UFO Tree from Jupiter

So, over the summer we went to an alien world. Jupiter, I think, is what the locals called it. It was a strange and wonderful place. Interesting food from vast watery planes, yummy to the palette. Very hot, with an interesting thing called a beach. We traveled through space and time to get there, along with the rest of my family. A good time was had by all.

What are those little hairs?

My Mother, forever the plant nut, always wants to bring back a smidgen of this, a clipping of that, a seed from here, there, everywhere. She’s always been determined to get something alien growing in her own landscape. So, we were talking about the seeds we found, dreaming about making them grow back home. We found some weird ones, that’s for sure.

Grew 8 inches in less than 2 months

Well, of the 3 types I brought back, I got one to grow. Well, actually 3. The alien seed had 3 parts, like a 3-sided acorn. I planted it in my mini green house back in August, and kept it warm and wet. After a month, it sprouted. After 2 months, it was practically touching the lights above it. Three strong stems with leaves that don’t look familiar.

So this morning, I put it in a new, huge pot, and put it upstairs in our south-facing window for some full time sun. I hope it continues to outdo any of my expectations. The other 2 seeds I had haven’t done anything yet, but I am not willing to give up on them, since some palm species can take 3-6 months to show signs of life.

If these guys keep growing like this, we might just have those tropical trees I wanted in a pot on our very hot patio. More to come as our Little Shop of Hor(ticulture) continues to feed upon human fl…sorry, you don’t need to know my macabre gardening secrets.

Nothing to see here, people. Move along, move along…

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Duncan...and a bag of chips!

Ok, this picture from a couple months ago says it all. Dogs might be stupid sometimes, but they sure are resourceful.

My old friend, Duncan the Wonder Dog, has been around for 16 years now, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Just as spry as when he was much younger. And just as clever…but you be the judge of that.

So, I was having a snack attack one afternoon in my little basement office, and I rolled up the empty victim bag–Utz Sour Cream and Onion–and tossed it into the trashcan. Had a brief thought that Duncan might get a notion to…nah, not Duncan. He’s usually good. So, out I go to dinner with my honey.

Later that nite, I come back down to let him out. I usually get greeted at the basement door, if he isn’t snoring. I call to him. All I hear is “pant-pant-pant.” Call him again to come go potty. More heavy panting. So I walk into the office, flip on the light, and here sits my Wonder Dog with his head stuck so deep inside the bag he can’t figure out how to get it out.

Now, by this time, I’m laffin’ my ass off proper. Luckily the camera was close by.

Click.

So, while I give him high marks for getting the bag unrolled and knowing to get to the bottom of the bag where there were some good bits left, he gets major fail points for not getting out of the bag once I called him. Hence, the embarrassing shots, and the pain in my side from crackin’ up big time.

Love my dog. He keeps me laughing still at his ripe old age.

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[quicktime]http://surferboi.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/mom_tiller1.mp4[/quicktime]

I was home the other weekend, helping my brother strip my Mom’s deck to restain it. It’s a big job, and we didn’t even finish in one day. Messy too, with a lot of crazy toxic goo to get that stain-that-was-surely-paint off the 20 year old deck. Never one to let grass grow under her feet, my Mom decides to break out the tiller and get her garden broken up so she could plant. “It’s been too wet!,” she told us, with the same disgust that I would have had as well if I had to wait so long to start my own garden.

So while we are slopping goo on the crusty old deck, my Mom heads to the shed and cranks up the tiller and to get her garden rolling. I turned to my brother and said, “You know, we take it for granted sometimes how great it is to have a self-sufficient Mom.” He couldn’t agree more.

My Mom is 70+ and she is as spry as people half her age. Growing up in farm country will do that, I guess. Hard work was no stranger to either side of my family, and I think it kept many of my kin young for years. My grandmother is 100 and showing few signs of leaving this world for greener pastures up on high. I think my brothers and I are so blessed to have a mother like her. She has done so much for herself, not only since my father died more than a decade ago, but even before then. Always curious, never backing down from a challenge, and using her faith as the strength to keep her going, she has done so much with so little. Tirelessly taking care of my grandmother, managing to keep her roots in the community, and always making time for family and friends. Not to mention the cooking. Geez! Fried fish & cornbread like you never had. And we had it all the time. Yumtastic!

So never let it be said that we don’t appreciate our Mom. On the contrary. She’s got so much awesome, she has plenty to share. I only hope that this Mother’s Day, everyone remembers that no matter what, all mothers are awesome, since they are the reason we live and breathe today.

Love u mom.

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