editor representing the strong emotions within. And this, the figurative storm, continues.

I first posted this in spring of 2012 as we headed toward a recall election – the recall that Scott Walker survived. in the all-too-long lead up to the 2016 presidential election, winds are swirling and the storm is gathering strength.

I prepare for literal storms with a fire in the fireplace and my tiny seedlings under cover in the mini-greenhouse. We unplug the computers to prevent trouble in the event of power surges.

Preparation for an election storm isn’t quite so easy. We can unplug the landline the day before the election to avoid the thundering sound of the Get Out the Vote phone calls. I’m always on edge all day on Election Tuesday, awaiting results that carry as much meaning for me personally and professionally as the meaning and messages that are national in nature.

After this storm passes, the winds of change will pick up. The perfect storm of anger, disillusionment, and disbelief fighting with self-righteousness and misinformation threatens to blow up into a cyclone of another kind. The resulting funnel cloud will…well, let’s not think about it.

We’re already experiencing a dark and stormy period in Wisconsin history. It’s beyond frightening to imagine that storm spreading to the nation.

Readers, we’re all in its path. How do you hunker down and prepare for a storm that’s political in nature? Leave a comment.

Unite or Divide and Conquer?

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Daisy

I laughed out loud – almost snorted coffee out my nose, to be honest. It wasn’t funny, though. It was…highly ironic is the best I can do. Ridiculous? Unbelievable? Illogical? Unreal? All of the above.

Governor Walk-a-Mile-in-my-Shoes, according to one of his top advisers, is running as a “Uniter”. His campaign managers have decided to market him as one who cooperates, reaches across the aisle, and works in a bipartisan fashion.

Let’s see. Gov. Walk-My-Way introduced what he called a budget repair bill that was really a union busting bill. He knew the votes would be split right down the party aisle with a win on his side, so he wanted to rush it in for a vote. Did he reach out to the Democrats in the Senate? Hum the Jeopardy theme while you mull this over.

Time’s up! He couldn’t reach out to the Democrats. They left the building to delay a vote because without them, there would be no quorum, and without a quorum, budget bills cannot come up for a vote. Meanwhile, he reached out to the Democratic Senators by threatening to send state troopers to round them up. Instead of waiting patiently, those on the left side made a run for the border: the Illinois border.

Enough about the rapid evacuation of the Senate. We were talking about Mr.Walker as peacemaker, one who unites. Let’s see: anyone remember the video of Walker with his billionaire sponsor, telling her how he would handle the union busting bill? “Divide and conquer,” he told her. He must have had different campaign advisers then because divide and conquer doesn’t mean the same thing as unite and concur.

How about name calling? I keep hearing the term “Union Thug” tossed around, but it seems the only time Walker actually used the term was when he was asked how he would deal with the terrorist group ISIS and he drew a comparison to his “handling” of thousands of public employees marching on the Capitol. I won’t blame the gov for creating the phrase until I can find a reliable source that quotes him, but the point still stands. Scott Walk-my-way-or-the-highway is not one who unites. The Gov. is not one to reach across the aisle or pursue bipartisan cooperation.

Back to my first reaction. Ironic, at the least, this vision of Walker. Ridiculous? Unbelievable? Illogical? Unreal? Yes. All of these, at least, and more.

Feel free to leave more reactions in the comments, folks. I’m listening.

Harvest and Market Prep

Status

Green beans and Google Docs – market produce to prep, tutorials to watch, and a Google Site to create. A teacher’s work is never done, so I multi-task.

Multi-tasking Mama!

Here’s part of the actual harvest:

1 lb beans and a handful of peas

I also brought in a large bucket of lettuce, but I had it washed and dried and stored in the refrigerator before I thought to take a picture. The lettuce looks great; it’ll be a week full of salads!

Meanwhile, check in with Daphne’s Dandelions for more gardeners and their harvests.

A Park full of Art

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Daisy

A sizable park in the middle of our medium-sized city is within walking distance of the O.K. Chorale. This park, due to its location and size, plays host to a number of special events. Fundraiser Run/Walks sometimes start and end there. A nearby church hosts Bring Your Own Lawn Chair style worship services in the park. And at the end of each July, Art takes over the park in a big, big way.

Our routine is to leave the cars in the garage and walk the half mile or so to the Annual Art Fest. On-street parking reaching almost all the way to our home as it is. I throw a few collapsible shopping bags into my purse, load up my wallet at the ATM in advance, and as soon as the Artists open their booths, we’re there.

