Oh Yes! You Must!

I've been reading on numerous blogs lately about how much WE all love chocolate. One of God's many gifts!

Hubby received an email about making "The Most Dangerous Cake Recipe." It's made in a coffee mug, it's easy, and most importantly...it is GOOD! Could be very fun for kids to make too!

And Willy says, "And I helped!"

I know I've mentioned before about how you think he has moved on to another room, or even if you see him laying in the kitchen, "asleep", or so you thought! HE IS SUCH A SNEAK!!! You turn your back, those chocolate morsels are history!

We made it in this special mug that was painted by Devon and given to his Grandpa for Christmas!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

a small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! You are going to print this out straight away, aren't you?

OMG! Resist this? I think not!

Watch It!

Oren Lavie, Her Morning Elegance. A fantastic video!
So much creativity out there in the world! I just can't imagine how much time this took to make and the vision it took to make it look so real.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I love this clock. It's one of my favorites.

We have a thing for clocks. Our house is filled with them. Every room has one. We even have one of those clocks in the kitchen that has pictures of birds all the way around, and when it comes up to the hour, that particular bird sound is produced.

In our bedroom, we have 4 clocks! Really, we're not obsessed about time. We just like clocks.

For a couple of years we made clocks. Lots of clocks. Probably 50 clocks. These are the ones we have left around here.

We've spent many contented hours on them. It was even more fun because we both loved doing it.

The numbers were always the hard part, getting them placed correctly.

Some clocks I painted, some I used pretty paper on them and then started experimenting with chemicals.

Hubby made some incredible clocks with rusting solutions and patinas. We sold some that he used gold flake paint on top of the rust. Gorgeous.

The reason I bring clocks up today is that half of the clocks are not working! Need batteries, and it's so frustrating to walk through all these rooms and never know what time it is!

For The Birds

As I was walking through the dining room (I use the term VERY loosely) this morning, I had to stop and take a few steps back. Did I see what I think I saw? The light coming in from the kitchen has moved with the onset of spring. It will noticeably change every single day now.

But as it shined in to this room, it landed on these!

I swear, I didn't manipulate these at all! Isn't that fantastic!?! Looks like an exotic bird! I never would have noticed this without the light changing!

After our wedding on the beach in Santa Cruz, CA, we had an amazing honeymoon in Kauai, HI. Ten days of non-stop fun that Hubby had bartered through a barter company in CA. One of the places we visited was swarming with peacocks. Tame peacocks. I bought some bird seed and they ate right out of my hands. The place was also littered with discarded peacock feathers. We were so charmed by these birds that we picked up about 25 of the feathers, bought a shipping tube, and transported them home. That was almost 14 years ago!

Truthfully, I notice them occasionally, think fondly of when we picked them up, and go about my business. But today, noticing how exquisite they are still, reminds me of how my feelings for Hubby are just as brilliant today as they were then, albeit, more knowledgeable. Hehehe.

That being said, when you've been with someone for a long time, you notice that walking across a parking lot is not necessarily a side by side thing anymore, or while strolling on a walk, it's not done hand-in-hand any longer. But there are other ways that we silently tell each other that we are still "in love." He worries when I'm out without him. If I vary from our usual routine, he's on the phone trying to figure out where I am. Not in a weird, controlling way, but really concerned for my well-being. I'm grateful for his thoughfullness.

Lately, it hasn't always been easy through his hip replacement. He's in pain; worried that this will be permanent, or that he's had a bad doctor. And have I mentioned before that he is not a patient person, at all??? But I know him, and love him. I know that he would go above and beyond for me.

So the brilliance of those feathers still, mean so much more than the picture.

I left my stomach about 1/3 of the way up the mountain~

It's interesting to think about what we find challenging, isn't it? For some, getting through a regular day might be just as monumental as this, depending on circumstances.

Course, it probably helps to be young, full of testosterone, and be as agile as this guy!

I'd like to put that kind of effort into writing, painting, sewing, and just living day to day with my family! Hmmm, look out family! Here I come!

Grammar Anyone?

Last night we were watching a movie, Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery. While watching, I heard a sentence that, for some reason, drives me crazy. The narrator said, "He was going to try and get to the summit by nightfall."

Is that grammarically correct? Shouldn't it be, He was going to try to get to the summit by nightfall. Please! Someone help me here. I read it in books all the time! I hear people say it endlessly.

