GOOD CHI AND THE GROUNDHOG

I've been sharing our good chi with a groundhog. 

Our feng shui water feature is placed directly due east of the front door to  attract auspicious chi, abundance and good fortune.The fountain bubbles away 365 days a year  allowing positive chi to freely enter our home. Late one night, this fall, I heard  the sloshing and clanging of the groundhog pushing the papyrus aside and  bathing in the beneficial yang energy of our little pond.

Later that week I was standing on the front porch and watched him waddle down the neighbor's front walk and meander into our front beds.

Upon googling groundhogs, I learned their holes are HUGE!

I am a lazy gardener. I do not mulch and I do not like to pull weeds. My beds are covered with plentiful perennials surrounding the trees and shrubs. By July, I don't see soil any more.  Prior to seeing our neighborhood groundhog I was confident wading through the hostas. Now I have visions of holes that would swallow my size 10 feet.

Bill assures me that he has seen Mr. Groundhog emerge from a hole next to the neighbor's front porch.  I think any self respecting marmot would want to live the high life in lushly planted raised beds with a private swimming pool.

Can I find harmony with nature while worrying about my ankles?

Will the groundhog at least bring us an early spring?
stay tuned.......

JAMES BROWN IS A MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY

Sandra Bullock and I have something in common.  James Brown became a treasured member of our family years ago. It was before 2000, because that was the year we renovated the kitchen. HGTV's show  "If These Walls Could Talk" had us considering a time capsule in an empty spot behind a cabinet. The night before the granite counter top installation, potential mementos were seriously debated. The image of James being removed from the wall during a kitchen redo 50 years in the future  had us all wondering if the Eveready batteries would still power "The Godfather of Soul's" dancing and singing rendition of "I Feel Good." Ultimately, I could not part with James, although I have since purchased 2 more for posterity.

First time I changed his batteries, I discovered James Brown's white butt!

When my friends with larger homes are carrying  on about trying to keep toilet paper in all 8 bathrooms,  I  empathize.  While I only have 2 baths to maintain, I have scores of toys. Bill has come home to find me, exhausted on the recliner from an afternoon with the Phillips head screwdriver and the Costco packages of replacement batteries.

Those of you who have been so wonderful to follow my new baby blog might have been perplexed by a posting of this blog without captions earlier this week. Unlike James, I haven't felt so good since late last week. The head cold from Hell was holding my sense of humor hostage. In the wee hours of the morning, wanting to learn how to insert a video in my blog,  I attempted a post, blew my nose, then deleted the post seconds later. Cyberspace was faster than my sneeze--my apologies.

I've broken onto the other side and feeling much better now and hope you feel good too. Here's to a great weekend and hoping this post works!

LAUGHING AT LAKE EFFECT SNOW

A client had relocated here from Texas. She suggested we Clevelanders needed a drinking game
-every time the TV said "Lake effect snow...."
 we would do a shot!

I survive winter by imagining the flowers in my garden.....

and I try to laugh a lot.

She has moved back to warmer climates.

I send out for 2 buck Chuck.

NOT DIGGING FOR THE NEWSPAPER ANYMORE!

Buster, the cat, and I get up at the crack of dawn everyday. I drink coffee and read blogs and Buster lays on my chest. I happily leave retrieving the newspaper to Bill.

The internet is upsetting our division of labor.

Bill likes to remark that I have it easy.

But, just as Ginger did it backwards in heels.......

I do this reclining backwards with a cat on me.

He, who must not be disturbed.

WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY! MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

I purchased this 336 page cookbook, FAIRMOUNT FARE  at a rummage sale. It is a fascinating collection of recipes hand written with drawings by each of the contributors. The women were all members of Fairmount Presbyterian Church and some of their daughters are the older women I have met in their Guild. The Recipes From the Deep South is amazingly politically incorrect by today's standards and is remarkable because of its' guilessness.

The table of contents shows post war recipes, so I assume it was created in the mid-1940s.

There were dozens of recipes with Knox gelatin and meat and vegetables. I included the pork cubed recipe because it sounds particularly unappetizing.

Grandpa's Love Letter

Floyd Leslie Thompson is my grandfather. I was named for him. I'm glad I was a girl, as Floyd is  a rather flat name. Grandpa signed all his paintings  F. Leslie Thompson so it is safe to assume he didn't think Floyd was the sexiest name either.

Grandpa wrote Grandma a love letter in 1911 before they were married. He was a young man working in Cleveland and though they were both from Chicago, Grandma was in New Mexico.

I had it framed by The Wood Trader in a two-sided frame so that the entire card can be enjoyed.

I'm 57 years old and I still snicker like 5 year old whenever I see the name Fannie! Grandma was actually quite the proper WASP.

I keep a jar of Noxzema just so I can open it and smell her. 

I love the comment that Cleveland "is quite boisterous in public. Things are allowed here that would not be tolerated in Chicago."

Chicago must have worked pretty hard to change its' reputation by the 1920s!

Imagine a time before men were glued to the Sports Channels.............

                

"Talk about lonesome and getting fits.  Why you ought to see me Sunday nights. I just go wild and tear my hair for want of your company."

Well Dearies, this is the only love letter I possess.  If the house is burning I'd grab it right after yelling to Bill to turn off the TV.

Duh, it is snowing

Cleveland Winters - A Haiku by Adam Ross

 Duh, it is snowing

 It does this every season

 Do not act surprised

                   

I've lived in Cleveland, Ohio on Maple Road for 30 years.
I know that the sun will come out eventually.
I know that spring will come.


I have created a cocoon.
This blog will be the story of the creation of that cocoon-
and the life that develops in it.