The Shed 23

a reply to: LookingForABetterLife

Good, good. We don't want to worry.

Peek a booo !

a reply to: Ian McLean

I just fell off my chair !

Have I seen you since our meet up dinner in NYC nearly a decade ago ??!!!

Hugs mate!

Hope you are fantastic. So good to see ya!

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Zazzy darling, how are you???

You know our new Sheddite? So... any good gossip on him? Nosey people want to know. Lol

I'm always so happy to see you! Hugs!

Edited to mention your funny pic. Loved it!

a reply to: Night Star

Ian is a clever poppet.
He was an ats debate champ back in the day when the quality of threads were actually good because there was way less politics lol. I might be remembering that wrong, maybe it was Maxmars? getting old.

Ian is smart, dashingly handsome, witty.
ATS Hall of Famer.

PS/ I really did fall off my chair after seeing him post, We had a 7.1 earthquake shake us about half an hour after I posted .

a reply to: zazzafrazz

He sounds wonderful!

YIKES, an earthquake? OMG!!!!!!! Stay safe mate and check in again. HUGS!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This is insane!

I will never bow nor cower.
Day or night I will rise.
After every fall.
I will rise
And stand tall.

Come hell or high water,
I will rise
Over the wall.
I will rise
Above them all.

Like the sun,
Which always rises,
And sets every night,
Every day I shall rise.

Like the ocean
Whose tides rise and fall.
Many times over they fall,
But always they rise.

Like the trees,
From seeds they arise,
And to towering heights
They rise and rise.

After falling once,
Twice and thrice,
Again and again
I will rise and rise.

I will not give up.
I will not look back.
I will continue.
I will prevail.

I will rise
After every step.
After every fall
I will rise.
- EMN

a reply to: EndtheMadnessNow

A poet in the Shed! How perfect! EMN, that was so beautiful. I hope you continue to share your awesome work with us.

a reply to: WalkInSilence

Lol, I'm happy I made you chuckle! I still see the storms popping up in Wisconsin every day and jack crap across the lake over here. Well, it tried yesterday and the day before, but everything bubbled up AROUND US, went inland thanks to the lake breeze

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: Nyiah

LOL! It's July. If there is such a thing as cool weather it won't last. It's hot enough for the AC right now. I was just really lucky with a storm earlier.

A-yup, and that's why at 6am sharp, hubs and I are heading out to buy one. He cracked, folks, he finally cracked. After hearing for a couple of years "It only lasts a few weeks, we don't need a window unit!", he begrudgingly admitted we do, in fact, need a window unit at least for the upstairs bedroom. It's UNBEARABLY humid especially at night when it spikes anyway. The low to mid 90's upstairs during the day I can deal with by just going downstairs or across the hall to the older kid's room. Her's is a north-facing room with ample heavy shade, so it's always about 80 during the day, pretty pleasant. Ours faces south in full sun with no shade til about 2 hours prior to sunset, yuck.
If I need to be up in our room during the day, all our attempts to thwart the UV heat impact have helped, but the HUMIDITY, oh my GAWD. It's a sauna 24/7 right now. Neither one of us can sleep at night, it's SO sticky humid.

How's the garden, kids, hubby, Burt and cats and...whatever else you have? Ha, trying to keep track of them all.

The garden's...not as good as prior container gardening years. I think the really cool spring and then the switch to hot and humid overnight really threw the plants for a loop. My Cilantro indeed bolted (pretty little white flowers, though) and now the Dill is bolting. Some other herbs are still very slowly growing, others still look like they hit the pause button. My Cayennes are slooooowly growing, but I doubt I'll get anything off them this year. My one Habanero is desperately trying to catch up, but I also doubt that one will fruit, too. The Ghost Peppers are having heavy flower bud drop, which I'm trying to rectify with different food (for flowering plants) I suspect they're not being pollinated properly, but even though I'm doing it by hand with a q-tip, they're still dropping buds. They seem to be really loving this god-awful heat, they're not showing signs of stress, so I doubt it's that.
The pumpkin vine and the garlic are doing great, they're the only things that MIGHT have an end result.

