Shire moment...
 

Working on ATM posts at 1:45 in the morning while munching on Rice Krispies Treats, sipping milk and playing with kitty. :D More generally, all of the fun things that help unwind after getting home from a busy night on second shift go to the Shire.

Thanks for the reminder to do this:

I assign to the Shire the best, absolute best, free Festival of the Arts in all of the States, happening his coming weekend in Grand Rapids, MI. Seven stages, starts Friday noon and doesn't end until Sunday 7pm. Folk, rock, jazz, classical, dance, improv, et cetera. and there is a Fife and Drum band too! I will not be missing it. Oh! And great food! Booths and booths of food, international fare and American. Philly Beef Steak Sandwiches. English Pasties. Suvlaki. Szechwan Chicken. You name it, we got it. Come on to my home town and enjoy! There's still time to plan. And PM me if you show up; we'll arrange to see some shows. :D

Festival Link

Take a peek! :)

Ah - the cheesesteak! ;) :D Best ones are found at this little place I know just outside Philly...

Festival looks like great fun.

Despite the fact that the mix of sunshine and showers is making the hedges and lawns grow like weeds and the weeds grow like triffids.... the garden brings more joy than grief. Now after bluebells and lilacs ...the first roses have arrived. The very first being on the "mystery" rosebush. I bought it as a "Winchester Cathedral" and it should be cream... however it is the most glorious pink and an "old fashioned" sort..... lovely. Clearly belongs in the Shire.

What's a cheesesteak? It sounds lardy, but good!

I'm also assigning gardening things to the Shire, namely finding interesting plant variations, like the double headed acid pink busy Lizzies and the variegated blue/lilac lobelias I've been putting out, which I imagine Rosie Cotton and all Hobbit lasses might have loved. I also assign Pinks and wallflowers because they smell wonderful and are so old fashioned. And hanging baskets, too. But I assign slug pellets to Mordor with the snails because I've had to resort to them to keep the infestation under control and I hate it because they don't die in a pleasant way and it makes me feel guilty.

And I assign getting excited about holidays because I'll be on mine this time next week. Woo-hoo! :D

Well having had yet another attack on the patio with the weed knife I am beginning to doubt my commitment to pesticide free gardening :( but I do miraculously have hostas that aren't entirely lacework. But much as I hate slugs I do not use slug pellets - I don't mind the slugs dying nastily it is the poor hedgepigs dying nastily from eating pelleted slugs. You can get hedgehog friendly alternatives.... :D

Well, I think a favourite alternative here would fit quite well in The Shire. Rather than using slug bait, we use small little basins, with rounded depressions on the sides. We fill them with beer, and leave a top (which usually has some kind of garden design on it--leaves, vines, etc.) on them. Slugs slither in for the beer and the rest is history. :D

I shan't start listing flowers that I think belong in The Shire for that likely will appeal to you t'other side o' ta pond types as a cliched English cottage garden. :p Besides, I would have to include turnips and taters and 'shrooms and lots of good root veggies. ;)

The cheesesteak is an icon of Philadelphia lardy cooking. :D You take a long roll and put thin sliced grilled beef on it, preferably dripping with grease. Then it's topped with cheese or
Cheese Whiz. Some claim that the true cheesesteak requires Whiz, but I prefer American cheese. Then you can top it with onions and other vegetables.

Tasty!

I don't mind weeding, mainly as I have such a small garden there are never many of them, so weedkiller is never an option for me. But in the past I relied on my resident garden toad to kill the snails but I think she has passed on to Toad heaven now. There have been no all night toad shrieks in the mating season, no signs of spawn or eggs. It's quite sad. :( I doubt hedgehogs would make it into my garden what with the fortress of my next door neighbour and his fifteen kids to get past on one side and a 15 foot drop into the other side of the garden.

That sounds fantastically greasy! But kind of nice, too. I remember something like Cheez Whiz in the 80s, a kind of cheddar spread in a jar which my father used to be obsessed with (especially in a sandwich with crisps and peanut butter) but then they stopped selling it. Is Philadelphia Cheese (the lovely mild, low fat cream cheese) anything to do with the City or just an invention of the marketing folk?

