Grins and Sounds

Good morning.  It is Thursday morning the very last day of the month of June and I was reminded last evening, when a sharp blast occurred, that The Fourth of July is around the corner.    The neighbor boys have their supply of fire works and for the next week I will be jolted out of the blue when I hear a loud noise and think someone is out to shoot me, or at least wake me up from my power nap.    

Last night was one of  noises.  You know the kind of night when you read awhile and your eyes get heavy and you sigh, put out the light and hunker down for a good nights sleep . . . but night noises start and instead of sleeping the mind is listening as unfamiliar sounds reach the ears.    Um . . . the start of a new mystery?   No, probably the resident deer out for their nightly walk and feasting on the plants, or a raccoon or the neighbor's cat.   All I can tell you is I did get up more than once to try and find out what was out in the darkness but all I could see was shadows from the mill lights and hear the pounding of their machine. Now that is a new sound, heavy duty clanging and banging. If they are stamping their plywood, I wouldn't be surprised to see splinters of wood on the big wood chip piles.   So the mystery of the night noises remains. I may buy some ear plugs next trip to Freddys.

So today, pay attention to the church signs and see if you can find some to make you laugh.    It is always good to be able to find something to laugh about and the pastor of the church, no matter what denomination, finds humor as a beacon light to lead you into a place of peace and harmony.    If you haven't been for awhile, maybe you might take a walk and drop in for a few minutes of silence and serenity, and while you are at it light a candle  for a speedy recovery of those that have had to have surgery.  There are a dozen other reasons to light a candle or two, all you have to do is stop, look and listen.    Count your blessings, hum, sing, whistle and blow the cobwebs out of your brains so you can do one good deed today.   In pain, offer it up, a guarantee to get a soul into Heaven.   Use your seconds wisely, they go bye so fast, make your today the best one yet.   Hugs to all.

Follow The Signs

Young or Old it doesn't matter . . . laughter is what makes our world go around.   Gary sent these signs about old age and it goes to show old age is just a number not a mind set.    So whether you are going on fifty or eighty, remember it is only a number and it is the inner spirit that drives the body and mind.  Get busy today and find reasons to laugh out loud.   I had to go and find out if the picture mode had changed and the error message had disappeared so here we are two blogs for the price of one.     Hope your still laughing out loud.   Hugs to all.

Script only

It is Wednesday morning and the sky is filled with dark clouds this morning, more rain, and the garden will love it.   The sudden burst of water sent the Rose of Sharon into shock and it bent low to the ground making me wonder if it would come back.   After a little sunshine it started to lift, so when the sunshine comes back so will this lovely plant in all its glory.

There is something amiss with the photograph program this morning and whatever has gone wrong behind the scenes stops the picture from showing.  I hope it is fixed as I have no idea what to do.     I had a beautiful picture of gray skies and that old lonesome tree in the lot next door to show you. . . you will just have to use your imagination and know that we have a coastal storm for a day or two and we have to stay on the cool side . . . bet you wish you were here.

I walked over to visit my neighbors across the road on Smith Street.    Mary and Joseph.   I first met them sitting on a bench at the Port and I stopped to say hello and found out they were brand new to Bookings.   We shared a few words about where they were moving from and I, of course, touted all the wonderful places and events that we had here.   It was a shock to find they moved so close to me and we have shared a moment or two at the post box.   Nice folks, but I am about  to lose them as they are going to put their house up for sale and move up to Nevada so Jo can breathe again. All this moist air and fog and rain is not good for him.  Mary invited me to see their home and it is a manufactured home as all are in this neighborhood.   Their home is huge, a den off of the kitchen with a wall to wall bookcase; a large bright and beautiful  kitchen with its center eating island; a formal dining room, a huge living room, three bedrooms, two full baths and decorated with antiques to die for.    Mary is a collector of light houses and has a love for the sea as all the pictures attest to, one covers the wall  and there are several that are old masters with the huge schooners riding the waves.  The house itself is turned backwards as the back door has become the front door.  The front door is hidden, without a path way, in a maze of plants and trees and a deck that faces the ocean.   Who needs an entry way when you can enjoy the view.     Mary showed me some of her yard sale collectibles and one was a bag of tiny silver spoons from all the different states, a treasure.     I told Mary that my daughter Christine was looking for some spoons that size and if she found any more to bring them home to me.    She surprised me by handing me a little wrapped package and told me to open it when I got home.  She had gifted me with  four of the spoons that I had admired. . . a lovely lady with a kind heart.   Jo was watching the tennis matches and is quite a fan.   I told him I was having company in August and would introduce him to two avid tennis player who would delight in talking about the game.    Jo is a quiet man, loves to garden and has a driveway area filled with potted plants he works up from different types of containers as well as using pieces of driftwood and big pieces of fallen boughs.    


