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Post by stepper on Nov 12, 2012 13:06:52 GMT -6
Lol! You really are a guy, aren't you? I don't understand. Are you saying this was some hot single guy and you wanted him to remember you? Hug him a few seconds too long - he'll remember you. But that's not a friend - that's a target. The only time the appearance of a friend matters is when they're in a hospital bed or bleeding. Really - girls are so confusing! You'd understand better if you'd spent some summer Saturdays greased up over a car engine. When you get an itchy nose you scratch it. Once you're friends, the grease doesn't matter - and if you aren't friends - the grease doesn't matter. Ya know?
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Post by Siren on Nov 24, 2012 16:25:35 GMT -6
Do you really.... The difference is..... You just don't....
Never mind. Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Vive la difference!
~~~~~~~~~~
One of the little pleasures of life....
picking up pecans in your back yard. We have a nice crop this year - small, but good quality. Amazing, considering we had so little rain this year.
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Post by stepper on Nov 25, 2012 21:04:03 GMT -6
Yep! ...that men are only good for lawn and car care? Yeah, been told that before! Sure you do! Congrats on the Pecans. A friend has a tree that hasn't had a yield in three years. She just found out you have to trim them back.
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Post by Siren on Dec 8, 2012 9:51:59 GMT -6
I have developed the habit of cracking and eating pecans in front of the tv. If this keeps up, I'll be as fat as the squirrels in the neighborhood (as if I need any help!).
~~~~~~~~~
One of life's little pleasures...
finding a Christmas card in the mailbox. My friend Lauri's arrived the day after Thanksgiving. She takes pride in sending the first card her friend's receive every year.
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Post by stepper on Dec 8, 2012 17:29:41 GMT -6
Picking up a few last minute items to be mailed out and they open a new line just when you get to checkout so for you, there's no line and no waiting. I used to send cards to mom Siren, timed so that she got one everyday from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve - and they all had to be Snoopy/Peanuts. It was one of her presents. When we went to Turkey I shipped enough cards to cover our stay over there. Mail out of Turkey wasn't always reliable so some days she got nothing and some days she'd get two or three, but I have a picture of her door at work. She'd take them all in and pin them to a string around the door to her office so other people could come see the card of the day.
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Post by Siren on Dec 18, 2012 22:42:18 GMT -6
A wonderful memory, Step. And what a good idea! It makes the season last longer.
A BIG little pleasure...
Fulfilling wishes for a child on the Salvation Army "Angel Tree".
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Post by stepper on Dec 19, 2012 20:29:42 GMT -6
A BIG little pleasure... Fulfilling wishes for a child on the Salvation Army "Angel Tree". Angel Trees are a wonderful way to share seasonal cheer. Let's share some cheer here too!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 20, 2012 7:51:54 GMT -6
Oooo, that is a good one, Siren. I hope that child has a wonderful Christmas.
Have you had your fill of pecans, yet? I had to laugh the other night. I saw a note Hubs left by the phone as a reminder to himself for the next time he talks to his brother; there was only one word on it: pecans.
His brother and wife live in their childhood house now that their parents are gone. There are three giant pecan trees (I say pea-can; he says pea-caughn) lining the side yard, and Hubs as mixed memories of those trees from his boyhood. Good ones of fresh pecans, and bad ones of fresh pecans; he loved eating them, but hated picking them all off the ground before the grass could be mowed.
Every year his brother sends a big box full of them for Christmas. The note, I'm sure, is a reminder for Hubs to hint around and remind his brother not to forget them this year.
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Post by stepper on Dec 20, 2012 18:41:08 GMT -6
Pea-caughn tree - sounds like a thoughtful Christmas present.
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Post by Siren on Dec 20, 2012 23:19:11 GMT -6
Around here, it's pick-AWN. I bet that's the way Hubs says it, too. And yes, Gams, I am still enjoying them. Seems lots of other folks are, too. I have seen quite a few folks out, picking them up.
Tonight, though, it's walnuts, all chopped up and in the batch of turtle brownies I'm making for a friend's Christmas present. I do love walnuts. Anyone here have a black walnut tree? Oooo, I love those, though they are very rich. A squirrel planted the walnut tree that's next to my folks' bedroom. Every year, Mama has to endure thuds in the middle of the night when the nuts fall from the tree and land on the roof, and then the sound of them rolling off. She loves eating them, though, as I do. And since they are tough to crack, we get all we want. The squirrels make off with ALL the easy-to-crack hickory nuts, as soon as they're ripe.
Ripe. Is that what you call a nut that's ready to eat?
