Gone fishin with daddy

Hoppy Easter

2010-04-02T12:01:00.002-06:00

So it's been a while since my last post and it's just been to darn cold to spend much time in my puter room. My kitties are fine too with my youngest fur child Winnie aka ki ki, wearing me out with her non stop playing fetch. She'll go all day as long as I throw her fleece mouse toy I made...I made a pile of them but for some reason she will only fetch one in particular...go fig! The days are slowing showing signs of constant sun and warmer weather so when I open up the front door they'll sit and chatter at the doves.

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A vision board for Glenda, Ricky & fur babies

2009-12-12T12:18:00.009-07:00

I will be adding more to this.

click to enlarge
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Christmas time with the new fur children

2009-12-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

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So which one are you?

2009-12-01T11:09:00.002-07:00

Which one are you?
Carrots, Eggs & Coffee
A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed themin a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside
became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and
tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance
that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life. If you don't send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone's day with this message! May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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What a fetchingly smart youngster

2009-11-18T18:04:00.006-07:00

Winnie has endless energy for playing, as all kittens do, and I'd fallen asleep only to be woken around midnight with an odd sound and 8 romping feet flecking around what sounded like one of the bells on their collars. Tea light hockey was taking place between them both, with Winnie doing most of the serve and fetching, while Kallie occasionally took a slap shot if it came her way, but mostly watched in amazement I reckon at the endless energy this kid has. I finally had to call a time out after about a half hour of it. The next morning I think she remembered last nights match and she saw where I stuck it and started snooping for it to pick up where she left off. So here we are in the living room playing tea light hockey while Kallie snoozes in the cat cave. She brings it back to me every time, but only if she can flip it over so she can pick it up with her mouth. If she can't flip it with her paw to turn it over she'll pick it up with both paws and stand up on her back legs and I think she can tell by looking at it if it's turned over...she'll then try and put it in her mouth so she can bring it to me. What a clever little thinking kitty she is. Kallie can't keep up but she is becoming more active in her play.
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Bestest Buddies Just In Time

2009-11-13T13:21:00.004-07:00

It's only taken less than 2 weeks for Kallie to accept the idea that this new kid is staying. At first miss Kallie seemed not too amused and didn't inter act with Winnie, but Winnie has unrelentingly persisted in stalking her from a safe distance letting Kallie know that she showed no threat to her position of first cat. They now can be heard around 3 or 4am playing under the bed with fav toys. Luckily I'm blessed with zoning out sounds like tinkling collar bells and can go right back to sleep. Winnie has actually brought out the playful kitten in Kallie and romping the house and chasing the laser light keeps her fit and in shape for this youngster. So with the weather getting cooler the green house ain't so toasty to hang out in all day. The cat cave is heated and big enough for two furry calico bodies. Winnie looks to be saying "Get the hell off of me you bed hog!" Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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3 Calico cats on bird watch

2009-11-06T08:41:00.007-07:00

Kallie Flower & Winnie Junebug are becoming bestest buds now after only a few days . The two are quickly becoming acquainted, with Winnie being the pursuer of the relationship, and Kallie Flower showing some tolerance toward the new kid. They like to sit at the front door watching the birds outside. The cut out of Callie Anne is still on the door....

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Callie keeps sending mommy calicos

2009-11-02T18:15:00.008-07:00

Calico cats are falling from heaven again. I had to pop over to Sears to make a payment and since I was at the mall anyway why not meander over to LuckyPaws to look at some cute kitty faces. I usually don't look at kittens as possibilities because I've never seen any declawed and since I'd never torture a cat with the operation I never even consider them...yea I know they're trainable but if I can rescue a fur face with no claws then more power to me. Okay so I was peaking in cubbies and spotted a small declawed calico and for a minute I thought her card said 7 years but it was 7 months. We got a room for love time and since I'd pondered a second kitty for company for Kallie Flower, it turned out we fell head over heals in love on the spot in front of everybody.....I could not leave her there and when do ya ever see such a youngster declawed? NEVER!!! Turns out her owner turned out to be cat allergic so they handed her over...shoot if I was allergic to cats I'd live on allergy meds for the rest of my life instead of giving up on whiskered fur faces. So I signed all the adoption papers and brought her home with me. Kallie was really not interested in her much but after new kitty started stalking her for some romping play time Kallie threw her a hiss and new kitty hit the floor and rolled on her side showing Kallie she knew who the boss was here. Her shelter name was Winona but sis came up with Winnie Junebug. She's a calico with a solid fawn or tan coloring replacing the orange tabby that most calico's have...and with solid grey and white with deep orange eyes she's feline perfectionary. I won't be going to LuckyPaws again because like addictions they can get so way outta hand. Callie Anne
Kallie Flower 3 yrs
Winnie Junebug 7 months
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Never under estimate the power of God and the universal force!!!

