Thursday, May 27, 2010

A Brief Pause and an Early Fiona Friday

Miss Fiona will hold down the fort while I'm taking a few days away from the computer to regroup and see my son walk across the grass to pick up a little piece of paper saying he is done with the local school system, forever. I tried to pose Fi with Kiddo's mortar board but she strongly objected -- as in "ran away, quickly, thus reaffirming the suspicion that her inner Energizer Bunny is alive and well."

Fiona thought you might like to sit and enjoy the view in our back jungle, while you wait for our return. Happy Weekend!

24 comments:

  1. Congratulations to your son!

    I would so love to be relaxing in your backyard. Encourages me to go clean ours up for the summer!

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  2. Lisa,

    Thanks!

    It's in the 90's, here, so it looks a whole lot better than it feels in the backyard but I think it's really pretty, right now. Lots of things are blooming. :)

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  3. A few comments...

    1) Congratulations to your son! What is he graduating with?
    2) Fiona looks quite intense in that pic! I love it!
    3) Your back deck looks lovely!
    4) 90 sounds absolutely incredible to me :)

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  4. I think I'll sit in your backyard after dark -- or maybe, before dawn. Anyway, when it's something like 70 or 72 degrees F. Do I spy a tomato jungle off to the right? I have one of those hung upside down with a tomato plant that isn't getting enough sunshine, but I don't have a lot of options. Congrats to Will -- and to you -- for reaching this auspicious milestone.

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  5. Amy,

    1) Thanks. He's graduating from High School, so no particular subject area but he's going into engineering.
    2) Fiona was trying to swipe the camera and I was trying to get her to hold that paw still long enough to get the angle I wanted. It's a compromise.
    3) Thank you! That photo looks pretty inviting, doesn't it? The yard's a jungle, but at least the climbing things aren't showing. Haha.
    4) You must live somewhere cold, yes? We live for our "winter". All two weeks of it.

    Bonnie,

    That's about the only time it's tolerable! LOL But, it's so pretty with everything blooming and all that glorious green. I do love the green, nuisance though it may be to keep up with. Yep, we have two upside-down tomato hangers. We went with Roma tomatoes and they seem to be growing very nicely. We're slowly losing our sunny spots -- lots of our jungle needs to be hacked back (as do our neighbors' jungles, but there's not much we can do about that). Thanks! I'm going to miss Kiddo when he's off at school, but at the same time I'm really looking forward to being an empty nester. I never wanted to stay home full time; I'm ready to get out a bit, have some fun, travel, take some courses . . . anything but stick around the house!

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  6. Congrats to your son!

    Wow, your back yard is amazing!!! I know it's hot there but I hope you are getting the time to enjoy it some.

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  7. Oh wow!!!! Congrats to your son Nancy :D :D That's so awesome :D Please pass on my congratulations to him. And the back jungle looks fantastic! I see you have the topsy turvy tomato planters...those things work well? Enjoy your time away!

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  8. You are right, I live in PEI, Canada where high 80s is very rare!

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  9. Travel? If you get anywhere near Chattanooga, let me know and I'll give you a tour of my town. We're a great destination for tourists, but I also know lots of other places to share with you. Email me, and I'll give you my phone number so we'll be ready for our very own "book blogger convention" of two.

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  10. I'm back -- with a link to one of the "important" places I'll take you when you come to visit: McKay's Used Books! (Of course, books! I was there yesterday.)

    http://www.mckaybooks.com/

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  11. Congrats to your son! What a big day!

    I love that Fiona pic. Love the paw!

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  12. Congrats to your son, and enjoy the graduation--you earned it!

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  13. Thanks for my weekly Fiona fix and congrats to the graduate !!!!

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  14. Nikki,

    Thank you! Graduation was really fun. The speeches were even funny!

