Green Beans!

Our first picking of green beans.....enough for a handful. Not quite enough for a meal. I love fresh green beans!

Around The Little Yellow Farm

Yesterday was a lovely day.I weeded the garden,picked some berries,and Rick and I made a trellis for our peas with wooden posts and old fencing from the now defunct turkey cage. I thought I would take a few photos to show you what has been going on around our Little Yellow Farm!

Our red raspberry bushes are giving off a few berries a day! I have been freezing them as I pick them and might get enough to do something with them! I forgot to take a photo of our black berry bush-it's filled with berries!

Nikko Blue's blooming!

Some garlic,freshly picked,drying

We have four blueberry bushes,and one wild.This bush is two years old and is actually giving off a few berries this year!

Salad,anyone? I love fresh lettuce!

We now have 12 green tomatoes on the vines!

The Older Girls enjoying the bounty of my weeding.......

......and the New Girls doing the same!

View of the garden

I just want to end this by saying our hearts go out to the victims of the senseless shooting in CO. They are in our thoughts and prayers.

Have a wonderful and safe day...where ever you might be on this Beautiful Planet!

The Fab Four

Thanks to all who posted such nice words regarding my last post. I am back to normal now,and this last week has been fine. We have had a bout of very hot and humid weather,and very little rain. My heart goes out to those who have been dealing with this for longer than a week here in the US. This is the hottest year on record. We are lucky that out heat spell has now been broken,and today we are enjoying dry air and temps in the low 80's. The turkey cage has been torn down. It's time to trellis our grapes,cukes,and peas. Our red raspberry bushes are doing fine for a first year,and I have been picking the few that ripen and putting them in the freezer. I might get enough to make something at some point!

Rick and I have had a plan up our sleeves for a few months now. I grew up a HUGE Beatles fan,and still am a HUGE Beatles fan. To me,they are the greatest band of all time.My love for the Lads From Liverpool has rubbed off on The Boy.The one group he would love to see: The Beatles (of course!) Naturally,with the murder of John Lennon,any hope of a Beatles reunion was dashed forever. To be honest,I would've paid anything to see them in concert.

Zach had been asking about going to a concert,so one day I looked on line at the (fairly) local Hampton Beach Club Casino. It's an old venue for bands and comics-dating back to Louis Armstrong. It has also hosted The Doors,Led Zeppelin,U2,George Carlin,Jerry Seinfeld,and many other bands and comics (we saw the B-52's there last year). I was perusing the line up,when lo and behold,I see 'The Fab Four-A Tribute Band." I looked up some reviews,and they all were stellar,so I scoffed up tickets the day they went on sale-third row.

We then had to keep the secret from Zach and make sure we gathered the mail everyday so he wouldn't see the Ticketmaster envelope with the tickets! Luckily,I was actually able to see The Fab Four on a PBS special,and I knew it was going to be a great show!

We "decided" to go visit Rick's Dad who happens to live in North Hampton,about 10 minutes from the venue. Rick then "suggested" that since we were so close to the beach and we hadn't been to the ocean for a while,why didn't we go to Hampton Beach? Zach was all for it,of course. So we parked,and walked around looking in shops,playing in the arcade,and walking the boardwalk. The doors didn't open until 6:00,so we were trying to kill time until then without arousing any suspicion. We "happened" to be standing in the crowd of folks waiting for the doors to open,and when they did indeed open and we proceeded to go in,Zach looked very, very confused. "What is this?" he asked. I held up the three tickets,but he didn't see what was written on them. "This is Club Casino and we are going to see the show,"I told him. "But I'm only 14! I can't go into a club!" he protested. (He didn't realize that since he is underage he could go with a parent-and it's not really a "casino" as we think of casinos nowadays)."It's OK,Buddy,you're with us,"Rick assured him.He still had no idea what we were doing,and he asked,"What are we seeing?" "The Fab Four Tribute Band!" I told him. A big smile broke out on his face and he said,"Really? Awesome!"

No photos or video were allowed but we could snap some pre show photos. I took a couple:

A close up of the drum kit and a couple of guitars.I loved the pink one.

A very surprised young man!

