Alien Beings from Another Planet

The news is full of the incredible pictures of Pluto sent back to earth from the "drive by"  space camera.  They actually brought back memories of childhood and drawing pictures in grade school of the solar system.  I bet if you dug in a box in my folks' basement you could some up with one or two.  (Maybe I should frame them and sell as vintage.)  Or the more painful days in college when I took astronomy as my semester of science elective.  No math I was told.  Calculate the collapse of a black hole anyone?  Make drawings of quarks and hadrons?  I still shudder.

Now I am seeing possible evidence of outer space around every corner.

This lovely hosta flower is on the the tallest stalk I have seen--over four feet.  Sort of looks like the cartoon Jettson's  high rise apartment building in the 1960s cartoon.

Love love love vintage science fiction movies.  They seem to take one of two tracks--martians invading earth or oversized creatures that must have morphed because of the US use of the atom bomb.  There is usually a handsome scientist trying to get to the bottom of the problem and a buxom assistant who he does not notice till she takes off her glasses.

There is something about a summer evening and popping in a science fiction dvd and slurping a piece of cold watermelon and stepping back into the 1950s.

Not a martian sighting.  Just Dear One deciding that he needed to "visit the girls" and check the honey flow.

Reflections at the Mid-Summer Mark

Windows are open, the  air conditioner is off and  I am waiting for the umpteenth rain storm of the season this afternoon.  Just a few reflections on a quiet day...

*Visit a real farmer's market.  Talk to some of the sellers.  They are interesting people who care deeply about what they are growing.  St. Charles IL market on Friday's is charming--not large--but great vendors with food not candles.  Baker Church, 7-1pm.

*Jettison trash summer TV and go for some old series chestnuts.  Dear One and I are laughing through Northern Exposure from the early 1990s.  Clever, quirky and well written.  Also on the list are Man from UNCLE and Perry Mason.

*Experiment with vintage recipes.  This summer so far I have made Grandma's ham loaf and mustard sauce, potato salad and Best Ever Sour Cream Coffeecake.  Next up-- Sweet Refrigerator Chunk Pickles.

*Write a real ,handwritten note to a friend who will not be expecting it.  It will make their week.

*Meet a new person or new people.  Old friends are the girders of our lives.  But consider a venture into a new project or interest that involves people out of your usual sphere.  Search out someone you would like to know better.

*Save an hour on Sunday nights at 8pm CST to watch the new British serial on PBS.  Poldark.   A remake of the classic from the 1970s.   Trust Me On This One. 

*Grab a favourite childhood book off the shelf to re-read.  They were treasures when you were a kid--and I bet you will fall in love with them all over again.  My stack includes, "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe", "A Little Princess" and "Ping".

Not to worry if your summerlist is long--there is PLENTY of summer left.

What is Dreck?

Worthless, distasteful or nonsensical material.  Trash or rubbish.

Depending on what dictionary you check, the definition of dreck gets worse and worse.  No dictionary tells you that it multiplies on its own.  And worse yet, when left alone in dark garages, basements and closets,  it morphs into huge piles that threaten to spill into your living spaces. (cue JAWS movie music here)

Dear One and I have been married nearly 30 years.  When one "keeper" (the nice term for me) marries a "bigger keeper" (nice term for Husbola if I want to be married another 30 years) and then the couple goes into the antiques business 26 years ago, the dreck accumulates.

We purchased our house without a basement thank heavens.  A large portion of the garage is where I store shop and show inventory.  We have a house rule--the dreck does not come into the living spaces.
But where does all this stuff come from?

I am sorting and giving away and selling--and it still seems to pile up.  What is it?  The extra stuff from auction box lots that needs to be "gone through,  inventory that used to sell well, but the public taste changes so rapidly and it does not sell anymore.  Items from the house that we have upgraded or downsized and I know no place to put them. "Stuff" I have been given by a relative and am thinking about its future.   Items that are too good to toss, don't want to donate, but might sell at a flea market.

ENOUGH!!!   Inventory birth control is needed!!

This summer has plenty of time left.  I am working through box by box, shelf by shelf.  Determinations are being made.  If it is not going to go into the shop or a show--it is GONE.  I am tired of sorting through it, tripping over it and giving too much of my life to thinking about it.

When I can see the garage floor, I will let you know.