Anyway, I assign to the Shire the glorious anachronism that is The Queen's Birthday, a 'bank holiday' we are entitled to take today or on another day if we wish. I am in work and there are only 4 of us here, and its lovely and quiet and I was able to get second breakfast with no wait. What's more, seeing as about 95% of the department are off my e-mail box is being untroubled, as is my phone. It also means I can have my day off when the kids are back at school. ;)

Philadelphia Cream Cheese is a brand thing. I found the history here. Sort of interesting...

Cream cheese is good. :)

I assign summer and all that comes with it.

Weekend escapes to the country wherein an entire afternoon is spent in child-like fascination with traversing camera-laden up a small creek with sides and fields overgrown with wildflowers. Common dandelions, yellow hawkweed, blue violets, ground ivy, garlic mustard, buttercups, periwinkle, forget-me-nots, lily-of-the-valley, wild strawberries, wild phlox...

The bittersweet realization that my first year of college is over in 24 hours.

Vegemite and didgeridoos and a late night learning willingly about the intricacies of Australian government and discovering that apparently emus can't walk backwards, that my friends don't know their southern hemispherical constellations, and that we're all growing up no matter how hard I deny that I am. :)

Ice cold water that sweats and drips chillingly.

Being truly warm for the first time in months. Cute shoes and mini-skirts and a lot of sunscreen.

Finishing a short story and knowing that with one or two more revisions, it will be Done.

Cleaning. What? Me? A college kid that assigns cleaning to... the Shire? Certainly. I assign any activity that not only helps me to procrastinate on finishing a final that I'm, technically speaking, skiving class to work on, but allows me to obsess in a very productive manner. I've always liked cleaning, come to think of it. It's excellent "me time" wherein I can devote a load of time to merely pondering things while still feeling like I'm accomplishing things. So yes... yay for cleaning.

Ooh, the feeling of unlimited potential that comes from switching life up a bit for a few months. I like it. Go summer!

My Calculus prof telling me that I can come to him anytime next term to make up for my finals. I can finally exploit the few remaining days of my summer break!

Also, eating sweet stuff and drinking a watermelon shake in full sight of my mum who looks at me with an annoyed grin because I am just recovering from pharyngitis.

Old movies. Like Casablanca, Wait Until Dark, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Bugsy (Taloula Smooching :p ), The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music and The Godfather

Also good Britcoms like Fawlty Towers, Some Mothers Do Have 'em, 'Allo 'Allo, Black Adder, Porridge and of course Red Dwarf.

That deserves a place in the Shire!
________
Ford Mustang Ssp Picture

Escapism. :)

I send mnemonics and memory aids, as well as Lhunardawen.
You see, whilst stalking her, I came across an amusing blog entry. It ran as follows:

Work done = force x distance
Force = m*** x acceleration
Therefore, Work = mad

As amusing as it may appear, it's all actually very helpful. Before this, I couldn't remember what the equation for work was. Now it's simple. Thank you my nutty friend.

Edit: Apparently mass is a forbidden word as the m is bolded. Which makes me wonder what would happen if I wished to spark a discussion on the role of donkeys in LotR.

Oh, that reminded me of an equasion I saw online a while back...let's see if I can remember it...

...found it.

I'll send it to the Shire, because I laughed uproriously even though I am a girl.

Now you create a problem, tgwbs. You've already sent me to Mordor.

Oddwen, that's hilarious! Especially the root of evil part... :D But I'm sure it has always been a well-known fact that girls are evil. Or maybe that's just me.

There's also proof that time is the root of evil, but it's less sensible.

time = gold
gold = money
money = root of evil
time = root of evil QED

I end this crazy post by assigning general craziness.

The seaside.

Not just the sea, the waves crashing up on the rocks or rolling in across the strand, though this is the main attraction. It's also the salt in the air so your hair gets tangled and you can taste it all the time. Gulls screaming their heads off. The smell of chips and fish everywhere, and then eating it out of newspaper in the open air. Fresh shellfish, sold in the pubs, and in little white trays from stalls by the harbour. Boats everywhere - fishing boats, old lifeboats, yachts, tall ships. 100 different flavours of ice cream. Deckchairs with stripey cloth and bleached wood and bright beach huts in neat rows. Shops selling buckets, spades and pirate flags. Folk singers in the pub. Clean air and bright light. Looking up the tide tables and listening to the shipping forecast. Seal watching. Wondering what lies just over the horizon.