So today, I hope you visit one of your neighbors and share a 'cuppa' and a cookie or two.    It is one way to find out a little bit more about them and be amazed at their interests and their treasures.      We are surrounded by 'good' people and all we have to do is take the time to get to know them.     Treasures in your own back yard.     Make your seconds count today and every day for that matter.     Use them wisely and make the most of today.    Hugs to all.

British Humor

Good morning.  English humor is fun.  I hope you watch those shows in PBS on Saturday nights, if not you are missing some belly laughs.    These pictures came in yesterday with a few short words about old British post cards.    It is a good way to start your day, a belly laugh never hurt anyone I know of.   

Jock sent a clipping on a write up in one of the San Francisco papers.    Some one was outraged at those who hunt live animals for food  . . . "to all you hunters who kill animals for food, shame on you;   you ought to go to the store and buy the meat that was made there, where no animals were harmed."     Although I had to grin when reading the words knowing city bred folks think differently than those rural folks, it made me sad to think that our eduction is so lax and we are really stupid about a lot of things in our lives.   I could mention politics but then you would all fold up and go away, so I wont.  

But, there is so much we do not know.  There is so much we should know.   There is something about the saying that we do learn something new every day of our lives and that is a good thing.    If we turned our thoughts into something that really matters, we really could help solve some of the problems in our world.   It really starts in your own four walls.


So today, Tuesday, a rainy day here so the second coat of primer awaits.    The sun will come back and hopefully my energy.   I quit the therapy yesterday as I know the temptation would be to go for the heat treatments and massage, knowing though., that the pain is not going to go away as there was nothing broken to mend, nothing but muscle degeneration that goes with being an octogenarian.    I'm going to miss that word as I seem to use it a lot.   What comes after the eighties . . okay smarty, the nineties, I know that, but what is that decade called.  It has to have a name.    So I will continue with my exercises and try to remember not to carry heavy packages in my left hand.  I think typing is an exercise . . . well it is now.      As for you, follow your heart, make your seconds count.   Treat a friend to lunch.  Say a prayer and light a candle that our good will surpass our evil.   Work at renewing yourself inside and out.   Go, hug a few lonely souls today.  Hugs to all.

A Job

Good morning.    Looking for a job?  The e-mail that I received yesterday had pictures and a write up about the African Python Catchers and I thought the pictues of the big snake in Arizona was the biggest snake I had ever seen.    Well, live and learn and believe me I don't even like a garter snake in my garden although they are suppose to be good for the soil.     According to the write up, the Python catchers put  a covering, a sleeve, on their arm to protect it after they have dug a big hole.  The light a packet of straw like material so they can see where the sanke lives and stick their arm in and the python takes hold.   The catcher is being held upside down by another catcher and as you can see team work begets the python, probably the eggs . . . wonder what theydo with those . . . and march home victorious . . . wonder what they do with the python .   Food?  Clothes?  Shoes?   All I can say is that there are some jobs that do not appeal to me.    Retirement does have some compensations.

So today, the beginning of a new week, I wonder what is in store for us.    The other e-mail with pictures was of the First Lady in all her chosen outfits and believe me it was not complimentary.    Either she has a very bad designer at work or absolutely no taste.    It is sad to see that she is without someone who cares enough to show her to a three way mirror so she can see for herself.    She is a good looking lady and has a tall slender figure so there is no reason she does not look like the First Lady of the Land dressed in sensible and beautiful clothes.     At the price they charge her, some heads should roll.