If I am wrong, I will try and not correct it in my head any longer. I mean, I will try to not correct it in my head any longer!

Buy USA

I received an email this morning about purchasing items made in the USA. I'll post the email and then give my view. Hopefully, you'll tell me how you feel as well.



Friends....In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else and perhaps even their job....so after reading this email ... I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her!!

"Hi friends,

This may seem like a funny email but I was so surprised by what I discovered I had to share it with you. When I think of the job situation in this country, I can't help but think this helps in some small way.

I don't know how many households there are in the U.S. but if these were the only things we bought think of the impact....

(She wrote:)

This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA .

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here - from a company in Cleveland OH ! So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets ....yep you guessed it Bounce was more money and made in Canada, the Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA ! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

So my challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time!

Besides, you might save a little green in the process.

Stop buying from China ..........

We should have awakened a decade ago......lets get with the program......help our fellow Americans keep their jobs ... and create more jobs here in the U.S.A.


I have numerous friends that have lost their jobs over the last 6 months. They have families, little kids, mortgages, rents, a need to EAT!


I am not wealthy. I worry about my family's well being too. Our business is dependent on businesses being able to buy advertising. So many of us find ourselves in a very different environment than a year ago. I thank God that I am still able to pay my bills right now.


I want to buy things made in this country. It passes on a message that it's important. Please keep your business here, I'll buy it! But, "usually" the things made in this country are more expensive, and being the frugal shopper that I am, I'll go for the cheaper item.

Maybe we need to learn to be happy with less. Do I NEED that new purse? That new pair of pants? If I put it off for a little bit will I be able to buy that item that was made in the USA? I think it's worth a try.


Then there's the problem of FINDING things made in this country! Not as easy as it seems. I don't know, maybe it depends on where you live and shop. In this little town it's not so easy. Maybe I've not looked hard enough.


It is important enough to us that we look at the labels in the grocery store to see where the strawberries were grown. If grown in Mexico, there's the possibility of it being contaminated. Not because they're bad people, but they don't have the same requirements as we do here. And even here, as recent history has shown, it can be a problem. If we take the time to do that, can't we look at other labels as well?


Maybe it's just a matter of changing our priorities. My hubby will love me whether or not I am the fashionista (of which I have never been! Just ask anyone that knows me. Hehehe).

Yeah, definitely worth a try.

Monday Funnies

So, I was snooping around Snopes this morning checking out the authenticity of an email I received. Then I lost interest and found myself wandering around on that site.

I came across the results of a fiction contest; a competition where entrants try to come up with the most wretched opening sentences to an imaginary novel. Here are just some of the results:

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E.coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. (My personal favorite.)

7. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.

9. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.

10. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

11. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

12. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

13, Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

14. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

15. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

Sunday

Aren't these cute!!! My friend Janice sent them to me. She made the little gift tote too! So talented, this girl! She knows how I love the soft, shabby colors in this! And the ants!!! They're just adorable! They're salt & pepper shakers! I love the color of them! They will be Perfect on my deck!

We have fire ants here. We have several...what do you call them...colonies(???) around the property! You can tell because there is a big hole, and nothing will grow for about 3 or 4 feet around that hole. I often wonder why the ground doesn't just sink in those places! All those tunnels! The fire ants pretty much leave us alone, although I hate to admit it, but I do put out "stuff" to get rid of them.

The ants that you have to be careful about around here are teeny, little ants that build their homes in the planters! While weeding in there, all of a sudden, your foot will feel like it's on FIRE! When you look down...it is covered with these really small ants, and they've all been biting you! You might think that's the worst of it. But no. By the next day, your toes are swollen to look like those little cocktail sausages! No, I'm not kidding! And itch??? Like you would not believe! Here's the killer...it lasts about two weeks! Oh, for the love of God! I mean, I guess they have to protect themselves from the giants that we are, but pulleeassee!!! You'd think I would learn not to weed in my flip flops. But no. I just walk around, looking, finding a rogue weed, and before I know it, I'm all in there, tearing the planter apart. Sheesh!

This is what I'm working on today.

It may not end up even looking like a flower, but I do so get my soul food from playing with it! I hope your Sunday was a good one! Good enough to feed you for the next week!!!

Faces

Several weeks ago I showed you a picture of, until then, the un-named moon in my livingroom...

