Short People

This blog is just to bring smiles to faces! A friend once told me that one of my best qualities is my sense of humor and the ability to poke fun at myself at times and not take myself too seriously. I took that as a great compliment! I do try to see the fun side, not only the absurdity, in our daily happenings! A smile, or better still, a laugh, will always make things better! Junie

 Short People


 at

*Junie Being Silly*

Midweek Blues-June 30, 2010~ Gazing Ball

For more Midweek blues join Rebecca by clicking here.

 ~~~

This is one of the three Gazing Balls we have at our place.

More about my Gazing Balls
(and a Gnome Lady) here!

Junie

Of Fairies and such!

I visited Pea at Pea's Corner and I found out that today is FAIRY DAY!

Please visit Pea to find out more!

Fairies seem to hang out at Pea's place a lot. I saw several while I was there today! I bet they are still there!

Do you like fairies? I do!

Get your free fairy name here!


~~~ Utt-ohh! Seems my Fairy is TROUBLE!
She must hang out with that mysterious little Gnome lady I have seen in my gazing balls.

~~~

(This is the info they give on my Fairy)


"Your fairy is called Tangle Saturnglow

She is a trouble maker.

She lives at the bottom of tangled gardens and in hedgerows.

She is only seen in the light of a full moon.

She wears tangled dresses of multicoloured petals. She has delicate pale pink wings like a cicada."

~~~

I have no doubts of her being there among my tangled garden. Just last night I was out very late, with my camera - moon gazing- and got a glimpse of those pink wings. In a flash she was hidden from my view and all I was able to get for evidence was this little part of her wings on one side! However~ this picture speaks for itself; don't you agree? She's there!


I DO wonder what sort of trouble, 'Tangle Saturnglow' is likely to cause me!

I'll not worry before it's time, though!


Junie Rose

A hard day- but good!

Health update:

Charles got a good report last week from the doctor concerning the skin cancer. They say they got it all but he will need to have a check up again in 3 months.

I also went for the bone density exam I need every year. I was told I need to walk! But-Duh- I knew that!

OK- Charles and I have started a walking program. We have done it 3 days. I'm sure it will be good for both of us, although hard to get into at first! We'll just walk in our neighborhood.

Before- I was driving to a beautiful park to walk and really liked doing that...however, with gas prices so high it doesn't make sense to drive a (approx.) 20 mile round trip- just to walk!!
So we'll do it here!

Here we are, putting our 'best feet forward,' starting on our walk today.









I took along my camera, so trailed behind Charles most of the time! I won't do that every day but it was such a beautiful day I felt I might 'need' the camera! :)


Here's some of the pretty things I saw along the way:

A butterfly
(I can't resist a butterfly) :)

Some horses
( This farm is just across from our place - catty- cornered)

Beautiful Live Oaks
(These are my favorite trees!!)

The shaded lane
( this road is leading north from where the pic was taken...and ends at our street and house.)

Palmetto palm fronds
(A very common, low growing plant for this area-and much of Florida. I like the way they look!)











































































After our walk we spent several hours working in the garden.

Charles got mulch for one smallish area-and we fixed that up with some of the new rose bushes we've bought recently!

Oh! And it's a good home for that 'Gator' I got for Charles! Look! I think he's heading for the fish pond!














I took on the job of cutting back all the roses that were worth saving...and pulling up the ones that were a lost cause! Sadly, I lost a lot from neglect the past few months!
(And-No wonder that little garden patrol 'Gnome Lady ' has been upset with me!!)

Well, I didn't see her around today...but I sort of avoided the gazing balls, lest she be lurking there with her camera again...recording my ineptness in the garden!

Oh!! I hope the 'Gator stepping stones' meet with her approval!
(Does that sound sarcastic?......Well, but it IS my rose garden, after all, and the Gnome Lady has become very judgmental of my gardening!)