I can't complain too much, one of hubby's co-workers was livid that several dozen heirloom corn plants she was growing suddenly bolted overnight on her, and her herb garden is doing about as lousy as ours. Her other veggies are also stunted and slow to grow. It HAS to have been the swing from cool spring to slap-you-in-the-face summer, nothing else makes sense.

Kids are doing good, sort of. Older kid seems oblivious to the heat and humidity, but the younger one is feeling it and NOT happy. She also has a north-facing room downstairs, under her sister's room, but she just can't handle the heat & humidity. "That's IT, I'm DONE. WHERE'S THE SNOW HIDING?"

Burto Bunny is absolutely fine, the weather's not phasing him at all this year. Last year, it bothered him a lot, but this year? Acting like it's nothing. Hubs has also finally listened and figured out how to get Burt to like him instead of viewing him as that guy who grabs him and puts him in the carrier to go to the vet -- give him fruit snacks. ESPECIALLY fresh raspberries off the bush in the yard, he's more than willing to be best friends for one of those!

The cat's not liking the heat, he's one miserable kitty. He can never find a cool spot to lay down in, it's an all-day-long trek in vain through the house everyday searching for it. Even the basement is too warm -- we're running just the furnace's fan to circulate air down there to avoid heavy condensation from humid air (it's a PITA to clean up) but it also circulates the warm air from elsewhere in the house as a downside.

And the bird agrees with Burt -- the weather's fine, let's screech our head off and drive the hot people nuts! I may or may not have threatened to turn him into a chicken mcnugget a few times...

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Zazz! Noble Zazz! Hail and well met once again my friend!

(A round of warm greeting ensues)

It has been almost a decade, hasn't it? Life has certainly been generous with its joys, triumphs, and tragedies. I am doing well, a few extra grey whiskers in the beard, perhaps, but that only augments my wolf-like disguise. Basking in the kind warmth of this Shed. Life turned me to the east: I moved from Alameda, spent some beautiful time in Queens, NY, and now live here back west in Portland. A much calmer vibe than what California has become!

So good to see the "Old Guard" of ATS and FCP still lively and engaged! I've sensed some of the same camaraderie here. It is solace and joy. So let us raise a mug to the past, and future!

(Tales of yore are told, of road trips and roughnecks, spats and DATS, love and glory)

Thank you for the kind words. Yes, it's true that the Political Mudpit seems to have exceeded its bounds. ATS still has the same core vibe, though, and is what we make of it. Nothing is lost, much is gained.

How are YOU? Glad you weathered the trembler!

(Hugs)

a reply to: Nyiah

Yeah, I'm like one of your kids, I simply cannot tolerate the heat and humidity. How I ever survived the years where we didn't have any air conditioner, I'll never know. Last year on one of the hottest days ever, our air conditioner died. The new one is amazing! Glad you're finally getting one. It will be like a whole new world of comfort and happiness.

My lavender is trying to hang in there, but it's iffy. My mint is scraggly, but still alive. The lemon balm is doing wonderful so far. Yay lemon balm!

Oh, you have a parrot? You mentioned the bird screeching so I'm assuming it's some kind of parrot. They are so beautiful, but that screeching goes right through ya. Lol
We had a neighbor once who had one and I felt like I was living in a jungle.

Our chimney sweeps are nesting again and I always hear the little babies. I don't know why, but I find it comforting. I used to think they were bats until one actually fell down the pipe and onto my kitchen floor. My cat was curious and bolted over and I'm trying to keep him away while quickly grabbing a towel to catch the poor thing. After trying to care for it, one day he flew off and landed in the road and...well... bye bye flat birdie. It was heart breaking.

Glad Hubby made friends with Burt.

a reply to: Ian McLean

It was a lovely surprise to discover that you and our lovely Zazz are friends.

I am just delighted that you have found your way to the Shed and have made it your home. It seems that kindred spirits seem to find their way here. It is the people who make this place so amazing. Each person brings their own kind of magic and breathes new life into the place.

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: Nyiah

Yeah, I'm like one of your kids, I simply cannot tolerate the heat and humidity. How I ever survived the years where we didn't have any air conditioner, I'll never know. Last year on one of the hottest days ever, our air conditioner died. The new one is amazing!

Glad you're finally getting one. It will be like a whole new world of comfort and happiness.