Be sure you look in a three way mirror on your way out today.     The best dressed, or course, has a smile on his or her face.    I'm off to therapy and the bad arm is to be treated royally as it gets the heat treatment and the message.   I hate to tell the therapist the arm is not much better, probably arthritis and it isn't going any where, but there is no sense in going back and running up the tab when the first five sessions did  nothing but make me wish I were rich and could join a spa and continue being spoiled.   They do a good job and I am going to miss all the attention and the treatments.      I have the exercise sheet at home, now all I have to do is teach myself how to apply the heat and message and find something that lessens arthritis pain. Hard work didn't do much for it, now when I was painting...........no, let's not go there again.      You go out and have yourself a great day, a warm summer day with vacation in mind.    Seconds count, so make good use of them.    Hugs to all.                                         

Almost Done

This is the porch, unfinished for want of a painting of the 'pickets' and the trim.  You have been listening to my sad tale for awhile now and, as of yesterday, it is one step closer to being finished . . . but, only one step as the first coat went on yesterday while I worked out in the warm sunshine and have some sunburn to prove it.    There was a yard sale across the street as neighbor Pam and her new husband Randy decided to fuse two household items together along with their children's extra 'stuff' as they are moving on to Prescott, Arizona.    Our Sullivan cousins are moving there . . . from what I hear it is the newest and most delightful place to live so I will have to google it and find out more about it.   I'm not planning on moving there but if I am lucky to stay healthy I may get to visit there . . . one never knows.


The yard sale was a huge success as there were cars parked in front of my house all day, as people carried off treasures.   I even walked over there and found a nice almost new flat electric pancake cooker . . . well you can cook more than that on it, but I am a pancake lover from way back and now I can cook them at least six at a time. . . there were a few other pieces of interest but I left them there.  I have enough 'stuff' to get rid of as I down size and have yard sales in my future.     If I had known my neighbor was having a sale I might have taken the time to set up a few tables and get rid of some things instead of painting fifty railings with four sides.    You may never hear the end of it.


Saturday is always cowboy movie day and yesterday when I finally quit my paint job and went in almost crawling from stiffness and sunburn . . . smile . . . you know I didn't get off Scot free;  I had a nice hot shower and sat in my easy chair and watched "The Rifleman" .  They had four in a row and they brought back a lot of memories.   It really was a good show.  John Wayne followed with "The Cowboys" and that was good the second time around.  "Lonesome Dove" followed that but I have seen that so many times and it is a two day run so I decided to change over to find out what is going on in our world . . . same old stuff . . . and not all good.   


So, today is Sunday, all day, Thank God!!!   A day of rest.   No, I am not going to finish the porch today, and maybe not even tomorrow . . .it has to dry . . . and it may take a day or two longer than necessary but that is how I feel now that the end is in sight . . . aah . . . a finished porch.     Hopefully, you have chores to do and will get them done early so you can go outside and spend your summer Sunday doing what you love to do best.    Make your seconds count by enjoying each one as it gets here.   Hugs to all.

Fun, Funnier and Dumb

Have you walked around the course lately?    How's your score?    Our illustrious President is on the course a lot lately and we all have high hopes his game will improve.   So maybe a tennis racket is needed, something has to help.  The cartoonist really are clever.

Isn't there any old saying about 'money is the root of all evil'?    The state of our economy is a worry for each and every one of us.   If the bill came due and we had to pay it tomorrow we would all sink . . . imagine the bill our children and grandchildren will have shackled on them as they try to make a living.   

Now this one is cute.   There was an article on the heat, probably in Arizona where it has been triple digit heat and if they had an icecream truck, it would probably look just like this.    I remember when we were kids going out and getting the melted tar off the road and chewing it like chewing gum.    Didn't kill us or even make us sick, but I would not advise it as a gum replacement.


