Here are a few of my pet bees.

They took up with this soaker hose when it was first laid out, and there are scores of them.

Lyman wants to replace this hose with a Simple Soaker, and move the true simple soaker to the front, underneath a tree. The set-up will be entirely different and the bees will be deprived.

I'm not so sure that I can allow that.

I have deleted this post since the photograph has gone missing.

The actor Alec Baldwin threw a fit at his 11-year-old daughter.

I've been reading Dr. Helen on the topic, and one of her commenters gets to the point:

Anonymous said...
dittos to what tmink said.

I don't know about punishment, but the dude could sure use some anger management counselling or parenting classes or something. If he's this over the top about an eleven year old not answering her phone, he's going to stroke out when she's fifteen. (In my experience, most obnoxious age of them all.)

Lucy laid an egg last night, 4/20/07. It goes with the one she laid on 4/17/07.

Seems there is a problem with bees leaving their hives.

Could it be a water problem? I have a couple hundred bees living around one of the raised beds to suck on the soaker hose -- the one where I decided to plant flowers. My flowers aren't beyond seedlings.

Scientists are working on this problem, and Lyman reminds me that my experience is thin. He's right. So am I.

I saw these geraniums and the blue-purple petunias near one another at the nursery and couldn't resist. Do they remind you of Peter Max, too?

I called the lumber yard. We're looking at about $150 per 35" X 60" for Energy Star windows.

I like that set-up.

I took a king-sized comforter to the washateria up on the highway where they also have a car wash.

It's not the Bar of Soap, but it will do.

UPDATE: I positively hate laundromats. But it's worth my time to save $10 to $15 on cleaning a comforter and getting it really clean. The last time I sent it to a cleaners, the cost was $20 and I wasn't satisfied.

This laundry had the normal allotment of little wild Indians running around trying to crack their noggins on the vinyl-tiled concrete floor. So it was a relief to spend some time vacuuming the car and washing the top coat of grime off. It needs more work, but I have a start.

Michael has been using this car, taking it to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. I noticed yesterday that someone seems to have taken a crowbar to the post at the edge of the windshield. Did they plan to take the windshield? I can't imagine what else they'd want to steal from a ten-year-old Escort wagon. If it was something else, why not go through the side glass like the other vandals? And the car is seldom locked.

Damn, damn, damn, damn and more damns.

Charlie jumped to the floor after his bath and popped his keel again.

What can we do?

Oh, Lucy.

Why don't we put you under contract to an exclusive restaurant? Poached parrot eggs might bring someone a pretty penny.

I haven't taken her other egg away yet, and this morning she is sitting on two.

Tell you what, Tony, I'll eat my heart out for you.

Strawberries from Tickfaw, Louisiana.

My, my. He might clean up right nice. Except for the tattoo.

(Thank you, Obscure Store.)

Poor kitchen hand has been backed into a corner by Bridezilla.

I have nothing to offer.

(There's another egg from Lucy as I write at 9:20 p.m. Excuse me, dear...)

The gifting I have done for couples has been through showers given by outside parties. Because I have some connection to everyone who invites me to one of these things, I'll call a mother or someone else in the know to ask what the couple wants or needs. If one of those people were to tell me that the couple would like cash, I wouldn't be at all offended. I appreciate the flexibility of cash myself.

However, I've never heard of a bride asking for her own gifts, and I've never encountered a direct request for cash.

UPDATE: As brides and grooms become older and better established before they marry, we might need to find a way for them to make that request without embarrassing themselves. The last four gifts I've given have been gift certificates -- one to Lowe's, two to Amazon, and one to the shop of registry. A check would have been more convenient for me and more welcome to a couple who would, for instance, like to purchase things on E-Bay.

Kate, you married recently. What's your opinion?

Dr. James Joyner was married fairly recently. What does he think?

UPDATE: Dr. Joyner answers:

I don't think we said anything about gifts on the invitation itself, since those things tend to be formal. On our wedding blog and eVites, though, we put a note to the effect "we've got enough crap, don't buy us anything" but established a couple wedding registries at Macy's, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Home Depot.

UPDATE: Kate's answer here.

Kate has pictures up from her trip to China. Here is one of the lazy Susan serving arrangement that she calls "the wheel of death."

A friend brought me a dishpan of daisy clumps. I dug out a suitable spot to plant them in. I like flowers with faces.

One day, my ambition will get the better part of me, and I'll create a mixed border all the way around this area. Summer will then come on, and I will die of West Nile, even though I avoided the heat by waking at dawn. Mosquitos never sleep anymore.

A few blossoms on these George Tabor azaleas took on a deeper hue. That's odd and very pretty.

Taking no risks this year, we planted $2 basil plants in a planter on the patio. One healthy $2 plant will yield about $300 worth of those tiny containers of fresh basil that you buy at the supermarket.

Before, I've also cut a bunch of basil, stuffed it into a pint Mason jar, and added a daisy or two for a perfectly presentable centerpiece for a casual dinner. The basil cuts rooted.

I've tried all week to take a decent picture of this arugula plant. It's a great looking old-fashioned kitchen garden plant that makes me want to plow up the rest of the back yard for garden.

Lyman has now cleared it from the bed, where he's going to plant a variety of peppers, squash, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

Why couldn't he let it go to seed? Next time that goes into my bed.

I just finished watching The Great Global Warming Swindle here on my computer.

Ladies, do you find Professor Ian Clark of the University of Ottawa as attractive as I do? Dr. Reiter (sp?) was also wonderfully attractive in a different way.

Now I'm ready to watch An Inconvenient Truth just as soon as the distributors make it available for free on the Internet. If that has happened, please let me know the URL.

Now for something completely different.

This is Lucy doing one of her mating dances. They're not as lovely and complex as they were when she was two or three.

(Just short of a minute, the end of about 3 minutes of dancing.)