Astounding People

They are rare in so many ways and yet way too common in others. I don't think a day ever passes where I do not think this very thing. People rarely surprise me, recently I have been surprised in many ways by many different people. Some good, some bad, the one that surprised me the most is the one that I love the most. I have been reminded almost every day what a truly amazing man he is. Today he scored a free watch from Walmart and he is OH so proud of himself. He makes me laugh out loud and for that I am so very impressed!

Life Unexpected

I never ever say I want to be, I am happy and blessed in so many ways. My dad is 84 today and we are in our home state of NJ. We are here celebrating him, his life, and thus ours. We came here every year of my life as child if not more. I, we have not been here in over a decade and it for the most part has remained unchanged. That in and of itself is amazing, my father is so happy! I am so happy for him, I was afraid if would not be what it had been. It is in so many ways what is was, I am no longer the small adorable red headed child. I am the adult and I love it here. It's a great combo of Key West and OBX, unless you know and trust me you won't believe this but that I am OK with. Cape May is an amazing and perfect place. Yesterday my friend Liz and her family came down. My father met my godson and that is without description. The memories here are strong, they seem to be the salt I am made of! Today hurricane Earl approached, we awoke to the umbrellas and chairs gone and large waves. My dad after an amazing breakfast and island revive wanted to hit the beach. He wanted to say he had gone toe to toe with Earl. He took his shoes off while leaning on me and ventured down. While I was taking photos of my brother on my knees a wave came in. I hopped up in time to grab my dad who was being swept in by the wave, oops and bad daughter. I sadly death gripped him and bruised him badly. He is fine, a little embarrassed but that is his feeling and it is ridiculous. At 84 I want to love life so much that I HAVE to stick my feet in the ocean while a hurricane stirs it up. I want to be loved that much that there is no shortage of people to help me up. My dad told me today I wasn't far off from the older crowd, he was joking. I told him I should be so lucky, how lucky is my dad? How lucky am I? I want my dads life when I am 84. I want to go toe to toe with life no matter what it is, I want to always feel alive. My dad felt that today in so many ways, this is his life.

How To Eat a Frozen Banana

Mr P and the Mail

Recently MrP got snail mail from CDuckster. Days before in a phone call she had given me a heads up on this and so I was not surprised.   I had just gotten home and saw all the mail.  I started to look through it. Then MrP handed me CDuckster's envelope addressed to him. 

MrP  "Read this

I pulled out one page from torn from Newsweek with an article on each side and a sticky note from CD with the "Saw this and thought of you " message. 

Me  "Oh ya, CD said she was sending you something. What is is?"
Mr. P  "Read the note."
Me   "I did read the note. That's not what I'm asking. What is the article about ? CD will want to know what you think."
MrP. "Read the note."
Me  "I did read the note.  What do I tell CD."
MrP  "Read the note."
Me  "What article did you read. I'll have to tell CD something."
MrP  "Read the article."
Me     "Which one?"
MrP. "Read the note"
Me    "I did read the note. It doesn't tell me which one to read."
MrP  "Well, look at the articles."
Me    "Hum (flipping the page back and forth). It must be the one by Meltzer. You read him.
          Did you read it?"
MrP.  "I read both. Tell her I hope she didn't want me to read the one about the guy with the beard."
Me  "You know, having to read your mail and then trying to tell people what you think is not my job."
MrP   "Sure it is."

I still don't know what MrP thinks of either article.

You Can NOT Freeze Everything

Sorry dad, I Love you but you just can't freeze everything. I really have a major problem with freezing anything. My father did this to me, he truly thinks you can freeze anything, so of course I freeze very little. I will freeze water, steak, fish, chicken, and bread. That is about it, anything else I freeze I won't eat, it's just how I am, I can't help it. I am weird about food, I won't eat anything past the expiration date, actually probably won't eat anything that is expiring on that day.

Anyhow, in an attempt to not waste food I froze these bananas I had bought last weekend. I bought some the week before but they started to go bad forcing me into eating them before I was ready. So, I tried freezing them, the first attempt at eating one of them was on Saturday on my way to the beach. I took it out and put it in the car on the way. Kelly was all about how I wasn't going to like it when it defrosted and what was I thinking (see above). I forgot it in the car when we hit the beach, so when we returned it was black and soupy from sitting in the 100 plus degree car. Today was attempt two, it was OK, it was mushy and REALLY QUACKING COLD though. I now understand that you can not freeze everything, I also highly recommend not freezing bananas.

TDBTB

OK what does TBTB mean?  It means "to damn busy to blog."  I've been working flat out at the office ever since we got back from OBX. The office moved, we started a container garden project, had to train new staff, the annual audit prep had to get done, and then just all the usual things the CEO/CFO of an organization has to keep their hands on--including partnering with other agencies to initiate projects like weekend food backpacks for low income children and a mobile clinic for low income families.  And then there is home, Mr.P. and Baby Girl.

Summer is when I am in the flower beds and container gardens as much as possible.  Its been so hot that any work needs to get done in the early AM.  This means up and out on the weekend. No play time for you!!!
Even though we have an acre of land, the deer are so numerous and insistent that I gave up the big vegetable garden years ago. Anything grown where deer can get at it is grown in a barrel of wire. I have feet and feet of container flower beds and then what I call "the farm."

This is on the balcony of the house and if the deer can get up there good luck to them.  I also have pots of herbs on the back stone patio and today was basil harvesting day.  I have two large sweet basils and the best plan is to severely prune back the plants when harvesting.  Here is the pile I got this AM when the oils are best.

I take this pile and rip the leaves from the stems and pinch off the stem of the leaf.  I've found your finger nail is the only really good way to do this.  This pile ended up with a large bowl of leaves.

Here it is about half full with the compost bowl in the back.  The leaves are then sent through a food processor with olive oil and made into basil paste and frozen.  The paste can be defrosted and used pretty much like fresh basil.  I use it all winter long in a favorite of ours--onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, capers,salt, feta, and olive oil.  And, of course you can use it in sauces and any dish calling for basil. Making and freezing the paste is much better than drying the basil and makes it much more usable. I freeze the basil in ice cube trays then pop them out into a freezer container or zip lock bag.

I like to use the small Cuisinart. It seems to be more effective to make several small processings than one large.  