So, with all the political 'stuff' going on and all of the worries that it brings about I read something that should help us all . . . "Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, bitterness, hatred, cussing and a lot of things that we shouldn't.  So, we need to pray.  Lord, prop us up on our leaning side so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorify the Lord."     (author unkown)     Today is a great day to say a prayer, a summer day with sunshine and a bit of a breeze.    My work is cut out for me as I hold a small paint brush in hand and tackle the 'ribs' of the new unfinished porch.   Oh yes, I did have a young fellow give me a fair price to paint the unfinished porch, but he left it unfinished too as he didn't really want to paint those rails.  I can't say I blame him as there are fifty of them. . . and when he came by yesterday with visions of taking them down to paint, I could see the dollar amount reaching the 'political' level and put both feet down and said "NO"....then angry as a wet hen, I walked to Freddys and bought the sealing coat and the finish paint and am out there with the mind set to finish the new porch.     I just found out it is not water based as I can't get the paint off my hands.  Pat was in with the morning paper and admired the paint on my nose . . . "So Lord, bless me " . . . I need it.

Have a great Saturday, the first of your weekend off.     Weekends are for rest and relaxation for those of you out in the working world and you certainly need it.    Dust off  the waffle iron and make yourself some awful waffles with strawberries and fresh cream.    Drain the coffee pot and catch up on the news as you spread your paper across the table and shoo the cat away.   Take the dog to the dog park and meet up with some new friends . . . just have the kind of a summer Saturday you love . . . don't forget the hugs.   Hugs to all.

The road to home

It is Friday morning and daughter Christine showed up at the door early and ready to leave for home.   She has been with us for a month and it has been so wonderful just to be able to get that morning hug.   The tears flow when there are goodbyes, but then they flow for all reasons and in all seasons....we just have those kinds of tear ducts.     We will miss her as she was a big help to her sister Patricia and they had a lot of fun between the operation time and the recuperation start.   Patricia found out it was like having another mother, and she thought her big sister was going to be a push over . . . surprise!!!   Not in this life time.  Big sisters have a job to do and they do it so well.


Christine brought down a truck full of wonderful surprises.  She had some beautiful short bookcases to share with us as she has redone her library room with tall cases and you know they are already filled to the brim.   She didn't miss many of the yard sales so went back with boxes of books and the big bag sale at the library certainly helped her find some authors she loves to read.     She has a new maple hutch that is really beautiful that Pat gifted her and she found some beautiful dishes and other objects of art and glass that helped fill the truck.   She had one more box of cookbooks from my stash and tied down the tarp and waved goodbye. saying all she had to do was find some place to put all this 'stuff' when she got home.  


We had a farewell pizza party last evening and it was fun   Maggie got to join us as she helped put that awkward hutch in the truck and earned her dinner.     I had added some roasted vegetables and had a bowl of melon and strawberries so we had a farewell dinner and now have to get back to 'normal' eating patterns and hopefully lose a pound or two along the way.    We certainly did it gourmet style while Christine was visiting.

So today, remember to open your door wide and invite family and friends in to celebrate some quality time together.     Let all the old cobweb thoughts of imagined hurts, or even real ones, fly out the open door and hug the visitors with an open mind and a full heart.    Like tending a garden throw out the weeds and cultivate the soil and watch the growth from the love you sow.    Hugs to all

Gifts

When Christine arrived for her visit, she brought along a gift or two for me and her sister Patricia.    We both had May birthdays and she wanted us to have something special from the gallery of Port Orchard.    There is young lady artist who came up with something new and different and made her creations permanent in tiles.      

