joy from chatterbox the bird
Top of the Morning to Ya!
Woke up feeling this hum inside.......it is joy. Extraordinary thing joy.........
Bid farewell to my 2012 calendar......beautiful photos and verses from the book of Psalms. Said hello to my 2013 calendar........beautiful nature shots featuring birds. They didn't share what the birds are, so I will be playing guess the bird ......all the while wondering if this company tossed me the bird.......knowing that I am just a wee bird myself......... who called me a birdbrain........??????? hey!!!!! l o l !!!
God is washing my little corner of the world.......this morning he has us on a gentle cycle, soft drops of rain to start us off this first day of two thousand thirteen. how lovely.
Rio is perched on the windowsill contemplating his remaining lives. Annie is tucked up on the edge of the music counter.......she's playing Queen of the World. They were racing a little while ago.........Annie usually takes the high road.....up on the bed, the dresser, the couch while Rio races on the lower inside track......Annie pounces........Rio flies. They have such a good time together. So glad Annie has a little brother. So is the little brother! He likes it here.
I don't want you to lose any remaining respect you might have for me, but sometimes I talk really silly to these animals. Little made up cat songs and doofy nicknames. A family is a family is a family. We're family in this little woodsy nest. .....ok, so most of you probably already suspected I am a silly talker, no worries.
Rio still hurls his furry little dark gray self at my lap......stares up at me and talks about his small troubles. Annie is investigating something in the corner, please do not let it be something alive.... Critters, teensy tiny critters like to sneak in and warm themselves.......try to remain calm, cool and collected, play catch n release --- not do the girl shudder.......but oh hohohohoho, not fond of bugs. Only a few squirrels running about today, the birds are all tucked up somewhere cozy I hope. Where do they all go, when the mighty trees lose their foliage? I know they fly south, but this is the South......so where are they? I'm an idiot. I can live with it.
I hummed my way through my little daily chores and turned the oven on. Put the roast beast (so named by little girl growing up Sara, she also called it "that brown meat", but never pot roast) in the pan, then I prepped four fresh carrots, chopped up some cabbage......added water, foil and slid it in to roast slow. Three hours from now it will be tender, nourishing, tasty.......come on over! Set a spell......we can whistle or whittle or nap.......we can sit on the porch swing or stay inside, it's 46 degrees right now........either way I have lots of soft blankies. Try to never stray far from softness around here. The world has enough hard edges, in this nest we aim for soft, comfy easy livin'......
I also made a pot of southern goodness. In this part of the world eating black eyed peas is a New Year's tradition. They represent good luck in the new year. First time in ????? that I bought bacon. I fried several slices, slow cooked some jasmine rice.......then stirred in the Bush's black eyed peas.......crumbled up the bacon and let it all simmer really slowly. It's something Grandma taught me.......and it's way easier to make than Hoppin' John over Rice..........a lot less chopping/time consuming. Hoppin' John has lots of pretty red & green peppers, onions, green beans, ummmmmm can't remember the spices right now.......it's got a nice savory heat, slow simmered and then served on a bed of steaming rice. A southern thing. You can add sausage, bacon, ham.......or keep it vegetarian if you prefer.
I ended up watching "One For the Money" last night. I don't know if any of you have ever read this series of books by Janet Evanovich. It's about Stephenie Plum. She has lost her job selling lingerie. Finally tells her folks after six months, as the repo man loads up her car parked at the folks house during dinner. She takes a dubious job as a "recovery agent" aka bounty hunter for a sleazy cousin named Vinny. He tried to hit on her at her own wedding (she is now divorced). She needs a job to maintain her less than average life style, she has a hamster, a very under decorated apartment......she has to live to arrive safely for another meal at her parent's table,if she's five minutes late, Mom not only thinks she is dead, she tells her daughter, where were you? thought you were dead." a lot of funny moments in the truth of these lives.......a lot of laughs.
she has to put up with Mom setting her up with some very odd mom induced hubby candidates paraded in and out of these dinners for her benefit........her parents live in Trenton, NJ ......everybody calls it "the burg."
A lot of crazy things and people come out of the woodwork in her new line of work. Her long ago too sexy boy friend from her teens is a now a cop. Cop - Joe Morelli is constantly razzing and teasing her........there is a lot of attraction/tension between them.......she claims to only want to bring him in for running from the law for a murder he may or may not have committed in the line of duty. And then there's Ranger......a very dangerous also very sexy man who seems to drive her to distraction. He is always appearing in the nick of time to save her or driver her batty.