Anyone ( (Even that Gnomie Chick) would have to say that I put in good day's work in the garden today. I managed to do all the clipping -Plus- I got all the roses fed! Soon it will be looking good out there!

lol- But I did it for ME!!

~~~

Here is an Imperfect picture of a PERFECT rose!

~This is Queen Elizabeth ~

And a few more...

Junie Rose

Our life here today~ (Update at bottom)

( update at bottom of post )


Hi Folks,


It's a beautiful spring day here in Florida. I hope I can get out and do a little gardening later today. I certainly need to do some things or admit defeat and forget about it!
(Can't do that!!!)

~~~

Yesterday Charles had a call back about some lab tests.

In the past he has had several skin problems taken care of and recently had another spot removed and a lab test was done; this time the test proves it's Basal Cell Carcinoma-cancer! He is scheduled for further treatment (more cutting out) on April 11th.

Needless to say, we are concerned about this but have to trust that things will turn out well- that they will be able to get this under control...to get it all cut out! It's easily treated if caught early, according to all I've read about it!

***
But then there are cases like this...


I read a very sad story yesterday...the very day of Charles' news of his lab results...of a young wife and mother of 2 small boys, dying from this same skin cancer. She was 25 years old!

We didn't know these young people, although they are from our little town here. This young woman is my grandson's age and he probably knew her...I'll have to ask him.

This story upset me on so many levels, as you can imagine. I cried for this young girl who had to leave her babies-and for the young man left with 2 small sons to raise.

I also was bothered with the timing of reading this story and it being the exact type of cancer Charles has.

I will not believe in OMENS!


Ok~ sorry to sound gloomy - but I just have to document all of my days, it seems! Just keep us in mind with your positive thoughts and prayers, please!


~~~


We have an eventful weekend coming up so I gotta get myself in a happier frame of mind.

Saturday we are going to the annual Chili Cook-Off at our friends place out in Hernando. It's a gathering of mostly retired policemen and families from the old days and a lot of friends and family too.

Everyone is asked to bring their own pot of chili for judging. LOL- trophies are awarded for the best! Mine is the best- however it hasn't won a trophy yet! :) haha

This is from a previous chili cook-off!

I'm not sure if this was last year or the year before!








On Sunday we will be celebrating with the kids in Orlando. (Belated Birthday for Gabbo- aka Charles) Hopefully, all the ones here in Ocala will be able to be there too! THIS is what I am most looking forward to this week!

~~~

Yesterday was good- in spite of the troubling news from the Dr.'s office.

I enjoyed some contacts with some online friends. My Beatle friends are just back from the FEST in NY Metro area with lots of stories to tell. :) I enjoy their enthusiasm! :)

This music forum and a few friends there, are what got me on my recent and ongoing music quest!...LOL I still visit there pretty often. I like keeping in touch with these folks. We had a lot of fun times there!

So with all the variety of things going on yesterday - with the varied emotions involved- I was up quite late again. I did sleep well, though, when I got to bed-and after reading just a few pages of my latest James Patterson book!


OK- NOW- bring on the day!!

Catch you later!



Junie Rose


~~~

...I DID manage to get in a little gardening today. I trimmed a few rose bushes and worked in the herb garden...cleaning out and cutting back!

As I worked I noticed this really bad smell and it seemed worse as I pulled weeds and then brought up my gloved fist full of weeds to put in the can!

It smelled like....well.... like dog pee - something I know a little about , having had a life long association with dogs!
(and you must forgive me the use of that word - not Ginga like at all - but it's the least offensive one I could come up with!)

Now- in my desire and haste to get into the gardening (well past due) I failed to pay much notice to the gloves I picked up to use from the back porch, as I started out! ...I worked for quite awhile with this overpowering smell, seemingly getting stronger, then at times dissipating a little as I worked. Finally, bending over to get a better grip on a stubborn weed, my head bent lower than in previous tries, my nose closer to my gloved hands...it dawned on me where this smell was coming from!

It was the gloves!

And of course, I had not been wrong in my identification of this smell!
( How could I be wrong with all these years of experience?)
In a flash I knew exactly what must have happened with these garden gloves!

My little ancient dog, 'Nighty' sleeps on the back porch... She's over 18 years old- Poor little old lady is almost totally blind and deaf...and just in a bad way - in ALL ways! Often - make that always - before I take her out in the mornings, she has messed up the porch floor. A daily, early morning, job is scrubbing and hosing out the porch!