  Another harvest has been the cucumbers from "the farm" which is made up of 10 tomato plants (4 from last year), 4 green pepper plants (last year I got 5 gallon zip lock bags of peppers frozen), four squash (two crook neck squash and two zuchinni) and two cucumber plants.  Got four nice cukes and decided to make them up with sour cream and red onion.  I sliced the cukes in the AM and got them in salt water in the frig for the day. Then to make this up I mixed one envelope Hidden Valley ranch dip  with a pint of low fat sour cream.  Meanwhile the cukes should be draining. Chop up the red onions. When the sour cream mixture has "steeped" a while and the cukes are well drained, mix and then eat it up. Mum, mum.
    Speaking of food, last night I made guacamole and a black bean salad with chucks of mango on the side. Yumo.

So, hope to get back in the groove here at the pond and do more circling but if you see only "TDBTB" you'll at least know I'm thinking of you.

CDuckster at the Beach

Don't you just love it

Thumper

That is what I am currently calling Calli, the blond one. She as I have stated before is a genius and has over time developed a multitude of ways with which to wake me up. Yesterday she was using the old thump the tail on the wood until mom stirs routine. She did this for about an hour until I finally got up. I came to work and shared with my co-worker how I wanted to cut her tail off (I would never). Well low and behold this morning comes and I hear THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. I open my eyes fully prepared to yell at little miss thumper when my eyes clear and I see the time. It was 8:06 I thought it was 7ish, but I was up late watching the basketball game so understood the gap. I praised Calli's perfect timing and thanked her profusely, she was more than happy to accept my love. I am now destined for at least a decade of thumping which is good as I don't use an alarm clock and she seems to understand time.

A Little Purple Balloon

I mandate them for all employees everywhere, I have one on my desk today and I feel no stress at all. I am completely relaxed on a Monday where the world as we know it is being destroyed by BP oil.

Red Robin Alarm

I have had an odd history with birds at my current home. I have had a few come into my bedroom and sit a top my canopy. A few on my screened in porch as well, both of these occurrences are extremely odd and rare, nobody else seems to have this problem. It is a screened in porch with a mostly closed door, how are they getting in and why? The biggest problem with them getting in is my one dog Calli, she is a bird dog by design. It is very tricky to get her out of the room and close all of the doors without her hunting the bird who by this time is already freaking out and flying into my windows. The entire episodes are distressing for all involved. I returned on Monday from a trip north visiting my oldest and dearest friend. She is also the mother of my god son who quite frankly is amazing and exhausting. I was beyond tired on Monday night and needed a good nights rest. I awoke on Monday morning to a tapping on my bathroom window. I woke up and was thinking is someone knocking on my window? Not good since I don't have a blind on that window and its inside of my privacy fence. I hear the noise again and decided I need to get up and see what it is, in my heart I already know though. I peak around the door to the bathroom and what do I see but a Red Robin trying to break in.... He was there again this morning, not sure what is enticing him but it needs to stop. I really don't think I can't handle the birds anymore enough already. Plus the poor thing is going to get hurt.... In addition I was driving to work today with the dogs and almost killed a large part of the flock of geese living in my neighborhood. I will admit I was not paying attention but what on earth were they doing in the middle of the road.... I could have killed a poor innocent duck and hurt my own dogs, that would have been a bad morning! Damn BIRDS

Rain Dance Please

I am sure you all remember back in the late winter early spring when I was complaining about the rain we were getting. Someone really should have shut me up, we have had exactly one day of rain since my birthday, 47 DAYS AGO. My back yard is dying, most of my neighbors yards look dead, it's a DISASTER. I know that one good storm from mother nature will fix this, I hope anyway, as it is worse than I have ever seen it. Today we had a 80% chance of rain at 1pm and somehow at 80% we missed it, now some of the area got it but not me, my neighbors, or my friends and that really is all that matters. So again tonight around 6pm we have a 60% chance, please pray for us as if we don't get it today I don't know what we will do. Of course since I am out here begging for it I am sure I will see no rain for another ten days.

We're Back

We're back from OBX.  The house there is truly special. We have stayed there six times now and will be back in November. There is a great story to the house which has been in the same family for three generations.  To take a virtual tour go to:http://www.mouseonhouse.com/property/16/1610/  Some of the pix are older (different furniture) but you get the idea.  The view from the master bedroom is wonderful and the balcony is a great place to sit when you had a little too much sun but still want the beach view.

We had great weather and I spent a lot of time on the beach.  Walked, read (yes you can read from a Kindle on the beach--no glare and no flapping pages), and viewed the pelicans, osprey, gulls, terns, dolphins,sand crabs, and more.  The feel of the wind and the sound of the surf. YES!!!

We went for lunch everyday.  Mr.P. does not beach but he does love sea food and we had it or fish everyday.  One of the spots we love the most is the Black Pelican,an old rescue station that has been refurbished into a restaurant.  Lots of old pix of the station as a station. It's named for an actual Black Pelican that saved ships during storms by guiding them to safe harbor, or so the legend goes.  The menu is good.  I love the brick oven thin crust Margarita pizza and their fries are the bestest. It's on the beach road about mile post 3.5. Although it is ocean front, all you can see is the dunes but somehow it all feels right. Another favorite on the beach road is in Nags Head.  A little old house that is Sam and Omie's. A hangout for watermen, this place feels very local and I love their clear broth clam chowder, kind of a low country recipe with a twist. 

This is kind of a last stop before heading on down 12S to Hatteras. Didn't make it to Hatteras this trip but did swoop in on Bodie Island Lighthouse. It is covered in scaffolding with a "dress" on the top.  This really looks weird from a distance. They are sandblasting the lead based paint off the iron work at the top and have it covered for environmental reasons. The workmen have to be tested weekly for lead poinsoning.

2010

2009

Breakfast at the Jolly Roger is a must.  This is an OBX tradition. Once again lots of locals. If you want to see Kill Devil Hills' finest at one table get there early. They're all there. The decor is indescribable.

Yes it looks like this all the the time. The ceiling in th main dining room is covered in tinfoil and thousands of glass Christmas ornaments.

Up in Duck on 12N there is the Roadside Cafe and the Red Sky. Both are unassuming from the outside but funky inside with cool menus. My fave at the Red Sky is the blue water burrito.  The Roadside sits right on the, yup, you got it, roadside and is a little brown shingled house.  Inside the tables are sea glass in old windows with a sheet of glass over it.  You can sit outside separated from 12 N by a high hedge and its really pleasant.  If you sit in the bar area you can watch the chef cook for you.

