marius

and, liked BOTH stories much - Login and Dragon.

Arw65

I'm an arizona girl too, but flagstaff doesn't get as hot. I will however be visiting your part of the state, solo, in a few weeks. hopefully it'll have cooled down a little bit. ditto on liking the stories, quite hilarious, i have made the mistake of rubbing the eyes after slicing peppers so i understand the pain.

solosater

We're finaly getting some rain here so I'd guess tomorrow to be cooler but muggy and Wednesday to be tolerable, after that, who knows? I hope it will at least stay cooler in the evenings.

marius

Ahh is alive! Seems I have (hopefully HAD) flu - but fever is down, coughing less, chills mostly gone and outside temps are uncharacteristically cool. Did you know time stops when you are sick? I had forgotten that.

Anyway ... thanks again for stories the other day. And coho had one somewhere about a bear in the house. That was funny (well, it wasn't MY house so it's funny). However ... still waiting for a Chez Baldur story. Family? Food? Something we don't know about the great state of RI - perhaps a story of visiting the coast. Or perhpas an update on Lyme disease cure process? Or perhaps we should hear the story of when Baldur was suspended from Holy Terrors Elementray School because Sister Pootoff of Egregious Airs did not appreciate his humor? : )

Typing uses more energy than I thought .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Baldur

marius, Baldur is sorry that he was absent through most of your illness, but I am glad that you have recovered.
Let me add a belated story.
This is not something that I can take credit for in any way. It was posted on PaganPages.org by their kitchen witch who goes by the name of HearthKeeper. She claims no knowledge of the origin of this story either.

HearthBeats: Notes from a Kitchen Witch
Hearthkeeper September 1st, 2009

…

Now as I would like to share a poem with you. It was shared with me years ago and often I remember it when I feel like a crackpot… hopefully it will help you as well and as often

Blessings

Some wise words from the Kitchen Witch

An elderly Witch had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the witch bringing home only one and a half pots of water.. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the witch one day by the stream.’ I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’ The old witch smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’

‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower and herb seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them’.

‘For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers and herbs to decorate the table and cook with. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house and feed us.’

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. SO, to all of my crackpot friends and family, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Life is short, Break the rules, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably and Dance often.

Never regret anything that made you smile. And remember that being a Crackpot is a good thing!!!

Baldur

Well there was another project that needed to be done today here at Chez Baldur.
We have two rather large and productive Hydrangea bushes. I believe them to be the 'panicle' type of Hydrangea, the variety that produces gigantic pyramid shaped clusters of white flowers. When in bloom these branches get so heavy that they start to break under the stress.
The solution here is to cull many of the flowering stems off each bush.
Over the next two weeks Robert and I will remove about 90% of the flowers.
We prefer to leave some intact through the fall, these will eventually turn an interesting mauvish pink shade.

What to do with the mountains of cut flowers?
The answer is the Chez Baldur annual flower give-away.

Baldur takes an old ice chest to the side of the road and fills it with water.
On top of this I lay a wire mesh grill (firmly attached with bungee cords).
The grill works like a flower 'frog' keeping the cut stems upright in the water.
If you try to do this without support the extremely top-heavy flowers would never remain in the water.
Baldur filled the container with dozens of flowers on 24" stems.
Next to it I hammer a sign into the ground that says:
'FREE HYDRANGEAS! (mind the bees)'
People driving down our road will help themselves. I will refill the container as it empties.

Robindcr8l

Baldur, I just can't explain it, but you are one of the most interesting people I've never met.

marius

And he tells good stories. I like them both - the cracked pot and the hydrangeas. So how many folks took flowers and did they try to pay? People are funny with free stuff so wondering about reactions.

Dragon

I'm with you Robin. I don't think I could stand reading the daily in's and out's of most people's lives, and I'm certain most people would have no interest in mine. Somehow Baldur's life just seems interesting. I almost can't go a day without my Radio Baldur fix.

indigo

I'm in total agreement with you ladies, I don't say much but
I too enjoy Radio Baldur and always tune in....he's like.....
the Pied Piper....