Can't overlook Grandma............she grabs Steph's gun out of her purse during dinner and shoots the turkey in the part that jumped over the fence last. Grandma is a wonderful off the hook pistol, she lives to go to the constant funerals in the burg, it's like they are all big red carpet events in Grandma and her pals lives. .........thought it was casting genius to put Debbie Reynolds in this role. (Betty White would have been great too.) I've read just about every one of the series.........so it was interesting to see it as a movie. There are some other colorful characters.........mercy......like Lula, the hooker who quits to go to work for Vinny also..........she is constantly focused on food & fashion......& squeezing her very abundant frame in to the tightest garments she can find every moment she is not seeking donuts or fried chicken. It is not great literature, it is great fun...........all these irreverent characters and situations. I hope Katherine Heigl will produce more of these........ if for no other reason than because it makes this little sparrow laugh out loud.
Katherine Heigl played the part of Stephanie Plum.......she did a good job, but I imagined that the character would be more like Holly Hunter when she was a bit younger.........smaller, scrappy.......pretty in a less conventional way.......in my head I heard a lot more Jersey accent in the characters.......they softened the Jersey a little too much for me. Don't want them to be charicatures, but want the flavor, the spice of the burg to come out. Stephenie eats cheese doodles, tasty cakes and well in general a ton of junk food and always looks amazing. Wish that was the way of it in real life.........LOL!
Ok done for now.........I can hear the roast........maybe I put too much water in the pan, hear it sputtering and spittin under the foil. I'm gonna hit the showers, take it nice and easy........watch some funny stuff on the telly.........those are my "first day of the new year" plans and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the day.
I think that big cry did me a lot of good...........and tackling some of the things I'd been putting off......helped a boatload...............love ya'll............soft hugs, big wishes........gonna dig out my Norman Vincent Peale book.........that should be a good beginning don't ya think, he is definitely about the power of positive thinking.
b-y-e........later ya'll!
Sparrow
Woke up feeling this hum inside.......it is joy. Extraordinary thing joy.........
Bid farewell to my 2012 calendar......beautiful photos and verses from the book of Psalms. Said hello to my 2013 calendar........beautiful nature shots featuring birds. They didn't share what the birds are, so I will be playing guess the bird ......all the while wondering if this company tossed me the bird.......knowing that I am just a wee bird myself......... who called me a birdbrain........??????? hey!!!!! l o l !!!
God is washing my little corner of the world.......this morning he has us on a gentle cycle, soft drops of rain to start us off this first day of two thousand thirteen. how lovely.
Rio is perched on the windowsill contemplating his remaining lives. Annie is tucked up on the edge of the music counter.......she's playing Queen of the World. They were racing a little while ago.........Annie usually takes the high road.....up on the bed, the dresser, the couch while Rio races on the lower inside track......Annie pounces........Rio flies. They have such a good time together. So glad Annie has a little brother. So is the little brother! He likes it here.
I don't want you to lose any remaining respect you might have for me, but sometimes I talk really silly to these animals. Little made up cat songs and doofy nicknames. A family is a family is a family. We're family in this little woodsy nest. .....ok, so most of you probably already suspected I am a silly talker, no worries.
Rio still hurls his furry little dark gray self at my lap......stares up at me and talks about his small troubles. Annie is investigating something in the corner, please do not let it be something alive.... Critters, teensy tiny critters like to sneak in and warm themselves.......try to remain calm, cool and collected, play catch n release --- not do the girl shudder.......but oh hohohohoho, not fond of bugs. Only a few squirrels running about today, the birds are all tucked up somewhere cozy I hope. Where do they all go, when the mighty trees lose their foliage? I know they fly south, but this is the South......so where are they? I'm an idiot. I can live with it.
I hummed my way through my little daily chores and turned the oven on. Put the roast beast (so named by little girl growing up Sara, she also called it "that brown meat", but never pot roast) in the pan, then I prepped four fresh carrots, chopped up some cabbage......added water, foil and slid it in to roast slow. Three hours from now it will be tender, nourishing, tasty.......come on over! Set a spell......we can whistle or whittle or nap.......we can sit on the porch swing or stay inside, it's 46 degrees right now........either way I have lots of soft blankies. Try to never stray far from softness around here. The world has enough hard edges, in this nest we aim for soft, comfy easy livin'......