This is the largest one and is of buds of garlic.   The colors blend in beautiful shades and it has a stand so you can use it as a picture but then you can also use it as a hot plate.    It is new and different and I think this artist has a vivid imagination and is very good at what she does.    Patricia's tiles are of ships and a few sea mammals.    So far they have been in constant use and have been admired by my friend, Sharon Guinn, who is an artist.  She stopped in the other day and that was the first thing she spotted and she may try making some herself.  Right now she is working on doing some computer illustrations and has promised to send me a picture or two so I can show them to you on my blog.  If you notice, on the table is a white table cloth with embroidered tea pots and roses, made many years ago by a neighbor and friend, Vickie, who has been gone for some years.   I never cease to think about our Wednesday coffee visits and the luscious coffee cake she would bring.   The vase is Art Deco, from the 1920's and is very unusual and beautiful in shades of blue.   I never started out to collect vases but I must have a dozen on display in the space over the kitchen cabinets.   They are all glass, all shapes and sizes and lovely to look at and handy to have.    I'll have to remember to take a picture of them to show you.   The latte is what makes Christine wake up and smile and the gadget is a telephone that keeps her in tune with the outer world.   

Here is one of the grasses in the front garden.    It looks like palm leaves.    I had no idea I'd get my head into the picture, just goes to show you what kind of a photographer I am.    You didn't know I could look so good.   I gave the poor old bush a drink of water yesterday and watched it and the other plants come alive.   Summer is here finally, beautiful days with cloud filled skies, the kind that you see pictures in and wind clouds that make you stop and take notice.


Patricia is off for her check up and I am betting she gets an A plus for minding her manners and healing well.   Of course it is never fast enough, and we all know that one, as we want whatever is bothering us to go away faster than it arrived.    She wondered why she had to wait two weeks to drive, well she drove to the store and back and was happy to get out of the car,so she realized that the doctor wasn't just talking to be heard, there was meaning in the words and deeds.   She is doing great and I love to tease her and being a private person she will frown at seeing her name in print . . . God forbid I put a new picture up . . . I'd be in serious trouble. 


Christine will be leaving us tomorrow and what a tremendous help she has been although I didn't hear the word 'bossy' come out of Patricia's mouth , I did hear a reference to 'another mother'  . . . isn't that what big sisters do? It really is tough to be a patient and have patience and be treated like a piece of 'glass' . . . that is what makes the healing faster and boy, is she going to miss all that tender loving care.    I am going to miss some of that tender loving care too as we have had a great time, even got to play Scrabble and took a beating but then that is what grown up daughters do . . . how I will miss her . . . but, we will try and make more trips in our future as that road along the coast begs for use, especially when there is love waiting on both ends.


So today, give some thought to visiting your folks, siblings, friends and make a plan to celebrate your love for each other.   Get rid of the excuses and make your plans now and follow them up and enjoy the brightest and best of your time with each other.     Make your seconds count.    Hugs to all.

Lessons

And we wonder why things are not just getting done!

Bats in the Belfrey and a tiny bit of truth to old age . . . so, what's so funny about that?    For those of you who have passed the infant age and have yet to reach second childhood, don't laugh too hard or you may learn  just what the word inconstinence means.


Life is just filled with lessons to be learned.   There was a marvelous e-mail this morning with a story about a man who went to the grocery store to shop for a couple of items he needed.   When he got to the check out line there was a young man who was mentally challenged  standing in line.   He asked him what his name was and told him his.  He held a conversation with the young man whose eyes beamed because of the attention.  The boys mother thanked the man for taking the time to talk to her son saying most people didn't even look at him.  She asked him why he took the time to be kind to her son and he told her that "God had all kinds of flowers in His garden", or words to the effect, and that there was room for dandelions too. . . . He was a dandelion, as most of us are, so the message was a good one and it gives us food for thought.   Next time we see someone who is challenged, take time to at least smile at them and whisper a little prayer that their day can be as good as yours.

I often wonder why we feel so uncomfortable around someone who is challenged.  Is it fear?   Is it sympathy?  Is it empathy?     It certainly isn't catching, so what holds us back from being kind and taking the time to meet this person who carries a cross we have not been asked to carry.   


So today, when you are out and about keep some kind thoughts in mind for those who are challenged.  If you are lucky enough to  greet one, do so with a smile in your eyes and love in your heart, for 'there but for the grace of God, go I' . . . and the candles are in the front foyer of church . . . the donation is small . . . so give a little.   Hugs to all.