 Last, you have to go to the Sunset Grill in Duck. Sit and look at the sound from inside in the AC or out on the huge deck and bar area. I sat and watched a guy drinking a blue drink out of a fishbowl. It's name: The Titanic.  They  have sushi grade tuna and I love the Ceasar salad with grilled medium rare tuna. Yum.

We tried two new places Goombay (ok but nothing exciting) on the beach road in KDH and the Nag's Head Pier Restaurant.  Talk about sea side dining.  Sitting over the surf. Glorious.  I had calamari and Ceasar salad. Mr.P. had his first ever soft shell crab. Speaking of which I had soft shell six ways from Sunday. Got to love it.

We also hit a few favorite shops but later for that. The Baby Girl is due home and I want to get this up.

What I Just Read

"Girls in Trucks" it was written by a local author and is an excellent read. It is especially poignant for anyone who has lived in the south and understands it is not like the rest of the country. The author Katie Crouch also wrote a 2nd novel called Men and Dogs, I can't wait..... I will crack it's spine this afternoon and spend a whole Sunday home with great reads, can't think of anything better. I did unfortunately have to leave at some point to find food.... This is not an ideal situation as it kills me to have to go grocery shopping at all but especially on the weekend!

Hanging Balls

Kelly picked this gorgeous glass ball up on our vacation in Florida recently, more exactly in St. Armand's Circle which is one of my favorite places on earth. We found this store a couple years ago and fell in love with it for it's variety and uniqueness. She had been looking for something to hang over her new wine rack. Originally we were going to hang a light from the ceiling but Pottery Barn while having it in the catalog no longer carried it so we moved on. She saw these balls in the garden store and wanted one immediately, the cashier didn't know what to call the ball so on the receipt she wrote hanging balls, so funny. What's amazing here is that they hand right and hand do the math for the receipts. Kelly asked for help with color choice of the ball but I said it did not matter you should get the one you love the most. The acquisition was about a month ago and she has been dying to hang it ever since. I have only ever twice hung something from the ceiling, the first time it crashed in the night, the 2nd is still up thankfully. Last night in preparation for our progressive non-progressive dinner event tonight I agreed to help her hang it. It has been a process from the start including finding the fishing line to hang it with. Oddly I spied it in a gas station window the day we attended the tennis matches a few weeks back. Odd thing to find there but an awesome one none the less. I didn't know what would work best for the hanging so I had gathered many options. We ended up using a hook that I formerly had on my porch that I had taken down because it wasn't secure enough for what it held. It didn't take very long to hang the ball we just took more time to be extremely cautious. We measured the line length, tied it, tested it, agreed where to hang it, and marked the ceiling. I climb the ladder and started screwing the hook in, problem is I am freaked and below me is her new wine rack all perfect with all this glass on it and in it. I drop things, this is not news and especially when I am screwing screws in. Well in goes the first screw, the 2nd, and its up. I tell Kelly to turn around, she asked why and I said just do it because I needed to pull on it and test it, she grimaced but turned. I pulled on it and felt OK, not great. I then asked for the anchors I had brought, unscrewed the screws, asked for a hammer, placed the anchors, and screwed the screws back in SUCCESS. I felt better, I told her to watch it though, never trusting a screw in sheetrock. She is thrilled and it looks awesome, my first concern though this morning was the damn ball and I could not wait to know if it was still up, it is!

Carrots Gone Wrong

From a local CSA here in Charleston, so funny I had to share!

Mr. P's Birthday and 2 days to OBX

Today is Mr. P's Birthday.  All the Ducksters love, love, love Mr.P.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING !!!!

Two Days and Just You and Me.

YES!!!!

Happy Birthday Mr. P

Thank you for being a avid reader. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What's on your Night Stand?-

That is a provoking question I know... I personally keep a stack of books there, the ones I am going to read in the next month. I also keep a fragrant candle, old fashioned alarm clock (the one with the bells on top), and a lamp. I never happens that I read them all in a month but sometimes I try, I have however did read two this week. One not worth mentioning the other is it's Called "A Soft Place To Land" by Susan Rebecca White. It's about two sisters who's parents die in a freak plane accident while seeing the Grand Canyon. In the will they are separated from each other by about 3000 miles due to different fathers and well on from there it goes.

Retail Therapy

I woke up feeling less than stellar after an enjoyable night with good friends with unintended consequences. As ND said she called and she wanted to know how I usually deal with such things so I shared; water, sleep, Advil, water, repeat. I am a big believer in taking your lumps, making your bed and sleeping in it. So I got dressed and headed out to target to finish the wall project I started about two months ago and decided to finish yesterday. Only the frames I bought didn't work the way I wanted and anyone who knows me knows I am very particular about these things. So off I went in search of replacements and I have not a clue what came over me but two hours later and with a much lighter wallet I left. I love these days when you wander the store and find all these things just hours before you could not possibly live without. These days are what get me through the year, the days when I get to spend without abandon because someone has to take care of me and I work hard and I deserve it. Why yes that is rationalization hard at work. These are some of the finds that I now can not live without. ND and I are both in love with this great pillow find they were on clearance happened to be exactly what I have been searching for for months. I have been slowly adding this color into my living room for months but it's a color you must be careful with.

8 days to OBX :the porch

Gator and Couch in action

This AM it started with rain and me sleeping in. Got an email from CD insisting that I had been MIA all week despite the fact I had tried to comment on the Non Sequitur blog and got the internet run around, meaning it said I needed approval. HA!!! So I promptly called CD and left a smart message asking what was up with this and to drop everything and respond.immediatment.  She called back, we discussed her headache and other things as it continued to rain.  Then the sun came out. The dash to get something done. So, above is my beloved Gator (a converted golf cart) that I use for hauling everything,tools, dirt, plants, funiture. Mr.P. got it for me and it has been a life line to continue my yard and garden work.  Here we see the it loaded with the full sized wicker couch that goes on the front porch. Hey if you think this is a Beverly Hillbillies look, you should see it when I stack it with the small stuff that came in two trips. (When you're short you learn to do interesting and inventive things to get stuff done and this really helps when you get old.)  So, Mr.P. and I get the couch out of the garden house(where it lives for the winter)  and onto the back of the Gator, than I drive while he walks holding it, down to the front porch, lift it off and then, voila, onto the porch and into place. Before this I had swept the porch and put up a bracket in the garden house to hang some Christmas wreaths on for storage, and brought down the love seat on the back of the Gator the same way as the couch except a bungee cord takes the place of Mr.P.'s hand. We also bring down the cushions and then it is time to get it all together except the plants and flowers which come after OBX.  So here it is:

Don't you just love it. I do.  I'll show it to you again when I get all the plants and flowers going.  It's heaven in the summer and a great view of the lake. Next step will be the balcony. But that can happen after OBX.