~~~

Note on the doggie:

I know it's way past time...but I lack courage!
This was Zach's dog when he was a little boy! :(

~~~

I knew from the smell of those garden gloves they had been, at some point, dropped on the floor and been in contact with the dog's - wet mess! From the smell - they must have been saturated...and then had been left absorbing this 'aroma' all winter! YUCK!!
I took the gloves off and sniffed my hand!

Oh, my!!

...OK- so my gardening was cut short but I HAD made a little bit of progress in the Herb/Fairy garden! This little Fairy girl looked pleased with my efforts.











I hope that bossy little Gnome Lady took notice of all my work! She probably had a good laugh about my smelly garden gloves!

For all I know she might have arranged this whole thing - just to be spiteful!! I don't trust her at all - always hiding out in my gazing balls with that camera of hers! I have seen her a few times but she has never been at all friendly...











Junie Rose

Today~ 3~8~'08

After yesterday and last night's continuous rain, today we awoke to a beautiful sunshiny day .
That and other-unseen factors have lifted my spirits a lot. Funny how moods shift and turn of their own accord...maybe not funny in a 'haahaaha' way but in a mysterious way! At any rate I am only glad things do change and the feelings of depression dissipate.
( well, at least I am one of the lucky ones who has just short spells of depression- I know it can become a lot worse in some cases)

Last night:

Last night, talking with a friend helped to cheer me and to get my mind off things that were bothering me ...and later I spent some time with music listening. Eric Clapton's Rock n Roll was the choice~ :) and I kept finding good vids to watch!

Later still, I started a new book . This one is "The Night Crew," by John Sanford. It's a mystery/thriller type book~ just what I like! :) And it got off to a great start.
Finally, I slept and quite well. Woke an hour past my usual 8:00 AM!


Today:

Today the sunny day beckoned and I went out to take some pictures of the orange trees and rose garden! (weed patch???) First- the orange trees are blooming out-as the pictures show- but are still loaded with fruit. We use only a small amount of the fruit-and give a LOT away to neighbors. It's too bad it all gets ripe at the same time. Anyway, being near those trees when in bloom is just heavenly! Also, the fruit itself, is heavenly!

It's best to have all the fruit off the trees, for them to have a full bloom for the following season's crop...but that makes little sense to me... I can't see getting the fruit off JUST so it will bloom more for NEXT TIME ~ not while the fruit is still good! Grapefruit, in particular, keep well on the trees almost into summer.

lol- decisions...decisions...

For now, anyway, I still have Honey Bells for juice...the best juice, ever! I probably will only have a few more juice-making days this time! :(

























Checking out the rose garden dismayed me! The weeds have taken over, as is not uncommon this time of year! Seems the weeds always get a head start on the flowers...and it becomes a major task to prepare the beds for pretty stuff!

...You see-here in North Florida our roses are mostly dormant during our coldest periods-not blooming but still growing long and straggly . The scrawny ones sometimes die- not from the cold but from my neglect, I guess! (I just lose interest when there's no blooms and forget to water and prune!)

Oh!
I spied the 'Gnome Lady' again, as I have the past 2 seasons. She was, as usual, in one of my gazing balls...spying on my garden and taking pictures with her camera! I truly hope she doesn't have plans to turn me in to the Garden Society for neglect of my roses! She may even go so far as to try to prevent me from using 'ROSE' as part of my screen name! All I know for sure is that she did not look happy - viewing the condition of my rose garden! :(



I felt like telling this nosy little creature to mind her own business...and that her time might be better spent by getting herself in shape with our local Weight Watcher chapter...and let ME worry about getting my roses in shape!
( She does, indeed, seem to be getting chubbier each year-and looks to be in danger of getting stuck in the neck of that gazing ball! )
However, I resisted such a drastic approach, as, in fact, she may be an official garden patrol and can cause me untold grief...

I wouldn't want to be deprived of the use of 'Rose' as part of my name. And be stuck with something like Junie Weed, or Junie of the Jungle!

Who knows what power this little lady in my gazing ball wields?

