Our crocuses are coming up and looking beautiful, briefly, before the squirrels get to them and nibble the flowers apart. Often this is what I see when I check out the bulbs -- this or worse. Soon after I took this photo something tore apart the rest of these flowers, leaving petals like purple confetti strewn on the ground.
Here's another one, pre-squirrel, that has since been demolished.
Ah, nature.
I must admit I have not seen the squirrels in action, so I suppose the culprit could be birds. Pigeons, maybe?
As long as I have a photo of the flowers I feel they've been appreciated.
I've mentioned a couple of times that houses on our street seem to be perpetually under renovation. Here's the situation down the road at the moment -- two gigantic scaffolding "sheds" constructed over houses on either side of one in the middle, still untouched. The one in the middle is the bathing beauty's house. It must be a drag to have all that construction happening on either side. And I thought I had it bad with the Russians!
Dave and I had a dramatic mishap last night at dinner. I was sitting on the couch watching TV, and Dave brought out two plates of lasagna from the kitchen. He handed me one on a potholder, and said, "Careful, it's hot." I took the plate but my thumb touched the china, which was indeed blisteringly hot -- straight out of the oven. I jerked my thumb back which caused the whole plate to come tumbling down onto me and the couch. Olga immediately leapt to attention, seeing an opportunity, but we held her back while I scooped up what I could and then got in the shower. Dave cleaned the rest of it up.
Fortunately, I didn't get burned, except for my thumb and that was minor. And fortunately, we have a dark-colored couch that is near the end of its long lifespan, and which somehow shows no visible evidence of this episode.
Dave got me a fresh piece of lasagna, which I asked him to put in the microwave, which makes the plate much less hot than the conventional oven. (He prefers the oven because he says the microwave makes things soggy.) Last night as we went to bed I apologized for throwing his lasagna on the couch, and he apologized for dumping it on me. This is how marriages work, right?!
No serious damage and still talking? Good.
ReplyDeleteThe message from this episode is to eat your meals at the table like civilised human beings. Ad for the bathing beauty's house - that situation is very unfair. Those construction tents will probably be up for six months and often filled with noise.
ReplyDeleteI hope your lap remained unscathed after the lasagna incident!
ReplyDeleteI pity the occupants of the bating beauty's house... perhaps they could move out for a year or so.
It is indeed how good marriages work.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with crocuses is that they bloom one day then, when they open a bit, robins tear them apart. I've seen them at it, must be something really good in there.
ReplyDeleteI dunno about the lasagna throwing incident though..
That construction would be so unpleasant. It was especially annoying in our building. Every winter one or another of the 46 50-year-old apartments would be renovated. Sometimes it would take several months. We partially did ours, but it took less than a month and we warned our neighbors and apologized in advance to anyone who happened to be around. I understand that squirrels have a special fondness for every part of the crocus. We had woodchucks in Connecticut that loved to nibble (and devour) our flowers.
ReplyDeleteWhat a waste of good lasagna, but I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt.
ReplyDeleteWell, that lasagna episode could have turned out much worse. I am glad you didn't burn your hand or ruin the couch! Yes, and this is how marriages work!
ReplyDeletePoor Olga, missing out on a wonderful treat! Have you got a blister today?
ReplyDeleteMarriage is half dumping and half throwing; glad no one was injured but sad Olga didn't get to do cleanup!
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, this is exactly how marriage works. Bob's comment gave me a good laugh! I also got a good laugh at the mental picture of old lady Olga seizing the day, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes...major construction on both sides of your home would be much worse than having the Russians living upstairs.
You need TV trays, Steve!
ReplyDeleteYes that is what marriage is all about- apologizing.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the microwave either. It heats up the food by exciting the molecules but as soon as they stop being excited stuff begins to cool down much faster than from being heated in the oven. I prefer my food to be hot/warm. Which is one of my pet peeves when Marc cooks. He has this notion that food has to sit for 5 minutes after being taken out of the oven for things to 'gel' or some such. Then served onto a cold plate it's often cold before I finish eating. Maybe I'll start sticking my plate in the oven.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ellen D. is right. You need TV trays. I really think there must be a better way to heat up leftovers.
ReplyDeleteIn our house, marriage is mostly about us yelling at each other from different rooms saying, "I can't hear you!"
I'm glad no one got burned and no damage to furniture. My sofa is yellow so that would have been a true disaster if it happened to me.
ReplyDeleteI'd hate to be living in the house in the middle of that construction.
That's extreme scaffolding on those renovations.
ReplyDeleteTo love through oven baked or microwaved lasagna should be added to the standard marriage vows.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about the lasagna incident but it sounds like all was well in the end, apart from for Olga who didn't get her spoils! I'm glad no damage on the couch and limited to you but I have a feeling it just hurts to waste a tasty piece of Dave's cooking!
ReplyDeleteTV trays, or the C shaped tables that can slide under the couch work really well. Glad your couch was able to absorb that color.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bring food to Mike (not often, because he likes to fix his own plate), I always sit it on the end table beside him because I would 100% dump it on him otherwise. I'm a menace!
ReplyDeleteLol, that is exactly how marriages work, at least the harmonious ones, where one is a culinary purist and prefers the flavors and textures of the oven, the other is just fine with the microwave because the plate is less hot, and both give each other the benefit of the doubt when a minor disaster occurs, and everyone is smiling in the morning. Good job, both of you. And Olga, and your resilient couch, too.
ReplyDeleteAny dish with cheese in it, like lasagna, is like lava! And hot plates definitely cause issues. Sometimes I'm not thinking and grab a cookie sheet freshly out of the oven. Not fun!
ReplyDeleteOh no!!! I'm glad you only suffered a minor burn from the plate. All that hot cheese could have been a disaster on your skin as well as Olga's tongue! One of our family stories tells of Angus, our first Rottweiler, burning his mouth on a hot chunk of roasted potatoes that fell on the floor from the stove. Dogs can be fast when it comes to dropped food!
ReplyDeleteI took a picture of our first crocus today - before it gets covered with snow tonight!
ReplyDelete