Booming Banter

 

Aaron has been on the breakfast shift all week. This means leaving home at 4:30 for a 5:00 am start.

Up until now I’ve been taking him to work, coming home and getting back into bed for a few hours.

In Ohio new drivers have a curfew between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am. So that was my « excuse » that I had to take him.

There is an exception to this rule. If the young driver can prove he is going to or coming from work. So you guessed it Aaron got a letter from his boss to say he was working early shifts.

Of course I am glad to see him working and developing independence but I can tell you it does not result in any improvements in maternal sleep patterns.

Not only am I worrying about him driving I’m worried about him getting up on time too. So since I have no alarm set on the clock my internal alarm wakes me up at regular intervals all through the night just to be sure he is up on time!!!!!

I know this is a necessary part of the parenting process but certainly not the most warm and fuzzy.

As in all things there is one advantage to this.

As Aaron had little time for breakfast this morning he was a tad hungry by the time his shift ended at 1:00.

So the lad goes to the Japanese restaurant next door to the hotel and brings himself home a takeaway the scale of which was such we all enjoyed a little light brunch!!!!!

Blessing # 68 – Tucking into Teppanyaki

Beans have a place in many diets and they have a place in many hearts too.

In the UK Baked Beans on toast was a staple in the diet of the 60s and 70s when I was growing up. Guess it still is today. I know Aaron loves it.

My Mum would serve me this meal as lunch when I was at primary school. I have fond memories of sitting at the table by a roaring fire eating this.

We would have lashing of butter on the toast and a good spoon in the beans too. Try it next time makes them super duper tasty.

Today we see a great resurgence in the appreciation of beans thanks to the vegan and flexitatian food trends.

So many cultures to copy in meals using beans. What better than a good bean chili or a chick pea curry. If you have a favorite bean recipe please share.

Since time immemorial in China soy milk has been the meal to start the day. Great to see such drinks on the market all around the world now and many others made with legumes being launched too.

All this is not just good for our health but good for our planet too.

This little rhyme, that some of you may know, and that is scientifically proven to be true, is a fitting end to this tribute.

Beans Beans the wonderful fruit

The more you eat the more you toot

The more you toot the better you feel

So eat those Beans with every meal!

Blessing #67 – Comfort Foods

My Mum was very much a keep it clean person.

She cleared, defrosted and washed the fridge out from top to bottom ever other week. For this she used a solution of baking soda and she was constantly washing dishes and clothes too.

She also bought bleach in copious quantities. Seriously you could have sterilized an Olympic sized swimming pool with the weekly amount of bleach that was purchased.

The bleached lived in the back hall and was used in large volumes in drains, sinks the toilet and to wash down the door steps.

Mummy had a theory that it would keep the mice away.

Only one brand of bleach would do for my Mum. DOMESTOS because it « Kills all know germs DEAD! »

I did not inherit my Mum’s passion for bleach or cleaning but sometimes needs must!!!

So all this history came to mind today as I brought out the Clorox.

No bathroom surface was left untouched and any bug in the kitchen better hide because I have intentions to get them.

Aren’t we so fortunate to have such a valuable, powerful, safe and good value product as bleach.

It truly is transformational.

Blessing # 66 – Antiseptics

Krishna is working his way through a mountain of papers. Most days this brings a discovery of some kind that is shared with Aaron and me.

Yesterday he uncovered some old photos that were among my Mum’s papers.

These included photos of both my grandfathers.

I’d never met them as they had died many years before I was born and yet I feel I know them.

With Aaron being adopted I so wish we could find out something about his family tree.

The way Grandpa Barr is sitting with his cap on and his kind smile reminds me a lot of my Dad. He looks very approachable and simple. He even folds his arms just like my Dad did!

Grandpa Gibson looks very handsome and much more authoritative as befits the winner of the Military Medal for bravery.

Is this just my imagination or is it because we hear so much about our grandparents that we feel we know them?

Do we see our parents or loved ones or even ourselves in their faces?

What is it we know and what is it that we inherit?

Blessing # 66 – Knowing where we come from

We has a sad event at the start of the week.

Early Monday morning Aaron spotted something in the neighbor’s yard.

We hoped against hope that it was an extra large mole hill of which we have many.

Alas no it was a dead fawn.

Aaron was brave enough to inspect it and it looked like the work of a Cayote.

Our neighbor called Wildlife Ohio and they came immediately to pick up the poor creature.

The wildlife specialist explained that the fawn may have been injured by a car but managed to get to the yard.

Since the Coyotes follow the herd they can pounce when any injury occurs.

