rude or ruder?

so is it rude or ruder to send someone an occasion card after the occasion? on the one hand, you didn't care enough to send it on time, but they didn't know it until they got the card. on the other hand, they figure you didn't get them a card, and SURPRISE! here it is. and who isn't happy to get real, paper mail addressed to you by a friendly or even loving hand? what do you think?

ducks on parade

today my ducks, all three of them, were under what i call "the barn." it's 14 x 14 ft., so you can see if doesn't in the least qualify as a barn. a more honest and less imaginative person would call it a "shed." and i admire those people.

as i said, the ducks were under the barn, and i went out to fill up a large rubbery plastic kind of thing that looks like a horse trough. i think maybe that IS the purpose for which they stock it at the agri-supply. i fill it up every day for the ducks to keep their bills and eyes clean (i bet you didn't know that they have no eyelids), and also for them to dip and dunk at their pleasure.

i called them, "duuuuuuuucklets!" and they came, all three of them in formation, out from under the barn. i didn't know that my dog was sitting right behind me, and so as soon as they saw the dog, they turned on the same step and walked together right back out of sight under the barn. no squawking or any other type of undignified behavior, just a polite, "no, thank you just the same."

in case you're interested.....

sour dough starter: mix 1 C unbleached flour with 1 C warm water. every 24 hours throw away half of mixture and feed it with 1/2 C unbleached flour and 1/2 C warm water. after about four days it should have a pleasant sour or slightly beery smell. if not, carry on a couple more days. if so, put it in the frig. to use, take out and bring to room temp. add 1/2 C unbleached flour and 1/2 C water and mix well. it is ready to use in any of your sourdough recipes. be sure you leave some behind to keep feeding for next time.

yogurt: 3 C whole milk, 1 C half and half, 1 t. unflavored gelatin, 1/2 powdered milk, 3-4 T yogurt. you can adjust the fat content (not everyone wants high fat yogurt like i do) by using any kind of milk you don't feel guilty about, although i hear that full fat yogurt is in style this year. blend the powdered milk into the other milk. soften gelatin in 1/4 C cold water. take everything (EXCEPT THE YOGURT) and put it in a pan. heat just until it starts steaming. let cool off to lukewarm, then gently mix in yogurt. this yogurt will yog (YES, yog) nicely in a yogurt machine, or you can put it in a canning jar in a gas oven, the pilot light will keep it warm enough. i even tried it with a heating pad once (forget it, it didn't work). yogging it for 12 hours will make a very sharp flavored yogurt. 6 hours for a mild yogurt, and anywhere in between for whatever you want. i left it in for 17 hours once and it took the enamel off my teeth.

sweet potato slips. take a sweet potato from the grocery store, suspend it in a jar of water with toothpicks (yes, just like you did when you were a kid). when you get a 3-4 inch "slip," cut it off with a little piece of the sweet potato attached and set it in potting soil. collect as many as you want/can. then when not only the danger of frost is past but the soil has warmed up (may in north carolina) plant your slips. they like to grow on a ridge covered with black plastic in cooler regions, to keep their roots nice a warm.

born to nurture

yes, i admit it and i'm ready to face the consquences. i was born to nurture all living things that come within my grasp. i can't help it. you think i wouldn't rather have been a cutthroat businesswoman? a wily politician? kate austin with a pistol tucked into the back of my pants? rather than a chubby grandma pottering around my kitchen making things grow?

well, there it is. i can't help it, it's my destiny.

here is how i know it must be true. in spite of four of my five children and three of my six (soon to be four of seven) grandchildren living near and needing nurturing occasionally, and in spite of a 1/4 acre garden and 1/2 acre of fruit: in my kitchen right now i have french bread rising, a homemade sourdough starter bubbling on the counter, and yogurt yogging (yes, yogging) in the yogurt maker. the thought of all of those little lactobacilli, yeasts, and other random microorganisms teeming in my kitchen makes me really happy. oh, and i also have an in-kitchen herb-garden-in-a-pot and about 12 sweet potato slips in my window sill, all growing and being happy. AND (almost forgot) milkweed seeds being cold treated in the frig so they can be planted in spring and attract butterflies for me to take care of. no, they're NOT doing fine by themselves. THEY NEED ME!!!

like i said, i can't help it.

what? why?

do you remember the episode of The Office titled "the dundies"? at the end, as angela drives away with pam in her car, jim waves them down the road and then just stands there, alone in the parking lot. the music comes up: "hold me closer, tiny dancer." and then i realize that my heart is broken from watching The Office.

this is not a microcosm of my life, or anything. wait. maybe it is. i reserve the right to change my mind about that if i want to. i had just made a new playlist on iTunes with sad songs on it, and tiny dancer is what was playing when i was thinking of a name for my blog. tomorrow it could be called "a rainy night in georgia" or "you don't know me."