He has since been named Mr. Leonard Mannigus. I like it.

We do seem to have a fascination with faces and heads in and around our house.

Here's one of my favorites that resides in my kitchen on the wall above my cabinets.

This puffin head was made as part of a series called Faces of Alaska, by my, then, sister-in-law, Lynn Naden. She still lives in Homer, Alaska today and is still involved in the arts up there.

When my marraige at the time ended, I felt very fortunate to have my puffin head among my belongings. I've tried to find the other "faces" in that series, but she sold the molds years ago, and nobody seems to know what happened to them.

So out we go to the garden. Over the years we have picked up numerous heads and have packed them around in our various moves.

This one seems to make most people happy when they look at it. Looks very female to me.

She hangs over our patio furniture in the small alcove on our back deck.

Even with her eyes closed, she seems to be watching over our little sanctuary out there.

Out in the yard, all around the cement block wall hangs some of our other favorites.

I love this guy. A Viking head. I think it was originally part of a wall fountain, but we didn't know it. He spoke to my ancestry and had to come home with me. It was a little weird when I took this picture. Because of the way the sun was pointing, after I snapped the picture, I could see his face and mine in the camera screen. They were very much alike. One of those past lives moments?

For a couple of summers, there has been a blue-bellied lizard living behind him.

I'm not crazy about this fella. I'm not sure why. He does not have a calm about him, at all. But Hubby likes him, and as hard as it is to believe, it is not all about me.

I do like her. I've tried planting ivy in the top of her head, but it just dries out too fast. Nothing will grow in there. There is no psychological comment being made here.

This is another one of Hubby's favorites. He likes COLOR! I like it too, except for the blue lips. Why? Why that cyanoticblue? I don't know.

We have some pretty strong winds here during the spring. I hadn't realized until today that it had blown sideways, and seems to be stuck that way.

Now that I've been out in the yard, I see that I need to spend some time weeding. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Jasmine

I've read this story before, but not with the pictures!

In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog.. It had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had clearly been abused.

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing haven for Animals abandoned, orphaned or otherwise in need. Click for-?http://www.warwickshirewildlifesanctuary.co.uk/index.htm

Geoff and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved.

They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.

But Jasmine had other ideas. No-one remembers now how it began, but she started welcoming all Animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn't matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or hurting Animal, Jasmine would peer into the box or cage and, where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.

Geoff relates one of the early incidents. "We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when they arrived at the centre and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them."

"But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits. She takes all the stress out of them and it helps them to not only feel close to her but to settle into their new surroundings. "She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose.

"Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.

And one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, 11 weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into the full foster mum role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the Roe deer with affection and makes sure nothing is matted.

"They are inseparable," says Geoff "Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary.It's a real treat to see them."

Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next Orphan or victim of abuse.

From left, Toby, a stray Lakeland dog; Bramble, orphaned Roe deer; Buster, a stray Jack Russell; a dumped rabbit; Sky, an injured barn owl; and Jasmine with a Mothers heart doing best what a caring Mother would do... Such is the order of God's Creation.

It made me think of how in human lives, too, sometimes things that go wrong turn out exactly as they should. Reminds me to turn it all over, and believe.

Love This Idea!

I got my new April edition of Better Homes & Gardens magazine the other day. The front cover was so, so, ssoooo full of spring, and hope, and great ideas! The person who came up with this cover should get a great big fat raise as far as I'm concerned!

I haven't even opened it up yet, I just keep checking out the front page! I have an indoor violet that has been knocking itself out for years in a small pot, blooming all year round. This spring it finally told me, in the only way it could, that it has had enough of that pot. It said, "It's like wearing a corset, and never having the relief of taking it off, for crying out loud!" It has started to separate itself into four different plants.

When I saw this cover, I had my lightbulb moment! I will separate that violet and plant them in little egg containers to give to others for Easter! Wouldn't that be cute??? Hope I can do it without totally breaking the eggs!

Ug, shopping!

I heard that Sears was having a 75-80% off sale this week to get rid of their winter stock. Who doesn't love a bargain??? But I'm not a happy shopper. I like to go in, whisk through, and get out, especially in this little town where the inventory doesn't change all that often.