Stuff

I found out that banana peel can be good for the skin and it does work a little bit if you don't mind smelling like a banana.    Now the cucumber is gaining in fame as it is suppose to do all that the banana does and more.    You can clean your shoes, cure a hang over, and if you put a few slices in an aluminum pie tin and place it in the garden it will drive the pests crazy and they will leave for your neighbors garden.   I like that one.    Think I'll try it and see if La Verne picks up a few more slugs in her yard.   She has been telling me she has no slugs this year because she sent them over to visit me.   She never did say what she was using, but fair is fair and cucumbers have such a lovely green color.

This photograph has been around before and I think I did a blog on it some time back.   It truly is a study in logistics and the men who participated in making the Statue of Liberty come alive should be given the honor due them.   Just think of the patience, the time, the planning that the 18,000 men contributed to make this happen way back in 1918 at Camp Dodge, Iowa.


I was just out in the kitchen checking on my coffee, you know that stuff that helps to wake you up and get you started for the day, well I took time to look  out the window and watched two tiny budgie birds playing hop scotch on the picket fence.   The seagulls are flying in and landing on the roof next door so my neighbor is not going to be happy with all that new 'poop' decorating her roof.    The new neighbor means well feeding the gulls but does not seem to realize, or care, if they decorate the neighborhood.   Our only hope is that many gulls arrive at the feeding station and take over leaving him with a whole pile to shovel.  If you see a sign that says 'do not feed the gulls' let me know because I want to put it on his fence along with his new sign that says 'bombing area' as he shows off his collection of real true Navy hawsers and anchors and such. . . maybe I could sneak over and put the word gull over the 'bombing' and he would get the message.

Meanwhile my eyes wandered up into the summer sky and I was looking at an amazing sight as the clouds were like bursts of anti aircraft fire.   Maybe my imagination is coming from the Cussler book I am reading called "Black Wind", or maybe it is a mind association with the gull feeder, but the clouds are like puffs of cotton or string less balloons floating up enmasse.     It looks like a huge cloud was splintered into small cotton balls, truly a sight to see.   So today,  take a minute and go look out your window and see what you can see.   I hope it is a view to tickle your funny bone.    Make your seconds count and enjoy your day , for I was  a day ahead of myself, thinking it was Wednesday, does that mean I have made a new friend?  I hope so.   Tomorrow, June 22nd, the calendar note that says "Pledge of Allegiance, recognized by Congress -1942 and the G.I. Bill was signed into law in 1944 . . . our leaders were really at work.     Today is a great day to smile as you greet someone with a sour puss.    Hugs to all.

More Whaleshead

Daughter Christine had my camera in hand so you know she couldn't resist taking a picture of me looking over the lovely little garden plot at Whaleshead where we went to have some of the clam chowder.  They serve a decent one, not one of those heavy cream thick ones, but a light delectable mixture that has the taste buds jumping.   I had to send mine back to heat up as I don't like luke warm or tepid anything.   It was a beautiful day to be out of doors and the view from here is lovely.   As I close in on the last of the octogenarian years, I notice the bend, well I feel it, but the cane works for balance and the feet are still moving one after the other, the eyes behold the beauty surrounding me and John's jacket comes in handy since I loaned mine to Christine while she is here.

Two beauties sitting in the sunshine enjoying the day and each other.

The view of whaleshead rocks and the white caps reaching far out to the horizon.  There is a road that leads down to the beach which is in need of repair.  It is filled with huge pot holes and leads down a winding path to a lovely beach area.   At low tide you can walk out to the rocks.   There is a spot where the river runs into the sea and it gets wider every year.    It is one of the nicer spots to hike around when the tide is out.  You have been to Whaleshead with me before in pictures.   Maybe one of these years you will swing by this area and see it for yourself.    There are lovely small cabins to rent or buy and it keeps growing. I noticed a whole line of new cabins way up on top of the mountain. Wish I knew someone who lived up there so I could visit them and see the view from up there.