2009-10-28T18:05:00.007-06:00

I have never under estimated or questioned God and the power He has. The last 3o days, since Callie died, have left me humbled by His awesome power and how, when we are patient and put our full trust and faith in Him, His grace and goodness blesses us in a way I find mind boggling but I know it is always possible. As it turned out the grey kitty I'd brought home was pissing every where but the litter box and after a month I'd made a heart breaking decision to let her go. It broke my heart but the pissing was to much to deal with and I didn't trust her and this set up was really not meant to be but I believe it was only a distraction. I believe China will be fine where ever God places her. I'd had a dream the night I'd let her go about a "funny looking" cat in a shelter with a name tag Crazy Quilt that was at eye level and I'd really forgotten about the dream on Monday. On that same day I'd wandered over to the mall with no real expectations of finding a new fur child. I stopped in at LuckyPaws pet adoption center and checked out and visited a few furry cats and I was floored when I'd discovered one kitty I asked to visit with was similar to the one in my dream. She'd just come in and not much was known of her background so I had a visit with her and then was told she was declawed and had been a rescue kitty and had been in protective custody. In the cubby she was at "eye level"... Her ears were little with mangled scar tissue, and no body really knew how she'd gotten that way (don't want to know and she's safe now), and my heart knew that she was coming home with me that day. I realize now that China had been given to me as part of a divine plan until this new "funny lookin" cat could be placed in my life and was a diversion until all the cards were stacked in my favor. Her name was Jenny but the first kitty I'd visited with was Kallie!!! Coincidence?? I don't think so...it was planned and I'm sure Callie had a "paw" in this selection and probably couldn't stand seeing her earth mommy suffering so much after loosing her. I give credit first to God and of course Maxine, Harry and Louise; my 70 year old neighbor who was the one who picked Callie out when her and I drove to the shelter 7 years ago so I could look at kitties. I've always liked the name Flower for a kitty so I call her Kallie Flower.....she's a youngster of 3yrs and she is so like Callie in every way and it's as if Callie has come back to me but in a different calico cat body. Divine intervention!! There are really many more sides and details to this incredible connection, but it's such a long story. Thank You God You Are All Powerful In Your Gifts!! Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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It's been a long month since my Callie died

2009-10-24T15:56:00.005-06:00

It was a month ago today that my bestest friend was called back to heaven and each day got a little easier as my heart started the healing process. We had such a great life together and the light that she'd brought into my life still burns strong around the house. Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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Callie your still my Halloween kitty

2009-10-18T16:44:00.001-06:00

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A multi-toed grey 8 year old captured my broken heart.