    And, thank you for the compliment on our yard. Fortunately, the climbing, messy stuff doesn't show up in that photo! We enjoy looking at the flowers and greenery, but we don't sit on the porch much, once it gets to the 80's. Too bad we can't have all that pretty green with winter temps (that would be 60's)! :)

    Chris,

    Thank you! Kiddo is really excited and anxious to move on to college life. I'll pass on the congrats. Yep, we've got topsy-turvy tomatoes. They're working really well, except for the fact that the tomatoes are growing into our rosemary, below, and the rosemary is a huge bush. So, it's a little hard to tell what's there but we've got about 8 tomatoes, I think. We went with Roma tomatoes, this year. So far, so good! I like growing them that way. :)

    Amy,

    Ah-ha! I knew it! I don't blame you for longing for heat, then. We have way too much of it. There ought to be a way to share. You send us some cool Canadian air and we'll send you temps in the 90's. Or, maybe we should just vacation in PEI. I keep thinking I've got to do that, someday! :)

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  15. Bonnie,

    I think I've told you we went to Chattanooga just once, a long time ago (when eldest was about 4, I think). I would love to go back and it would be great fun to visit with you. Maybe we can work something out in the next year or so. I could get a cabin nearby and we can hang out. I'm planning to take off to find some places to spend time writing and enjoying nature. McKay's Books looks awesome!! I'll email you later. :)

    Chris,

    Thank you! Graduation was surprisingly fun (once it cooled off -- the stadium was crowded and it was HOT at 7pm).

    Thanks! I've been trying to get that paw pic for over a week!!! It took a lot of work. She likes to swipe at the camera (some days, Fiona gets so tired of the photography that she runs every time she sees me pulling out the camera) but it's usually a quick motion and hard to get the focus. Fortunately, she held still for a few frames' worth, finally! :)

    Gentle Reader,

    Thank you! I'll pass on the congrats. Kiddo actually skipped partying with friends because he had to work, today (he's out lifeguarding, right now) but he had a great time at the ceremony.

    SuziQ,

    Many thanks, my friend. I'm going to be an empty nester in 2 months! What shall I do? Photograph lizards? You know, I don't think I've seen a single lizard in the past month. I should go hunting. :)

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  16. Congrats to the kiddo (and the parents for getting him that far?!), have a nice recharge, hug the kitty, yap at ya later.
    :)

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  17. Congratulations to your son, Nancy. You must be so proud. I hope you are enjoying your time with your family and away from the computer.

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  18. Care,

    Thanks from all of us! I'm just about done recharging. Eldest has headed home and Kiddo is out at the pool, lifeguarding. Husband is cutting small trim pieces (we've been finally working on that kitchen flooring). It's been a great weekend! Chatter at you soon, I hope. I know you're busy. Happy holiday weekend! :)

    Wendy,

    I think I'm as much relieved as proud. LOL Seriously, I've been longing to be done with the school system for a long, long time and I'm thrilled this part of our lives is over. Kiddo is excited to be moving on to college. It's a good time. We had a great visit but eldest has gone on home and Kiddo is working, so we're just having a quiet day of housework and slowly putting down our new kitchen flooring. Hope you're having a great holiday weekend!

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  19. Yes, you should go hunting. Lizard pics are awesome. We don't get lizards here. We get slugs. (blech!!)

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  20. SuziQ,

    We get slugs, too. Next year, I'm going to try one of those topsy-turvy planters for strawberries, just to see if I can get away with not feeding beer to the slugs. :) I shall go hunting, soon. Weird that I haven't seen any lizards. Maybe I've just been inside too much.

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  21. Congrats to your son. He must be happy! Fi is having a great stretch in that photo. Love the backyard!

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  22. Serena,

    Thanks. Yep, my son is thrilled! Now, he's just anxious to get another hot summer of working as a lifeguard over with. He says next year he wants to work in an air-conditioned building. LOL

    Fi turned trying to bat my camera away into a nonchalant look. Cats.

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  23. Your backyard is lovely!!! Not at all how I pictured it. You've always made it sound like such a mess, but it's gorgeous!

    So glad the graduation went well. I think I commented on FB, but I can't remember. I was busy with our travels to San Diego and can't remember where (or if!) I commented. :)

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  24. Les,

    It's the exposure that's got you fooled. The dark part at the back of the yard obscures our ugly shed and a bunch of messy vines. To the right, the neighbors have let volunteer trees grow as a barrier (a hedge would have been nice, but a bunch of trees . . . weird) and to the left is the privacy fence, which is almost completely covered by poison ivy. I'm patiently awaiting that phone call my husband keeps telling me he's going to make to get someone in here to trim. None of us can remove the vines, now -- we've all become too allergic to poison ivy.

    And, now that I've whined . . . thank you. I think you did write on FB. So, you're back? Welcome home! It sounded like you were having a fabulous time.

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