In The Pink

Today is the start of pool season here in Kansas City.  Yes...all the pools and waterparks open this weekend. It's sort of the unofficial start of the summer season.  On last night's local news a reporter was interviewing a family swimming at one of the local lakes.  Did I mention that the temperature this morning is 48 degrees Fahrenheit? Three weeks ago we had snow on the ground and now the pools are open. Open for the brave souls that like really, really cold water, I suppose.

The normal rosy hue that Crabby Pants would usually have, has turned to a rather disturbing shade of blue. 


Speaking of Rosy Hues

A newlywed couple returned from a romantic honeymoon to find their home painted bright pink with white spots.

Steve and Hayley O’Rourke discovered the prank after spending two weeks on the Greek island of Rhodes.

The groom’s brother Russell planned the Mr Blobby-style paint job in revenge for a similar joke six years ago.

Steve built a 4ft-high brick wall across Russell’s driveway while he was honeymooning in Barbados.

Russell, who spent two days transforming the house, said: “What you reap is what you sow.

“The neighbors were coming out asking what I was doing painting their house.

“I reckon there were hundreds of people stopping and taking pictures. Even the police were slowing down to take a look.”

The terraced property in Southend, Essex, is now bright pink with white polka dots.

Locals have nicknamed it “the Mr Blobby house” after the 90s television character.

Luckily dad-of-two Steve has seen the funny side of the joke and has no plans to repaint his home.

Hayley added: “It’s making a lot of people smile, but it’s also causing a few near pile-ups on the road, with people stopping and staring.

“It’s very extreme - you forget about it when you’re in the house but then when you step outside you realize how bright pink it is.”

They are now planning an even bigger prank for their older brother David - who is due to get married next year.

If I were David, I would call off the wedding or hire security guards depending on which seems more warranted.

 

Tough Love

A North Carolina mother had her son arrested this week for taking her Pop-Tarts without permission, police report.

The child was busted on a larceny charge, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, whose officers were summoned Monday night to a Charlotte home by Latasha Renee Love, the accused juvenile’s 37-year-old mother.

A police report notes that “the known suspect stole Pop-tarts belonging to his mother at their home at 530 Goldstaff Ln. The suspect was juvenile arrested at the time of the offense.”

Cops described the stolen goods as “Foodstuffs” valued at $5.
Love, who reportedly has had discipline issues with her child, apparently decided to have him arrested as some kind of a lesson. The misdemeanor case against the boy will be handled in juvenile court. 

Now that is one strict parent or someone that has a serious Pop Tart addiction.

 Still Talking About Pink

Pink as in Potted Pigs...Not an alliteration that you hear everyday, I am guessing.

With Washington state about to embark on a first-of-its-kind legal market for recreational marijuana, the budding ranks of new cannabis growers face a quandary over what to do with the excess stems, roots and leaves from their plants.

Susannah Gross, who owns a five-acre farm north of Seattle, is part of a group experimenting with a solution that seems to make the most of marijuana's appetite-enhancing properties - turning weed waste into pig food.

Four pigs whose feed was supplemented with potent plant leavings during the last four months of their lives ended up 20 to 30 pounds heavier than the half-dozen other pigs from the same litter when they were all sent to slaughter in March.

"They were eating more, as you can imagine," Gross said.

Giving farm animals the munchies is the latest outcome of a ballot measure passed by Washington voters in November making their state one of the first to legalize the recreational use of pot. 

"We can have pot chickens, pot pigs, grass-fed beef," he said.

Gross' pigs were butchered by William von Schneidau, who has a shop at the famous Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. In March, von Schneidau held a "Pot Pig Gig" at the market, serving up the marijuana-fed pork as part of a five-course meal.

He quickly sold out the remaining weed-fed meat at his shop but plans another pot-pig feast later this summer, he said.

"Some say the meat seems to taste more savory," he said.

Turns out the pot is the anti-diet drug.  You really would think that would be a negative for some users.  But it doesn't seem to bother pigs.  (hope I am not offending any pot users)

On The Edge

This isn't the post that I planned on launching today, but in light of the devastating result of  the tornado in
Oklahoma, I veered away from some of what I was going to say.

 No words can convey the sadness that our family feels for the victims of such a tragic event.

 For the the last three days, Kansas City has been under tornado watches, tornado warnings, and severe thunderstorm warnings.  This usually, doesn't have me too overly concerned.  I have, after all, lived most of my life in or near Tornado Alley. As with most Midwesterners and Southerners that reside in this swathe known as Tornado Alley, we have all had some close up and personal interaction with really bad storms.  Usually, they sound far worse on the news than they are in reality. However, there are those occasional  storms that do live up to their warnings.   A number of years ago, for example, I got a phone call from my brother to say that a neighbor had called him to say they found our father standing on the concrete steps leading to his house in shock.  The house was gone...just my dad and the steps remained.

So this past week, we had been watching the maps of the impending storms that were going to cover Oklahoma and Kansas.  Saturday afternoon, the sky darkened and all regular programming was interspersed
with weather reports. Weather is always, a big portion of our news programming here but on days when there is a threat of something....heat, drought, wind, rain, snow...or any combination of those, the programming turns to non-stop weather.    During the Spring here it is not uncommon to have  the background noise of our weather radios.  Many of us now have Weather Shield apps on our phones to alert us to updates on impending weather reports.

Which brings me to the original thought I had for a post today.

Thought Number One:  If I had my own weather station, what would the programming look like for Kansas City over the last 6 months.


Last year we were in the EXTREME drought.

Then...after Spring was supposed to have arrived

THEN...it started raining....and raining...and raining

And then the last three days of "promises" of hail and tornadoes.

Thought Number Two: I Am Worried for the Bird

Back to Saturday night...we had turned on the weather radio to listen for updates  as it appeared on Doppler that the eye of the storm would hit Kansas City and we were concerned about having to put on yet another roof...or worse.

AND we were worried about the bird...


Outside of my office window on the upper floor of our house, there is a bird, ....a bird on nest.....and in that nest there are two little eggs.... waiting to be hatched.  That poor bird didn't make the greatest choice to place her nest but there she is in all kinds of horrible windy, rainy weather.  She is tenacious though.  Even as the storm rolled through and took part of her nest down into the gutter, she remained.

(Note: the pictures are a big grainy as the only way to zoom in on mommy bird is to "shoot" through the screen.)

Our family is sending thoughts and prayers to any of the victims of  the recent storms.  We hold you and your family in our hearts. 






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On the Move

Just in time for summer travel...Google is improving it's maps and gas prices are moving up.  If you are under the false impression that one of those  things is good and the other is bad...you are sadly mistaken.  I for one, love the quirks of Google's map miscalculations.  A few years ago they did away with the directions that had us swimming from the U.S. to Europe.  That was a real step backward as far as reading Google maps for the sheer entertainment value. Who needs accuracy when you need some comedic relief during travel?

It may be hard to see...but Google wants us to swim 3,462 miles.