I have never seen a tribute band before,and I am glad that this was my first experience. "Ed Sullivan" (who happened to appear in Pulp Fiction!) came out and introduced the Fab Four just like on the real Ed Sullivan Show. The first set was in the Mop Top Suits. Not only do they resemble ( "George" really looked like George Harrison,and the other three were really close) the Beatles,they had the mannerisms,voices,singing,and music down pact. No taped music or lip syncing here, folks-these guys played their instruments and actually sang. They sounded just like the real thing,and  looked like the real thing. The second act was in their Shea Stadium beige suits with the sheriff star on them. The third was their Sgt Pepper outfits.( when they played "The End" they got a standing ovation-it was amazing) and the third had "John" come out first,in long hair,military jacket and glasses.He sat at the keyboard,and talked about how John was his hero,how he wasn't afraid to speak for peace,and how he fought to stay in the US (since Nixon kept trying to deport him and had massive files on him-sad,but very true)because we had freedom of speech here. He said this all in full John voice. He then played "Imagine," which he did a fabulous job on-and received a standing ovation. Then "George" came out in some early 70's clothes,played a snippet of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Something",then broke into "Here Comes The Sun" with the rest of the band.Paul and Ringo were dressed like in the "rooftop concert" footage that is so famous. They then played a few early 70's songs,and ended with "Hey Jude",which had everyone on their feet and swaying their arms in the air.The only thing that did disappoint me was they didn't play anything from "Abbey Road",which is my favorite album.However,that was a fleeting disappointment. I loved the fact that they told jokes and interacted with the audience just like the Beatles did. It must've taken a lot of studying of old concert footage,etc to get everything down so pat. A couple of times,I could see where one would lose themselves in the moment and actually think they were seeing the Beatles.

One of the really cool things about the whole night was the spectrum of ages. I saw folks in white hair with canes,middle aged folks like us, down to little kids.One elderly gentleman in the second row kept standing up after every song,giving them his own ovation. When they got to the Sgt Pepper part and played "Strawberry Fields," "John" asked if there were any "psychedelic hippies in the audience." He pointed to the gentleman,and said," I bet you were a hippie," and apparently the gentleman didn't answer quickly enough,because "John" then quipped,"Well,you know what they say,if you don't remember being a hippie,you were a hippie," which made everyone bust out laughing.

They played for two hours (no opening act!) and it was FABulous. The show started at 8:15,and ended at 10:30.We wound up getting home around midnight. Both Rick and I are dragging this AM (we had to get up early for  a VA appt in Somersworth,which had been cancelled and rescheduled for next week-though they failed to tell us until we got there. They are good about that,usually).It's a great tired though-FABulous show and FABulous family memories!

Have a FABulous day on this FABulous planet,where ever you might be!

Post Pre

Last Saturday after I posted,my day got worse. I have the dubious distinction of not only having depression and anxiety,but I was diagnosed in 2003 with having PMDDS-PreMenstural Dysmorphic Disorder Syndrome. Let's just say it's PMS,but on massive steroids. (My apologies to my male readers-if you wish to pull your eyes out of your head instead of reading about my female issues,I understand. Please feel free to move on to someone else's blog-you won't hurt my feelings!) I have been very open about my mental issues,though I don't talk about it often-depression runs in my family-and I have been on meds since I was diagnosed. When all three decide to rear their ugly heads at once,it's not a pretty sight. Usually,the Effexor works pretty well-I still get some symptoms before that fun time o' the month,but I can usually control them pretty well. I get irritated quicker than usual,but I can talk myself down from it.

This month,however,there was no way I could do it. I could not control my thoughts,even when using ( or,shall I say, trying to use) rational thinking. Nope.My brain and my emotions were running a marathon,and I couldn't control anything I thought or said.I felt like a hamster on a fast spinning wheel that just wants to get off and rest,but I couldn't. There is nothing worse than feeling like you have no control over yourself. It's a rather scary feeling. I wanted to stop,but I couldn't. I had entered,as I refer to it as ,"the dark place". After I posted here,I had a melt down. Every little thing that I usually don't let bother me came out in a tirade.  "Why isn't the front of the garage clean? It was suppose to be done days ago...why can't you guys put your stuff away when your done? Why the hell is there an oil tank in the driveway? It's suppose to have been moved next door weeks ago? Why do are there tools all over the yard? I want a nice yard,a place I can go outside and relax,not see all this crap!" Poor Rick made an attempt to speak during this tongue lashing,at which I cut him off;"No! I don't want you to make this better,I just want you to hear me and let it out!" Bless his heart,he stood there,while I ranted and raved about nothing that in the scheme of things were very important at all. I am sure he wished he had some Holy Water that he could throw on me while yelling,"The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!" ( That being said,we are not Catholic nor do we believe in exercising demons,but at the moment,he probably wished for both) Then I sobbed for several minutes,apologizing for going Bat Shit Crazy. I wasn't blaming him for anything,mind you,I was just venting because...I couldn't help it.He held me close,rubbed my back,and told me he loved me,and that he knew it wasn't anything personal against him. I just had to let some stuff out. I am so very lucky that I have  such an understanding hubby. And one with Valium. A tiny bit of that went a long way. I was finally able to calm down (I am not advocating taking non prescribed medication) and my Bat Shit Crazy I Am The Most Horrible Human Being In The World Because I Just Yelled at My Disabled Husband Over Nothing That Matters feeling finally disappeared. Until Tuesday. But at least Tuesday wasn't so very bad. I could at least control myself,which I was mighty grateful for.

