I'd Check My Appetite at the Door, if I Were You . . .

. . . because it seems that a restaurant in Nigeria was recently shut down by police after a tipster let the cops in on the restaurant's "secret ingredient" -- human head meat.  Two human heads wrapped in cellophane were confiscated during the bust.  A local pastor who had consumed some of the, er, meat dish delicacy, and who was (allegedly) ignorant of its source, complained to police not about the composition of the dish, or how he suffered projectile vomiting after being let in on the secret, but about its price. Way to be compassionate there, pastor ol' pal.

As a Facebook friend noted, when aggravated in Nigeria, it's probably best not to yell "Eat me!" at the source of your aggravation.

I think it's probably best not to schedule pleasure travel to Nigeria anytime soon.

This, That, and Dogs

The thaw has set in today, just in time for the next round of winter storm to kick into gear tomorrow. About noon-ish, they're saying.  That means we need to get to the Krogerville in the morning to re-stock the wine rack.  No Sunday liquor sales in Arkansas.  Stupid, archaic Blue Laws.

We had a case of Kamikaze Birdies yesterday! A Cardinal, a Junco, and a little Chickadee were chasing one another around the deck and feeders and all 3 smashed into the windows. Really hard -- I heard the impacts from the other end of the house! Pepper went out to see how they were, got them uprighted, and petted them a little to calm them. A few minutes later, he found a box and brought the Chickadee and the Junco inside. Inside the house! On the kitchen table! He said he didn't want them just sitting out there, shivering, while they tried to recover. (At least he covered the box with some newspaper.) The Cardinal managed to fly up to the rail outside, so he left her alone. Some 15 minutes later, I heard a commotion in the next room and went to check it out. The Junco had come to his senses and flapped out of the box toward the window! Remember, we have 2 large, very interested bird dogs. Pepper managed to catch the little guy before Bouie and Mysti could, and I opened the door so he could go to  set the little guy free. He flew away, along with the Cardinal, gratefully. The little Chickadee, unfortunately, didn't make it. Pepper gave him a dignified send off. My big, bad husband is such a softie!  No bird casualties today.  Yet.

We were able to get up the hill last night, so we were also able to make it downtown to a beautiful wedding reception for a young woman we raised along with our girls, held at one of Little Rock's prettiest hotels (The Capital Hotel).  She was radiant!  I know no one particularly wants to read about the wedding of some total stranger, but that's beside the point.  This is what's important:  while we waited for the bride and groom to make their appearance, there was an open bar (always a nice thing), and passed hors d'oeuvres were served.  Oh. My. Gosh.  I now have a new favorite -- baked bacon on a stick!!! A little piece of piggish heaven -- on a stick!  The bride is a big bacon fan.

And now, to make me smile, a few dog pics:

 Our Mysti Girl, all grown up and "helping" me with my lunch.

 Sweet old man, resting up from a puppy hassling him.

 Bouie and the sunbeam -- his new favorite nap spot.

 Mysti, performing her version of "cute" on her birthday.

 More cute.

 Bouie apparently likes this spot, too.

 Ol' Bou is growing more and more gray hair.  Pepper calls him "Graybeard."  Talk about pot and kettle . . .

 Mysti like to play with the neighbor Border Collie pup through the fence -- can you see the Border Collie snout and paw poking through at the corner?

 Bouie has a raccoon.  And, apparently, a little anxiety.  Look at those ears!

 More cute and perky.

 Mysti is what we like to call a "leaner."

 Lunch companions.

 Christmas duck (that we had to hide from them before they drove us nuts with the quacker!)

I love this grin!  Baby fox, seen on the floor, is now a baby Fox-cicle since Miss Mysti took him through the doggie door and left him in the snow.  Big Fox is now just a fox torso since he was the biggest loser in a game of tug-o-war.

 Watching "The Life of Pi" and hating on some wild hogs (in the previous scene -- I know that's an elephant on the screen now).

Life is good when you're off the leash.  Happy Sunday!

Your Botany Lesson of the Day

Someone who really knew what  they were doing landscaped Moogie's Manor.  There is always something flashing color, no matter the season.  Right now we have scads of bright red holly berries showing off next to the deep green leaves.  And there is always visual interest.  My gosh, Autumn was fabulous!! There was so much color you could almost hear it.

One of my favorite plants is pictured above -- it's a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick.  The leaves are very soft -- almost fuzzy.  Ours is just outside the front door, and you look right at it from the office windows.  See it on the left?

It's a member of the Filbert family, but doesn't usually produce.  This is what it looks like today, wearing a "dusting" of snow (Yep, the weatherfolk predicted a "dusting" of snow last night.  Cars were crashing into one another all night out there in the dust storm. We got over 3" of dust.):

And a closer-up, after the ice storm on Sunday:

I mean, how cool is that ?!?!

The literature says it flowers in the spring before leafing out.  I can't wait!

Class dismissed.

Can We Say, "Overkill?"

The opening paragraph of an article in today's  Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reads:

Police arrested a 52-year-old man Wednesday who was trying to hold up a bank branch using a small cannon-shaped figurine.

The article goes on to describe how the man placed the figurine on the branch manager's desk in Fort Smith and belligerently demanded "thousands of dollars."  The manager was able to set off the bank's alarm and police were soon on the scene.  They arrested the man and charged him with disorderly conduct, public intoxication (surprise!), and attempted aggravated robbery.

