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Annie in Austin
Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Tagged By Mrs Quad

Happy Valentine's Day!

This version of the tag game calls for a list of "five things that you might not know about me" – Hmmm. How can my revelations be interesting in the wake of people like Mrs Quad, Nelumbo, Jim and Kerri? Kerri parents actually owned a pet store when she was growing up! I must admit that finding out a few things about other people was pretty cool, so I'll be cooperative.

Five things that you might not know about me:

1) When I was about ten years old, I seriously considered becoming a Catholic Nun, driving my sister and cousin nuts with my pre-adolescent piety. [I got over it.]

2) I entered college at 16, intending to become a junior high teacher. I left after completing my junior year and never went back. So there’s no degree after Annie’s name. [It was of course, all Philo’s fault – no way was I letting him go to grad school in South Carolina alone.]

3) Our four children are widely separated in age, so they were born in three different decades - 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s - at different hospitals, with different groups of doctors, and at the time of each birth, Philo & I lived at a different address.

This age range also meant that once the oldest turned 13, my husband and I began an unbroken 23-year stretch of living in a house with a teenager. Four of them. One after another.

4) Genealogy is another of my interests, and I’ve done a lot of research for friends and family, frequently using online resources. While at those sites I bumped into a couple of previously unknown cousins who were doing the same thing.

5] I dislike the taste of watermelon, cucumbers and licorice, and don’t like their scents, either. But even if Philo has been eating one of these things, I like him more than I dislike watermelon or cucumbers or licorice, and will gladly kiss him anyway. [This was the Valentine part of today's post.]


I hesitate to tag anyone - but sure would like to know more about most of you – Ki? Lost Roses? Julie? Stuart? Pam in TX or Pam in SC? Anybody?


Here’s a squirrel photo for Nelumbo in South Carolina. This one is gobbling up the sunflower seeds, even though I covered them in hot sauce. The birds can’t taste it, and the squirrels are supposed to find it distasteful but it didn’t work out that way. It's possible that since everyone in Austin grows hot peppers, and the birds plant the chile pequin type in natural gardens all over town, an entire subspecies of salsa-loving tree rats is evolving here.

14 comments:

  1. My mom is a big bird watcher down near the coast. She has bird feeders that hang from poles stuck in the ground. She oils the poles and loves to watch the squirrels try to climb up. :)

    -Stephanie

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  2. Salsa loving tree rats, I like it!

    Luckily I don't have the tree rat problem but that is compensated by the enormous quantities of slugs who chomp away in my garden like there's no tomorrow.

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  3. What fun! We have two things in common: we wanted to be Catholic nuns at the same age and we don't have a degree after our names. This is a good idea for a future post...it could be quite revealing :o)

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  4. Annie, we learn something new everyday... I impressed that you started college at 16, that is quite young. And 23 years of dealing with at least one teenager, you should receive some kind of reward for that. My parents compressed 5 teenagers into just 11 years, don't know if that is a better way or not!

    I've been tagged several times, but it was always to post 5 weird things about myself, (what? me? weird? no way!) Now that it seems to have evolved into 5 things others don't know, I might give it a try.

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  5. Stephanie, that could be amusing until the squirrels start craving the oil.

    Yolanda Elizabet, slugs might be worse, I agree.

    Mary, I'd love to see you take this tag and have fun with it.

    Carol, I have refused memes with questions, too, and noticed you haven't done any. At least in this one, the poster is the driver, not the passenger!

    I had no choice but to switch to new blogger today. So far the constant resigning-in is a drag, and today I'll be too busy to fool around with the new options. Maybe in a few days there will be improvements around here??

    Annie

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  6. College at 16 - I'm impressed.

    But how could anyone not like watermelon, or licorice?

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  7. Drat, I'm sorry the hot sauce didn't work for you! I will have to update my post.

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  8. Annie, thanks for thinking of me, but I think I'll let you find out 5 (weird or otherwise) things about me in person.

    I'm sorry to hear about your blogger woes, but I hope to see a new post from you tomorrow because it's Bloom Day. I don't have much in bloom, but at least our gardens aren't buried under feet of snow, right?

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  9. I love watermelon, but I absolutely HATE HATE HATE the smell of watermelon candy or gum.

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  10. Annie, you're a good sport to play along. You would've made a wonderful teacher, I'm sure, but love always wins...well hopefully! Sounds like you have no regrets, which is good!!
    Twenty-three years of teenagers....argh! It seemed like our teen years went on a l-o-n-g time and we only had 3 (the last being the most difficult!)
    I don't think my hubby loves me enough to kiss me after I've been eating raw onion. I'll have to try out that theory.
    Loved getting to know you a little better :)

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  11. Pre-adolescent peity...boy, that must have been tough for your siblings! Funny.

    As for five things, awhile back a local lowcountry blogger "tagged" me (I'm still not used to the whole "tagged" and "meme" thing...) but I did give it a go back them (although I think I came up with pretty boring things) - but anyway: http://talesfromthelaboratory.typepad.com/tales_from_the_microbial_/2006/12/five_things.html

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  12. Sorry I'm a little late commenting. Now that I work, it's hard to manage what free time I have.

    That potato made me give a full, throaty laugh.

    It's good to be back in the garden blogging world!

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  13. Okay, since you did the meme, I guess I'll have to also. I was waiting to see if you would ignore it so I wouldn't have a guilty conscience. Hmmm, what to talk about.

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  14. Annie, what fun! I may have to take you up on being tagged after I finally catch up on everyone's blogs. Oh the nun thing. My sisters and I went through it too, but not too seriously. Did you use Necco wafers candy as Communion wafers?

    16 and you went to college? Wow! No degree here either.

    Oh, you have so many entries since I left in February, I need to keep reading! Oh, I got forced to change to the new version too. It just appeared one day.

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A comment from you is like chocolate - maybe I could live without it, but life is more fun with it. I'll try to answer. If someone else's comment piques your interest, please feel free to talk among yourselves.