In today's post you will learn nothing useful. But you will get to see a slightly out of focus photo I took of Elton John last week and get to do a time wasting online puzzle of Philip. Because for today Google can suck it.
That's right. I told Google to suck it. Google can go and suck a big fat egg. For today anyway. If you're wondering what THAT'S all about you can read my post from last week about how Google and blogging works.
Even though Google doesn't give a crap about how I went to see Elton John last week and had 8th ROW TICKETS - you might. And that is how we got to this post.
Here's how it happened. For the past - oh, I'm going to say since Tab was a popular drink choice - I've wanted to see Elton John in concert. Because he's an icon, a showman and even in the Tab days was getting on in years.
I knew one year he was going to stop touring. That year was 2020. But I forgot to get tickets for the 37th year in a row.
As luck would have it, in 2020 the entire world was shut down due to a toilet paper shortage. So Elton's final tour was cancelled. Final tours are always the best - I can attest that Cher's first farewell tour was a memorable one.
A couple of years later the toilet paper shortage is over and we have entered a much more reasonable time of life where the only thing you can't find is a house under a million dollars. And about a zillion other things including but not limited to appliances and Sriracha sauce for some reason.
This post on guaranteed crispy sweet potato fries has a REALLY good Sriracha/mayo dipping sauce recipe.
THIS time around I wouldn't forget. When Elton John announced he was going to be kicking his farewell tour off in 2022 I marked it on my calendar. The very MOMENT tickets went on sale I was doing something - I can't remember what - but it definitely wasn't buying Elton John tickets.
If we're going by odds, chances are I was either staring at my computer or putting out the garbage because where I live it's garbage night every night. At least that's how it feels every Tuesday night.
You know the story doesn't end there otherwise you would not have had the pleasure of seeing a very unprofessional blurred shot of Sir Elton at the top of this post.
I live about 45 minutes outside of Toronto (17 hours if you're travelling at any time other than at 3:47 in the morning). Apparently I wasn't the only one who was hoping to see Elton John in Toronto because the sales were so fast they decided to add another date.
This time I set an alarm and had my computer and credit card beside me.
I was going to get the very best tickets I couldn't afford. I had been waiting for this moment ever since Darryl B. brought in a 45 of Crocodile Rock for show & tell in primary school.
This was my last chance and I was doing it up good. Also, the prior 2 years saw me saving a lot of money what with having nothing available in stores to spend it on.
The 1-3 row tickets were out of the question because they were upwards of $3,000 each. I'm not that rich. I then found 2 seats in the 8th row, almost centre for $1,000 each. I bought 2 tickets. I'm not that rich.
The buyer's remorse didn't hit until I realized I needed to find someone else that also wanted to see a 75 year old man play the piano in his bathrobe.
No this is not the same photo as the first. They're very different in that one is of Elton John with his hands spread apart standing behind his piano wearing a bedazzled jacket while in the other one he is wearing a bedazzled bathrobe.
I luckily found someone to go to the concert with and do not regret giving Sir Elton John all of my money. My friend and I even made an event of the night having dinner first which consisted of a free lavender tainted flat beverage that someone was handing out on the street and a hot dog from a cart.
I can only live large.
The night after the show, still on a bit of an "I saw a celebrity up close high" I went up to the garden to check on things. It was there that a gang of rodents scratched their way through my good mood. Staring over my patch of sugar pumpkins I was shocked to see it had quite violently been reduced from 6 pumpkins to 4.
Something (I suspect a vole, probably the Kingpin) repeatedly attacked one spot of the pumpkins until it had drilled a perfect hole into two of them. Once inside the entire twitching organization of rodents proceeded to eat the whole pie pumpkin from the inside out.
Twice.
Without cinnamon, sugar or whipping cream. So we immediately know we're dealing with radicals.
Philip was with me because I bring Philip up to the garden with me the odd time. He's pretty good about laying in the dirt and just smelling the smells. The problem is he doesn't want to lay in the dirt paths, he wants to lay on inconvenient dirt.
