Are We Walking to Alaska

Are We Walking to Alaska
Are We Walking to Alaska - A True Story

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Odd Little Jumbled Thoughts

Vee, at A Haven for Vee has done a cute post about Odd Little Jumbled Thoughts and wanted to know if we have any - oh - I have some.

It is so dark in Washington when there are clouds that the street lights come on, as if it were night time.  I've never seen clouds so thick before - that must be why it rains so hard and so much here - and therefore is very green.


As for green, most people in Washington (and especially quilters) think of green as a neutral color, we are surrounded by so much green.  There are lots of houses in Washington painted green, and almost none of them match the green of nature.



I have a clock that has a different bird song for each hour.  I have several friends that also have a bird clock - theirs are all alike - mine is not the same as theirs - I wonder how I found one that was so different.  We found it on sale in a drugstore one time.

I like clocks - I have several.  There is the good old alarm clock - but we don't like regular alarm sounds, so we got one with birds chirping, or frogs signing singing, or ocean sounds. I typed signing first and it amused me, so I left it in - frogs signing, that would be fun.   Much nicer to wake  up to nature sounds, except occasionally when it gets confused and turns the radio on at the same time as the alarm and you wake up to some announcer shouting above the frog sounds - that  is exciting and wakes you right up. 



 I have a mantle clock that I got at a yard sale - it sits on top  of my 1895 piano.  The lady that sold it said that her mother didn't want it anymore because the chime was so soft.  When I got it to the car I turned the volume up and it has been wonderful ever since. It chimes every quarter hour.



I also have a Cuckoo Clock - because I have three clocks that sound every hour, I have to set them a few seconds apart so I don't hear all three at once - bedlam!! So the Westminster Chime Clock on the piano goes off first, then the bird song clock and finally the Cuckoo Clock.  Some friends find it disconcerting - I find that I often haven't heard all three on the hour if my mind is busy.  I never can remember which clock is the actual correct time, but I  think it is the Bird Song - no - the Westminster Chime - oh well, at least I am approximately on time.


I have a clock in the kitchen shaped like a slice of bread.  It was purchased the Green Stamps over 40 years ago.  Our SIL recently put new innards in it and it is happily ticking away in the kitchen.  It doesn't make any sound, except for the soft ticking.  Whenever we've moved it didn't seem like home until the Bread Clock was hung.  Oops - Bread Clock seems to need a new battery.  That's what happens when you are quiet in this house.



In my studio I have a Kit Cat clock - his tail and his eyes go back and forth.  My cousin Linda gave him to me for Christmas one year.

Speaking of cousins, I have one named Penquin, and another named Cat - in case you were wondering.

Funny how these Odd Little Jumbled Thoughts lead to other Odd Little Jumbled Thoughts.

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I miss the Brown Pelicans that we had in California.  I don't know why there are none here - there are some in Seattle - and that is only 90 miles away.  I liked to see them skimming over the water.


I do have a little pelican that sits on some pilings, got him at a yard sale for 1.00.  Sometimes he visits the gnomes on the deck

Sometimes he is a table decoration

And right now he is sitting on the coffee table.

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Yesterday I pressed 104 pansies - and yes, I did count them.

Baskets and baskets of Pansies

It had been raining so hard for a week that I couldn't find a time when the pansies would be dry enough to pick.  Finally one night the wind blew all night and it didn't rain - so first thing the next morning I was on the deck picking pansies. Some had a little water droplet here and there but I dabbed those dry.


This is not a job you can put off - the flowers have to be put on the papers right away while they are still fresh.  


Pages and pages of pansies



This is the big bird book that I pressed them in - the black thing on the side is an electronic player -you program in the page number of the bird you are looking at and it plays the bird song - pretty clever, eh?  I am sure that this book weighs 847 pounds.

Some pansies with long stems - I just had to have a bouquet or two.


Then I baked an apple pie - just a thought.

And we bought a gigantic head of lettuce at the farmer's market two days later.  The  fork is for size comparison, you don't have to eat the lettuce right now if you aren't hungry.  I'm thinking those outer leaves will make the greatest tuna wraps - add some thinly sliced tomatoes and some avocado and you have a super wrap for lunch.  See what you missed today Julee?  Sorry you are not feeling well.

You can see the almost empty pie pan to the left of the head of lettuce.

So those are my Odd Jumbled Thoughts - things that flit through my head from time to time.  How about you - any thing odd and Jumbled you might want to share?

8 comments:

Kay said...

My thoughts: I love pressed pansies, and the fresh ones are beautiful, too. I'm an insomniac so the sounds of the hours passing in the night only feed the "Oh, no! I'm STILL not asleep!" worries. So I prefer quiet clocks. The pie looks delicious. We don't have streetlights here. Is it ever dark at night! Salad for lunch. . .and I'm growing lettuce that we can harvest before too long. . .

Nancy said...

What an awesome array of jumble. lol I could barely keep up. ;) I like the pansies part. My grandma's name was Pansy and they always make me think of her. And your pressed ones are beautiful.

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

I enjoyed your jumbled thoughts! We love clocks, too. We have two bird clocks exactly like yours, each in a different part of the house. We thought the cats would like them, but they don't seem to pay any attention. One of them is "off"--it doesn't play the right bird at the right hour. We've reset it multiple times, to no avail.

I love the pansies!!

Pondside said...

That was just fun! I like your odd thoughts - they were actually very interesting!

joy said...

My Mum also has the bird clock, maybe yours is different because you have the English version? What a lot of jumbled thoughts! What will you do with all those pressed pansies?
Joy xxx

Peggy said...

Isn't it amazing how our minds work! it's fascinating! Love your pelican.

Vee said...

Loved it! I didn't find it jumbled at all. I really enjoyed the discussion of the ticking clocks. I have an old Sessions mantel clock and I would so love it if we had it up and going. It has the most lovely half-hour strike and then it strikes or bongs out the hours. My husband thought it would keep him awake, but I don't think so. Many a time I've missed all those hours ticking off. (I'm here because of Nancy.)

Debra at HOMESPUN: http://www.thehomespun.com said...

I just saw a bird clock like that the last time I visited the local thrift store!
I love the cuckoo clock..reminds me of one that my aunt and uncle had from Germany when I was a child.
I came over looking for your pressed pansies...the pie was a bonus :)

Nancy over a A Rural Journal has a Random 5 Party every Friday...posts like this ( if they total 5 ) are perfect for such a party. She started it a month or so ago. It's fun :)