2009-10-08T20:09:00.004-06:00

2 weeks ago today at 3am marked the passing of my sweet calico Callie Anne and as the days drug on, seeming to stand still in my mourning, my efforts to go forward were extremely difficult at times with moments spent wailing in unbearable sobbing at her grave. Being so grief stricken I could feel this dark cloud of loss crippling me. I was hopeful for finding a companion but knew no cat could ever fill my life the way my Callie Anne had for the last 7 years. I spent lots of time at her grave crying..."I want my Callie back"... and I really had a hard time leaving the house and when I did I'd not stay away long and always rushed home crying hysterically for my kitty. God this was so painful and the worse part of life without her were the mornings on the sofa with her. My dear friend Terri would call daily wanting to take me to lunch or shopping and I knew I needed to get some relief and kept myself overly busy with projects trying to shoulder this pain alone....I wasn't interested in eating or in doing anything other than self comforting my pain by sitting at my computer for hours staring at all the photos I'd taken of my 4 legged child with fur.
One afternoon when Terri called I said I do need to get away from my dark den of sorrow for a few moments...she managed to pry me away for a few hours and we ended up at a PetSmart and I was looking teary eyed at adoptable kitties, I inquired if any declawed cats ever passed through. A lady working at the store said she'd gotten an email from a family that had a grey 8 year old polydactyl female they were fostering so I left my number with her and didn't put much energy into a follow-up. In the next couple of days she called with the owners name & number of the grey cat and I called, only to leave a message. At this time in my pain I wasn't pushing filling the hole in my heart, but my heart was open and willing to ease the pain and I needed someone to take care of who'd also take care of me. Well, my friend Terri said she'd take me where ever I needed to go to visit a kitty and it so happens that this grey kitty didn't live far from me. I made arrangements for a quick peek so we popped in to see this grey kitty and with huge wide paws and bright eyes it was love at first sight. She came home with me that afternoon only to prove that she owned me and she was training me. She's an 8 year old pistol that has to be in control and she's got me jumping through hoops. My Callie so had me spoiled by her laid back personality and unbending attention to whatever I was doing and her affection and care free life style. This new kitty I call China Rose Biscuit and she makes me use brain cells that were dormant for the past 7 years. She's a polydactyl cat that is also referred to as a Hemingway cat and her owners say they counted 28 toes and her paws look like catcher's mitts and she can easily fetch paw fulls of treats out of the jar. My pain of loosing my Callie is still raw and upfront and China Rose seems like a babysitter right now to a wreck of a heart broken pet mommy and that's okay.... each day our bond strengthens.....I miss you Callie Anne and you'll always be my #1 kitty as long as I breathe. I know you can see this grey multi-toed, yellow eyed cat with a short crooked tail in your house and I bet she feels your strong presence as my heart struggles to find peace from loosing you. We had 7 wonderful long years of love and fun and your with me every single day in every single way. I call China your name alot and all the little nick names I had for you she is blessed with like fur face, sweet potato, sweet pea, beauty, mommies kitty, honey, baby cat, silky..... and if I close my eyes while loving on China for a moment I feel I am loving on you...the way you smelled and how soft and silky your fur was.... your small petite soft white paw prints left a permanent spot in my heart that no cat will ever match or come close to opening. I love you now and always Callie Anne....you're the bestest kitty I ever had and I can't wait to see again one day.
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An empty home full of reminders of Callie

2009-10-03T11:48:00.004-06:00

It's been a week since Callie passed away and I find myself playing over in my head all the little memories of the little things she brought into my life 7 years ago. The bathroom where in the morning the second I'd get up, she'd automatically go in there and sit on the rug in front of me and she'd make this woof sound almost like meowing was too much effort so she'd woof or grunt at me prompting me to grab her hair brush and brush her while she rubbed the side of her head on the doors edge. The back of the sofa is where she liked to sit and watch what was going on outside and her favorite thing would be to run across the back a couple of times and each time she'd reach one end she'd go through the "I'm going to sharpen my claws I think I still have and get you" motion. My computer is in a spare bedroom and she'd park her little butt behind me on the chair for a nap or if she was hungry she'd park her hiney practically on the key board to get my attention and the second I moved to get up she'd dart into the kitchen where she'd sit and stare at her bowl. And during the night where she'd jump on the bed at 2 or 3 am and paw at my face or tickle me with her whiskers to let me know her bowl was empty....If I moved the slightest but not necessarily get up, she'd pounce off the bed and high tail it into the kitchen and within a few minutes she'd come back and bug me until I got up and gave her some wet food. During our cold winters she'd root her way under the covers and sleep next to me until hours into the night I guess she'd get hot and out she'd come only to repeat this several times during the night....that was before her heated cat cave became a blessing for us both...and that is where she wanted to spend her last hours with me when she passed away. If I'd go outside for any reason she'd come and sit by the screen door and holler at me....she was always waiting at the back door when I came in. My bedroom has a window that access the greenhouse and if she heard me in there she'd jump in through the window in hopes of sneaking outside to explore and maybe a bite of grass. I learned alot from Callie and every single day was like the first day bringing her home...I guess I could say the newness of her never wore off. I look at my life with her like being married to her and I took my oath of a pet parent very seriously and I was committed to her in every way possible.....as I know she was to me. As last weeks pain slowly lessens in my mind I make progress in my healing and even though I back slide and turn into a basket case I know the burden will be eased and I can visit and talk to her any time in my yard. Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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All together in Heaven