Here’s a taste of ceramics:

garden stakes posing with my hat

I have several others from this artist. Last year I suggested a few, and she made a list. The Thai Basil was one she made at my suggestion.

I hope I put the stake in the right pot.

My wallet, my favorite in a long time, started wearing out last spring when the snap came off. It was still usable, so I made a plan to replace it at the same place I’d bought it: Art in the Park.

Left – new. Right – old, but still beautiful.

Hmong needlework is very precise and very beautiful. The wallet on the right has more traditional Hmong shapes and designs. The needlepoint flowers on the left just caught my eye right away. I knew it was my new wallet. It even has a change pocket, one feature lacking in the old one.

Oh, and by the way, the man at the booth smiled when I took out my old wallet to pay for the new. I think I’ve made purchases from his booth in the past.

We bought more – quite a bit more! Chuck carried the bag of purchases and the bag with our lunch in it (grilled pork sandwiches and egg rolls) while I carried my smoothie and the few things that fit in my purse. I can’t show you the other pieces, though. I’ll just say this: I’ve officially started my holiday shopping.

Readers, do you visit local and regional art festivals? What kind of art do you buy?

Intelligent Voters – encore

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Daisy

Readers; do you remember Grandma Daisy? She contributed to the blog as part of the Voter’s Voice series. Grandma Daisy’s voice gave Compost Happens a different perspective: the perspective of looking back in time, viewing events with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight. Well, folks, take yourselves back to the future and look at the creativity of Wisconsin citizens and the reaction from the top.

Oh, grandkiddos, you might remember that in the recall election of 2012, Governor Walker’s supporters weren’t exactly showing their best sides. Campaign signs spelled governor with an -er, as if the voters either didn’t know the difference or didn’t care.

You might also remember the Overpass Light Brigade and the Solidarity Singers. Walker had money on his side, so his opponents invested in creativity and time. Both the OLB and the Singers continued their activity after the election. They publicized issues in non-violent methods designed to get attention rather than cause trouble.

The Governor and his security detail didn’t see it that way. The Solidarity Singers sang protest songs in the Capitol rotunda every weekday at noon. The Capitol Police, acting on a hastily-made policy requiring permits for any public gathering, began making arrests and issuing tickets. For singing, you say? I hear you, children. Singing in the rotunda was now a crime.

The tactic backfired, of course. Instead of discouraging protesters, the aggressive action encouraged more people to show up and make noise, er, music. The Solidarity Singers stood up for their first amendment rights to free speech and the peaceably assemble. They knew that the greater number of arrests simply meant more PR for their actions and their issues.

As you might expect, young ‘uns, there were naysayers. There were folks who showed up just to watch the handcuffs go on and to poke fun at the so-called musical mayhem. You might not be surprised, I dare say, that some of the naysayers were in the same category as those who displayed error-filled yard signs.

Who?

Readers, Grandma Daisy is back and ready to tell tales of the elections of 2016. What will this feisty feminist have to say on the road to the White House? Predictions, anyone?

Harvest Monday – beans

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Daisy

Beans! 3 pounds of beans. I started picking a few and then just kept on picking until the bowl was close to overflowing. I weighed it on my tiny kitchen scale and found my first official bean harvest to measure just over 3 lb.

Beans! All from my backyard kitchen garden!

As for other clutter in the picture, the tomatoes were “scratch and dent” at the farmers’ market, and I wanted to make a scratch tomato sauce. Perfect. The odd looking green thing next to the cutting board is a lettuce cutter.

Here’s the lettuce.

This is from the market. There’s more outside, ripe for the picking – literally. I picked about a pound of various lettuces Saturday; I smell BLTs in our future.

For more Harvest Monday, visit Daphne’s Dandelions. She has all the links for a productive week in more ways than one.

Note: Voter’s Voice will take its place on Tuesdays from here on out while I post my harvests on Mondays. Tomorrow: get reacquainted with Grandma Daisy, my alter-ego from the future who reflects oh so well on the past.

ADA is 25 years old!

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Daisy

I grew up with a minor hearing loss in an age where those with “special needs” were segregated from the masses. I wasn’t channeled into special education, thank goodness. I succeeded along with my friends. I even managed to earn a college degree in music, despite a certain professor who insisted that my hearing loss meant I shouldn’t be in a conservatory of music at all.

Years and years later, a principal at Amigo’s school glared at me and growled, “Don’t throw ADA at me; it makes me angry.” Angry or not, we threw IDEA at him and he had to follow the law.

What’s ADA? What’s IDEA? Why are they important to me and important to my family? I just posted on Connections Academy’s national blog. Read and enjoy!

Share and Enjoy !

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