Like my carrot bed. He loves laying in the carrot bed. Which is not something you can have delivered from Petsmart, otherwise I'd order one for my house.
So that's one of the reasons that Lip likes it up at the garden.
All he wants to do is lay in the carrots. And chase toads. And pee on the celery. And break the dahlias.
Which I would scold him for if it weren't exactly what I do at the garden every time I go.
This time of year is one of the busiest for anyone who grows their own vegetables. You have to harvest your produce, preserve it (if you're preserving), pee on the celery one last time, clean the beds up and gingerly poke the compost pile to see what comes running/slithering/flying out towards your face.
You'll find out all about the horrors and fun of September gardening in Monday's How to Start a Vegetable garden post. That's where I'll be all weekend; weeding the weeds, digging up the potatoes and fluffing the carrot tops.
Because sometimes it's fun to just sit quietly and be frustrated by an actual puzzle instead of the puzzle that is life, I leave you with this.
Because the odd time Philip is a good boy and doesn't lie in the carrots. He lies in the zinnias.
Don't try to do the puzzle on a cell phone, you'll make yourself crazy and then you'll get mad at me and I've already had to deal with two sucked out pumpkins this week. The puzzle is meant to be done on a tablet, laptop or desktop.
Ashley
8.43 - and I stopped half way to check some emails (ya know - need to look productive at work). :) Thanks for the puzzle!
Karen
Show off, lol. ~ karen!
Bonnie
Love this one, especially the puzzle.
Karen
Good! I was hoping you would. ~ karen!
DLP
14.42. Lovely pic and beautiful dog!!!!
Karen
Thanks DLP! When I can catch him still he makes a good subject. :) Good job on the puzzle! ~ karen!
Caralyne P.
Loved this post. I will always check in to your blog, no matter what *the Google* says. :-)
Anxiously awaiting your November Christmas list 'o things to do, so I will have a plan on how to tackle it all so I'm ready for December.
After all, it's September, which means Halloween is tomorrow, which means Thanksgiving is the day after and Christmas is next week. Or at least, that's how it feels to me anyway.
Karen
Well it didn't feel like that to me until you said it. Now I feel a migraine coming on and my ears are sweating. ~ karen!
Jeanne B
Great start to my day! Enjoyed the whole post but the puzzle with the cute fella? That’s the bomb! Took me 16.30 to do.
Karen
I'm glad you liked it! And yes - you beat me. :) ~ karen!
Susan Claire
Anaheim Convention Center, 1971. Just Elton and his piano, no glitz or glamour, and it was great!
Karen
1971! He would have been a baby practically! Full of energy. ~ karen!
MindyK
I am not going to see Elton John’s farewell tour because I’ve seen him a couple of times and the last one was so perfect that anything else would spoil the memory. He was playing at a local college arena so my husband and I decided to go. As a surprise he got tickets in the second row (*not* $1,000). So that was amazing. But then Elton invited the first row—which included at least two dozen adorably dressed young men swaying with their arms around each other, singing at the tops of their lungs—to stand by the stage, so in effect we were the first row. *And then* he called our row to the stage too! We were maybe 8 feet from him. I have a photo where I swear he was looking right at me. (I said thank you just in case.) He had a cold and didn’t sound great that night, but it was an amazing experience nevertheless. I’m so glad you got to see him, because he has been an icon for nearly three generations for a reason. 🤩
Karen
YOUR concert sounds fun! Security wouldn't even let anyone dance in the aisles at this one. And there was one guy that ... well all he wanted to do was D A N C E. It was like watching a bottle of pop that had been shaken up and not being able to take the cap off. ~ karen!
Debbie
Got the puzzle done in 27 minutes, but I am not a puzzle person and before 5 am! Got to see Elton on his last tour as well. Great concert. We were about 6 rows up but over on the side. I still thought they were great seats and a great concert. So thankful I got to see him as I have been wanting to see him for decades. One of the things that cracked me up at the concert was a group in a skybox all wearing Elton John glasses that lit up! You could see them where ever you were in the arena. They were hysterical!