2009-09-26T21:40:00.003-06:00

The day Callie passed was a day I had planned on taking her to the vet for another check up and I had set my alarm on my phone as a reminder. Well as it was I was up with Callie at 3 AM until her passing at 3:55. So I'd disabled the alarm since I was up and would not be taking her in. So with the alarm disarmed I was surprised to hear the alarm going off at odd times randomly for a few hours after she passed. I'd pick up the phone to see "VET" and it was the alarm I'd set the night before. And I'd actually gone into the phone settings and canceled out any pending notices. So now I'm saying oh great my phone is freakin tweaking and malfunctioning and it's brand new. But I started to realize and remember that my pappa was a real techno wizard and could it be he was messing with my phone and letting me know Callie had made it fine and this was their way of letting me know it. So here's a little creative fusion of mom dad Lily (Glenda's pooch), Callie, Fritz the cat and Tanya. Now those guys looking over the fence are wondering how the smack Callie got front row cuddles? Guess it's who ya know!Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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Life is unbearable without Callie

2009-09-26T07:57:00.006-06:00

It's a real struggle to get out of bed everyday for the house is empty and there's no one to talk to but the pictures of Callie, and my sit downs by her grave outback. I don't remember grieving this hard when I lost my parents and the pain in my heart from my loss is a withdrawal like feeling of wanting something so bad but you know it's untouchable. Even though it's only been since early Thursday morning I have a fault of self analyzing my life and the emotions I have and how they are associated to life's everyday hurdles and now my feelings of how hard this is and when I said my parents passing was rough, it doesn't compare to the debilitating, draining of ones heart that is so painful when our pets die. I have lost pets in the past but as I get older and more settled in life it's changed now with not ever having children or getting married I am committed to loving my cat for life since she was my life. Our relationship with our pets is 100% physical and intimate warm fuzzies and affection. A pets love never lies and it's unconditional love and acceptance no matter who or what!!! Our hours spent cuddling on the sofa or the bed, getting stroked and kissed while we brush and fuss over them. I could be in another room and say Callie you want your hair brushed or I could just hold up her brush and she knew what that meant and where ever I was she'd come for a brushing. And the countless times I'd show her her leash and she knew that only meant one thing....OUTSIDE!!.....and we'd go for a stroll in the grass looking for that perfect blade...to later come inside and find a new spot on the carpet to hurl. She was there at the back door when I came home or she'd just sit and wait while I was working in the yard and Callie would sit and holler at me because oops mommy you forgot to take me outside with you. Funny though sometimes I caved in to her relentless hollering and open the door and let her step out but she would just turn around as if to say "I don't want to go out I just want you in the house mommy". I have spent the last few days printing out life size pictures of her and taping them places like at the bottom of the screen door so when I venture out I can see her pretty face watching me. It's good therapy for me because she was gone within a half hour of her first signs of decline and it's like going cold turkey trying to quit an addiction and the withdrawal of the ache of wanting my Callie back is somewhat eased by surrounding my home in the familiar spots I could always count on her being at. So instead of looking at her fav spots and seeing the emptiness, that emptiness is filled with her memory and her spirit to calm and soothe my aching heart.