So got cleaned up from this little effort. Lunch with Mr.P. at Sal's. They brought gratis hot garlic knots with sauce, totally hum. Exactly what CD needed for her headache. Meanwhile she was out doing shopping therapy and sending multiple pix of purchases. She'll tell you all about that. Then, on to Lowe's where I scouted deer resistant shrubs for a bed that needs redoing due to drought and deer. I had big plans for weeding and planting when I got home but the wind and clouds rolled in and nope.  I can't decide if I should buy these shrubs before we go, with a chance they will dry out while we are gone or wait and take a chance on them still being there when we get back. What to do, what to do (which, BTW, should not be confused with what not to do.)

Nonsequitur - A Comic of Likely Proportion

Nduckster loves this comic she has been telling me about it for years and recently sending me story lines she thinks I will like. I don't get the paper and even if I did it's not in our local paper so I can't read it there anyway. I had once looked for it online but with no luck. Nduckster however just sent me a printout of part of the strip from the internet in my last strip received via the USPS. Mr. P had without knowing recycled one day of the comics before she had a chance to cut it out for me. Ironically that gave me the information I needed to become an online member and follower of nonsequitur. I am sure Nduckster is grateful that she won't need to cut and mail these anymore. I truly enjoyed getting them in the mail as it was such a nice surprise in the mailbox as the mailbox rarely produces anything fun or exciting in this day and age. I am not a big fan of comics but I do enjoy this particular one. ND thinks that I am similar to one of the characters in the strip; I think she may be right. My father can probably attest to this better than anyone. I am now a follower of it online, it should start being emailed to me daily as of tomorrow. Of the ones I have been sent I have shared them with friends, they always give the reader a chuckle. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Baby Ducks Who Could Ask For More?

Spotted by a friend who asked a stranger to hold her belongings so she could snatch this photo for me! 12 babies in all, POOR MAMA duck! Thank you for this picture it makes me smile to think of them running after her quacking all the way into the pond.....

Current Favorite Jokes

I loves these two jokes and they are linked to each other.

Joke 1:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Economist.
Economist who?
Economist the recession but I'll try to do better next time.

Joke 2:

Iceland's economy's fondest dying wish is that it's ashes would be spread over Europe.

OK, so you don't like them? Hey, Mr.P. is watching the Stanley Cup which goes on from now until winter. What can you expect of me :) ?

13 Days to OBX aka Nag's Head

Saturday was much cool and wind so not much got done outside that needed doing except the planting by Vaughan's. Sunday was still cool but much calmer so the Baby Girl and I tore into things. Emptied out the dump bed on the Gator (my converted golf cart for gardening chores) and went to prune the crape myrtles down the back drive way. This is a very steep down slope and hard to work on plus we have deer fencing up to protect the shrubs from thier omnivorous ways which had gotten all tangled up in the branches. Got all six crape myrtles pruned back.  This is done to encourage new growth which is what the blooms form on.  Unloaded the bed again into a bursh pile for Mr.P. to put on his new trailer (yes, he finally got himself a trailer) and then clean, cleaned the dump bed of the Gator. This means sweeping out debris from hauling logs for the fire place as well as from pruning and gardening and then getting all the odds and ends out for the garbage, etc.  Then I started the "bring down the wicker furniture from the garden house to the front porch" expedition.  There are two chairs, a love seat, and a full size couch plus end tables, foot stools, plant stands and cushions.  I have worked it out that if I load things just rightt I can get everything down in two loads except the love seat and the couch. So, got that done.  YES!!! 80% of the furniture on the front porch which still needs to cleaned up from winter...a project for after work today.  You have no clue how happy I am when I can get something like this done and before OBX.

In the meantime Mr. P. is on top of the boat. Last year we did not ask for it until we got back in mid May and did not get it until June. This year its been gotten out, Freddy Bishop, the local awning and marine guy,  is going to work on the mooring cover so that it is easier for Mr.P. to get back on the boat which then will get detailed and ready for pick up on May 16th.  Mr.P. is soooo clever.

OK. So we leave for lunch with me all chuffed up about progress, go to El Grande Rodeo one of our Favs, and then on to Lowe's for 100 ft hose and fittings to set up the watering system for the new trees. Quick stop at Kroger for lettuce and mushrooms (I'm making my variation on pasta puttanesca with fresh mushrooms, zuchinni, and spinach) and then to the Tractor Store.  As we are driving about I ask Mr.P. about the 39 gallon garbage bags which have become another expedition. We use these and they have disappeared from all stores. MR.P. was supposted to check Wade's.
"I forgot all about it"
"Ah, and you used to have such a sharp mind."
"That's the way it goes."
We're both laughing.  I comment that if anyone thinks they can get Mr.P.'s goat they are saddly mistaken.
So, at the Tractor Store, I stay in the car while Mr.P. goes to get the Baby Girl her treats.  He comes back and we're off to home. After about a mile Mr.P. says: "I don't want to hear any more about my mind.  I found the 39 gallon bags.  I saw a sign that said Hefty and I went and looked. I got two boxes of 25 each."  We're set for another year.
OK, no more about Mr.P.'s mind. You all hear that!!!!

A Day Among The Masses

It is not really my thing, I hate crowds, not overly fond of people and prefer to be home... However I ventured out yesterday and took in the local WTA Tennis tournament called the Family Circle Cup... The week of searching Craig's List ads led to great seats and a great day. Sadly, my favorite as well as the favored player was hurt early in the first set of the first Semi Final match (Caroline Wozniacki). None the less fun was had by all. We were even able to see the Blue Angels that were preforming here in Charleston as well this weekend. It is a perfect day here, 70, sunny, and a slight wind... These are the days when I know why I live hear. Summer is on it's way so I am sure you will be hearing about the ungodly humidity in no time.

