Author Archives: daeja's view

A Whole Lot of Apples

Posted on September 5, 2011 by daeja's view

This approaching storm was embraced with a small twinge of anticipation.  I love intense weather –  the scent of change on the wind, the shifting of light, the movement of strange skies.  It is as if every cell becomes alive with … Continue reading →

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The Hippie Haj

Posted on August 26, 2011 by daeja's view

I have a really bad attitude when it comes to the commercialization of those things which represent “my” generation, which is that of The Boomer.  Most specifically, I gag at all this glorifying of the “Woodstock era” – the life and times … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Another “You’ve Got To Be Kidding” Award

Posted on August 24, 2011 by daeja's view

As far as I am concerned, this little vignette ranks right up there on the “You’ve Got To Be Kidding” list.  I just have to share. In the office where Daughter #2 is employed, there is a woman – actually the assistant … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Shoe Extortionist

Posted on August 21, 2011 by daeja's view

I am being threatened by someone over a pair of shoes.  It started innocently enough. It is important to first state that I have come to realize I am a shoe-a-holic. It is hard for me to digest, as I have always looked … Continue reading →

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Rant, Shopping, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

No Rose-colored Glasses For Me

Posted on August 18, 2011 by daeja's view

Two years ago I noticed things were starting to look a little fuzzy, especially in one eye. When speaking to someone sitting in front of a window or back-lit in silhouette, I could not see their face for the white … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

words never spoken

Posted on August 12, 2011 by daeja's view

walking through the city I saw the young girls with bodies all silk from underthings to eyebrows legs shaven heels pumiced nails glossed hair lacquered thighs taut eyes clear glad-breasted tittering girls and I wondered how even for an hour … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Some Updates for Those Who Are So Inclined

Posted on July 31, 2011 by daeja's view

Just sitting here at the moment, sipping some refreshingly iced mint tea made with fresh mint from the garden.  That, and a secret stash of Mexican chocolate laced with cinnamon.   Momentary slice of bliss.  As the month of July winds down, … Continue reading →

Posted in Diet, Gardening, House plants, Uncategorized, Weight | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

I Can Make Poison Arrows Now

Posted on July 29, 2011 by daeja's view

Repotting a cactus is something I have been avoiding for a long time…..many, many years actually.  All  of them are bursting out of their containers, but the thought of handling them has triggered an automatic aversion. The potting soil and new pots have … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, House plants, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Eating Phlox

Posted on July 26, 2011 by daeja's view

Digging into the earth between the patio stones with a stick, there is a little girl in a sun-suit crouched on the ground on a blue summer morning; a morning with a tinge of humidity in the air and one which promises to … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Art of Recuperation

Posted on July 23, 2011 by daeja's view

A few days ago I had cubital tunnel surgery on my arm to free the nerve which was crushed and affecting the muscles in my hand.  It is something that has progressively been getting worse over time – something which I have … Continue reading →

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It’s Fig Season and I’m In Love

Posted on July 21, 2011 by daeja's view

Fresh figs are in season at the moment and I am in love. I have been loading up on them because their availability will be limited.  Their appearance is as exciting as the blooming of a garden flower that is fleetingly here and gone. … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Buck and the Turtle (or yet another bum rap for the oldest)

Posted on July 14, 2011 by daeja's view

On a recent excursion with a couple of my siblings, the conversation turned, as it often does, to our childhood, with its spectrum of both sweet and bitter memories. And as sometimes happens during these conversations, I had to hear, with … Continue reading →

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More Garden Fireworks for July

Posted on July 10, 2011 by daeja's view

Monarda bursting in the air…. The best Hosta blooms ever this year…… Echinacea like skyrockets……… Trumpet Flowers trumpeting on the vine…….. Gooseneck Loosestrife tumbling forth…………….. Purple Bindweed pulses with color………… July garden, in concert…………

Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Garden Fireworks

Posted on July 5, 2011 by daeja's view

The July garden comes forth with its own fireworks of texture and deep, vibrant color.

Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

From a Bench on Main Street

Posted on July 1, 2011 by daeja's view

I am distracted today as I prepare for the weekend ahead, so I don’t have much to say today, but there is an image that keeps popping up in my head. A few weeks ago I had been walking down … Continue reading →

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Screw

Posted on June 26, 2011 by daeja's view

You know that story about the Princess and the Pea…….well, I have my own version now.  I just spent the weekend at a sweet first birthday celebration for a sweet grandbaby, which included spending two nights in a clean but somewhat worn beach motel of significant cost (about … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The Summer Solstice Garden

Posted on June 21, 2011 by daeja's view

Because I have been out and about on an adventure of sorts (to share down the road), I am just going to update my blog today with what is going on in my garden on this, the Summer Solstice. Primrose … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Sixty-one Things

Posted on June 17, 2011 by daeja's view

Much in the same way I compiled a list of those things my mother had taught us, as Father’s Day comes around, the thoughts and reflections of Dad are strong. Those quirks and qualities, the small observances, have now become … Continue reading →

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Things Left Behind

Posted on June 15, 2011 by daeja's view

The horse barn behind the house, long unused, contained six stalls and a hay loft. The floor of the barn was covered about two and a half feet deep in old horse manure, some of it probably one-hundred years old. … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Petal

Posted on June 9, 2011 by daeja's view

One of our exceptionally sweet coworkers has been out for the better part of the last two months on a serious medical leave. She is finally returning tomorrow, and everyone is anticipating her return.  While she was gone, she asked staff to … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, kids, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Eye Candy

Posted on June 7, 2011 by daeja's view

The irises are pretty much blown by and gone here.  Last week, my friend and I managed to make a long trek to Montclair, New Jersey to visit the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens, which sits at the bottom of Mountainside Park.   The day … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends, Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Bottle People

Posted on June 5, 2011 by daeja's view

No sooner do we put the trash and recyclables out, and there they are – The Bottle People, picking through the bins. I can put the garbage at the curb, go in the house and walk out ten minutes later, only … Continue reading →

Posted in Rant, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Reminds Me Of…..

Posted on June 4, 2011 by daeja's view

OK, I know, I know,……I realize I have been putting up a number of botanical type posts lately, but I just can’t help it.  After being inundated by relentless, ongoing days of rain, we have just been hit with a couple that would … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

What’s That Smell?

Posted on June 3, 2011 by daeja's view

It was June, the very end of the school year.  I was taking the kids to the bus stop that morning and upon opening the front door, a waft of perfumed air drifted by me.  It was such a beautiful scent that for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Shards of Our Lives

Posted on May 30, 2011 by daeja's view

The Significant Other is like a bull in a china shop. That is the image that usually goes through my mind when I take a dish out of the kitchen cabinet and see the condition of it. My dishes, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

To Market

Posted on May 29, 2011 by daeja's view

Today was the opening day of the season for our local Farmer’s Market, which is one of the nicer perks of living in a small city.  Even though it is early for some of the produce, we grabbed our little eco-friendly shopping bags and walked … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Suicide Squirrel

Posted on May 26, 2011 by daeja's view

Driving down the shade-dappled road with the sun sparkling through the leaves on a brilliant morning, singing with the radio, and out of the corner of my eye I saw it coming.  It ran in front of the car and suddenly froze in … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Stories, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Rain Garden

Posted on May 22, 2011 by daeja's view

Looks like it’s going to be yet another week of rain, or at the very least, “percent-chance-of-rain”.  Thirty percent chance of or forty percent chance of is still pretty good odds, at least around these parts.  Everything is lush and verdant.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Thoughts on a Chicken

Posted on May 19, 2011 by daeja's view

Traffic was moderate and moving steadily yesterday on the two lane road that is the middle leg of my commute home from work, when I spied a chicken on the edge of the northbound lane, waiting to cross the road.  I looked again to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Would You Like Some Mice With That?

Posted on May 18, 2011 by daeja's view

Yesterday my friend discovered a stunned little mouse lying out in the parking lot of the condominium where she lives.  What had happened to it is a mystery, but I speculate that perhaps a cat had been playing with it, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Passion

Posted on May 17, 2011 by daeja's view

A few years ago I discovered this seriously cool looking plant growing at the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C.  It was a vine-like plant growing on a fence with fringed flowers that I can only describe as psychedelic space eyes.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The Morning Smoothie

Posted on May 15, 2011 by daeja's view

I have a Sears Countercraft blender, probably circa late 1970’s, color Harvest Gold.  I hadn’t seen it for a while though, as it got lost in the bottom cabinet that contains the large rotating lazy susan that is overstuffed with items, wobbles and doesn’t go around … Continue reading →

Posted in Diet, Uncategorized, Wow! | 3 Comments

Skinny Girl

Posted on May 12, 2011 by daeja's view

I was always the skinny girl.  Not the long, lithe, willowy model skinny girl, but the gawkishly thin, angular, hollow-eyed skinny girl.  A skinny girl in school who looked like an X-ray…….with knobby knees, tiny bones, all feet and nose and elbows and spine.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Diet, Perspective, Uncategorized, Weight | 4 Comments

What’s Up With the Strawberries?