My 86 year old mother has always been able to out-shop me. She can go for hours, and these days usually does. She doesn't drive anymore so I take her once a week to go into 2 or 3 different stores so she can peruse the merchandise. She doesn't get out much, so I try to be patient as she takes 10 minutes to inspect something that she will have no interest in buying. Her memory is definitely on the down swing, and so if we go into the same store the next week, it's like seeing all new stuff again for her. If I go a few aisles over to look at something that caught my eye, she'll call me from where she is. Not with a phone. Just stand there and call my name.

For a while when we'd go into a big store, we'd both go our own ways, but then I had a hard time finding her, and when I did, I found that she was going back and forth across the store and back again because she forgot something on the other side. She'd get angry and frustrated because in her confusion, she couldn't find something. It's just easier if we stay together.

When she moved down here 4 years ago, I'd take her shopping 2 or 3 times a week, but I would lose my mind if I had to do that today. Does that sound mean?

So today, I will try to stay focused and compassionate while she searches for the perfect pair of pants, or shoes that she never seems to find.

Wee Bit of Humor

Happy St Patricks Day!!! Mc Everyone!!

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, 'Lord take pity on me.. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!' Miraculously, a parking place appeared. Paddy looked up again and said, 'Never mind, Lord, I found one.'

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first man he meets, 'Do you want to go to heaven?' The man said, 'I do, Father.'

The priest said, 'Then stand over there against the wall.'

Then the priest asked the second man, 'Do you want to go to heaven?' 'Certainly, Father,' the man replied. 'Then stand over there against the wall,' said the priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and asked, 'Do you want to go to heaven?' O'Toole said, 'No, I don't Father.'

The priest said, 'I don't believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?' O'Toole said, 'Oh , when I die , yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.'

Paddy was in New York. He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing. The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, 'Okay, pedestrians.' Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.

He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk. After the cop had shouted, 'Pedestrians!' for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, 'Isn't it about time ye let the Catholics across?'

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney. 'Did you see the paper?' asked Gallagher.. 'They say I died!!'

'Yes, I saw it!' replied Finney. 'Where are ye callin' from?'

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut. The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car. He says, 'Sir, have you been drinking?'

'Just water,' says the priest.

The trooper says, 'Then why do I smell wine?' The priest looks at the bottle and says, 'Saints be praised! He's done it again!'

Walking into the bar, Mike said to Charlie the bartender, 'Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the little woman.'

'Oh yeah?' said Charlie, 'And how did this one end?'

'When it was over,' Mike replied, 'She came to me on her hands and knees.'

'Really,' said Charles, 'Now that's a switch! What did she say?'

She said, 'Come out from under the bed, you little chicken.'

Paddy staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, O'Toole. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen. He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, Paddy sprang up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, Paddy woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and Kathleen staring at him from across the room.

She said, 'You were drunk again last night weren't you?'

Paddy said, 'Why you say such a mean thing?'

'Well,' Kathleen replied, 'it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes and the smell of whiskey all over the stairway carpet, but mostly....it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror.'

Cab it, or designate a driver, all you wild ones!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, I have to tell you. Hubby bought me a beautiful card for my birthday. We truly take pride in finding cards for any occasion that says exactly what we are not talented enough to say. This birthday was no exception.

The front:

With Love To My Wife

Inside left:

It's an uncertain world

that we live in

where so much keeps changing

so fast.

And things that we thought we could count on

too soon become things

of the past.

So with all of my heart,

I feel grateful

for the one precious part of my life

That's there for me,

always, no question-

my wonderful,

beautiful wife.

inside right:

I'm taking this moment to tell you

how much I appreciate

the understanding

and support you always give,

the way you put up with

my faults and still love me

In spite of them.

You bring so much joy to my life,

just by being the beautiful,

caring person you are.

I'm a very lucky man to have you

For my wife.

HOW LOVING IS THAT???

So knowing how he feels, he was very upset that his gift did not arrive in the mail by my special day. However,,,,,

it did arrive today! You will not believe it!!!

YES! Not just a couple, or five, of my favorite candy bars EVER!

BUT A WHOLE CASE!!!!

Here's the funny part! I really like these candy bars. In California, I would buy them every once in a while and enjoy every second of eating them. They are chocolate covered marshmallow, with cashew nuts mixed in with the chocolate on the top. Mmmmmm! But I didn't eat them "all the time."