~~~

OK~ Today was an eye opener for me and I can kill 2 birds with one stone. ( so to speak)
I can take up this garden project of getting my roses in shape- thus- keeping the little Gnome lady off my case and at the same time I can combat my tendency to frequent spells of 'The Blues!' I will be too tired to think of anything else!

I HOPE she will notice my efforts!

I will report my progress, here on the blog!

( I wonder if she's into blog reading...or does she just spy on over grown gardens...that nosy...chubby little so and so...... )


My sweet old cat, Tiger, enjoyed the sunny day! Here he is, posed relaxing in the sun ...with a weed masquerading as a garden flower! (Soon to be replaced with REAL garden flowers!)









I don't think the Gnome Lady found anything to complain about with the Azaleas... How could she! :)







Junie ROSE

My world today...7-12-07

Today, first thing, I had to go to my doctor's office...just for some maintenance work- you understand! Had to give them a few vials of blood and a couple other samples of stuff!

I didn't mind all that much...except the part about having to wait for my morning coffee! (Also had to resist having a bowl of ice cream after midnight last night because, apparently, blood samples are no good unless you are deprived of food and coffee at least 12 hours prior to the blood-letting!) ;) But I'll do anything to uphold the rules and, so, keep the old bod going strong for a while longer!

Next will be the real degrading part... (Aug. 1st) when I have to go back so they can ask me to step on the scale (I swear it's rigged) and even measure my height!
Have they never seen a short lady before... or even a slightly chubby one!

Every year when I have to have my height exposed and discussed I am reminded of this song by Randy Newman! ;)

...just so they don't tell me I have that 'Old Timers' thingie developing, I'll not complain! heeheehe

~~~

Now that I got the serious stuff out of the way, let me just show and tell you about some pretty things!

~~~ I was a little disappointed when I went out to check my Gloriosa Lily today. I thought we had the red one, like my daughter has, but mine turns out to be yellow! Pretty -yes- but I like the red ones better! Maybe some of the others will turn out to be red...If not
- I will definitely have to dig up some of the red ones at my daughter's house!















Charlie and I went for Pizza for lunch today - pizza buffet at Pizza Hut! Yum! We hadn't had pizza in a long time so it was mighty fine!

Had to stop on the way back for some prescription meds at K-Mart.

..While waiting I looked around the garden shop at the flowers and little statues, etc... Saw a lot of pretty things, including gnomes, fairies, frogs , turtles and even pink flamingos!

...I would just LOVE to have some of the old fashioned pink flamingos of the past...but not these present day ones! Although fancy, they somehow lack the charm of the ones I remember from my early days in south Florida!


After returning home I, eventually, walked outside just to check on things in my little world!

I walked down our new stepping stone path and just as I was passing the herb garden I spied this new little fairy girl!
What a surprise - and I swear she looks just like one I had glimpsed in K-Mart...not more than an hour earlier! Could it be she stowed away with our purchases in the pharmacy? Is my little herb garden becoming famous, or what! I DO wonder how the news of this special little spot reached this particular little fairy girl! She had picked a place right in front of the lemon Balm, if I'm not mistaken! I overheard the 2 fairies introducing themselves to each other...The newcomer is Silva and the older girl (which I had not known before) is Sari! Jerome (the gnome) seems a bit standoffish with the new fairy girl, but that may change!

~~~

Is The General starting to wonder how he will keep control of his kingdom with all of these new little creatures moving in?


















Love,

Junie Rose

Ordinary Day (Post#2 of today) ~~Rush music below!

~~Rush music below!~~

~~~

Today was a most ordinary day! Well, just look at what I had for lunch! What could be more ordinary than a bologna and cheese sandwich....well- there are those tomato slices...but still....that raises it's status minutely -at best! Funny thing is...I don't even like bologna and rarely eat it...but somehow it just seemed fittin' for this day!