So today,   the start of your new week, hopefully one filled with busy days, restful nights and so much good health you will be out exercising and enjoying the summer evenings.      Christine will be leaving us this week and that is sad as it has been so good to have her right here.    We are having a cook out tonight, a steak and salad, and we will toast to her gifts of love and good deeds.    She was telling me yesterday she is going home with more than she came with.   We warned her about our yard sales!   As a collector of books, I think she will have to purchase just one more bookcase to take care of her latest acquisitions.   We will miss having her here with us, but the road goes both ways and one never knows when the mood strikes and a road trip can be planned.    Make your seconds count today, don't forget a good deed goes a long way in making YOU happy.   Hugs to all.

Father's Day

Father's Day


There is a day set aside
to honor dad, it's true
he earns a weekly wage
to keep his family
warm ad safe
and buy the groceries too.

Sometimes he hardly knows
what is right or wrong
but does his best
to be right there for you.

other dads who renege
have no time for you
wrapped up in their fears,
and don't know what to do.

they stay away
and pretend their happiness is well
but in their hearts
they know they're wrong
and wish they could break the spell

so on this day, his special day,
each child must really think
about this man
who has spent his life
making life so good or bad
and take the time
to pray for him
so he can find his way
to be the very best dad
today and every day.


So today celebrate your father in the very best way you can in thought, word and deed . . . know that there is, or was, a wealth of love just for you within his heart.    Make your seconds count today and everyday.  Hugs. to all

A rose

A rose is a rose is a rose and Alice or Allie as we call her, has a 'nose' for this rose.    What a cutie!!  Notice how smart she is as she keeps her hands in her pockets and knows enough not to reach out and grab a thorn or two.    A poster picture of a real sweetie who brings a lot of love and laughter into our world.

This is a picture of the floods in Omaha looking south where you can see 1-29 on the left completely submerged.     We haven't heard a lot of the details lately as the thousands of people have to pick up and get back to normal living . . . a real test of the spirit as some have lost everything .    The tornadoes have come to a halt for now and the hurricane season is about to begin.  The weather has been unrelenting and the storms so much more destructive.   Say a prayer for a reprieve for everyone.


So today, your Sunday, maybe you are in the mood for a rest day.   They always come in handy when you can sleep longer, dawdle and do a lot of nothing and not be in a hurry to do it.  Sounds like my kind of Sunday.     Don't give up on exercise and fresh air though.   Take yourself for a walk around the block and say hello to a neighbor or two.    You just never know when a hug is in the offering.    Hugs to all.

Fini

Good morning.  It is Friday morning and I am smiling as the front porch has finally been painted and it is finished and looks so good.   It didn't seem right that the contractor did not finish the job, but then I didn't pay attention to the fine print and did not realize that he would not paint the new boards.   The caulking went splattered up the side and the brown paint both light and dark looked strange with all white boards in strategic places.   When the contractor did say he would come and paint the porch, he added the cost, two men and a day a a half work to which I said 'no thank you' as it seemed unjust, unfair, and I babbled on about doing it myself....yeah....good thought but where was I going to get the energy and the ability to climb a ladder . . . nope, just wasn't there.   Weeks have gone by, the rains came and kept everyone and everything at a stand still and I groaned and grumbled.   Lucky for me my neighbor Mary heard my complaints and introduced me to her neighbor, a young man who can do anything and do it well . . . he can . . . and he did . . . and I'm smiling and content with a finished porch which he completed in five hours. . .  two coats and a smooth re-caulking job.  Sigh, sometimes the good guys win.

Here is the Rose of Sharon bush which is almost in full bloom.  As you can see some of the outer layers are still working on adding a few more blooms.  It is truly beautiful and it sways in the wind making a very beautiful sight for all to see.

Here are my red, white and purple (blue) Flag Day flowers which Christine and I planted in the big tub.  

And one Irish this year, so far.   The bulbs must still be growing as I see a lot more stalks.   I just leave it alone and watch every year to see what is going to develop.  Maybe I will have a dozen blooms one year, but right now this beauty stands all by itself.