What's more, we're going. Tomorrow! :D

The flaw in that equation, Oddy, is that Girls require time AND money. This would means

Girls = Time + Money,

not

Girls = Time x Money as stated.

Which really ruins the rest of the equation.

My brother brought this up. See, girls don't just require one lump sum of money, they need it frequently to purchase books and musical instruments and clothing and pay their library fines (at least in my case, clothing is probably the most infrequent way I spend money). So you see, the longer the period of time you spend around her, the more money she will require.

I think that might've made sense, but I'm not so sure.

I assign the good kind of cops, that are not out to screw you, but to teach you a lesson that you will never forget. Suffice to say, I won't be speeding any time soon. :rolleyes: :o

Buildin' dams. :p

A new work schedule that starts at nine instead of seven. Yay for sleeping in!

That's about it for now.

Dancing in the moonlight.
________
Cheap Crosman Airsoft Air Magazine Powered

The following question in my Italian reading exam:

What compliment is paid to the service offered by Turin?

I grinned and added an acute accent. I resisted, however, the temptation to write "Well, it's said to be pretty reliable if you need to kill Orcs."

Truly, nature needs to be preserved. I assign that and manga to the Shire. ;)

Home, and the ideal place to live.

Friends who let you copy up half their notes because yours have mysteriously disappeared since this time last year.

Teachers who willingly give up their whole morning to teach you an entire course in 3 hours.

I assign logging on to The Downs after a long week. It's been too long for me, and I'm enjoying catching up on all the RPG's.

I also assign some other anonymous reputations. I am grateful :)

- Tara

Barbeques. And scorching heat. Mmm, scorchy.

the last one, I promise.
 

Rejoining The Barrow-Downs

Comebacks and warm welcomes. They always make me feel happy. :) :)

My local pub declaring itself a football free zone - bliss...... swimming in a near empty pool on a hot day - bliss

When a town's only record shop is staunchly independent and only stocks folk, world and obscure indie/alt stuff. And the owner sits there contentedly smoking roll ups and listening to good music. That's cool.

Also, wading through water to get to a part of a quayside that nobody else can get to because they don't want to get their feet wet and finding clear blue water on the other side and sitting there with your feet in the water whilst having a smoke or four.

Proper old fashioned tea shops with waitresses in little hats, serving trays of sandwiches, pots of tea and cream cakes and lots of strawberry tarts to be scoffed.

Putting on a bathing suit and dancing around in the rain and splashing in puddles. I had so much fun last night. :D

Summer!

Going to the park with friends and laying around sunbathing and chatting about anything and everything before playing a game of very improvised rounders and a disastrous attempt at frisbee (none of us can catch!).

Then heading over to the children's playground and messing around to our hearts content.

And all because of a bit of sun. Marvellous :D

Callas. Callas. Callas.

Except perhaps she'd prefer Mordor...

Waking up to see a rainbow on your wall.

Having an adorably precocious four year old girl lacth onto you for an entire day by the pool.

Getting fought over by two six year old boys yelling, "No, you're in love with her!" "No, you are!"

Having interesting problems with the drive through at McDonald's:

"I'd like two small cokes..."

"One small coke?"

"No, two small cokes..."

"Three small cokes?"

"No! Two small cokes!"

"Oh, okay, two small cokes..."

Getting out of school an hour early thanks to a clerical error. :)

Gin and tonic. The only thing to drink in weather like this. I'd been looking forward to mine for the last hour and a half. *sips, sighs*

I assign the scent of warm weather in CNY: cut grass and road work with tar burning your nostrils even as dust dries your throat. While hobbits may not like paved roads, presumably they like sunlight and light warm breezes and the persistent smell of lilacs that should already be past prime but apparently aren't.

And I assign finally having a proper diagnosis of my shoulder and a set plan for what to do about it. :)

Really nifty gathered-satin gloves with lace that comes to a point on the hand and hooks around the middle finger... they make me feel like a sexy movie!Grima. ;)