I also made a pot of southern goodness. In this part of the world eating black eyed peas is a New Year's tradition. They represent good luck in the new year. First time in ????? that I bought bacon. I fried several slices, slow cooked some jasmine rice.......then stirred in the Bush's black eyed peas.......crumbled up the bacon and let it all simmer really slowly. It's something Grandma taught me.......and it's way easier to make than Hoppin' John over Rice..........a lot less chopping/time consuming. Hoppin' John has lots of pretty red & green peppers, onions, green beans, ummmmmm can't remember the spices right now.......it's got a nice savory heat, slow simmered and then served on a bed of steaming rice. A southern thing. You can add sausage, bacon, ham.......or keep it vegetarian if you prefer.
I ended up watching "One For the Money" last night. I don't know if any of you have ever read this series of books by Janet Evanovich. It's about Stephenie Plum. She has lost her job selling lingerie. Finally tells her folks after six months, as the repo man loads up her car parked at the folks house during dinner. She takes a dubious job as a "recovery agent" aka bounty hunter for a sleazy cousin named Vinny. He tried to hit on her at her own wedding (she is now divorced). She needs a job to maintain her less than average life style, she has a hamster, a very under decorated apartment......she has to live to arrive safely for another meal at her parent's table,if she's five minutes late, Mom not only thinks she is dead, she tells her daughter, where were you? thought you were dead." a lot of funny moments in the truth of these lives.......a lot of laughs.
she has to put up with Mom setting her up with some very odd mom induced hubby candidates paraded in and out of these dinners for her benefit........her parents live in Trenton, NJ ......everybody calls it "the burg."
A lot of crazy things and people come out of the woodwork in her new line of work. Her long ago too sexy boy friend from her teens is a now a cop. Cop - Joe Morelli is constantly razzing and teasing her........there is a lot of attraction/tension between them.......she claims to only want to bring him in for running from the law for a murder he may or may not have committed in the line of duty. And then there's Ranger......a very dangerous also very sexy man who seems to drive her to distraction. He is always appearing in the nick of time to save her or driver her batty.
Can't overlook Grandma............she grabs Steph's gun out of her purse during dinner and shoots the turkey in the part that jumped over the fence last. Grandma is a wonderful off the hook pistol, she lives to go to the constant funerals in the burg, it's like they are all big red carpet events in Grandma and her pals lives. .........thought it was casting genius to put Debbie Reynolds in this role. (Betty White would have been great too.) I've read just about every one of the series.........so it was interesting to see it as a movie. There are some other colorful characters.........mercy......like Lula, the hooker who quits to go to work for Vinny also..........she is constantly focused on food & fashion......& squeezing her very abundant frame in to the tightest garments she can find every moment she is not seeking donuts or fried chicken. It is not great literature, it is great fun...........all these irreverent characters and situations. I hope Katherine Heigl will produce more of these........ if for no other reason than because it makes this little sparrow laugh out loud.
Katherine Heigl played the part of Stephanie Plum.......she did a good job, but I imagined that the character would be more like Holly Hunter when she was a bit younger.........smaller, scrappy.......pretty in a less conventional way.......in my head I heard a lot more Jersey accent in the characters.......they softened the Jersey a little too much for me. Don't want them to be charicatures, but want the flavor, the spice of the burg to come out. Stephenie eats cheese doodles, tasty cakes and well in general a ton of junk food and always looks amazing. Wish that was the way of it in real life.........LOL!
Ok done for now.........I can hear the roast........maybe I put too much water in the pan, hear it sputtering and spittin under the foil. I'm gonna hit the showers, take it nice and easy........watch some funny stuff on the telly.........those are my "first day of the new year" plans and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the day.
I think that big cry did me a lot of good...........and tackling some of the things I'd been putting off......helped a boatload...............love ya'll............soft hugs, big wishes........gonna dig out my Norman Vincent Peale book.........that should be a good beginning don't ya think, he is definitely about the power of positive thinking.
b-y-e........later ya'll!