Once we moved to Arizona, I looked for them in the store. No. You cannot have them in Arizona. Against the law, I guess. Or it is way too hot here for them. I would almost believe that. But no.

When we took the moving building to California last October, we happened to wander through a grocery store, or two, or twelve, and I spied these wonderful, delectable treats! Yes, I bought a BUNCH of them and promptly ate them. :)

We went in a local store here the other day, and he actually asked the cashier if they had any. Funny boy! He had already ordered the case for me from the company that produces them!

He's a thoughtful boy, and a wonderful husband!

Wild Turkeys

Up in the mountain near our house is a gorgeous canyon...Ramsey Canyon. There's also a unique, quaint, bed & breakfast tucked away deep in the canyon. We stayed there one year for our anniversary overnight and were delighted with the magnificent thunder storm at 3 a.m., the huge trees, and the wild turkeys.

The turkeys just wander "wildly" through the place at will and it's a real treat to be that close to them. We have taken pictures, but nothing like this. I guess this is the difference between a "good camera" and a "fantastic camera." Or maybe it's the lens. I don't know.

Dale & Judy Truit lived around the corner from us when we were in our old house here. He is an incredible photographer! I hope this is going to show up as well in blogland as in my email!

My pictures didn't show the different colors on their heads. But here's the story that came along with the pictures.

Dale Truitt went up to Ramsey Canyon last weekend to see if he could see anything to photograph. After walking around and climbing the hill a ways, he returned to the car with no pictures and was quite disappointed. While standing in the parking lot talking to some people, he saw this develop out of the corner of his eye. Right next to the parking lot! There were 11 tom turkeys strutting with no hens to be seen. He wasn't so disappointed after all!

Aren't these great pictures? And aren't these turkeys fabulous???

March 14, 1953

A girl! Yeah, it was a big deal. After a house full of 4 boys, then comes sweet, little me. I hear that my Dad did a little jug, I mean, jig (how prophetic was that?) outstide the hospital when I was born. WHERE DID THE TIME GO??? 56, right? Wait, let me do the math. I honestly don't remember! Okay, that's right.

We did a little work today, and then came home and took a nap...mmmm! Really, after the last few weeks, I can't think of a better way to have spent my birthday. I'll go into some detail about the picture tomorrow!

Some Good Times

I was scanning some pictures today, and realized that I have some very cherished photos on display around the house, but have never scanned them into the computer. What if something happened to them???

Here's one of my very favorite pictures in the whole world!

It's just the very picture of innocence, isn't it? So sweet, loving, and absolutely adorable! Hard to believe it was taken almost 20 years ago! Bet you thought I was going to say "Hard to believe they were so sweet, loving, and absolutely adorable!" Ha! But they were. And actually, they still are. All three of them have soft hearts, and love for each other.

Back when this photo was taken, we were living in an area of Felton, CA called Forest Lakes. Felton itself is full of towering redwood trees,

winding roads, and a small community. Hard to imagine that this was also referred to as the murder capital of the world at one time. But that's a story for another day.

Forest Lakes was a small area that basically took over one side of this section of mountain. The "lake" part of the name comes from the fact that every May or June, they dam up the creek. (If it sounds gross, keep in mind that they also treated the water during the summer.) Yes, it was too gross for Shannon, so she seldom wanted to go with us.

Quite often I'd take the boys to the lake and we'd have lunch and wade around in the small area that was cordoned off for the little ones. It can get hot in Felton in the summer even though it's only about 10 miles inland from the ocean. But that water was cold! You had to convince yourself of how "refreshing" it was once you actually got up the nerve to dunk yourself. There was a round platform in the middle of the lake where the older kids, swimming into puberty, usually hung out.

Occasionally, you could feel a fish brush your legs, but mostly there were the tadpoles, polywogs, and eventually frogs. Bizillions of them! Of course, we took some home in a jar to watch their progress. I think we let them go the next day.

These days went by much too fast. I'll cherish those memories just like I do this picture!

I Wish to Not Wait for Hind Sight

Yes, so it is a new day. A happier day. A day where I have not spilled anything, dropped anything, or had objects fail in one way or another. Good biorhythms today. :)
A good day.

We went to Tucson for Hubby's 2 week after surgery appointment. They took an xray of his leg, and we got to actually see the new hip in there! And it is quite beautiful, I might add. But it is even bigger than I had thought. He liked when I said, "Oooh, it's so big!" Ha! Just kidding.