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Post by stepper on Dec 21, 2012 16:23:34 GMT -6
I believe you have the correct word Siren. A ripe walnut falls from the tree and all you need do is harvest them. Of course, getting to the nut itself can be a chore. I've heard that some people lay them out and let the husk dry before they try prying them open - and black walnut husks will stain your hands so you may want wear rubber gloves, but like fresh fruit fresh walnuts are good stuff.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 22, 2012 8:43:49 GMT -6
No, but we might as well. The neighbors have two at the rear of their property, and the house next door to them, has another. The squirrels bring the walnuts into our yard, and, in addition to burying them, leave them in the oddest places. I found two walnuts just this week on the front porch - one tucked in a big arrangement I have on the table between our chairs, and another nestled in the greens and lights I have on the railing. At least, at this time of year, the husks are gone. In fall, they leave piles of husks everywhere, which stain everything.
One fall, after a season-long battle between Hubs and the squirrels, he found a stash of walnuts on his work bench in the garage. I told him the squirrels left them as a peace offering, but Hubs wasn't buying it, convinced they did it instead, to mock him, (he was probably right).
Kitchen scents are a nice, little pleasure - the good kind of scents, not the stench, let's say, of burnt popcorn (a frequent kitchen smell here). Last night, I was keeping a friend company as she made huge batches of various Christmas treats. It wasn't so much the smells of chocolate, brown sugar, and caramel, (which, don't get me wrong, are wonderfully enticing), but instead of burning scented candles, she always keeps a pot of spices on a low simmer on the stove. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves were last night's mixture - it's a warm, inviting smell.
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Post by stepper on Dec 22, 2012 12:18:07 GMT -6
Squirrels are a two edged sword. They can be fun to watch, but they can be a nuisance too. We have a sort-of brave one who visits regularly. It's not so used to me that I can hand him a peanut, but he'll let me get really close to the tree before he hides on the other side of the trunk, and after a few seconds he'll poke his head around to see what I'm doing. It’s like playing peek-a-boo. He's fond of sunflower seeds that he steals from the birdfeeder. He's a brave little soul though - his path to and fro includes a trip across the roof. In the front yard a branch gets very close to the garage so it's not much of a feat, but in the back there are no close trees. Once in a while when I'm in the bedroom I'll hear a thump up there and I know he's jumped down from the neighbors tree - but I don't really know how he leaves. No matter what his path, it involves one heck of a leap. Or maybe he's just being tricky. Maybe he comes back to the front and simply climbs down the tree and walks off. I've never caught him at it.
At tech school there were quite a few people around and everyone kept tempting the squirrels with peanuts until they got used to us. I've heard it's a booming industry for the squirrels now - all these generations later and they'll still come right up to students and look for treats. Classes can be intense - they expect a lot of you. But then going out side for lunch and having some small fuzzy creature reach up and take a nut or a seed from your hand changes things. All of a sudden the tension from the classroom is gone.
Our squirrel planted some red maple seeds in a couple of terra cotta pots on my sidewalk - and then forgot them. Of course they grew. I gave three very healthy red maples to a friend earlier this year and she says they are growing very well. She's going to plant them in her back yard to make shade for her half dozen rescued Great Danes. Squirrels, nuts, trees, friends, rescued dogs. All part of life's little pleasures.
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Post by Siren on Dec 24, 2012 0:32:45 GMT -6
That is a sweet story about the red maples. I bet those trees will be even more special to your friend, knowing they were planted by squirrels!
I didn't realize there are several varieties of squirrels. My sis went to visit a friend who was stationed in California. In a park, he pointed out some critters to my sis, saying he'd never seen anything like them before. They were some sort of squirrel, but were so different from ours, he didn't recognize them.
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Post by stepper on Dec 24, 2012 8:32:36 GMT -6
I'm no squirrel expert, but most of us know about the American gray, and I heard of blacks, and England has reds. They (England) also have the American gray but it's more aggressive than the red and the reds are disappearing. But, I can't say that I've heard about squirrels that were so different you didn't know they were squirrels. Maybe they saw chip monks.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 24, 2012 9:01:11 GMT -6
We've got a type of squirrel here that doesn't look like a squirrel - in fact, I've heard people call them gophers (which we don't have in Michigan) and others mistake them for chipmunks. It's called a ground squirrel, and I guess it kind of does look like a chipmunk with stripes gone wild, but I think chipmunks are way cuter. lansingwbu.blogspot.com/2009/02/question-of-week-how-many-species-of.htmlRed squirrels are here too, Stepper - it's my favorite of the three types of squirrels we have in the yard: red squirrels, black squirrels, and gray squirrels. I've got no idea if the red ones are the same species you mentioned that were in England, but they are definitely less aggressive than the black and gray ones. I know I b!tch about the squirrels a lot, but we honestly do have a squirrel overpopulation problem in town, and they can be very destructive. The black ones are the most aggressive (and mangiest looking; they're not pretty at all with their scraggly tails), and the most common. It's not unusual at all for there to be a dozen in the yard at the same time. When we went to visit the college LX chose, we saw the fattest squirrels ever! LX was calling them "monster squirrels". They are actually fox squirrels and though they are larger (and prettier) than the gray and black squirrels we have here, they were definitely well-fed. Over-fed is probably more accurate.