No sooner was the little creature taken away than down came the buzzards.

They set about a clean up of their own. All part of the food chain and life in the wild I suppose.

While the buzzards were still at work the Doe returned looking for her baby.

Not even these massive birds or Dibley barking frightened her away.

A live life lesson in nature that I’d really rather not have seen.

Blessing # 65 – Mother Love in Mother Nature

 

Comedy is one of those things that is very much part of our culture.

Each country has its own sense of humor and of course we think our own is the funniest.

In our house British Comedy is highly valued and, not being biased of course, is considered best.

Nearly every Saturday evening, thanks to our wonderful PBS WOSU-Columbus, we watch Mrs Bucket or Mrs Bouquet on Keeping Up Appearances.

All of us know someone like Hyacinth Bucket. She is out to impress but has a heart of gold and is the go to person in times of crisis!!!

Maybe it is because the characters are all parodies of people we know that we can watch the same episode many times and still chuckle.

Came across this clip this morning. It is one of the all time classics from Hyacinth so thought it would do us all good to have a giggle.

What’s your favorite sketch.

Share it if you can.

Blessing # 64 – Laughter

What’s blooming at your place right now?

It seems in India something really special is happening with the once in a generation blooming of the NEELAKURINJI

I’d never heard of this until yesterday when Krishna Venkateswaran posted a cartoon about it by GREEN HUMOUR

A selfie with a Neelakurinji may be out of the question for most of us. Any of you who are close to some though please do take a pic and post.

For the rest of us let’s just snuggle up with our best bloom.

Nothing blooming?

Hug a tree and share for fun!!!!!

Blessing # 63 – Hugs the best of the season

 

This morning I saw a post from friends who had been to the beautiful Botanic Gardens in Belfast this weekend and had taken some lovely photos.

These gardens have been open to the public since the 1890s and much enjoyed by the people of Belfast and beyond.

The beauty and the adventure of these gardens meant so much for city kids like my friend Carol and me.

On good days we would walk, or run, the two miles from our home to get to “The Tanys” as we fondly called the gardens.

This was 50 years ago, so we were really quite young when we took off there for the day.

Sometimes we would take a drink and a sandwich and lie in the grass for our picnic. Often we made daisy chains to take home.

No one worried back then about dangers and in good weather children were outside from dawn till dusk during the school holidays.

The smell of the roses and other flowers was wonderful and the Palm House was like something out of a movie.

The Botanic Palm House was the inspiration for the one later built at Kew Gardens in London and was packed with giant plants including banana trees.

Can you imagine how much this meant to kids from terraced houses to see a real banana growing.

We would also pretend when we were in that palm house that it was the Day of the Triffids and that things would hatch from the massive plants.

It is great to see that these gardens are still as popular today as ever.

Sometimes a banana is needed just as much if not more than an apple!

Blessing # 62 – Parks for Play

In the pursuit of order, the big clear it challenge has moved from the garage to the kitchen.

Quite some forgotten photos that were stashed away in the back of drawers have tumbled out. As you might guess a lot of these are of Aaron including his first passport photo.

He has a nice big bumb on his chin in this photo. We laugh to this day about how he got that. We were in the HSBC in Shanghai and it had a very fancy marble floor. Of course the lad was running around and managed to fall right into a huge waste paper bin!

We also came across many of other family members from years ago.

Photos that seem most touching are those of the people we know as little ones.

This goes for our fur babies too and for all little critters. Take this beautiful photo that Sandy MacHattie took recently of a baby penguin.

Could anything be sweeter.

Blessing # 61 – Little Loves

 

 

 

We have deer all around our neighborhood.

They have certainly been living in these parts much longer than any of us humans.

No doubt about it, the tracks and trails are definitely theirs.

One of their trails happens to be across our yard. This means no plant is safe from a nibble unless behind a solid fence.

Slowly I am starting to understand what they like and what they don’t like to eat and am planting accordingly in the flower beds.

This year, the locally recommended Irish Spring Soap has had some effect in keeping them from coming up to the front door!

Once grated the soap looks like shredded green cheese and smells really powerful. I’m buying it in multipacks now!!!

This year I’ve been able to observe the herd more carefully and have noticed that the Bucks seem to hang out together in a group and the Does in another group with the Fawns.

It looks like the biggest Buck is maybe teaching the younger ones.

A few mornings ago I saw this really huge Stag with about five younger Bucks and it looked very much like he was watching over them.

Wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of that experience but it was surprising as I’d thought Stags would have been singular sorts.

Is it possible?

Blessing # 60– Patient Leadership