Sparrow
Replies
When I was in my teens are I graduated from high school I worked at Guidepost owned by Norman Vincent Peale. I have a few of his books. The Power of Positive Thinking & a few others. I use to get the Guidepost little magazine every month. Every Monday morning before work started we had pray in the conference room for 15 minutes. I worked in the Graph a type room typing out metal address labels for people\'s subscription to Guidepost. I worked there for a few years until I got married. My soon to be hubby was in the Army stationed in Germany. So I basically planned the whole wedding. Hubby was home on leave for 2 wks. We got married, then off to Germany I went. I\'d never been away from home. You can imagine the fear & home sick I felt after a awhile. I cried on the plane. Saw my Daddy cry & my twin sister. I was in Germany for nearly a year. When I stepped off that plane my Dad was there & crying. He told me once a few years later that he felt better I was back in the USA.
Enjoy your roast Ruthie. I can smell it cooking now. Yummy. I\'ve never had black-eyed peas before. My D-I-L is Hispanic & she cooks black beans & rice. I never had that either, but she cooked some for us & it was good.
The weather is nice & sunny here today 75*. Tomorrow it\'s suppose to reach 80*. Love & hugs Grace
I just loved reading your journal. I\'m making black-eyed peas, collard greens (the green is for having lots of money in the new year), rice, and corn bread. I have to eat that every January 1st because I always have. LOL. I was born and raised in Texas is why. Your roast sounds delicious. Yum!
What kind of bird is Rio? That\'s so cool that he gets along so well with Annie.
We are in the 30s here with 20s predicted for tonight. Brrrrr. Not fit for man or beast out there. I often wonder where the little birdies go in the winter too to stay warm. I love putting out sunflower seeds and peanuts and hummingbird food and I try to do that each day for our friends the birds and squirrels.
Many loving hugs to you and enjoy all of 2013!
P.T.
The Black Eyed Peas are a rock group, people! Get with the game!!!!
The food sounds like it has possibilities. Not HERE, but um, in the South where you\'re used to this kind of....stuff!
Kathryn H. became a star on my favorite show. Grey\'s Anatomy!! I LOVED her on that show. I think she\'s beautiful!!! I still miss having her on there. Of course she had to DIE to get off the cast, but hey, they killed off another character (George) at the same time, so we could split up the mourning.....ugh.....!!!
Glad to hear Annie and Rio are still roaming the house wreaking havoc all over the place. I\'m glad Willow doesn\'t have a companion. She made it very clear that she doesn\'t want one. When we still had Monty, (our last cat....came with Bobby in the marriage vows).....she loathed the sight of him. She would chase him, bite him....she wants to be Queen. Period. No friends for her....she wants all the attention for herself. Little witch, she is. Sneaky little critter. We had to adopt her due to a family emergency. If it were up to me, she\'d be gone. She\'s not my type of creature friend. She never shuts up, climbs on top of you whether you\'re wanting her to or not.....and just tries to be all over you all the time. NOPE, don\'t like it. I need a little lap furbaby, that lays around all day in sunspots in the house....and lets me seek her out. I don\'t like feeling stalked. Sooner or later, I\'ll convince Bobby that an aggresive little twit like this cat, does not belong in a disabled person\'s home. She\'s NEEDY! Do I need therapy? I\'m talking about a cat here, not some escaped convict! Oh well......I\'m an idiot too, and I\'ll live with it as well!
Hope your brown meat is wonderful, and you have all the blankees and comfort thingys around you that you need.
Happy New Year, wonkie birdie.
OH, I always wondered where all the birds went in hurricanes! Is that odd? I mean, wouldn\'t they just blow out of the trees? They don\'t seem to! You never see a batch of dead birds after a nasty storm, do ya? You\'re not as crazy as you think!
I want the recipe for black eyed peas...anything with lima beans too...maybe this year we can share \'local\' recipes with each other eh? That would be delish I think.
Told you a gazillion times BUT I just love your journals: the wit, the humour, the honesty, you are such an authentic soul. Love that about you and really think you should write. Maybe you ARE a famous writer, like Danielle Steele, and we\'ll just never know, huh? That would be even cooler.
I have GAINED respect for you, my fellow cat-loving, meow-talking feline playing friend....you are not alone. They do talk back too, which makes it even more precious.
Oh, better put up my new 2013 wall calendar! This years theme is \'Simple Inspirations\' b y Lang.... xxoo