Saturday, March 26, 2011

Home: Canning Dreams

So last weekend was a gorgeous, 70 degree, Saturday.

You know the kind...babies laughing, children riding their bikes, gardens being planned with hope and expectation, lunches being made and consumed outdoors...

...neighbors, pulling down their pants and urinating in plain view.

I'm not exactly sure why my neighbor couldn't walk five feet into his house to relieve himself...but I'm sure his reply, had I said something, would have been along the lines of "it's my dang property, I can do what I want."

I make that assumption, only because a few hours later on this same delightful, promise-filled day, my husband was outside playing with our dogs... and the neighbor's teenager, hit him with a BB (thankfully, said BB, hit the visor of his hat, and not his eyeball). And the neighbors kid responded along the lines of "it's my dang gun, I can do what I want."  Spoken like any good ol', red blooded, American...

So you know...obviously...summer is in the air.

And it got me thinkin' about retiring the pumpkin for a bit and pulling out the canning supplies again...

So, I thought a little preview might be in order! Here's what I've got planned for Spring and early Summer:

Strawberry Jam; how can I not?

Strawberry and Lavender Jam; home grown lavender is sure to invoke memories of Lyon...

Strawberry Jam with Thai Herbs; think cilantro, ripe berries, sugar, and balsamic vinegar...can't help but drool a little.

Strawberry Butter; hubba hubba

Rhubarb Something or Other; I've been a little fixated on growing rhubarb...but it takes two years to establish and I believe I've mentioned once or twice before, how patience is not my virtue...so this will likely be based on what I can find at the City Market.

Pickled Asparagus; we'll see.

Carrot Pickles; apparently, all the rage in San Francisco. Who knew?

Anyway. That was the dream...until today.













Now the dream has morphed into visions of ice scrapers and earmuffs. But at least I can rest assured that my neighbor will relieve himself indoors...

Dangit.

3 comments:

  1. Hmmmmmm.... are these the same neighbors that have the recliner in the front yard? or are these new ones? Kinda makes our neighbors seem pretty cool; even the one with the broken down Jag parked crooked in the driveway, with four flat tires. Honest... he's going to fix it up and give it to his daughter. I think we're coming up on two years now. He must be waiting for parts. Perfectly understandable. And as far as being shot at... I don't think any of our neighbors have ever intentionally shot anything in our direction; plenty of "accidental" shots fired on the 4th of July, but that's totally different. Being shot with a BB (??!!) Yikes. Neighbors... sometimes even a 6 ft wooden fence isn't enough. Who knew... rednecks in south Kansas City?? Never would have figured that one. Just part of life's rich tapestry. ;)

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  2. Oh no...these are DIFFERENT neighbors (the ones that had that sweet dog, Dad). Lucky, lucky us! Seriously, he looked right at us (we were sitting on the top deck) and just dropped his drawers...

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  3. Not that it wasn't obvious, but I believe your neighbors have thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak... quite literally a neighborhood pissing contest. For some reason, there are people out there who simply must claim their turf in the most basic terms. He was saying to you... oh yea, and just what are you going to do about it?! That was his dare for you to say something. If you do, then it's open season; you have become their enemies, and anything goes. I've heard of people like that getting out of hand, and literally taking over a neighborhood. Everyone basically hates them and/or fears them. Nothing you can do... no good answer. Too bad. As I said, imagine... rednecks in south Kansas City?... sorry to hear that. With any luck, maybe it was an isolated incident. sure, and there really is an Easter Bunny. Really...

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