On our way out of town we stopped to fill up with gas at a 7/11. Even at a convenience store the gas is cheaper up there than in our little town. As we were filling up, a car pulled up to the pump in the other direction. A man got out and approached our car. He explained that he had to pick his son up from school, hadn't expected to have to drive today, and he didn't have any money for gas. Could we spare any? Hubby looked through his pack, discovered that he had none, but I found some in my purse. The man had already moved on to other cars in the parking lot asking for help. When Hubby went up to the car to give them money, there was a boy about 7 years old, a baby, and a woman that looked pregnant.

I felt really sad for the little boy having to watch his dad go from car to car to ask for money. I could see him anxiously looking out his window. What was the situation inside that car before they pulled up to the pumps? It made me wonder what his memories will be like, and who he will become because of his life experiences as a child.

In hind sight, I wish we had pulled out the credit card and filled their tank.

ULULATE

ULULATE \UL-yuh-layt; YOOL-\, intransitive verb:

To howl, as a dog or a wolf; to wail; as, ululating jackals.

Ever have one of those days? Of course you have. It starts off questionable. Moves along, walking a fine line between maybe it's going to be okay, and it's going to hell in a handbasket.

I didn't sleep well last night. In fact, I was up reading all of your blogs around 3 a.m. I dragged myself out of bed because I had many errands to run today. Usually I can pull this off, no problem. However, my biorhythms must be in a critical phase or something.

This town is, for all intents and purposes, layed out in a big triangle. I start off on one end, drive to the other to pick up money from a client. That is always a good thing, even though it's only half of what he owes. I appreciate his effort. Stopped at Verizon to drop off a payment, just a quick drop into the slot, right? No. They have a new machine now where you enter your personal information, bill amount, your check, and your first born's name. OK. Cool machine, but I'm in a hurry, man! Hubby is along for the ride and is feeling like some JUNK food. Poor guy. He's had a rough couple of weeks. "Anywhere you want, love." Sonic. Well, we've been seeing gobs of commercials on tv about how great their burgers are, and we haven't had MEAT in a long time. I was dreading it because the last time we were there it took FOREVER to get our food. But to my delight, the food was at our truck window in record time. Things are looking up!Yea! Not having had a hamburger in ages, it wasn't bad for a buck. I even ordered a large onion ring, thinking I was going the extra mile in junk food fashion as the supportive wife. I think we both ate one (1), it was sssooooo awful and threw the rest of the bag away. I tried to decide if it was the onion itself or the batter that tasted like it had been infused with vanilla ice cream flavoring. Not even the real thing. That fake, too sweet, oh my God, what is this flavor. Just way too weird. We were in the same parking lot as Ace Hardware, where we were going to pick up a weed sprayer. No, Hubby wanted to go to the store first. Okay, never mind (he's still on drugs from his surgery) and we go through the intersection and across the street to the store. Crab for crabcakes? No. Small town U.S.A. Back across the street, through the intersection to Ace Hardware. Buy this nifty little rolling weed sprayer that runs on batteries so you don't have to continually pump it, and a pair of garden gloves (industrial strength to deal with tumbleweed) for me. Back across town the way we had come to see if the other store (next to Verizon) had crab. Yes, yes they did, thankfully. A couple more stops then we are home, and a nap is definitely in order. A perk on a grand scale of working for ourselves!

We had emptied the hot tub a month or so ago because we hadn't been using it and figured there was no sense in having to pay to keep it heated. When a small storm blew through the other night, the cover must have shifted and rain water got in, which took on a very ugly odor after a few days. This is a job that Hubby would ordinarily tackle. But, poor thing, there is no way he could get in or out of there. And truth be told, I am a spoiled brat that way and deserve to have to do this chore!

Hubby assembled the new rolling weed sprayer for me, and we filled it with water and Round Up. We live on an acre lot, and the mere mist in the desert will bring on the explosion of wild flowers, as well as the nastiest of thorn-bearing plants. Truly, there are a bizillion tumbleweed upstarts!

They begin like this:

and although they look all sweet and tender, they are the devil's work! Even at this infantile stage, they will prick you with a vengence if you are not wearing gloves!

And they end up like this:

Wicked, they are. I know I tend to go on waay too long about tumbleweed, but if there is anything that I truly hate in this wonderful world of ours...this is it.