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Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened

2009-09-24T10:42:00.004-06:00

I lost my beloved 4 legged child with fur early this morning and there is such a hole in my heart that it pains so much. She was my life and my only real soul mate who loved me unconditionally. I realize God lets us borrow our pets for a short time and although Callie's was 8 or 9 when I brought her home, she gave almost 7 good years of her life to me. I was with her here at home when God brought her back home and now she is with my mom and dad and all the other pets from my life time. Life really does seem unbearable without her and her final resting place is in my back yard where we spent lots of time and now a place to sit and reflect.
Callie I miss you so much honey and my life was made better because of you.

The Last Battle

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
then you must do what must be done
For this, the last battle, can't be won.

You will be sad, I understand,
Don't let the grief then stay your hand,
For this day more than all the rest
Your love and friendship stand the test.

We've had so many happy years,
What is to come can hold no fears.
You'd not want me to suffer so;
When the time comes, please let me go.

Take me where my needs they'll tend
And stay with me, if you can, to the end.
Hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time, you will see,
It is a kindness you do for me.
Although my tail its last was waved,
From pain and suffering I've been saved.

Don't grieve that it should be you,
Who must decide this thing to do,
We've been so close, we two, these years;
Don't let your heart hold any tears.

Smile, for we walked together for a little while.

- Author Unknown
My angelic Calico
A place to rest I mentioned to my sis Glenda that I'll paint a plaque with the blog title, for my Callie's shrine, and she suggested I paint it on the tall rock in the back....so I did.....thanks sis. "Anatole French" is the author and it came from the Louisiana-spca website
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The more you have the longer you live sister!!!!

2009-09-17T13:21:00.001-06:00

Don't worry - It's nothing more than
a commemoration of the date of your birth. And it's just silly to let something
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Quality control over mommies summer time addiction

2009-09-04T08:25:00.003-06:00

I am slightly addicted to Drumstick ice creams, though I have cut back my intake by half, whenever I'm out runnin around on the bike I always find time to grab one to cool off my palette. My calico Callie will eat just about anything that mom eats so she had to make certain that this was okay for me to eat. Even calico's over-heat in the summer and need a treat now and then......more now than then!
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It's never too soon for flannel and extra heat, so says Callie

2009-08-27T10:06:00.005-06:00

Callie and I both agree on at least something and that would be that we are just a little tired of this heat. I brought out Callies heated pad and sure enough she was all over it like stink on a skunk and I believe she was happier'n a pig in slop. She hasn't left it since yesterday. With the evenings cooling down I've had to toss a light blanket on my bed too. She a twisted sleeper and jeez this doesn't look comfortable Miss Puss Cat!
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40+ years ago on June 15, 1968