Karen
LOL! There were some great getups at the show. Almost everyone made some sort of "Elton" type effort. ~ karen!
Cheryl in Charlottesville
LOL. What a lovely way to start my day…drinking my coffee, laughing at and with you. So thank you for that. ps I love visiting Toronto and Sir Elton John is pretty cool. Happy weekend….and isn’t it ok that Lip enjoys a bed of carrot tops as “it” grows under ground. IDK….
Karen
They're big enough now that he doesn't do too much damage, but when he lays down on them some of the carrot tops break. On younger carrots that'll stop them from growing. :/ It's just generally a good idea to teach him to not lay in my vegetables, lol. I have enough problems keeping them alive with all the other animals in the world. ~ karen!
Terri k
Sae Elton in Milwaukee is May. The 38 year old and 64 year old both agreed he is still amazing. Trying to talk my daughter who lives in Malibu into going to LA for his final. ❤️❤️❤️
Karen
He's an icon. Tell her I endorse your Malibu mission. ~ karen!
Lez
I have never done a jigsaw on my laptop ever before, so I thought I'd have a go! Completed it, bar 2 pieces! They were not there, missing in action! Anyone else have this problem!?
Gorgeous dog Karen! X
Karen
Hi Lez! The pieces are (were) probably just off to the side. If you increase or decrease the size of the screen or even swipe it left or right they would have been somewhere. That's the good thing about online puzzles - you can't lose a piece. :) ~ karen!
Lez
I tried that, couldn't find them anywhere! Haha! I actually thought, knowing your sense of humour, you'd done it on purpose, just to await the million comments! Meanwhile, I'm just an old technophobe! Lol!
Pat
You had to move the entire puzzle, the pieces were under the completed portions!
Jenny W
Can I say that I LOVE random posts about little things going on in your world!?!
And the Puzzle! Thank you for that! :)
Karen
Sure you can!🤣 I love them too. The fun and relaxing for me to write. ~ karen!
Deb
Karen
Sometimes I hate technology. My iPad kept on freezing, so the puzzle took me almost 29 minutes. Nice pic though.
Garden is still producing like gang busters here outside Ottawa. Damn bunnies though attacked the cabbage patch. Have to start clean up though because who knows when frost is coming, and we all know it is coming. Big cleanup will start this weekend.
Enjoy your cleanup.
Deb
Karen
My garden was completely decimated from pests this year. I still grew and harvested lots of stuff but not ONE bean. I planted beans I don't know how many times and they were either eaten completely as seedlings or had their tips constantly chewed off when they were bigger. :/ I grew my cabbages under a low tunnel (which cabbage moths got into anyway) so they're still alive and growing. ~ karen!
Deb
I know, my cabbages were also covered from the time they came out of the greenhouse to transplant. If you want a laugh though, I was planting what I thought was a mesclun mix in one of my raised beds. Took forever to germinate, end up use the wrong package and had planted more carrots. Guess I need to wear my glasses now when planting.lol
Karen
LOL! That's a bit of a mixup. Well if you grew carrots without even trying then you deserve congratulations! ~ karen
Gary L
Too late! I completed the puzzle on my phone but only because I was absorbed in the process and mindless to my tablet which was only arm’s length away. Silly me. Took just over 31 minutes. Time flies. I thought it less than 10 minutes. Marvellous idea. Engaging, relaxing, stimulating all in one playful puzzle. We’ll done.
Karen
Glad you liked it Gary! I'll do it again some time. ~ karen!
Teri on the Left Coast
Oh ya, the carrot starting tip: totally brilliant! Thank you.
Your “Gardening with Karen” tips have made my gardening efforts pay off big time.
Teri on the Left Coast
Going to see The Rocket Man in Vancouver October 21! Four friends, ranging in age from 67 to 80. We’re gathering from a rural area, going to the big city for the weekend and we’re going to party like it’s 1999.
