Unexpected Customer at my Garage Sale

Well, if it ain't KK the villian!

He seemed to want to be a customer. He begged, he scampered, he inspected.

He rushed across the driveway, past the girlie jeans and dresses - proving that he was not a she. Unlike the cat I once had. After six months of having Mink the he, we realized it was Mink the she.

Truth be told, not even KK was interested in my crap. He just wanted to get at my stash of peanuts and I wasn't in the mood to share.

I sold a bagless vacuum cleaner, a Homedics massager, a pair of almost-new Merrell hiking boots, 3 pairs of girlie jeans, and a Graco booster seat for $5 each and a pair of white girl's platform sandals for $2. I spent $12 on a 10 year old jade plant and 50 cents on two books: a Calvin & Hobbes comic and The BFG by Roald Dahl, both classics in my opinion. The proceeds went to sponsor my friends John and Lisa for their Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. They need to raise $1,800 each and inching closer and closer to their goal. Please consider donating one of your chai or coffee money to this noble cause.

I can haz flowers too

...so what if two out of the only three flowers are weeds wildflowers. These are the best as they grow of their own accord in my yard their natural habitat.

I saw the Yellow Salsify, Tragopogon dubius, on one of my painful runs the other day. I considered running back to my car to get my camera but whichever way I went, the flower was a half mile from the car, making the round trip a whole mile. Too painful for this lazy flower enthusiast. So imagine my joy when I found this wildflower right outside my doorstep. A few steps to the camera, shoot, back indoors - bliss!


I wish I knew what wildflower this teeny white thing is. Each flower is about 1 cm in size. Heath family? Pea family? Allium? They are not Pearly Everlasting or Lesser Wintergreen based on whatever little I could unearth in my hours of research.

Three summers ago, I bought a teeny plant called Snow in Summer, Cerastium tomentosum, and it never fails to come up year after year. It has only one flower currently but there will be a carpet of white very soon.

No, really! I am not a bunch of sour grapes.

Disjointed in Spring

Spring in Colorado looks like this:


and this:

and allergies. I've been sneezing and with each year, it gets worse. That cottonwood up the street does not need to exist. Period.

Spring also brings back scurrying creatures. Pistachio's chubby grandson, Kaju-Kismis. Or KK the villian. Or Dammit-Just-Get-Off-My-Roof.

I've followed the path of that cob, from my neighbor's corn plant to my frontyard in fall, to the backyard in winter and now, hidden in a hole in my dogwood. This is my Judge's Entry to Jai and Bee's Click for Spring.

News flash: Starched cotton saris and a dryer are not friends. Make sure that visiting relatives from India are apprised of this deep rift.

For Smita: I haven't forgotten about the gajar halwa recipe. I've been buried in snow, work and now, starch. I hope that carrots remain in season by the time I post it!

And, you want to read about our hike to Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park. You have to.