It's a world of difference already. It's keeping the max temp in the bedroom around 85, and bone dry now. Knock 10+ degrees and god knows how many percentage points of humidity off inside and it feels like fall, lol. Younger kid has set up a spot between the dresser and bookcase with pillows for lounging/reading/tablet use. Older kid still doesn't care, but whatever kid, your loss. It's the same temperature elsewhere in the house, but the humidity is very high. Younger kid went downstairs and said when she came back up that the air was so moist she might as well have been swimming. Lol, that's actually not far off from my own quantification!

So far, I'm pretty pleased with the unit, it's supposed to be for a 150 sq ft room, but our bedroom is bigger than that, and it's cooling the room like a champ.

My lavender is trying to hang in there, but it's iffy. My mint is scraggly, but still alive. The lemon balm is doing wonderful so far. Yay lemon balm!

Sounds like it just wasn't a good garden season all around for folks this year I noticed one of the neighbors that usually has an impressive veggie garden going ripped it out. He did start it, and he's no amateur & knows what he's doing, but it's suddenly gone. I'm betting he had the same stunting & bolting problems

Oh, you have a parrot? You mentioned the bird screeching so I'm assuming it's some kind of parrot. They are so beautiful, but that screeching goes right through ya. Lol
We had a neighbor once who had one and I felt like I was living in a jungle.

Cockatiel. They're infamous for screeching for attention, or screeching for the hell of it. Hubby's had him for 21 years (they can live to 30 if very well cared for) so I guess he's entitled for be mouthy at his ripe old age, lol.

Our chimney sweeps are nesting again and I always hear the little babies. I don't know why, but I find it comforting. I used to think they were bats until one actually fell down the pipe and onto my kitchen floor. My cat was curious and bolted over and I'm trying to keep him away while quickly grabbing a towel to catch the poor thing. After trying to care for it, one day he flew off and landed in the road and...well... bye bye flat birdie. It was heart breaking.

We had a sparrow fall down the chimney a few days ago, Trying to catch it wasn't easy, it got past me when I opened the doors, and took the long, scenic route around the house before it flew in the bathroom and hid behind the toilet. That was a bad place to land, but it made it easy on me with a hand towel, lol.
All the cat did the whole time was crack open an eyeball and squawk as if to say, "HEY! I'm trying to sleep here!" Burt was more interested in the ruckus, lmao.

I understand about the flattened wildlife. We have a major overabundance of wild rabbits this year (spring was fruitful) and I've been seeing many more pancaked rabbits on the roads than normal. Hubby has to come through the neighborhood at a snail's pace to avoid hitting them (he already hit one a few winters ago and still feels terrible) We almost ran over a small group of 4 juveniles congregating in the middle of the street this morning, they were very hard to see because we were eastbound with the morning sun RIGHT at the blinding angle.

a reply to: Nyiah

I had two cockatiels many years ago. They were not friendly and liked to hiss. Lol

My herbs are in the house, not outside. I no longer garden outside with my bad back...too much bending when weeding and lugging the hose all over the front and back yard. I have many other plants up here as well. I love bringing nature indoors.

In my bathroom, I have a combination of real and silk plants everywhere. So when I take a bath in my antique tub, I'm surrounded by plants. Going to put some candles in there soon, but I won't light them because the cat might set the house on fire. I don't want to naked if the house is on fire.

a reply to: Night Star
How did you know I love hummingbirds?


Well met, Night Star.

a reply to: Ian McLean


I am well! You inspired me to look for a the only photo we took that night! Alas, no joy

I have not taken as long a sabbatical from ATS as you, but have has 2 or three extended stays away.
Came back for a Game of Thrones thread recently was about to head on another break when UFOlogy grabbed me but the short antennas....alas I am now Woo-Wooing, not Rick Flare Wooing, but spooky wooing .

Hit me up on a u2u anytime mate!

IRL my approval is rarely sought, nonetheless of this shed I approve. Hope you're all in top form.

Survived a trip to the grocery store this afternoon much better than my previous trip. Other than that I'm bummed out for growing up in an analog world but now everything is now and new and digital of course and I don't have a clue as to how to use it.

Another reason for missing my wife as she knew all there was to know electronically from working in a recording studio and from school.

a reply to: Ian McLean

They are such wondrous little creatures.