2009-08-23T13:10:00.024-06:00

Now I don't exactly re-call... but I reckon I wrote this during a road trip to my mothers parents farm in rural Buffalo Missouri. It is typed just as I wrote it. I was 15 in 68 but it's the gospel truth to my knowledge give or take my reality about mileage. So here goes 4 brief days on the road starting on June 15, 1968 that gave me a life time, even decades later, of wonderful memories.
My Trip to Missouri
On June 15, 1968 our family of five left for our vacation to Missouri to see my grandmother and grandfather. Bright and early Friday morning was the big day for my family. My brother Geryl 16, my sister Glenda 12, my mother and father and me Gail 15. Everyone was so excited when we finally got on our way. Our big station wagon was loaded down with suitcases full of summer clothes and the back seat was filled with things to do while traveling. My mom always carries a cooler filled with ice water just in case one of us might get thirsty. Well! now we're on our way, heading for Amboy where we will stay the night. Five hours pass by and we reach the Mojave desert. Everyone hates going through the Mojave desert but me, I love to. It starts getting really hot so we roll up all the windows tight and turn on the air conditioner. After and hour or so every one falls asleep while going through the hot desert. If you look hard enough you might see a few rattle snakes lying dead in the road. By night fall we finally reach Amboy. Everyone is exhausted from a long hot day. This is a very small town and motels are scarce. We finally find one, we check in and get a room. It's not real dark outside now, so we go out for a bite to eat. Next door to the motel is a truck stop, were all truck drivers stop. As we walk in we find a seat and settle down. The waiter takes our order. We all order a big juicy steak with all the trimmings. We drink coke, mom and dad drink coffee. 45 minutes pass by and my dad drinks up the last of his coffee..."check please" replies my dad so he pays the bill of $7.50 and we walk out the door and head for our room. Everyone is tired from this long hot day, so we go to bed early at 8:30. 5:30 comes real early in the morning so we all try and get a good nights rest. At 5:30 the alarm goes off. (This is the alarm clock that we took
traveling and yes it still keeps
time and was it ever loud!)
Everyone crawls out of bed and goes to the bathroom, takes a shower and gets dressed. By 6:00 we're ready to leave. My dad walks up to the office, pays the man and leaves the key. He pays the man $15.00 and we're off. First stop is breakfast which is in Needles Calif. At the cafe we stopped at, four of us had hotcakes and eggs, my sister had french toast and we all had milk which all together costs $8.00. We left there about 10:30. We always drove about 2 or 3 hrs before we would stop for breakfast. So far we have traveled about 300 or so miles in about 1¼ days. By 12:00 we reached Kingman Arizona, we stop for a quick lunch of roast beef sandwiches and cokes. All together it cost $5.75. By 12:50 we left on our way. We've been traveling about 4 hours, when all of a sudden, our right front tire ran over a board with a huge nail sticking up. We pull over and change it, which took about 25 mins. After it's fixed we're back on the road again. We stopped at the nearest gas station, had the tire fixed, gassed up, which cost $15.00. We bought 75¢ worth of cokes, which cost 15¢, went to the restroom and hopped in the car and took off. By now it's about 2:00 and we stop at a souvenir shop to buy a few gifts for some of our friends back home. My dad gave each of us kids a $10 bill apiece to spend on our vacation, so far I've only spent $2.30 on souvenirs at one shop. We left that shop and went on our way. Dark finally grows near about 7:30 as we are traveling. All of us kids are asleep. My mom is reading an interesting book and my dad keeps a careful watch on the road. Fifteen miles to Flagstaff, that's were we will stay overnight next. Now it's only 1¼ mile to a nice soft bed. We finally reach Flagstaff, check into a motel and head for the nearest diner. Ah! there's a little diner "Dixie's Steak House". As we walk in you can smell the aroma of sizzling steaks, just smelling the steaks makes you feel so hungry, you say to yourself Oh! I'm so hungry I could eat a bear. But a sizzling steak is better than an old bear. We all order steaks, bowl of vegetable soup and a cold glass of milk and for dessert we have ice cream. That ice cream taste so good that we all decide to have seconds. "Check please" , the check is in the amount of $15.00. We hop in our station wagon and go back to the motel. The time is now 8:45 and 5:30 comes real early so everyone gets right to bed. Bright and early next morning we load up the wagon and move on our way. Before we leave Flagstaff we stop at a restaurant, we all have french toast, a glass of orange juice, pay the bill of $8.50 and head on our way again. We stop at a gas station, fill up the tank, clean windows, check tires and under the hood and pay the man $5.00. About 103 miles later we stop at Holbrook for a little bit of lunch, my mom bought some lunch meat, cheese, bread, beer and cokes,there is a park nearby so we stop to eat at the park. Half and hour passes by and we decide that we had better move along. Our next stop is Gallup New Mexico were we will probably gas up the wagon. We are now going through Gallup New Mexico. The homes are fairly modern as we go along. As we leave Gallup you may still see some Indians living in adobe huts, many still live like long ago, they even still herd sheep. Albuquerque will be our next stop, where we will stay over night. But before we stop at Albuquerque we will stop at Laguna to shop for a few souvenirs. At Laguna we stop at the curios shop. Outside is a cage with a screen over the top, in the cages are rattle snakes, they're all alive too and you can see and hear their rattles. We're back on the road now. About 105 miles later we reach Albuquerque. Albuquerque has a population almost the size of Sacramento. There are so many hotels and motels we don't know which one to stay at. It's still quite early so we find a motel and we all take a nice warm shower before going out to dinner. There's a Dairy Queen across the street, so while my sister and my mom and I take a shower my dad and my brother walk across the street and get our dinner. I'm having a hamburger with everything on it, so is my dad. My mom has a fish sandwich and my brother and sister have a cheeseburger. We all have milkshakes and french fries. Me and my sister have strawberry milk shakes , my mom has vanilla and my dad and brother have chocolate and we all have french fries. The total of all this is $15.15 After they gather up all the food they carry it to our motel room. We all eat and go to bed. At 5:30 the alarm goes off. We change our clothes and pack up the car. My dad goes up and pays the man $15.00 and leaves the key and we're on our way. Before we leave Albuquerque we stop for breakfast. We eat breakfast, pay the bill of $8.50 and leave. By 3:00 and some odd miles later we reach Amarillo Texas. We keep on going through until we reach Oklahoma. By 4:00 we reach Oklahoma, this is were we are staying over night next, only not in a motel, at my aunt and uncles house. We ate dinner there and also breakfast. At 8:00 we left their house and headed for Missouri. We should reach Springfield by late this afternoon. 7:30 finally rolls around and we finally reach Springfield. The main reason for this trip is to visit my grandmother and grandfather. We finally reach their house and we jump out of the car and run up to them and give them both a big hug and a kiss. All together we have traveled 7000 or more miles. It took us 4 days, cost us $200.00 or more for motels, gas, souvenirs, food etc. The End This photo of grandma and a catfish
explains why I love them catfish so much

