Fried Chairs...Well Almost!

In my last post there was within some snarky words about fleas.  Well, we have some un-mentionable (I will not name the maker.) office chairs at our dinner table and at my desk that have now been infested.  We have wood or laminate floors and I treat our beds naturally, but these little devils are driving me crazy!

So since I use Borax in the laundry with very HOT water to control them in our clothes and my husband suggested today that we should try his dry box for plastic and heat them for three hours above 150 degrees...I'm for anything right now!  So by 5 PM we will have very cooked, chairs!!!  ;-)

Hey, I'm game for anything right now!

Those Cool Summer Breezes

Today was a lovely day.  Low humidity and soft breezes.  That's what June use to be in the upper Midwest when I was a child.  Now, these days are rare and we usually experience the high humidities and heat indices that are the sign of my children's June weather experiences.

During the late fifties and early sixties June use to mean temperatures in the seventies and low eighties with low humidities and lovely cool nights.  Evenings for heading off to the beach with friends and building bonfires to keep warm!  The hot days of summer were restricted to those days at the end of July and August and were actually very few in number.  Each year we'd only get maybe one or two ninety degree days, now they are becoming more and more a common an occurrence every summer that passes.

For me, the mystery and joys that filled those early summer days came from the cool days for wandering down by the creek and catching cray fish, or enjoying the thick black muck areas that often held  the best surprise of those days, the many lady slippers that were spattered across the much and moss like a painter's brush drippings on that field of browns and greens.

I miss those cooler times as the heat increases with each passing day.  But that's summer, I guess.

The Attack of The Killer Fleas!

Flea infestations can be nasty.  Especially since I get bit and react to them all the time!  We've been through all the natural ways (Baking soda, salt, Borax, and so many other thing!) over the past few weeks, which sadly did very little for killing the nasty critters in the house, but I do find that I get a little respite if I rub down with baking soda!  LOL!

I treat my dogs with stuff from the vat and always have.  But I'm outside more in this weather as they are and I'm sure I'm bringing many in myself.  Funny thing is this seems to happens about every five years and it take 2 months to totally rid the house, and me, of these dread invaders!  

Because of the last infestation five years ago we got rid of the wall to wall carpeting.  We now have only small patches of indoor/outdoor stuff which gives the dreaded fleas no real place to hide - according to the experts that is.

All that's left to us are the nasty treatments, and they are getting all too desirable at the moment.  I did the bomb the rooms affected last night, and it did make it somewhat better.  But I seem to be constantly vacuuming these days to get a bit of a respite.  We're now dealing with the hatching (and re-hatching!) out of all the millions of eggs. Hopefully once that is over we'll be free again.

I've bought a LARGE can of Deep Woods Off and flea stuff for walls and furniture as well.  Now, I'm hunkering down and am ready for the long fight, over how many weeks it will take!

 We will win!!  LOL!  ....I HATE fleas!

A City's Rebellion Against the National Media!

Today, on the way home from Grand Rapids, the big city I live about 30 miles from I heard this crazy NPR story - on of all things the City of Grand Rapids or Gr as many of us call it.  If you haven't heard the story about how Newsweek (yeah, the magazine!) quoted another source and said it was dying and it riled the city every so slightly so they decided to let the world know that we had talent, and fun too!

In the video are all kinds of local celebrities as well as man pain folks too!  So check out the video Roger Ebert says is, "the greatest music video ever made!"  ENJOY!

Lip Dub to "Bye Bye Miss American Pie," by Don McLean

Adele!

I'm usually not much for popular music these days, but one new singer is making waves in both the pop arena, and some even say she is finding a fit with her music within the jazz realm and I find her voice something fresh in a world of duplicates these days.

Who's the special singer that is hitting all the high notes both in the UK and here in the States?  Another one name wonder - Adele.

If you haven't heard her yet you should check her out!  I heard her first in a recent NPR interview that was really something else.  She's a regular Brit, with an edgy sound that really grabs whether it's with a pounding beat, or a ballad that holds you close.  I personally love the grit in her voice that is so gorgeous while being so real too.  She's not the rail skinny star, and at the same time goes way beyond what we consider totally beautiful musically.

The NPR interview is a great place to get a taste of her music - check it out! http://www.npr.org/2011/04/18/133687905/adele-tiny-desk-concert

A Gorse is a Gorse, of Course, of Course!

Gorse weed, Gorse (Ulex europea) is native to Ireland.  According to our Guide on the tour, Joe it’s a noxious weed of deadly beauty. It resists attempts to eliminate it. This thorny plant is not only difficult to handle, but, at certain times of the year, generates within its tissues a natural flammable oil. In 1936, this characteristic all but doomed the tiny town of Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. It is not certain how the fire started, but the Gorse burned furiously and within hours the inferno had consumed 484 of the 500 buildings that made up this small town as well. Much of this weed has finally been controlled by the commercial development that has happened here.  It has deprived even this hearty weed of a habitat.  Note the small picture taken in the county prior to the fire.  The same spot today is covered with pavement, homes and a whole neighborhood, which leaves no room for the weed!

This is a picture I took along the road in Ireland and   as you can see the Gorse still has a hold here along the roads and within the  hedgerows in many counties.

The funniest thing comes from how my granddaughter and I came to remember the name of the weed which of course gives us the title of this article.  I am a connoisseur of sorts when it comes to the old television show theme songs and remember many of them all too well.  The lyric I used came from a very old show called "Mr. Ed" (Who was of course a talking horse!), hence my very strange title. 

Soccer Grandmoms

We've all heard of the soccer moms that are the driving force today amongst the young and upwardly mobile with children these days.  Hey, they were the moving force in the last two presidential elections, right?  Well I am a soccer grandmom and I love it!  There is no need to be crazy I can just cheer and knit when I want, or get up and follow the action on the field too if I want too.

The best part of being a soccer grnadmom is I can go crazy with the wins and no one cares!  This job sure has it's perks!