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the big orange house
Summerside, PE
902-439-4562

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  • who am i
  • Contact
  • geek girl blog
  • Projects - Past & Present
    • NaNoWriMo 2018
    • 365 robot love
    • 52 drawing labs
    • teeny-tiny-stories...lydia & leon...and bernadine
    • the daily pug
  • weddings
  • Time Machine
  • Blog-love

tuesday truths

March 27, 2018 Arlene Giddings
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♥♥♥
this morning
the world looked like
something you see
in a picture book
about a magical land of winter and
glittery shiny ice...
veiled in a thick fog
with the sun trying to burst through.

i grabbed my phone (no camera with me, boo)
and went for a quick and somewhat cold walk
mesmerized by the bright white of the trees
and the frost covered weeds...
it was perfect.

the air smelled like woodsmoke
and faint exhaust fumes
(which, if you know me, you will know i
love the smell of exhaust fumes
almost as much as the smell of woodsmoke).
it was perfect.

i climbed a snowbank
in my work skirt and purple docs
so that i could take the photo of the
two perfect rows of trees above...
it was worth the possible humiliation
of falling off the bank into the middle of Duke street
on a busy Tuesday morning.

on the walk back, my hands tingled
and i got little chunks of road salt
stuck in my docs
and my eyes watered from the cold
and still...
it was perfect.

♥♥♥
i popped into the liquor store
to pick up some cold shots
for my husband today.

somehow
i got my thumb
stuck in the box.

"well...that's a first"
the cashier said as
she helped me wrench the box
off my hand.

she thought maybe it was a flaw in the
packaging.
i suspect, however, it was just me.
:)

In 2018, tuesday truths, the one i love most Tags tuesday truth, flaw in my design, winter wonderland
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tuesday truths...

March 13, 2018 Arlene Giddings
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♥♥♥
sometimes you are just so happy...
those are very, very good days.

♥♥♥
i know i want winter
to be over
but if it's going to storm
can we at least make it a good one?
one that shuts the town down
and rages all day
so there is no wondering
if you have to be somewhere...
because there is no where to be.

♥♥♥
i love pajamas.
and fuzzy socks.

♥♥♥
no name storm chips
are just as good
as brand name storm chips.

In embrace2018, tuesday truths, the one i love most Tags tuesday truth, random, happy
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I MADE TOMATO SOUP!!!!

October 1, 2017 Arlene Giddings
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from my OWN tomatoes!!!  out of my garden!!

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the truth is
i made tomato soup yesterday too
but i'm not really sure why i thought
that tomato soup
made with carrots
and vegetable broth
would not taste like
VEGETABLES...

because it did.

it totally did.
it smelled like vomit.
and the carrots left a weird texture.
and it smelled like vomit.

i had to throw it out.

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today
i started from scratch.
i had liked about 6 different recipes
on pinterest
so ended up pulling a little from each
i roasted the tomatoes with garlic and onion
and then put it in the ninja and
mushed it up
(disclaimer #1 - i never claimed that i could write a recipe
so bear with me...i don't know the technical terms)...
then put it in the slow cooker
with CHICKEN BROTH
(not vegetable broth...)
and basil pesto, cream, a handful of sugar,
a dollop of butter, salt & pepper

and it worked!

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it was so good!

even 17, who said "i don't like tomato soup"
dipped his grilled cheese & bacon into our soup
and then said..."well...i don't like heinz tomato soup...
but this?  This is good"
and went & got a bowl for himself.

yay me!
i should start a cooking youtube channel...
and call it
cooking with luck or something equally clever.
:)

disclaimer #2 - the amazing grilled cheese & bacon sandwiches
were not cooked by me.
i do not handle cooking any food that spits hot grease at me.
That's S's department
(and he makes the BEST grilled cheese & bacon).
 

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In 2017, the one i love most, fall, she's so weird Tags NOT a cooking blog, food, tomato soup, tomatoes, tomato plants, i made this, so damn proud, happy dance, vegetable broth tastes like vegetables
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over half my life...♥♥♥

September 12, 2017 Arlene Giddings
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i sat here in front of a flickering screen
and thought...what can i possibly tell you
that i haven't told you before...
in words and whispers,
notes on the back of bills,
letters with postage stamps and
envelopes covered in sesame street stickers...
love notes written in cards store bought and cards handmade...
phone calls and texts and blog posts
and facebook statuses...
conversations in the car, during supper,
while you are trying to watch a movie...
:)

i keep all my best stories for you.

when anything happens,
good, bad, funny, weird...
i can't wait to tell you.
you are my best audience...
you always listen, you always laugh
in the right places,
and you always, always make me feel better
when there are wrong places in the story.

i have shared over half my life with you.
and it doesn't feel like nearly enough.
♥ ♥ ♥

In 2017, the one i love most Tags that guy i love, anniversary, weddings
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digging in the dirt...

June 1, 2017 Arlene Giddings
i have been bugging my husband for months now about the garden... and all the things that i want to do... and today he surprised me by coming home before me and quickly putting together the boxes i wanted for the raised garden... i can't wait to fill these up!  :) :) :)
i have been bugging my husband for months now about the garden... and all the things that i want to do... and today he surprised me by coming home before me and quickly putting together the boxes i wanted for the raised garden... i can't wait to fill these up!  :) :) :)

i have been bugging my husband for months now about the garden...
and all the things that i want to do...
and today he surprised me by coming home before me
and quickly putting together the boxes i wanted for the raised garden...
i can't wait to fill these up!  :) :) :)

if you know me at all by now
you have probably figured out
that i tend to replace one obsession
with another...
yes, the weddings are done
and i have SO much free time!
which means i have to FILL it
with something else...
the play is also all done (& it was so much fun!)
so now i have moved onto gardening...
which is something i have always WANTED to do
but never seemed to have the TIME for...
and look what i have lots of now?
time.
:)

now i just need the knowledge...and the money.
heeheehee

i have been driving my husband crazy
talking about the garden
and the plans i have and could we do this?
and what if we did that?
and i agonized for days over where to plant
the lilac tree
and then the night right AFTER i planted it,
they called for frost.
i think it was ok though...so far, so good.
i have killed off/ruined a bunch of sunflowers
by starting them too early in the house
and they got all leggy and spindly and weak...
but the string bean plants i started look a little healthier.
i thought i killed off the poor baby rhubarb plant
because when i took it out of the pot to plant it
i was like...wow....there's not much for roots in here...
until i emptied the soil out
and saw that's where all the roots were!
but it seem to be making a brave attempt at a comeback
so we'll see.

and i finally finished what i have been referring to
as the "purple purge". 
this was pure hell.
i was regretting that i started it about 1/4 of the way in
but it's all out now!
we used to get some pretty purple flowers in the side flower bed
but then this purple plant TOOK OVER the whole bed.
i thought, oh, i'll just dig it up and replant to make it "cut flower bed".

the purple plant did not want to be dug up.

but roughly 49 hours later of digging, tearing, cursing, crying,
stomping, shoveling, raking, complaining and questioning
why i ever thought this was a good idea
and it was done!

i wish i had taken a photo of it before...but...i didn't.

the gnomes are back and i bought a bird feeded
which the birds have not noticed yet
and it's driving me crazy.
just come eat the damn bird seed
and entertain me with your cuteness already!

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In 2017, adventure 2017, at the big orange house, fairy garden, she's so weird, spring, the one i love most Tags garden, fairy garden, gnomes, getting dirty, lilacs, pei
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