Posted on May 11, 2011 by daeja's view

What’s up with the strawberries lately?  Has anyone else noticed these mega-giant, shiny uber-red  strawberries that have been appearing for sale in the supermarket?  The last few containers I bought seem to be filled with behemoths.  I have been marveling over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized, Wow! | 2 Comments

Intoxication

Posted on May 10, 2011 by daeja's view

Feeling intoxicated by the scent of Lilac, Allysum and Lily of the Valley that  perfume the garden.  Sweet spring……

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Fences

Posted on May 9, 2011 by daeja's view

It has been an adjustment getting used to living in a small city, with neighbors dwelling very close by.  Most of the homes on our street, built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s,  have weathered, stockade fences between them.  However, this house came equipped … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Perspective, Rant, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

100 Things

Posted on May 8, 2011 by daeja's view

Even though I am a mother, and even now the mother of a mother, each year when the Mother’s Day holiday comes around, instead of celebrating my mother status, I find myself mostly reflecting on memories of my own mom. There are those … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Just Married

Posted on May 7, 2011 by daeja's view

My car sat parked out in the driveway beneath the crabapple tree overnight.  When I went out to it the following morning, the blue car was totally covered in bright pink petals.  Actually plastered in pink. It was enough to cause me … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Free

Posted on May 5, 2011 by daeja's view

Ok, it looks like I am actually going to recant something I said earlier about hardly ever winning anything, because I actually just won something of significant value.  Almost every year for the past fifteen years I have attended a work … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Unfolding

Posted on May 4, 2011 by daeja's view

  During this time of renewal, it is as if we, too,  are uncurling from the winter darkness and reaching towards the light.  It is exciting and joyful to be amidst the awakening garden.   

Posted in Spring, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Dang!

Posted on April 28, 2011 by daeja's view

Bad news today for all you connoisseurs of that little armored road possum of the south, the armadillo.   According to the latest findings, something like fifteen percent of armadillos carry leprosy, and one-third of the cases of the disease in this country appear to be caused … Continue reading →

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Humor, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Never Mind – I’ll Tell You Later

Posted on April 26, 2011 by daeja's view

The group is bantering witticisms back and forth and raucous laughter ensues.  I am standing among them, nodding and smiling, and my brain is working hard and at double time.  I am trying to string together the words I missed with … Continue reading →

Posted in Coping, Deafness, Friends, Hearing Impaired, Perspective, Rant | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Spinner

Posted on April 22, 2011 by daeja's view

This Earth Day marks the 12th anniversary of my mother’s death.  A day filled with golden daffodils, warm soil, the haze of soft greening and points of pastel color just emerging – much like an Impressionist painting – essentially the same as it was on the day she left us years … Continue reading →

Posted in Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Betty-Anne?

Posted on April 21, 2011 by daeja's view

In the misty pre-dawn haze of a Saturday morning I awoke to an urgent voice that appeared to be vocalizing right near my head.  “Betty-Anne!”  In that surreal aura that surrounds you when someone shouts you out of a dead sleep, I shot … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Humor, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Door Number Three

Posted on April 17, 2011 by daeja's view

After spending the day exploring the Spice Market and touring around in the Sultanahmet district, it finally got to the point where I seriously had to pee, and very soon, so the search for a bathroom began in earnest.  In the middle … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Perspective, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Medusa Scary

Posted on April 15, 2011 by daeja's view

It is with a great, disheartening sigh that I have just seen a number of recent photos of myself.  After such rude and irrefutable proof, there followed the panicked realization that I have let my hair go for waaaaay too long without a hair cut … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Awakening

Posted on April 12, 2011 by daeja's view

Yesterday was an overly warm spring day, one of those flukes where it got up to eighty degrees when temps are normally in the fifties.  Things are just starting to blossom and bud around here; it’s been a slow start.   A few … Continue reading →

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Resisting the Social Network (is that you in that photo?)

Posted on April 10, 2011 by daeja's view

It was through my then fourteen year old that I first became aware of online social networks and blogs like Live Journal and MySpace, where it seemed kids were regurgitating the minutiae of their lives ad nauseum and flaunting their bootie for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Fernweh

Posted on April 3, 2011 by daeja's view

A friend of mine who has travelled the world and has made her life in a foreign country once shared a word in the German language which describes the yearning for travel which we both share. She told me I have “fernweh”, which roughly translates … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Just In Case

Posted on March 17, 2011 by daeja's view

Travel afar is imminent and suddenly I have become totally dysfunctional.   Once upon a time I threw a few scant items in a backpack a few hours before leaving and travelled to the other side of the world with open-ended plans.  Why can’t I do that now? … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments