Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Mother's Day

      After a whirlwind few weeks -- a funeral in Kansas City, a cousin and a birthday, working on the deck, dogsitting and trying to get work done in between -- Daughter #2 and Son #1 took the Brick and myself out for lunch at Calvillo's, our favorite spot. It was great! True to form, we included a visit to Walmart afterwards. (Hey, they needed stuff.) 

      I have several perennials, a few tomato plants and some dianthus to put in the ground. Other than those exciting duties, it's going to be a quiet week of working and planting. Plus, based on the forecast, maybe some rain. 

     We're looking forward to it. 

No, I don't do this...or do I? At any rate, it's still funny.

Meanwhile:

A network of underground tunnels -- underneath Bloxham, an English village! These had been rumored to exist for years, until a builder had a collapse that revealed a 130 ft. tunnel. Others have been found. Age?  Could be at least two hundred years old -- or even from the Medieval period.

A FIVE POUND Ruby -- discovered in Myanmar.   That translates out to 11,000 carats!

A Bigfoot classic Gentle Readers have been resurrecting.

Pieces of America's past that have survived...nicely.

A snazzy hotdog trick -- I need to try this!

A retiree explains how he and wife keep their expenses covered...while heavily relying on Social Security.  (Don't let the scary headline fool you -- they're doing much better than the title suggests.)

Uncle Moe died...my beloved Auntie Moe's husband. He (and she) are greatly missed.

Ted Turner died last week.  What a guy.

Why Kim Kardashian is 'temporarily' giving up her plans to take the California bar exam. 'Just for now,' she explains. Maybe failing it three times has something to do with her decision, too?

Have a good week. If your mom is still around... give her a call.

And I'm probably one of them...

 

Snow... And Sun!

     In typical Colorado fashion, we had freezing temps and snow yesterday...

     And warm sunshine today. 

     Welcome to Colorado.

Cousin Phil is here for a visit. He, the Brick and Son #1 are working on an extension to the back deck. They're also adding steps to the ground, about 15 feet down. It will be a lot easier to work on the garden beds down there. Eventually we'll put in a dog door, so the pups can let themselves out, instead of us doing it at 4 in the morning. 

 (Those of you with young dogs know exactly what I mean.)

The guys worked in snow yesterday. Today, they're sweating. Go figure.

And thank you so much, God, for the extra moisture. We really needed it.

News From the Met Gala...

 

And plenty more where that came from...

Ummm...

 

Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: Driving, Driving and More Driving

    That's basically what I did for two days (11 hours each way), plus my aunt's funeral in between. Got back very late Sunday night. The Brick had to stay home to keep a dogsitting commitment, but I had the pleasure of Cousin Phil's company all the way home. 

     It turns out he enjoys pioneer history, too. We stopped a few times at landmarks of the Santa Fe Trail: ruts left by the thousands of wagons that journeyed up and down, including Charlie's Ruts. Fascinating. 

     It felt a little strange to see lines that had been there for hundreds of years, and know that other eyes had seen these plains and hills -- and wonder how they were going to make it.

I get to stay home this week -- it's my turn to cover dogsitting chores while the Brick and Cousin work on our back deck. Reports to work on, too.

Meanwhile:

This celebrity had to sell everything just to get out of debt, after his company was defrauded. But he and his wife did it, and now they're thriving. He says: 

"I am where I am BECAUSE of this woman. Brothers Bond Bourbon is actually here today because of this woman. I was able to start my life over because of this woman. Needless to say it’s been the most eye opening and truly humbling experience."

A Chick-Fil-A employee almost gets away with stealing $80,000...by charging, then refunding mac & cheese orders! 

Do you REALLY think the side effects from a Covid vaccine that was hurry-up tested were nonexistent -- or just minimal?

Recycled art. In some very cool ways. Including this piece:

Easy kitchen hacks.

Cruise senior boo-boos.

Crazy finds from Goodwill bins.

King Charles' speech to Congress. English major types, take notice: he referenced two writers in his comments -- including my buddy!  His Royal Highness made some funny remarks during his visit to the States, including a cheeky admission that Brits had done some 'redecorating' of their own to the White House. (He meant the War of 1814, and soldiers setting the White House on fire. I guess you could call it that...)

Have a good week.

'Nuff Said.