Two Weeks to OBX

In two weeks the Ducksters will be reunited at OBX, that's the Outer Banks for you non-middle Atlantic folks.  There is so much to do here first. Get the spring pruning done (butterfly bush and crape myrtle--I'm late on that), weed and spread mulch, get the porch furniture out, etc. etc not to mention the inside stuff plus actually getting the OBX stuff together and ready to go. So, what do I do, I buy three Cleveland Select Ornamental Pear trees for the edge of the old garden area.  I love these trees and they are all over here. They bloom in very early spring (already done) and they turn lovely reds and maroons in the fall. Their growth is very upright with a tear drop shape to the limbs.  They are often used in urban street scapes due to their upright shape and rapid growth. I got these from Vaughan's in Dublin (VA not Ireland) where I know the owners and love talking with them -- two sisters. Fortunately, I was smart enough to bite the bullet and have them plant them. Paid for them yesterday and Sherry Vaughan said maybe in a week or so they could get it done.  I reminded her--two weeks to OBX.  Now for folks in this area to say you are going to the beach (we always ask Myrtle or OBX--this is VERY different and tells alot about who you are) is like saying I'm on a pilgrimage and people take it seriously. So, low and behold Sherry calls about 11AM  to say, "We can be there by 1PM today to plant."  Mr.P. and I were just getting ready to go to lunch and take a bunch of old electronics to the e-recycling (remember I'm also cleaning out the storage room) which ends at 3PM.  This is county sponsored and only happens once or twice a year so missing this is not a joke.

 We strategize. If we wait and try to do everything together, we'll be eating lunch at 3PM.  So, I send off Mr.P. with the electronics (YES !!!, getting rid of something more) and go out to connect hoses, etc.  Also, while waiting I decide to get the area rug down in CD's bedroom for Mr.P's treadmill. Good move because just as I get the carpet on the pad, the door bell rings and they are here about 15 minutes early. Great !!! There is hope for a lunch by 2PM.  So, Sherry's son and two helpers get on the job (which was fantastic, planted,mulched and staked) and by 1:30 we're good to go.  No, Mr.P.  I come in and see he's called and call back.  OK  He's in this long line of folks with huge loads of electronics and is only two away from drop off. He's been waiting over half an hour.  OK. My back hurts from shifting stuff around and doing some weeding so I can move on to the mulch. I sit down with the heating pad on my back and do a little reading (yes, on the Kindle) and am just dosing off when Baby Girl does the "DADDY'S HOME" jump off the bed.  Wash hands, brush teeth and hair and change shirt. We're good to go.
We're just sitting down at one off our favs BT's when Mr. P. looks at his watch and says, "You said we'de be eating at 3PM and its two minutes of."  It's amazing what you do to meet the OBX deadline and keep moving on the at home agenda. Mr.P. is a brick. Don't you just love that man. I do.

Vacation Time

So as you know I was on vacation for my birthday a few weeks back. It is hard coming off of vacation and returning to normal life. My friend Kelly and I have decided every weekend will be vacation time, no chores allowed. All chores must be accomplished during the week. Last night I did two hours of chores and feel like I accomplished so much more in a day than I normally do. I will let you know how this goes but it does feel good on a Saturday afternoon to just say, no I can't, I am on vacation... I am just about recovered back into the day-day so it may hard to maintain this, I am a doer, I love to work, I love to build things, fix things, make things. I love using my hands it's who I am... Vacation time is oh so tempting though.....

A Wild Night

Thursday evening after getting home from a banquet, we finally all got settled down to sleep about midnight. Now, we all know that the Baby Girl does not like her routine disrupted so it came as no surprise that she was restless.Mama and Papa (Mr.P. and Me N.Duckster) are supposed to stay home, provide her with treats,total pack time, and much attention.  Around 4:30 AM she got Mr.P. up who let her out. Mr.P. has come to insist that he be the one to do this chore (bless his heart) since I have trouble falling back to sleep. I got up to go to the bathroom and just as I was getting back into bed the phone rings and I pick it up.  Well, Mr P is already on this and I hear "Go back to bed Darling. I'm on the phone with the sheriff's office." OK, that is not really what a wife needs to hear.  He comes back to bed and I pounce on him "What was that all about?"
"They got a 911 hang up call from our number."

Now, two things: we get strange hang up calls all the time. I've decided its Verizon's spastic telephone service.  The other is that based on my work, the sheriff's office is likely to move into possible domestic violence protocol. I mean-- Husband answers. Wife picks up phone. Husband does not let wife speak.  So, now I am totally awake.  Sure enough about 20-30 minutes later (hey we live out in the country) I see lights.  Maybe its the paper  being delivered? Nope.  Finally, there are lights being flashed directly into the house and the door bell rings. Baby Girl is on full alert. I know I'll have to go talk to the deputy---but with 90 lbs of barking lab at my side. I open the sliding door to the balcony and step out. The Baby Girl charges out in full "I'm protecting my mom from you" mode.  The deputy is satisfied that there is no immediate danger except maybe to him (or he thinks we are a couple of nut jobs who do random things like call 911 and hang up) and leaves after saying "Have a good morning."  Easy for you to say,buddy.  Baby Girl and I got back to bed in time to get up.  What a night. We're getting too old for these kinds of adventures. Actually its good to know that our Sheriff's office  takes everything seriously.  What if something really had been wrong.

Letting Go Is The Hardest Part

My brother gave me a stack of ones for my birthday, bound and all. Giving them to the teller at the bank just about broke my heart.... I used to work in a bank so I should not have the weird attachment some people have to bound bills. I do apparently and it was oh so hard to give them up! They are safely deposited, and with Dad's gift card Weber grill here I come! Perhaps I will love it more than the bills?

Dog Lovers Must Read

"The Art of Racing in The Rain" I picked this up at Costco for my vacation, I didn't crack it until the last day as I was very far behind on Newsweek... I started to cry about a page in, put it down as it was not a beach read, picked it up and somehow finished the first chapter in tears. I was at this point unsure if I was ever going to read it again. I closed it until I returned home on Sunday afternoon. I promptly read about half the book and enjoyed every moment of it. I finished it last night and if you have ever loved a dog it is a MUST read...

Fun Times

One of my most favorite places I have ever been, I never tire of it and always enjoy it. It is this quaint village on Siesta Key in South West FL on the Gulf of Mexico.
This sign is new and come to find out the village itself has an association. Spring Break was in full swing which made the people watching even more fun and spectacular... Spring Break should be mandatory for all working adults!

Bed Head

You so easily forget how much you love sleeping in your own home in your own bed.... I just returned from ten days away, I think the sleep I got last night mattered more than the previous nine...