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Post by stepper on Dec 24, 2012 9:09:36 GMT -6
Over fed - that would be college students overcoming their fear of nature.
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Post by Siren on Dec 24, 2012 9:11:21 GMT -6
I don't know what kind of animal they saw. But my sis said she did finally recognize it as a squirrel. Brian thought it was a cat. But then, he is goofy. Lol
Looking at that link, Gams, I would say we have more fox squirrels than anything. And like the squirrels you mentioned, the ones in my mom's yard are very well fed.
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Post by stepper on Dec 24, 2012 9:49:51 GMT -6
I did not know chipmonks were a genus of squirrel.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 26, 2012 5:34:47 GMT -6
A squirrel that was so large it was mistaken for a cat?! Dang, that's one big hunk o' squirrel!!!
They're not. Squirrels walk on four legs, have fur, and live in trees. Chipmonks walk upright, wear robes, live in monasteries, and apparently, have chips on their shoulders.
Chipmunks, on the other hand, are related to squirrels; they are in the same family...but are not of the same genus. Botanical knowledge that was drilled into me is kicking in here....order, family (and subfamily), genera, species (and subspecies)...and in plants, followed by variety and cultivar.
HA! I remembered! I think.
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Post by Siren on Dec 27, 2012 22:28:22 GMT -6
"They're not. Squirrels walk on four legs, have fur, and live in trees. Chipmonks walk upright, wear robes, live in monasteries, and apparently, have chips on their shoulders." Now, that cracked me up! And as for a guy thinking a squirrel was a cat, I told you, he's goofy. Air Force. You know how goofy those guys are.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 28, 2012 5:51:43 GMT -6
I dated an Air Force guy for a bit - I'm trying to remember if he was goofy, but all I can remember is.....well, this is the little pleasures thread.
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Post by Siren on Dec 28, 2012 22:25:16 GMT -6
BOLL!
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 30, 2013 23:56:43 GMT -6
Close Call ... Lesa posted it on her Runboard Profile Page.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 31, 2013 6:55:56 GMT -6
WTF was that?!
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 1, 2013 0:02:30 GMT -6
I guess Lesa is learning how to create her own videos? Filmed herself walking to her garage, then jumped behind a snowdrift ... then later added a fireball?
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Post by Phalon on Mar 25, 2013 6:29:23 GMT -6
Seems like that wrong time of year for it, but the first Blizzard of the season.
Or maybe it was a MooLatte.
I dunno; whatever it's called it's coffee-flavored and LX brought one home from work, made 'specially for me without all the chunkies and whipped cream that normally goes in them. And she kept it in the freezer so that it was solid instead of soft serve.
Dairy Queen opened for the season here.
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Post by Spock on Apr 11, 2013 12:07:39 GMT -6
Just transmitted my 2012 taxes.
It was kinda bitter-sweet because it was easier to do than any time in the past.
It was also the first year that I haven't done a business return. My "company" went out of business last year due to lack of work ...
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Post by stepper on Apr 11, 2013 20:37:34 GMT -6
I’m sorry to hear about your business Spock. My father formed his own company to paint parking lots and school playgrounds, inside large businesses, etc. He made a decent living at it and when he passed one of my brothers took it over, but he didn’t have Dad’s personality or contacts for drumming up jobs and eventually he decided he couldn’t make a living at it. Then he got a job at the artificial island on one of the water towers at the nuclear site. They liked work ethic and hired him on full time. I didn’t have enough time in to retire from the military when this all happened so the business just ended. Too bad – I worked a couple jobs with dad and it had a lot going for it. Outside most of the time, work at your own pace when hardly anyone is around, save the inside/warehouse jobs for winter. I often wish things had worked out differently.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 12, 2013 6:24:26 GMT -6
Sorry to hear about your business, Spock....and your father's too, Stepper. Always a kind of sadness to learn of an independent of family company closing its doors.
Had a sweet little pleasure here yesterday..."sweet" in a couple of ways.
LX's friend, knowing I worked outside all day in the cold rain, stopped off at the Quick Stop on her way over last night, and got me a hot drink. Sweet because she thought about me. Extra sweet because it was a double mocha cappuccino!
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