Robindcr8l

Baldur, I'm with Marius. I was wondering the same thing about how many people take the flowers. Do you get some "regulars" over the years? Does the whole scene create a traffic jam on your street? Do the news cameras show up and do a human interest story on this? Because if they don't, they should. I'd prefer it be the Today show or something nationally syndicated so I could see it here in Boise. I'd love to get the HD version of Chez Baldur instead of the TD version in candy! LOL Anyway, fill us in on the rest of the details of your flower generosity! Hydrangeas are so beautiful, if I happened upon a scene like that, I'd be tempted to get greedy and take them all for myself!

solosater

He's coming to take us away! Oh me, oh my...

Oh right, that was the people in the white jackets.

Who's this Pied Piper you speak of?

Per Wiki: "pied" text is any written piece which has misplaced word order or extraneous letters in words that deliberarately confuse meaning, or the reader. In verse, pie-ing involves deliberately muddled or misordered lines. Pied text is sometimes used in psychlogical testing to examine a persons linguistic ability. In (serious) magic texts "pie-ing" is a form of deliberately confusing a document to keep knowledge from the uninitiated.

He's not the Pied Peper, he's the Pied Typer!

Dragon

I always thought 'Pied' a mottled colouring, kind of like calico.

I'd totally watch Channel Baldur on HDtv, sounds way better than Martha Stewart any day.

marius

I always wondered how the pied-billed grebe (one of my fav little water birds) got the first part of its name. Solosater's comments made me check it out ... here's what I copied from somewhere:

"Pied-billed Grebes (PBGR) are little grebes that are very widespread throughout the U.S.. Their name refers to the two-toned bill, which is especially obvious in adult breeding plumage: The word “pied” means 2 or more colors and is believed to derive from the black-and-white magpie."

marius

Here's a pied-billed grebe pic. What I like about this bird is that it can sink. Yep - you're watching and then, s..l...o...w...l...y it begins to sink until only the bill is seen above water, and then, it's gone. They also dive. Not sure why they sink but fun to watch. Yes, I know ... I am easily entertained.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pied-billed_Grebe/id

solosater

Pied can refer to color Dragon and you are correct two or more colors is sometimes referred to as pied or parti colored.

I looked it up on Wiki but then I saw Pied Text and it described our host to a T.

solosater

There is nothing wrong with being easily entertained it jut means you are easy to get alone with and an easy guest to have.

solosater

He's the Pied Puzzler!

marius

Um ... I'm easy to get alone with? OMG - I thought that was a secret! (Thanks for the chuckle Solo.)

And speaking of the Pied Puzzler ... wondering if any puzzles are up the sleeve, forming in the proverbial brain and all of that.

Baldur

Maybe Baldur is 'fit to be pied', having definitely become much more colorful through the years.

Chez Baldur is not on a main thoroughfare, my street is actually a cul-de-sac (Bag End was also one, no?). As such there isn't all that much traffic.
I never actually see most of the people that take the flowers, though Robert told me that that widow in the next house did take a good handful.
The news media has yet to find the Chez, I hope it remains distant.

I don't know if any of you had read the account a couple weeks back of Sarah Palin's plans to leave Alaska. This had a definite bearing on Chez Baldur.
It was reported that she was considering moving to Rhode Island. This turned out to be a misreporting of sorts. Somewhere along the line the quote of her moving to 'Long' Island got misread and became Mrs. Palin was moving to 'Rhode' Island. Heavens.
I imagine it would also be a political folly as RI does not have the electoral votes or at least acreage of the other states.
Not that she would not be an interesting neighbor but my first thought was 'No please, not here in Primrose'.
Baldur would not be able to handle the invasion of the press into this quiet setting. I can picture mobile broadcast centers running over the bed of daylilies across the road, satellite dishes taking out the roadside limbs of the Canadian hemlocks.
What would Baldur do if he were up to his britches in nettles, trying to untangle his astralagus from his echinacea when suddenly a reporter appears to ask me some nuance of Mrs Palin's personal life? (complete with microphone boom and glaring lights).
I'm not liking that even as a remote possibility.