Just like Sir Elton, our concert days are about over and this will be the first time any of us have seen him. Our tix are in the nosebleeds because we didn’t get on it fast enough but we don’t care—the LOL’s (little old ladies) are girls who wanna have fun.
Lifetime concerts include Roy Orbison (no, I’m not the 80 yr old but obviously close), The Pointer Sisters, Leonard Cohen, Pavarotti, Joan Baez and Mikal Baryshnikov. What do you mean he doesn’t sing? Have you seen that man dance?
My garden is still offering up tomatoes, no mean feat for Canada in mid September.
Lip is stunningly gorgeous.
Karen
Thanks Terri! I think Lip's pretty cute too. Handsome really as opposed to cute. My sister Fish Pedicure saw Roy Orbison! I'd love to have seen Mikal. Trust me. You're right, when he dances he sings. ~ karen!
Tucsonpatty
This is your sign - my comment was way too long, and deleted itself.
I did the puzzle in 19:37 on my iPhone 8 Plus, and you are correct - it was a doozy to finish on that small screen. It’s a little larger than most, but…!!
I listed all the concerts I’ve been to - I think 5 in total. The first one was Chicago, in Manhattan Kansas. 21 years old. I had a bout of single partying in the early ‘80s and went to see The Beach Boys, Lionel Richie, The Motels, and Neil Diamond. Despite having a fear of large crowds, I enjoyed them. Two were at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Mo, which seats 8,000. That felt very huge to me! I’m very glad you got to see Elton, and had a great time! I fantasize about seeing Barbra, Cher, and Jane Oliver. (Look her up on YouTube! 🤩😍😊) Too late for all of them. This was quite a walk down memory lane, also remembering the old friends that I attended these concerts with. Thanks again, Karen!
Karen
Hi Patty! Barbra would be a great one to see!! ~ karen
Carrie Anne
Love the puzzle Karen!!
I feel you about the pumpkins. Mice did the same thing to all my cantaloupe! Ate a whole and turned them into an edible “swimming pool” of sorts.
Was strange,every time I watered mice were running everywhere. Never saw that before but we are in a drought and thought maybe that had something to do with it!
All that work but everything’s gotta live….
Also thanks to you and your advice I grew carrots this year. Started them in paper towels like you said and planted the whole thing. Was so excited when it worked. You have taught me many things and I am very thankful for all you share with us.
Be well and happy harvesting.😊
Carrie Anne
Oh I forgot to mention about my zucchini!!!!
I staked them per your advice and i’m still getting zucchini in September now that’s a first!
A bit more work but so much fun to learn something new.
Felt like Queen of the garden telling my friends about it.
Wish I could show you…
So again, thanks…you “crocodile rock” 😉😉
Karen
Hahaha! Excellent! Last night at the garden I found that my one zucchini plant had broken because the twine slipped at the top of the plant. The zucchini hanging from the top were so heavy it broke the stem. :/. I still have 4 more plants in the ground and a crisper full of zucchini so I should be OK. Good job! ~ karen
Karen
Thanks Carrie Anne. Drought really does make animals come out looking for anything to drink. Glad you liked the puzzle! Wish me luck, Saturday is potato digging day! ~ karen
Carrie Anne
I had to pull all my potatoes…plants died:(
Good luck but something tells me you won’t need it! 😂🙏
Julia Osborne
46:51 😂
But I did make a coffee, feed the cat and empty the dishwasher in-between. Oh, and I was doing it on my phone so it was tricky to see it as a whole. And I have to help my youngest child up to go to university, so my concentration isn’t what it should be. Plus the weather has turned and I’m still in my PJs, so my fingers are a little cold. Also, the Queen.
Julia x
Karen
All very reasonable reasons. I didn't do any of that and it still took me almost half as long. ` karen!
Elizabeth
Great post and fun puzzle! 13:22
The first concert I ever went to was Elton John (with Kiki Dee) in 1974 - our seats were considerably further back :)
Karen
OMG you did great on the puzzle! And that is an EXCELLENT first concert. ~ karen!