I didn't get a lot done today- but did trim up the roses. I still have some to plant so maybe I can get to them tomorrow.

I took a walk into a part of the yard that is very much neglected- since we have been concentrating more on the back yard nearest the house...There's much needing attention in this part of the yard - but it will probably go undone- except for the occasional mowing of the grass (weeds) there! Still- there are things of interest to be found there. For one- my red Passion Flower vine is planted there. I hope to have blooms on it soon! It's a very unique flower!

And I found -these!!



























No! I didn't see any Faeries, Trolls, Elves, or Gnomes... but that does not mean they were not there!

It seemed the perfect place for such creatures, to me!

Plenty of hiding places here among these flowers, too!







































I just had the feeling that little folk were watching me!

What do you think?

~~~

So... maybe not such an ordinary day, after all!

: )


Love,

Junie Rose

Gnome lady-again!

Last night we had a good , long, downpour of rain! I was happy because I knew it would be good for my garden!

Early this morning I went out to take a look at things! Yes! Everything looked bright and clean- if a bit soggy. I see also, there's a very real need for me and my clippers to team up! ( Hopefully, later today!)
Here are some pictures of my water drenched roses! You can see the clipping I need to do!

~~~

I also got a glimpse of the little Gnome Lady! You may remember her from my earlier encounter with her! ~here~
She seems to like spending time inside the gazing balls because that's where I saw her the previous time, too! Also, she seems to appreciate my roses . Both times she had a camera, taking pictures!

One might mistake her for a Fairy...except she has no wings; so I must assume she's a Gnome Lady!

Oh! I DO hope it's not the custom for little fairy ladies to be 'De-winged' for bad behavior- or some such thing! Not knowing a lot about these things I can't be sure! ...I would hate to think that my little lady in the garden is not upright and respectable...whether she be Gnome or Fairy girl!

What do you think?

(I hope she IS just a Gnome lady and never had wings in the first place- to be clipped!)

I DO know...she LOVES roses...so she has to be OK in my book!


~~~Shhh... Just between you and me... I think she has put on a few pounds since I first saw her in my garden! I would not want her to overhear this, though, so ...shhh!!~~~


~~~

In the herb garden I saw this!
Apparently these little lizards have little regard for the personal space of others!!

~~~

Sooo... that's what's been happening at Junie's Place today...Well- that and the chickens-but that's an ongoing story for another time!


Love,

Junie Rose

all about fairies and gnomes...( a Re-run)

Fairies and gnomes- go HERE!

Gnome Lady- go HERE!


Junie Rose

More Evidence here...

The world through the eyes of JuniperRose...







More evidence of Gnomes in my side yard!

I feel very lucky to have been able to capture these little
creatures in their relaxed moments!
Only due to my Great Skill as a photographer was I able to
get these candid shots! :) They DO move fast, you know! AND they are sooo small!
~~~~~~
...and in the fish pond I got a good shot of a couple
of frogs at play!

Well, I THOUGHT at first they were playing a game of 'Leap Frog'
but after he didn't LEAP I realized I had stumbled into a more
intimate encounter!

Oh well...it's not every day you have this opportunity...
~~~~~~

One more weird thing I found in my yard the other day...
Note the FROG sprinkler with the hose attached! I was totally taken aback
when I started to move this Fake frog to my flower beds for watering
and saw this -very still- small frog just sitting there near the Frog sprinkler...
Turns out this little frog was DEAD... looked mummified!
I shot the scene just as I found it! :)
Oh,my! Do you think he may have mistaken that fake frog for one of his pond
girls? Could that be the reason he croaked? :( A HARD way to go, Freddy!!

The whole thing just struck me as kinda funny!
Maybe I'm just weird!! ;) Ya think?
~~~~~

Last but not least... here's my two cats!
They just LOVE each other soo much!
They are 'Tiger' and General Franks!'
It's funny to see them so LoveyDovey
with each other!


Never a dull moment at Junie's Place!

Enjoy!

JuniperRose

(sorry-all pics didn't load- more (Evidence) later)