there are many rivalries between the southern states over various things. one of those rivalries is about who grows the best peaches. georgia says they do, south carolina says they do. it's debatable in my opinion because they're both wonderful. but the one thing that south carolina has that georgia can't compete with is this clever water tank.

i've driven past this steel peach a million and one times over the past twenty two years on my way back and forth from georgia to north carolina. when the p.b. kid was little, she used to call it the big peach butt. i finally stopped this past weekend on my way back from atlanta to shoot it.

it's located in gaffney, south carolina and it was built in 1981. the artist is peter freudenberg. it's called the peachoid water tank and its capacity is one million gallons.

it wouldn't make a very good cobbler, but it sure is fun to look at.

i have a drinking problem.
i know i am powerless over it.
i put it above all else.

and yes, i've basically turned into a bag of coffee at this point but i don't care. at least i smell really, really good. people always like the smell of french roast. my brother-in-law told me the other week that he was back "on it" but only for a short while until he quits cold turkey again. i don't buy it though. because coffee is the nectar of the gods. plain and simple. i came across this the other day. i won't say how much it would take to kill me because then you'd know how much i weigh, but let 's just say i've come dangerously close.

but i don't care.

all the farms down my way are disappearing. they're being bought up and turned into dry cleaning businesses and nail salons. it's disturbing, but i'm a part of it i suppose because my house sits on what was once a cow pasture.

for now, i will enjoy these cornfields and wonder what great recipe my friend tracy would have for this beautiful silver queen corn?



the sage is called "hot lips salvia" and it blooms forever. it's like a bar and grill for the hummingbirds who adore its nectar.

today is your birthday.
my world became so much better when you walked into it and i thank god for that.
i thank god for you.

happy birthday, love
with all of my heart

marriage

"are you sure you know where the nearest coffee shop is around here? because my feathers are draggin' and i am so tired."

"trust me. if you follow me, i'll get you there"

sometimes i'm following, sometimes i'm leading, sometimes it's just time for a coffee. the trick is knowing which one to do at which time.

i think sometimes in our lives we must be destined to have periods of time when we go to the outer limits of what we've always known as our existence. we hang out there for a while testing new things out and sometimes creating all kinds of chaos for ourselves. eventually, we start the journey to finding our new middle ground. maybe all we can do is hope to survive it with the least amount of damage to ourselves and the people that we love.

i'm still dealing with my leg saga from april. dr. sofreakinghot tells me that i have reflux in my leg and it's not something mylanta will cure. he's got to send a laser up into my vein and zap it out of existence. he says this will take care of my cankles. but i have to play the insurance game and wait a few months before i can have it done. so in the meantime, i went to my regular doctor and asked for something to take the swelling down while i wait for the surgery.....in october. she agreed and i took my first dosage yesterday morning at 7:30am.

8:00am
oh dear god i hope there's a parking space close today because my bladder is about to explode
8:30am
i am sure that this is the longest pee in voiding history
8:50am
no, this surely must be the longest pee ever
9:20am
okay, maybe i better start restricting fluids so i can actually get some work done
10:04 am
they say that our bodies are made of 98 percent water, i'm sure i have peed out 97 percent
11:00am
begging to be catheterized
11:34am
cursing the fact that my workplace doesn't use the lotioned toilet paper
2:00pm
basically a prune at this point
2:45pm
why did i think wearing the pants with a four button waistband and a belt was a good idea today?
3:05pm
maybe depends aren't such a bad idea afterall
4:15pm
praying fervently to the urine gods for release from this hell
6:25pm
don't have any brains left because i'm sure i've peed them out

i'm irresistible...

for my potato salad that is. there are family members and friends (and you know who you are) who feen for my potato salad. it is not an urban legend that mr. ntm married me because of my potato salad. my potato salad is like crack cocaine. i made some this past weekend. in my best julia child voice, i've laid it out step by step for you.



first, you boil up some russet potatoes. how many you ask? an assload. i never colored inside the lines and i never measure when i cook. i'm sorry. just wing it and it'll be great. the more potato salad you want, the more you should cook. i cooked almost a 10 lb bag. i leave the skins on when i boil them and also when i cut them up for the salad, but after boiling them, the skin will peel away easily if you are so inclined. i used to peel the skins off, but now i leave them on because i'm lazy but i also think it tastes better with the skins. i would suggest not boiing them too hard because the potatoes willl completely break open and then they will get water logged which makes them soggy and even starchier.


depending on how many potatoes you've cooked, you'll want to hard boil roughly four to six eggs. i used six eggs for the amount of potatoes i cooked. i don't chop them very finely. but i do mince the onion, and i don't use too much of it because it will overpower the egg and potato. for this batch, i used the green onions that i got at the farmer's market and their flavor was great. after putting the egg, potato and onion together, i pour a liberal amount of white vinegar over it and let it soak into the mix. i also put plenty of cracked black pepper and salt as well.

and now comes the gold...the bacon. i cooked a whole pound of bacon and made it very crispy. i mix in a bit of yellow mustard and maybe about a cup of mayo. i only use duke's mayo and never salad dressing because... ew.
and that's all there is to it. easy! this potato salad is totally off the charts when it comes to weight watcher's points and your arteries will clog after eating it, i guarantee.

however, you'll die happy.





i dragged myself and mr. nobody tells me out of bed saturday morning at the crack of me to go to the farmer's market. here's some of the goodies that i bought. they were so pretty, i had to take a picture of them before we ate them.

i went to give blood yesterday. in the initial screening process, there's a whole list of questions they ask to warrant against the possibility of infected blood.

"you're a female, right?"

"um...yes. i'm quite sure of that."

"have you always been a female?"

"excuse me?"

"we have to ask this question now. it's a new thing. have you always been a female?"

"well, save for that short stint following fertilization when i was a zygote, yes i've always been a female."


thank god being a smartass doesn't constitute rejection of blood donorship by the red cross.

in


it's a dog-tini











we're lucky enough that we can bring our dogs to work and i have adopted my co-worker's dog daiquiri. she's the chillest dog ever with the best personality. she was hurt and her eye is injured, so she came to work like this the other day. poor little girl. get better, dax.