Wait. What?

Aggravated felonies contemplate the use of some sort of deadly weapon.  The Wiki says, "aggravated robbery involv[es] use of a deadly weapon or something that appears to be a deadly weapon."

Not that I'm advocating bank robbery or anything, but classifying what occurred in Fort Smith as aggravated anything seems a bit over the top.  And I understand that society is growing way too Second Amendment-phobic, and kids get suspended from school for drawing pictures of guns, but seriously?  The guy was soused!  I doubt one can even form the requisite scienter when he is that plowed.  

I'd better go tell Pepper he needs to file for a permit for that model cannon that was given to him by the Field Artillery battalion when he left command of the 39th. We wouldn't want him to get thrown in the hoosegow for possession of an unregistered decorative item.

Have we arrived at a point in history where we must register scary tchotchkes?

I'd say that very idea is scary enough.

Olympic Musings

The Winter Olympics kick off today in Sochi amid fears of terrorism, dirty water, and losing the medal war. That's gotten me to thinking, and I've come to a somewhat unusual and unexpected conclusion.

Based on my observation of the goings-on on the deck the last couple of days, birds and squirrels are not exactly accomplished ice skaters. But squirrels can be pretty good terrorists.

1 + 2 = 12

While searching for a specific pic of Elder Daughter to post on Facebook (Today's her birthday -- it's amazing how she continues to age while I have stopped!  Heh.), I ran across this post from 2011:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011

The Pre- Halloween Power of Twelve

Something just occurred to me that adds up to 2012 being a banner year for Moogie's family.  Something big must be coming.

Consider these addresses with connections to us:

#12 Sandstone Court -- where I lived when I met Pep

1912 Arrowhead Drive -- the address of our first house together

2613 Wentwood Valley -- our next house -- 2 + 6 + 1 + 3 = 12

4503 Moogie Lane -- the current site of Moogie's Mansion -- 4 + 5 + 0 + 3 = 12

1912 Landry -- the address of the New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy where Pep is a new member of the Board of Directors.

ADDITION -- Younger daughter pointed out that her wedding date, 06-04-11, also adds up to 12!  Elder daughter's only misses by 1 -- 04-24-10 = 11.  Curiouser and curiouser!

Or, if you take the more "typical" numerology route, 1 + 2 = 3; 3 stands for "fulfillment, social gathering, achievement," so, unless we plan to host a big, successful party to explore the mysteries of the Mayan calendar, I doubt that The Apocalypse will come into play.  I suppose we need  politely to decline any invitation to attend such a party, too, so please don't invite us to one.

Pretty weird, huh?  What do you think?

Ordinarily I wouldn't re-post something like that, but I have thought of some more big Twelves.

The Son was born on 12/2; his first son was born on 2/12.  

When Pepper moved to New Orleans, Younger Daughter and I moved to an apartment down the street until she graduated from high school, then we moved to NOLA full-time.  The address of the apartment was 2221 Wentwood Valley, #12.

Our new palace, Moogie's Manor, bears the address of 14212 Moogie Court.  And, yes, that Twelve did indeed factor into my evaluation that this house was meant for us.  (Along with several more coincidences).

So,there was no Mayan Apocalypse in 2012, but Obama was re-elected.   That's disaster enough.

I wonder where my next Twelve will come from?

Ramblings of an Ice Storm-addled Mind

Remember this picture taken last summer shortly after we moved into Moogie's Manor?

Our deck is sheltered, serene, and secluded.  Like being in a treehouse in the mountains.

At least it was until Fall.

This is what it looks like today:

There's nothing like a little freezing rain among friends.

The funny thing, though, is there are all kinds of houses back there that we didn't even know existed until the leaves fell!  I feel like we're on display now! And there have been coyotes trotting along the creek bed, searching for prey. Or a handout.  Seriously, coyotes in my backyard, smack in the middle of the city! Glad we don't have an outdoor cat.  Several have disappeared around the neighborhood as of late.

Remember the bird feeder that the squirrels loved to dump unceremoniously onto the ground?

Here it is today:

Covered in ice!  I secretly wish the little rodents would try it today.  There would be lots of squirrel carcasses out there!  They could be cleaned and join the others that Pepper put in the freezer after popping them with his pellet gun.

I know, I know.  Arkansans eating squirrels.  Granny Clampett's world-famous squirrel stew.  It ain't gonna happen though unless Pepper finds some way to take the fluffy-tailed squirrel image out of my head.

Chickens aren't cute.

Have I ever mentioned that we live at the bottom of a seriously steep hill?

That's Pepper walking down the hill early in December after the first snowfall.  He managed to get the truck up the hill where it remained parked so we could get out to go to the store or have heart surgery.  But that is another story, and Pepper just got a clean bill of health after a follow-up exam last week.  Two weeks after doing a half-marathon in Key West, where I didn't get to go because I had to give up my crown.

Don't ask.  The man's stubborn.

Fortunately, we're not directly at the bottom.  I'd have nightmares about vehicles joining us in the bedroom. We learned shortly after moving here that ours is the street where LRFD candidates are taken to see how they manage fire trucks on steep hills.  Yep.  Nightmares about fire trucks joining us in the bedroom.  No casualties, however.  Yet.  Yep, I'm glad we're up a hill on the right side of the cul-de-sac and not directly in the line of fire of fire trucks.

Anyway.  I doubt we'll be going anywhere today.