The New Floor

The Floor Half Way Done

            Getting Excited

YEAH !!!!!  IT'S DONE

The new floor in CD's room got put in and we are in the process of getting things put back to normal.  There is some heavy lifting involved which is hard on both on both Mr. P. and me.  It is really hard on his breathing although  his checkup this past week found him to be in great shape for an old man (not my words Mr.P.).  With me its my back and knees. Since I've been beavering around down stairs trying to get the study back in order that required some lifting and shoving not to mention drilling and screwing some new brackets for the repurposed book shelves.  Even with nine boxes gone there are still plenty of books. Good friend V. asked how many and I just kind of stared into space. There are two walls full so I'd have to give it in feet of shelving not numbers. So I'm already a little stiff and sore. Also, big bad weeks at the office with deadlines, deadlines, deadline, but that is for another blog.

Yesterday I found an interim area rug for under Mr.P.'s treadmill.  Looked at Lowe's, Target, and WalMart.  Ended up with Walmart. This PM as soon as we got home from Five Guy s (Mr.P.'s fav  food) we moved two shelves back into the closet

and then a small Queen Ann desk that I use as a sewing table.  I hope to make the closet a small sewing room so that all that will not be out in the guest room.   Then we moved an old chest of drawers out of the middle of everything to up against the opposite wall  for MrP.'s TV to go with the treadmill (Hey, this is serious stuff.)  So, thank you Mr.P. for helping me get this moving.  The part I like best is the whole new look of the step up into the hallway.   It's so clean compared to the old step of green carpet and brown mop board.

 I can hardly wait until I can get everything out of there and truly start decorating. Up 'til now such a hodge podge of stuff.  As time goes by I'll probably even get into replacing doors and windows.  A new lounge chair, a new TV.  My problem is once I start on a room I really get into it and start escalating the requirements.  This started out as just the floor, then the new crown molding and of course new mop board and spray painting the heating unit. There are marks on the walls from laying the floor that have to be touched up as well which may lead to a new paint job. Ultimately, I want fabric to be old gold to terra cotta but that could change as things evolve.  For now the furniture is all blond oak or pine. No more troll cave. YES!!!

Fred

Taken with my beloved IPhone it has no zoom, sorry.... He lives another day, no sun today so it was a suprise he was out. We are now looking for his mother.

One Gator - Two Gator

I found a gator on Monday and my friend Kelly said it looked dead. I agreed with this but to make sure I went by on Tuesday to check on things. Sure enough he was still there and appeared not to have moved. I concured with her assessment and went to a St. Patrick's day dinner with friends and neighbors and told them of the dead alligator. One dinner patron was SO very excited about this, he wanted the gators head. Wanted me to go get it for him, now I don't scare easy but that's WAY out of my league. Kelly goes by on Thursday and he is gone, someone must have called DNR right? I had asked someone to do this so the missing dead gator is not suprising at all. Its beautiful here today, I mean a perfect perfect spring day. It's 70, no humidity and a bit of a breeze without a cloud in the sky. Off we head on our bikes and come upon the spot of the dead gator and suprise he nownamed Fred is there. Guess he wasn't dead at all, glad my friend didn't head over there with his chainsaw and try to chop his head off. Can you imagine trying to chop a live gators head off?

CD's Room

THE "BEAUTIFUL" GREEN CARPET AND THE MUCH BETTER CONCRETE FLOOR

As I said we are doing some work in the house. This past week Monday and Tuesday we had my guys create a continuous cornice across all the sliders in the great room facing the lake. This is about 30 feet of windows and they have had vertical blinds hung since we did the massive addition about 20 years ago. I know this is not the current "look" but they really really do the job in the summer. The windows face west and the house gets very warm in the afternoons which is great in the winter but not so good in the summer. So the new cornice was to add some chicness and a slicker line. I plan to hang drapes between the windows, giving an even more continuous integrated looked.

As usual my guys Bobby and Maverick thought I was slightly nuts. I had designed this when we were last on the OBX in November and had sketched it out for CD and my good friend V. who is also an avid home decorator/crafty woman (she made three awesome stained glass windows for the house) They both thought it was a great idea. As usual when Bobby and Maverick (yes that truly is his name) were done, they were over the moon with themselves. Maverick kept standing and looking and saying "That really looks good, that really really looks good." Yup, the kid still has it. No pix on this. Shooting against the windows washes it all out.

Then they moved on to the main event. The floor in CD's room. Now, this involved the long planned clean out of the big walk in closet back there. This had followed a week of carting books (9 boxes) to the library for their annual book sale in order to clean out my study in order to rearrange the furniture down there. Any how, 6 boxes of clothes, 4 large bags of bedding, and 24 pieces of clothing on hangers went to Goodwill as well as the 20+ year old Nordic Track. Then moving as much furniture as possible into the closet and some into Mr.P.'s study. Saturday we went to Lumber Liquidators where we got the bamboo flooring which involved an hour trip each way. The trip back was tense-ish because we had a heavy load. I wanted to go to this neat restaurant but we couldn't find it. Returning Mr.P. thought the wheels were over heating and we stopped to check that out. Nope, false alarm. Great price on the bamboo. We're ready to rock and roll. Bobby and Maverik got the bed out and into Mr.P.'s room, Mr.P.'s treadmill into the closet as well as an L shaped book case my dad made me when I was a little girl. So, the room's cleaned out. Next step, get the beautiful (I am totally kidding here) sculpted dark moss green carpet out. As you can see above the concrete itself is a huge improvement. Thursday Mr.P. had to make a flying trip back to Lumber Liquidators for mastic and the moisture barrier. Friday AM the moisture barrier went down. Monday we start laying the floor. YES!!!!

Other work done. White crown molding to cover the brown skimpy crown mold. That in itself was a huge improvement. The baseboard heating cover painted white and new white baseboard, deeper and more substantial. The danger for me is to not stop once I start. I'll probably want to replace the doors in there especially the closet door. But, with the floor done its the last of the truly ugly parts of the old section of the house. More on this later.

Just want you to know that right now nearly every room in this house has something stuffed in it and or out of place due to the weeks of work. Mr.P. is huddled in his study surrounded by a stack of mattresses and bits and pieces of furniture. Sorry sweetheart.

Excuse Me?

Today while at the office, Calli who lets no one she doesn't know extremely well get anywhere near her let a complete stranger pet her. I was walking by my co-workers office to get some water and looked over and see Calli sitting in front of a client with her hand on my dogs head. My jaw literally dropped open I mean this has never happened she usually runs from people when they come in and hides behind my chair. My co-worker must have seen the look on my face and proceeds to try and explain to the client that she has just done the impossible. She really doesn’t understand the magic act she just performed but we were well aware. After I recovered and picked myself up off the floor I had a moment of real pride. It seems almost like perhaps my little girl is growing up. I am still quite confident this new found bravery with strangers does not apply to children.