So to finish off my day of being imprisoned at home, missing out on a trip to Crescent City with friend Marcia, I cannot complain too loudly as Chon came by with his boots on and that heralds a work out in the back ditch where he trims the inner side of that hellish monstrosity and cleans out the ditch so the water can flow.   It is another sore spot as the city fathers refuse to participate in the cost of keeping the drainage ditch clear.     Only one gets away with it and I'm not sure why.   My talk with a representative at City Hall just convinced me of what 'fair' means to some folks.    Well, you can't fight city hall... I tried.


So today, be of good cheer, your weekend is about to start.   Nice words that roll off the tongue and put a sparkle in your eyes.     On Tuesday you will celebrate the official date for summer....it is here and we have waited awhile for it to come.    Vacation time . . . yeah!!!   Where are you going?    Some place fun I hope.   Maybe a family reunion where lots of hugs await.      Stay healthy and wise, the wealthy is an iffy proposition in today's world but hopefully you have saved a few pennies to allow you a short vacation.   Make your seconds count and enjoy today . . . all day.    Hugs to all.

Smart Mouth

Here she is in all her glory.  I had an e mail yesterday with a few of her older comments and of course I had to laugh out loud.    I often wish I had a fast retort like Maxine does when someone smarts off and needs to be taken down a peg or two.    I usually can think of something I could have, or should have said, long after the affair is over and done with.   

Get ready for a few political cartoons this morning.     I get such a kick out of them.   How they can come up with such quick pics on what is happening in or world amazes me.    Our entire world has gone 'mad', must have something to do with all that global stuff they have been working on for the past fifty years.   My sister-in-law, Nora, was a very smart lady and touted words about a certain few billionaires who were out to rule the world and the word 'global' was often used.   We all thought she was a political hacker and like to spout about things she really didn't know about . . . well, she was right, and if she were still with us, she would be smiling and remind us that we were not paying attention to what was going on then . . . and probably tell us we should be paying attention to what is going on right now.

I didn't take this picture of the full moon, but I have been looking at one just like it out of my kitchen window for the past couple of early mornings.   I woke up at four a.m. and there it was peeking in the kitchen window where I have those half curtains.    It looked beautiful beaming for all it was worth in the pitch black of the early morning hours.     I was invited to go out with Marcia today to play a few pennies but it is just as well I stay put as I have no luck when there is a full moon.  Besides, I am stuck in because of a painter coming to finish my front porch.  The construction  twosome didn't leave me with a finished job all because I was dumb and didn't include the price in the original contract and then refused his offer some weeks later when he thought he might send me a couple of painters at twenty dollars and hour and take a day and a half to do it.....I don't think so.....I'd do it myself if I had enough energy to wield the paint brush.   Well, I don't have to as my neighbor has a neighbor and she marched him over last evening showing him an unfinished job and he agreed to do it today for a very good price.   I am about to have a finished front of the house.

Another up to the minute cartoon . . . don't you love the picture of 'lover boy' . . . it takes all kinds to make our world go around.......It is sad to see and hear about the downfall of a person with a good brain that is no longer working.     A whole career ruined, along with a family.      An awful price to pay.

I have been bragging about my resident deer, so my Arizona family sent me a picture of a Javalina, an animal I have never heard of.   Bob tells me that they are not only big eaters of everything in sight but dig up the garden as well.    Ugly looking beasts.   I told him he could keep his Javalinas and I would keep my resident deer.   They only eat a few of the leaves off the bushes and leave any digging to me.



So today, Thursday all day, the sun is shining here, and I hope it is shining where you are.    Summer is almost official, another week and we are hopefully going to see a little warmth and less wind.     Daughter Pat is coming along fine.   Daughter Christine is going to be leaving for home before much longer and we certainly are going to miss having her nearby.     We even got in a scrabble game last evening. . . she's good!!    Jock cooked up a special salmon on the grill and I have to tell you it was delicious.    Hopefully each one of you have something to smile about and are enjoying each day as it comes.   Make your seconds count and share a hug today.     Hugs to all.