As Perry and I were sitting on the deck this evening, we were talking about what people do with their lives when they live in an apartment and don’t work. This discussion was inspired after we spent the entire day just doing regular stuff that’s required when you live in the country.
Burning trash… pulling weeds in the flower beds… watering flowers… and so on… and so on. There’s always something that needs to be done. Heck, mowing and weed whacking here takes one person two days.
Add to that the time required for the care of hound dogs.
Apartment dwellers certainly can’t have three big ole’ dogs — some can’t even have one pet.
According to experts, there are three primary benefits of spending time outside:
Improved Mental Health: Spending time outdoors reduces stress, anxiety, and depression by lowering cortisol levels and boosting mood through natural light exposure.
Enhanced Physical Health: Outdoor activities like walking or hiking increase physical activity, improving cardiovascular health, muscle strength, and immune function.
Boosted Creativity and Focus: Nature stimulates creative thinking and improves concentration by providing a calming environment that refreshes the mind.
We never did figure out what people do without jobs who live in an apartment because we were too busy just trying to keep up here.
Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful women out there! ❤️
Now you know: In 2014, Anna Nicole Smith’s estate failed in its final bid to obtain $44m from the estate of J. Howard Marshall whom Smith had married when he was 89 & she was 26. The oil tycoon died the next year & left his $1.6b estate to his son & nothing to Smith despite her claim he had promised her $300m.
It’s the perfect time to dig into gardening according to Mr. Pesky, gardener extraordinaire. Although there are still plants to go in the ground for summer 2025, he’s been working pretty darned hard already.
And the winner is…
I was summoned to the Pesky Neighbor’s home yesterday to judge a contest and so they could show me my early Mothers Day gift. The contest was to judge who had the best looking planter. Because pink flowers are my favorite — and yellow ones are my least favorite — Mom was the winner.
Now that my gift was revealed to be tomato plants already in the ground, I’m hoping Mr. Pesky doesn’t kill them. He can be a sore loser.
It’s finally time to enjoy outdoor flowers in Indiana!
Blooms are a perfect reminder to pause and celebrate the season’s renewal. If you live close to my slice of the world, you’ve likely already taken time to get your hands dirty too.
Please note that for a fee, I’m available to judge any live floral arrangement contests. I have experience and references upon request. 😉
Now you know: Fast food restaurants frequently use Columbus, Ohio to test out new products because the demographics of the city closely resemble those of the country as a whole.
You remember (or at least have heard of) the 1996 movie, Matilda, right? If not, maybe you instead read the novel by Roald Dahl about Matilda, a brilliant young girl who is neglected and abused by her parents but discovers she has extraordinary powers. It’s a story about resilience and bravery — and represents the triumph of good over evil and the importance of standing up for what is right, even when facing overwhelming odds.
Ben & I went to see the play, Matilda, last night in Indy.
In the story, Zinnia Wormwood, Matilda’s mean mother, is neglectful and uncaring, prioritizing money and television over her daughter’s education. Mr. Wormwood is just as bad… they’re rotten parents by any standards.
Colette was a fabulous Mrs. Wormwood!
“A girl should think about making herself look attractive so she can get a good husband later on. Looks are more important than books.” — Mrs. Wormwood
The story explores themes of injustice, rebellion, and the power of kindness and compassion. The fact that the theater was packed with proud parents and others wanting to experience the play was even more inspiring. It was an extremely well-done production and it was obvious how much time and practice had been put in by everyone involved. There were some AMAZING little performers.
It was opening night!
Just like opening night on Broadway, many of the performers were given flowers after curtain call. Unlike Broadway performances, Coco’s small rose bouquet was delivered in a clear, Starbucks cup. 🙂
Even those kids without major parts had a learning experience they’ll remember for a lifetime.
Now you know: Roald Dahl, a wartime fighter ace, only wrote his books in pencil on yellow colored paper from a little hut in his garden. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide.
My favorite son was born on April 26th, so this day is not just special for him — it’s important for me as well. He let me know in no uncertain terms that he DID NOT want cake and ice-cream to celebrate. I think I might stick one candle in a packaged danish, light it, and sing to him anyway.
I’ve already given him his gift. Anything from Tommy Bahama and he’s a happy guy. It’s only fitting that I share my most recent photo of him on his birthday, right?
I don’t remember having a girl’s name even picked out!
Ben was born before the days of ultrasounds and baby reveal parties. Back then, the sex of a baby was “determined” by someone holding a string with a pencil tied on the end over a pregnant woman’s belly. Up and down is a boy, and side to side is a girl. My doctor guessed I’d deliver a girl and my nurse in the hospital said she thought I was having a boy. Neither used the pencil method and I didn’t see them flipping coins. I honestly didn’t care.
Benjamin Scott was almost Jonathan Max. Both first and middle names belonged to a relative. Jerilyn took the name Jonathan for her son 3 years later after our Grandpa McKain. No way would I have picked either Dad’s first or middle name… my brother is already Dallas Scott — and I couldn’t pin the name Maynard on my kid. That would’ve been worse than Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue.”
Happy, happy birthday to Ben — may you live many years after I’ve gone. ❤️
Now you know: The most famous people born on April 26th include William Shakespeare and Carol Burnett.
Yesterday, I said the rain thwarted mowing plans, but then the sun came out and I went to work! I planted 2 peonies and 4 hosta plants, weed eated 10 miles of fence and flower beds, and push mowed the dog part of the yard. Whew! Two loads of laundry after that and I was ready for a break knowing the rest of the yard mowing is tomorrow. 😎
Time to start looking through those memory boxes of Dad’s.
There were 2 BIG boxes that contained a bajillion photos. I smiled when I ran across around 15 photos that were kept separate from all the others that were of me and Scott when we were kids. I don’t know how many certified death certificates Betty kept for Dad, but I counted 10 she saved.
His honorable discharge paperwork from the army and his birth certificate were also in there. There was a HUGE bible that was encased in an extremely old box… not sure where it originated.
The two highlights for me so far…
Dad kept his Masonic Bible in a white box yellowed with age. My Pap-pa, Noah Garriott, had signed inside of it. There were a few other names I recognized from back in the day — I knew them from my time in the Rainbow for Girls.
The other was a scrapbook Dad kept from his time in Korea in the early 50’s. The scrapbook itself is amazing (I’ll share a photo another time). There were tons of pictures of Dad in there… some with friends — many of him holding/playing a guitar. ❤️
I’ve yet to dive deeply into the treasures or scan anything, but as I do, I’ll share more here.
My goal was to get rid of things I didn’t care to keep — items that aren’t sentimental to me and photos of people he knew from his time in Brandenburg or from the Corydon Jamboree where he played music every weekend. I accomplished that much at least.
Now you know: The Korean War, a conflict between North and South Korea, was a major event in the early Cold War era, lasting from 1950 to 1953. The war was marked by heavy casualties, including significant civilian deaths, and ended in a stalemate with an armistice, leaving Korea divided. The war saw the first all-jet dogfights in history.