I digressed, didn't I? Sorry.

So thinking that we were all set to reak havoc on our weeds, we set the sprayer upright, and realized that we had a SERIOUS leak from the drain underneath (the one that has a little stickie note that states "make sure drain cap is securely tightened to avoid spills." It's tight already!!! Okay, what to do? We have nothing to empty the caustic liquid into. Nothing to do but spray like crazy until it is at a level that will not leak. Now, ordinarily, this is a job that we share. But, poor baby, he is still using a walker, for God's sake! And, I did want to try the nifty little rolling ball of destruction! Sprayed all along the concrete wall, all along the cyclone fence of the south 40, and all of the obstreperous new growth weeds on the inside yard. We're talking Rye grass here! Grrrrr!

I turned the handy, deadly carrier over to where it wouldn't leak any more and came in the house to feed my lovely hairy friends. They are such spirit-lifting, wonderous little beings, that I love to see them all excited over a bowl of kibble, water, and pumpkin! I recently discovered that instead of excitedly announcing "you want your dinner? Huh? Are you hungry?" All I had to do was look at them intently and lick my lips. Hahahahaha! They got it, and charged in the kitchen! I love them!

While they are happily slopping their food bowl, I usually scoop up a plastic glass full of bird seed and head out to the front yard (where the Cooper's Hawk was looking for lunch yesterday) to feed my menagerie of wild folk. I fill this tall glass, and empty 3/4 of it in the front yard and put the remaining 1/4 in the feeder in back. Back inside the front door, with said 1/4 glassful of bird seed, I spied a wad of some strange something that probably escaped from Willy's lips, and bent over to pick it up to throw it away. You guessed it...all over the entryway. Deep breaths, calmly sweeping the little kernels of seed into the dust pan, then to empty into the bird feeder. Vacuum out, suck up the rest of the seed that was stuck in the grout. Another deep breath.

Practically ran to the fridge to fill my purple glass with boxed wine and headed here to vent. God bless blogsville! And if any of you managed to make it past all of my whining to the end of this post, God bless you! And God bless Hubby, because while I was ULULATING here...he was making me a fantastic dinner of crabcakes over arugula, polenta, & zucchini.

Tomorrow is another day...

Good Eats

Guess who's caught a clue that this is a great place to eat?

The service sucks (it is self-serve, after all),

but the food is cheap, and the portions are huge!

Barbie's 50-a young thing!

Did I see that Barbie is 50 today? Man, do I remember that first one that came out in the black & white bathing suit? I didn't have one, but my neighbor did. I was always a little jealous of that.

The knock-off barbie I had, had arms and legs that moved but you could see the joints! Like there was no skin over it! Ppssht! What was that about? Medical anatomy Barbie? Orthopaedic Barbie?

And we won't even go into the fact that Barbie was perfect. I didn't give that too much thought back then...except that she had perfect skin (!) and boobs (!!!). Being a little kid with freckles and totally flat chested...hey, it was rough man. Just kidding. Kind of.

What I really liked was the Barbie with interchangeable wigs! That was cool! Like interchangeable personalities! Heeeey, wigs! young, old, sexy, sultry, homey, perky, ghetto, anything I want. He he he.

Food, for thought.

I love being creative, whether it's with paint, fabric, or words. It feeds me. And that's the truth. Most of the time I have no idea what I'm doing but somehow it works out. Maybe it just looks like it works out to me because I have had so much fun doing it, and am pleased that it came out at all! LOL!

I have a couple old, used, nasty, brown swivel chairs that we may possibly use on the back deck if I ever get them painted. I'll have to get some "before pictures" of them.

Here's some other pics of "fun" projects that I've done.
Before...

Actually, this started off as an ugly, nasty, brown colored chair too.

And after...

Before...Ew.

And after...

And before...

Oh, good God! Who would do this??? The rust is metallic!

And after...

Oh, wait. I guess to some, this may be as horrific as the before! LOL!!! That cracks me up!!!

And finally, this was NEVER old, nasty, or brown. My youngest son made this for me in high school; bare wood, clean, smelled like a fresh project, and will always be dear to me! No before...Just after...

So the ugly, swivel chairs I'll tackle this spring, because I want them to be fresh, lively, and oh so spring-like!!! Another lime green project???