Spring has Sprung

I think these trees are called red buds, not sure but I do love them....

Fish with Friends

Over the weekend I partook in one of the most exciting events Charleston has to offer, it is the annual food and wine festival. (http://www.charlestonwineandfood.com/new/) It is in its fifth year and I go as often as possible. It has grown and changed a lot through the years but this year it feels as if it has really come into its own. It is one of the countries top events for food and wine and its an amazing opportunity for the city. Charleston is well respected for its eateries and hospitality so pairing them with new and interesting wine and wine makers is a stroke of genius. We chose a chefs tasting on Friday night at a restaurant called Fish a restaurant none of my friends nor I had ever been too. Fish is a locally owned restaurant on King Street in downtown Charleston and it's head chef is Nico Romo, he was very recently bestowed the distinct honor of Master French Chef. (http://charlestonwineandfood.com/new/index.php/personalities/category/charleston_chefs/?category=charleston_chefs) His guest chef and his own personal GOD was Jose Gutierrez of River Oaks (http://www.riveroaksrestaurant.com/)  The dinner included five courses paired with wonderful wines from the recently damaged country of Chile and the Montes Vineyard. The Chilean wines and the story of the vineyards made it much more touching as they just recently suffered a devastating earthquake. The Montes Vineyard was damaged and they sadly lost a lot of there amazing wine. We actually had the honor of having one of the last cases of their Gewurztraminer 2008 desert wine. The whole evening was special right down to the company, but the wine and the wine representative really made it a more memorable evening. The wine rep was Carlos Serrano of Montes Premium Wines (http://www.monteswines.com/) he was so very informative, articulate, and enjoyable and I learned a great deal from him and am thankful he was a part of the experience.
We also learned a great deal about the chef of Fish including his becoming a Master French Chef and passion for sustainability from our charming server. My one friend was so excited about what she was learning that she sadly spilled her last glass of wine, (Montes Limited Selection Pinot Noir 2008 from Casablanca, Chile) all over me and the table... Don't worry it came out and either way no damage done as its just a piece of cloth! One of the appetizers we were served was mini frog leg gougere buns, I have never eaten frog legs, probably never would have if it was not for this experience, and I can assure you I most definitely never will again. All I can or will say is they DON'T TASTE like CHICKEN.

How to Decorate a Treadmill?

The ducksters are desperately seeking suggestions on this, I pose this question to our followers and eagerly await your suggestions...
NDuckster has been working very hard over the weekend on her back bedroom the one I sleep in when I visit. She and Mr. P have done a tremendous amount of work over the weekend and this is a problem they, mostly ND needs help on.

Simply Amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w&feature=player_embedded

Campfire notes

CD is on the phone and we are trouble shooting that blogspot seems to be having issues today. And, I saw a gadget for a slideshow on the blog and now I can't find it. Cwap.

CD "Size does matter " (she means a drill) In addition to trouble shooting we are redesigning two rooms in my house while dissecting crazy minutia of day to day life plus people's character.

We're both in the blog now.

CD "I'm up, up. I love the tulips and the vase. What a good choice. Wow!!! Look at Calli. She's beautiful.

Now she's into the duck bottles. I didn't notice. They are seasonal.. ... You know I don't drink wine and want them. YES!!!!

Mr.P. will be coming to bed soon. He's moved the beginning to middle stages of bed going. We will have to get off. CD just said "Go to bed."

Night.

April Showers...

Here in SC we get all the gifts of spring early, these tulips were a gift from my friend Chery about a week ago. I love Tulips and I have talked about growing them forever but just never done it. When I first moved here I bought a bag and placed them in the fridge (something I was told to do) and left them there for... oh 5 years until I moved. It's hard you are supposed to plant the bulbs after the first freeze but who wants to dig in dirt when it’s freezing? The vase is the one purchased on my mini vaca with MD and mentioned by Nduckster early in her blog.

Lucky Duck

This was an awesome find by my friend Kelly while grocery shopping the other day. I bought them just for the bottles and the Ducks on them. I love wine so this was hardly a sacrifice, they were very inexpensive and I am truly afraid of the wine they contain but I had to own them.

Just the Right Light

Taken on Calli's perch at my father's house in FL, she can watch all the birds from there, another favoirte pasttime of hers. Oh and it has rained all day and will continue into tomorow.

The Kindle

And so, I bought a Kindle. CD's response when I told her was "All I can say is, Oh my lord." Meanwhile Mr. P. was egging me on. What brought this about. A confluence of things.

First, I have a large collection of books at my office dealing with issues of race, class, gender, social inequality and environmental justice. I've read them and they really aren't being used. I've let the staff have at them and they took a few books but not enough to make a dent. I've tried to give them to a several different worthy place like Elderspirit in Abingdon and Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee. No, takers. These books are a step up from what should go to Goodwill or something like that. About 5 years ago, students from Appalachian State took a huge number of books when I retired from the University.

Second, last week my guys who are friends of mine were laid off for a week from the plant where they work. This means they were coming to my house to do some stuff for me. They are really very good at what they do which includes plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and general renovation skills. One of the thing that needed being done was to replace the baseboard heating unit in my study which required moving furniture,including book cases full of books. I got up early Saturday specifically to get this done thinking no big deal. Yeah, right. I'd already emptied one book case and only had one more to go, or so I thought. Then I got into it and found I needed to move a third and this is a big heavy one with lots of books. Now, I have to put it all back together but I need to keep it all away from the heating unit which requires a total rearrange which means, yup, finding a home for a whole bunch of books.

THE BOOK THAT MADE IT HAPPEN

Third. I've enjoyed reading science fiction and fantasy since I read all the Wizard of Oz books in fourth grade. Now some of these books are really good and keepers but a lot are like peanuts and popcorn. You just run right through them and throw the bag away. Well, that just happened with a book I thoroughly enjoyed and is the first of several in the series. When I got on Amazon to order up I just could see moving these books around which I doubt I would ever read again. Now as a bibliophile and a professor, getting rid of books is really really hard. And, as I have already written the Ducksters love their books, the look, the feel, the sense of them. I couldn't face not having any books--although that would truly lighten the load.