Thursday I was able to have some Estrogen Time with My Dear Friend Michelle,and as usual,we chatted about everything and I came away feeling better. She thanked me for my kind words on my earlier post about her,but she also told me I shouldn't compare myself to others because everyone's circumstances are different. True that,Home Slice! While I can talk to Rick about anything and everything,it's lovely to have a girlfriend that I can do that with as well.

So now I am Post Pre,and I feel worlds more like myself. I reorganized my kitchen drawers to make things more convenient (no photos,sorry). I downsized our junk drawer into one smaller drawer,and was able to use the big drawer that held the junk into our silverware/tinfoil/sandwich bag/freezer bag drawer. No more bags in various places. I planted some Sweet Basil,Rosemary,and Hot and Spicy Oregano (I had to buy the plants,my seeds didn't take..though I did replant them in planters to see if might have better luck this time around). Rick and Zach added on to the chicken pen for the New Girls,and are in the process of tearing down the old turkey cage,and will build  some trellises for the cukes and peas.

I hope you have a fabulous day,where ever in the fabulous World you are! Thanks for hanging in with me and your kind words of encouragement!

The Queen of Procrastination

Procrastinate,verb; Procrastination,noun.....  to put off;delay (Webster's New Pocket Dictionary)

I have given myself a new title-The Queen of Procrastination. With this title,I have decided to give myself a pretty crown to go with it!

Purty,isn't it? Too bad I don't feel as purty on the inside.

I have bemoaned my fate as a procrastinator before.Remember way back in the beginning of the year,when,like each year before it,I announced the end of my procrastination? I was organizing! I was decluttering! I was using my time wisely and to the fullest! Yep indeedy Skippy,this year was going to be different.

Yeah,right.

Have I always been this way? No,I don't think so. I was always nervous about not getting things done in a timely manner. Why,oh why, have I slipped so?

Laziness? I don't think I am lazy. Too busy trying to keep Rick on track? I don't think so. How the heck can I keep him on track when I can't keep my own train running full speed ahead? A bit of depression? Perhaps. It rears it's ugly head more times than I care to count. Sometimes I view my life as very boring when I am in the "dark place." The same thing,day in,day out.  Do I need to find my place in the sun? Probably. My Dear Friend Michelle and I have discussed our purpose in life many times. She says that she has found hers homeschooling her boys.It brings her great fulfillment.She is a great inspiration,always doing something-building a bee hive,making her pantry more effective,recreating her craft room into a more cozy schoolroom. This gal has motivation in spades! I,on the other hand look around and say,"Oh well, that can wait." 

Posting here is a good example. Something will happen that I want to write about,which, of course,I will write about tomorrow because I want to let the thoughts simmer a bit,or I am in the middle of a good book,or something or another. Then of course,tomorrow becomes today,and no blog post. I still haven't downloaded the photos from our trip (which was very enjoyable,by the way). I have barely read any blogs in the last few weeks,either,so my Blogging Friends, please don't take offense.It's me,not you.

Sometimes I get so mired in procrastination that I feel I can't get out...heck,I don't know how to get out! I've tried several things,none of which last more than a couple of weeks. Always inspired,very little follow through. Sigh. I feel like a huge fake.

Have any of  you been through this? If so,what helped you out of it? I am more than willing to hand my title off at any time!!!

236 Years Ago

Just a quick "Happy Fourth of July" to my fellow Americans! Have a great day!