Tea for Two

Yes, here I am standing in front of the kitchen garbage can, in preparation for plunging my arm down and in.  Several days ago, we had gotten food from a Chinese restaurant and they had included two complimentary tea bags. As we hadn't drank the tea with dinner, Bob suggested that we have the tea today. Without thinking, I tossed the tea bags in the trash. Then I recalled that it was labelled "Fortune Tea" and I assumed that- much like fortune cookies (or even domestic Salada tea) there was a fortune on the little piece of paper that secured the bag. Of course I documented my dumpster dive before impact. The punchline is that I pulled the still warm tea bag out (now decorated with all kinds of nastiness), and there was no fortune... just the name to the company. Hahahaha.
This morning, Bob went to prepare our morning coffee. I hear him opening and shutting what sounded like every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen. A few minutes later, Bob comes back up stairs, swearing that he cannot find the black plastic basket that fits into Mr. Coffee's mechanism. I descend to have a look. I re-searched every possible hiding place; I even looked in the downstairs bathroom and laundry area and my studio. I'm just about to give up, thinking aliens or Elvis impersonators have snuck in under cover of dark and pulled a prank, when I remember that I had had a coffee ground accident the morning before. Sure enough, there's the coffee basket in the garbage can. A popular place! Next time I can't find my car keys or my gloves- or my mind!- I'll know where to look.

Where Have I Been?

So much for the fabled "good intentions"! I planned on blogging on the first anniversary of my blog, I planned on blogging on April Fools Day (a perfect date!) and I planned on blogging waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more consistently/persistently but I guess I've been "busy". (Note all those pesky parentheses).
Anyway, one of those things that commands my time on a regular basis is my ritual morning walk with my personal trainer, Jules. Above is one of the many spectacular sights we encounter along the dirt road that is now "ours". (More parentheses...) Jules and I are definitely proprietory about our road. I grumble when the (very occasional) car uses it for short cut purposes and I smirk when I run into runners. We are especially insenced when stupid people dump grabage and building materials like in the following picture. I mean, what gives? Dump your trash on a road or a shopping center, not out on my walk!

Really! Jules and I often bring a small plastic bag a pick up bottles and sandwich wrappers but the above is serious amounts of construction refuse. And although it doesn't appear obvious from my picture, that's down a really steep slope so who ever has to clean it up has to rappel down a percipitous hillside. Aren't human beings great???
Let's end on a beautiful springtime vision. Only a bit further down the road from the top picture is this scene. (There are also ducks on this pond, but they fly noisily away whenever Jules and I draw near).