So there I was looking at the Kindle on line, my hand hovering over the "add to cart" button. Mr.P. is saying "What are you waiting for. Just do it." I'm totally indecisive. To me it makes huge sense ecologically and you can order another book when you run out. But then I think what if you run out of juice and you don't have your charger. You will be totally SOL. And, then I think what about my page points (a very neat way of marking must reread passages) and what about book markers (I'm partial to chopstick paper covers--some are truly beautiful). Somehow, I can't see marking where I stopped electronically. So, I reached a compromise. There are some authors I collect and know I will reread. These will still get bought as books. Other popcorn and peanut books ( what I have called confections) that you toss off as a treat will get ordered on the Kindle. We'll see what happens.

They did it. Canada wins gold in men's curling!!!!!

Kevin Martin Skip

Johnny Morris
Mr. P. is a verra, verra happy man. Canada won the gold in men's curling. Although there is no doubt that Kevin Martin, the skip, is the hero of the day, Johnny Morris, who threw triples and doubles was a huge asset. Not to mention he is a hunk and recently voted the most eligible bachelor in Canada.

Today was a major tutorial for me as Mr.P. (who once skipped an 8 rock end) and I "played" curling with salt packets and peanuts with a napkin as the house (target to you non curling fans) in Five Guys. Learning the lingo is a big part of understanding curling but learning the strategy which I am now much, much better at is a much bigger deal. Once you understand more and more about this then the game becomes fascinating. Mr.P. loves teaching me the strategy. Although I don't yell at the TV, I do talk to it under my breath and understand why rocks that look like they have not really done anything significant are in fact strategically important. Thanks Mr.P. I'd watch curling with you anytime, well almost. Now hockey, that's another situation entirely and tomorrow that's what's on tap.

Canadian family....YEAH!!!!!!!

Afternoon Delight's

Jake loves beer, I mean he really loves beer, he will take your bottle if you put it down, he will paw your leg until you give him some, he has even been know to bark at you until you comply. I am not exactly sure how he obtained such a fondness for it but it is a strong and long pastime. He even has a toy that make the sound of a beer can being opened and poured, it is of course his favorite toy. My father indulges him in this habit any time he can, he even sent Jake a can of beef for his birthday. Jake and my dad are buddies, they sit and have afternoon cocktails and snacks when ever they are together. Jake has been on a diet though lately and thus no beer, its also been winter so its wine season. Today though Jake and my father shared a afternoon cocktail... No beer but he also loves Vodka cubes, straight from dad's glass to Jake' mouth..... A little afternoon delight for all!

Family

My father and brother are in town for my brothers 30th, them being here is special. I get that not a lot of people are as close as my family, most don't have this closeness I do, I am truly grateful for what I have. We had and excellent dinner at an awesome restaurant in downtown Charleston (http://www.oaksteakhouserestaurant.com/), not somewhere I often travel. Kevin opened gifts upon our return home and he loved them. Up until this am I was stumped about his gift, I pride myself on being a good gift giver, not always the most expensive but always the most thoughtful, I prefer thoughtful, I try to give thoughtful. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, nothing...... Late this am I got an email from Coach and click.... What better a gift than a wallet he will have for the next decade and more, what better a way to remember this momentous birthday. What you don't know about me is I LOVE birthdays, they are your day, the only day we really ALL get that is ALL about us the individual, I Love them. OK, full disclosure, about ten years ago I made my birthdays into birthday weeks. This in time has taken flight, we all now have birthday weeks, I do this better than any and I am special so I now have birthday Month... well I did until I turned 30, I haven't aged a day since... LOL

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4 Minus 4 Plus 4 = TIRED

Saturday night I was asked to travel the next day to Jacksonville, NC I accepted this invite along with my good friend. It was a game time call and while it was a lot in one day it was worth every moment and I am thankful I didn't have to travel it alone. Up there was four hours, we then spent four hours in what I am told is the STD capital of the world and then back the four hours. Yes, exhausting but sometimes you just have to do what is right. It was a gorgeous day for a drive, the company perfect, and the Bonefish dinner at the end didn't hurt either!

CDuckster's house gift

THE 2010 HOUSE GIFT

As CD mentioned she tends to bring a house gift. One year it was a 5" high see-no- evil monkey in copper colored metal (it's by the TV), one year it was a cricket on a stick for the garden (in the ornamental grass by the compost shed) and last year a short chunky ruby red glass candle column which was the source of much candle experimentation and adventures in Michael's and Pier One for other columns, decorative rocks, and such. This year it is this glass vessel with wooden ball stopper.

Now, everything the Ducksters do is an adventure. We don't just DO stuff we adventure stuff. So, the first thing was where to put this vessel from her favorite store Celedon and what to put in it. That was fairly straight forward. The master bedroom and sea glass. This room is done in grey blues and sages with white furniture from West Elm and Pottery Barn and has an OBX theme without getting beachie. There are also some Asian overtones with a large white ceramic Buddha head on one night stand and a very large white ceramic classic seated Buddha on a corner shelf high on the wall. The OBX theme comes from 6 retro posters of places on the Outer Banks acquired from a fav store there, The Cottage Shop in Duck. So beach glass it is.

I had some in the storage room and put it in. It looks OK but it's of the flat variety and there wasn't enough. So off to Michael's to buy beach glass (which of course is really tumbled frosted glass fragments) with Mr.P. as chauffeur. This requires a side trip to Five Guys for Mr.P. and general fortification for shopping. We also hit a store for dried mushrooms and oolong tea in bulk en route. Both Michael's where we did get the sea glass and TJ Max where CD bought a very interesting swirlie yellow glass vase were packed and the traffic was the pits. Ah yes, the first Saturday with no snow. Everyone was out and about.

Got the sea glass home and out of their little mesh bags when CD says, "They're all dirty. See how shiny they are when wet."

I go, "That's not dirt that's just the frosted effect."

"No,no, we've got to wash them."

OK. So I get a large bowl. Put them in and run water all over them. CD grabs some and says "See, they look better." I let them soak in the water for a while and then get out a big colander and pour them out. Now, I've got about six pounds of wet glass nuggets. I put them back in the bowl and try to think how to dry them. Finally, I spread out a dish towel and pour the nuggets all over the towel, flattening out and separating them as best I can. I leave nature to do the rest.

The next morning they are dry and voila--the lovely effect you see above. They are not shiny, it was the frosted effect but as CD said "well, now we know they are clean."