This mug has been with us since the mid 1980s. I bought it for Chuck because he likes to turn a phrase upside down. I think I use it more often, though. I’m the coffee drinker. He is an occasional tea or hot cocoa drinker, so he’ll pull this one out of the cupboard now and then. Readers, do you have a favorite mug? I’m sharing mine. I’d love to hear about yours.
Today’s Haul
Left to Right: red potatoes, sweet corn (from Georgia), lettuces, spinach, asparagus, tomatoes, blueberries (Michigan), sweet Bing cherries, peas, strawberries, carrots. I plan to spend my day shelling peas and prepping strawberries. Hulling strawberries? Why don’t I know that? No, don’t answer that second question.
I may have mentioned – oh, I know I’ve mentioned that coffee mugs make great souvenirs. A good mug will get a lot of use and bring back many memories. This one is from Nova Scotia. The still life around it is courtesy of Chuck’s creativity.
The quote says it all, doesn’t it? There aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the year to read everything I’d like to read. So why am I wasting time on Facebook and Twitter? I’m going to log off and read!
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This mug usually sits on my desk at school. Every time I sip from it or just read it, the mug reminds me of how important my job can be. That’s a lot to ask of one simple coffee mug. Bring on the coffeepot; a strong blend would be appropriate!
Subtitle: To Have and to Hold
Here’s a classic. These are souvenirs from our trip to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Thermos from Starbucks (the first! In Seattle! At Pike Place Market!), mug from the Amtrak train that took us there. Oops, that sounded wrong; it sounds like I absconded with a mug when we reached our destination. Nope! Not at all: we bought it in the dining hall at our last breakfast on the train.
Today’s Market Goodies
From left to right: lettuce, peas, asparagus, strawberries, more asparagus, blueberries. My tasks today: cut up and freeze asparagus, remove peas from pod (there’s a snappier way to say that, I’m sure), freeze peas, hull strawberries, clean lettuce – oh, you get the drift. The brightly colored menu under the green bowl is the new menu for the smoothie place downtown. It’s going into my schoolbag so I can order from my desk in a cubicle just a few blocks away.
Meanwhile, I’ll sip on today’s smoothie (Groovy Grape) and start chopping asparagus spears.
Life is good.
Coffee, tea, hot cocoa – no matter what your hot beverage of choice, the mug it’s in is very likely to carry a story. This came up in a thread on Facebook, and I realized I had a number of posts featuring my coffee mug collection. Most of the posts are from my first or second year of blogging. Let’s start with yesterday’s mug, Where’s Waldo, and today’s mug of choice, Ducks in a row.
Where’s Waldo? Well, if you 
can’t find him now, just fill the mug with hot liquid (preferably Folgers) and all of the faux Waldos’ shirts will fade away. This mug has been in my collection for a long time — at least 13 years (Daisy’s update: at least 20 years, now). I ordered it free with a few labels from cans of Spaghetti-os and a miniscule shipping and handling fee. It has served up tea, hot cocoa, and of course, coffee. I’ve had a lot of fun with this mug over the years, including watching people stare at it in the teachers’ lounge. It was worth the shipping and the stamp. And now, Ducks in a Row. Continue reading
I might just like La Petite’s suggestion the best. Keep the name, change the mascot to a potato.
But if the owner won’t put his money into spuds, he could try these suggestions, also from La Petite.
- Washington Lincolns — mascot, a stove pipe hat similar to the cheesehead
- Washington Congress — Instead of practicing, they just stand and argue.
- Washington Georges — white wig, false teeth, I can see it now!
- Washington Minutemen — slogan, You musket to the end zone!
How about:
- Washington Gridlock – along the same line as Congress, see above
- Washington Eagles — oops, the Eagles are already taken. How about the turkeys?
- George Washington Bridge – ooh, that’s closer to New Jersey gridlock than Washington
- Washington Patriots — oh, wait, they’re already in Boston and call themselves New England.
- Washington Weebles — they wobble, but they don’t fall down!
Meanwhile, whatever will we eat when the Packers formerly known as Acme play the renamed football club?
Well, readers, what do you think?
The mainstream shops are getting the idea that people want to garden on their decks and porches and in small spaces. I bought a pair of strangely shaped pots designed to sit on a deck railing. At the moment, one holds a basil plant that was getting overpowered by the other three in the bigger pot. The other holds lemon basil seeds.
I came outside after a rainstorm to find standing water in the pot with the transplanted basil. The other one was wet, but not soggy. Chuck and his power drill came to the rescue.
Pot needs holes? No problem.
We watched the excess water drain from the bottom. The basil looks much happier.
Unfortunately…
The railing showed its age and snapped. I moved the pots to another part of the deck; now we’ll just wait for Chuck to have time to replace the wood.