Tawdry quirk curators
// August 17th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // scouts
The Boy Scouts are going on an adventure very early tomorrow morning, so they’re getting plenty of rest still putting their gear together. At the rate they’re moving, they should be ready just in time to leave.
// July 1st, 2007 // 2 Comments » // scouts
It’s a beautiful 72 degree day outside and everyone else is heading off to the beach for the holiday, so I’m going to talk about . . . . ants. Yes, those little picnic visitors with high hopes are causing me some grief. While most of the BMS Courtyard has a normal amount of creepy crawlies and winged creatures, the corner that has been used as a trash pile has enough ants to move ‘The Black Pearl’ across the desert. Even with gloves, nobody is brave enough to rake up that mess. So, I could take a chemical approach and seriously poison the corner. However, if it was MY house I would want a less toxic solution. What bothers me the most, is the knowledge that some of the medically fragile children who use this Courtyard can’t be anywhere near pesticides. School is just slightly more than a month from starting again. Is that enough time for rains to make the area safe if I use chemicals this week? “GAH! Too much pressure, I can’t take it!!”
// June 30th, 2007 // No Comments » // flickr, scouts
Before – old, broken cinder block planter
After – a little bit of dirt that we’ll power wash away
Before – West wall flower bed is full of thorny bushes
After – Ready for the rototiller(or whatever we can borrow)
If the weather is good, I’m going over tomorrow afternoon and do some pressure washing. After that, I’m going to schedule another work day. We still need help to get this project done before school starts in slightly over a month. We need to borrow tall, tall ladders and some type of rototiller. We need to get donated or find very low cost ant poison, paint, paint supplies and mulch. More than anything else, we need physical help. Today, we had two Boy Scouts helping and the three teens worked HARD.
// June 29th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Doug, scouts, youtube
Did you watch the video above? I gave Doug a week to post the video and tell his version of the story, but he’s been hanging out with the conspiracy theorists all week, so I’ll try to explain the video. Last weekend, we went out to get started on the clearing of the flowerbeds in the special education courtyard at BMS. I had already declared that we were lacking enough equipment and strong arms and should call it a day. Well, I really wanted to keep going, but I had worked up a good blister on my thumb and I’m wimpy like that. At any rate, Doug knew that we really needed to make a bigger dent in the work and went to town with the machete. I pulled out the camera to capture his destruction of the shrubbery. I had just moved to a different angle when I heard a noise in the bushes. My train of thought went really quickly. Bunny? No. Birds? Nest! Turn off camera before blood appears on-screen! Doug’s reaction went something like – chop, chop, uh-oh, “Everybody to the car! Now! Time to go!” After he watched the video a few hundred times, trying to punish himself for not stopping sooner, he pointed out that a REAL photographer would have kept the camera rolling. I sent him back to the school the next day to make sure that the summer school children wouldn’t be traumatized by any dead birds. It wasn’t until he started to bury the birds that he realized they were still alive. We stayed away all week in the hope that the birds would mature enough to fly away. Unless it’s pouring rain, we’ll go back this Saturday from 12 until 2 to try and make some progress. Anyone in Knoxville who’s not leaving town for the holiday would be more than appreciated if they stopped by to do some demolition work. If you bring a chainsaw, sledgehammer or work crew, we’d love you forever.
Update: The nests were empty and we found no former residents.
// May 26th, 2007 // No Comments » // school, scouts
Sarah’s Girl Scout Silver Project is the revitalization of the courtyard at Bearden Middle School. The courtyard is connected to the classrooms of and used by the special education students. Sarah would like to paint a mural on the huge North wall, remove the damaged tile planter and clear out most of the overgrown and thorny flowerbeds. She is going to put in far more than the required 25 hours and will still need lots and lots of help from family and friends. In one week, the massive cleaning will begin phase one of the project. Phase two will be the mural outline. Phase three will be the mural painting. Anyone with extra elbow grease would be greatly appreciated and rewarded with soda and smiles. More explanation and pictures here.
// March 5th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // scouts
Booth sales were low and the weather was cold, but this weekend’s booth sales were fun and relaxed. For the first time in YEARS, nobody vented their frustrations on the girls by lecturing them about trans-fat, inflation, sugar, fundraising, obesity, Girl Scouting, Boy Scouting or Planned Parenthood. We still have booths next weekend, so we may still hear a lecture about something that really annoys someone, but maybe not. Maybe the prozac levels in the drinking water are just right. Maybe people are happy about the cost of gas. Maybe they’re just more pleasant since they gave up the Atkins lifestyle. Whatever the reason, thanks for being such nice Knoxvillians.
// February 28th, 2007 // 4 Comments » // scouts
Starting tomorrow morning, I grow an additional arm to sell and deliver Girl Scout cookies. My annual offer to deliver cookies anywhere in Knoxville is once again extended to everyone in this area. This weekend’s cookie booth locations include West Town Mall, Kroger and Ben & Jerry’s. Guess which one I’m looking forward to the most?
// January 10th, 2007 // 3 Comments » // scouts
Shhhh. Don’t say you heard this from me. I won’t deny I said it, I would just prefer not to be asked by angry women in khaki and heels why I said it.
Girl Scout cookies are made by two different bakeries. TN cookies come from a bakery whose initials are LBB. I don’t have any opinions on cookies from the other bakery even though I do know someone who works there. This year, all the cookie recipes have changed slightly to remove trans fat. We’re not supposed to notice the difference in taste. I think the cookies are ever so slightly drier, but that could be paranoia on my part. Most of the cookies are still very tasty and addictive (just one more, just one more). The lemon coolers are gone from the product line. No big surprise there based on that cookie’s popularity in the past. We can only hope that Cafe Cookies will be the next to go away. New this year is the sugar-free Little Brownie cookie. Like sugar-free cookies of the distant past, this cookie is also flavor-free. Unless your diabetes is dangerously out-of-control, buy the regular cookies and do some serious exercise to counter the sugars. They might be great in a recipe, though. I know the cookies are expensive. That’s because this is a fundraiser. If you don’t want the cookies, buy a box to donate and the Girl Scouts will deliver them to a worthy local group. Anyone hungry?
// October 23rd, 2006 // No Comments » // Doug, scouts
Friday night, I started pulling out changes of clothes and other equipment for the boys to take on their camping trip. “I don’t know why I’m doing this when you’re just going to sleep in the clothes you wear to camp.” Doug responding by handing me a list of additional equipment they ‘needed’. I pulled out extra shoes, towels and more stuff until the couch was a small mountain of equipment. Saturday morning it took then each 3 trips to load everything in the car. Sunday afternoon they walked in the house smelling like a campfire, smeared with soot and wearing the clothes they wore when they left. I am STILL putting away their equipment. Next time I’m sending them out the door with just sleeping bags and water bottles.
// September 8th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // scouts
I’m preparing for tomorrow’s Girl Scout meeting using ideas from this site.
Copyright © 2012 Domestic Psychology. All rights reserved.