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So I Finally Hammocked Up The Back Yard

2009-08-22T09:36:00.008-06:00

(click on photo to enlarge it)
It's been a month since my Ojo Caliente Spa visit and Hammock purchase so now I was stumped as to how the heck I'd hang this booger up. First thought was from the wall to the tree....didn't think the wall was secure enough for the weight since there was no main support column and I wasn't keen on sinkin' a 4x4 post smack dab in the yard. So after many brain cells over heating and general impatience I hopped on over to the local hardware store for some 800 pound test chain and a couple of "S" hooks and after a few trials of switching back and forth and tree climbing this is where it rests. And let me tell you how grand it is early mornings for coffee and Callie and even nicer in the evenings when the frogs and crickets start up. This hammock is versatile as I can lay length wise or cross-wise on it. I had Callie out on it last night with me and because it "expands" I can lay on it and bring up the sides and completely cocoon us and Callie doesn't quite know what to think of it....she can see out but can't go out to explore. It's a good place to "Hang" out and read....
Now..where the heck is that pool boy and my Mojito?
Can you tell how much I love them old 50's metal motel chairs....It's the buzzing & blinking neon motel signs, a freight train in the distant slugging along through the Mojave delivering new automobiles...we'd just finished dinner at the diner, mom and dad bring in the suitcases and us 3 kids see who can sit the longest in those hot metal chairs. It's no wonder I fill my yard with those reminders of summers spent on the 2 lane black top headed to adventure. I remember Cashmere Bouquet soap was usually in the motel bathrooms along the way and decades later you'll find it in my bathroom as one more tangible memory of my life with Harry and Maxine.
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2009-08-16T22:11:00.002-06:00

I reckon that if our parents drug us it was for a darn good reason!! Whatever that reason thanks mom and dad...momma did more druggin against our will than pappa did.
We were drug many places, drugged many timesand really way to numerous to mention but, my favorite druggings were when we weredrug camping and when school was off for the summer, drug to my momsparents farm in rural Missouri.
Up front on the left in hornrim glasses is mybrother.....as for me....probably out trappin frogsand squirrels or fishin with daddy on the creek bank.
The little girl is my sister sittin on momma's lap @ManyFondMemories.I can still name all of our camping partners in crime here too.The druggings started in the 50's That's us cousins n all at my grandparents 50th weddin anniversary, hangin out in the backyard. I'll never forget the comment my granny made about me goin to town wearing shorts and that it weren't lady like...Look at us girls, we're all wearin shorts though.

Callie celebrates her sweet 16 with a new BFF....

2009-08-14T11:45:00.003-06:00

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A whole day playing in mirky muddy water in the desert!!!

2009-07-14T08:49:00.021-06:00

The days here are getting hotter and hotter so me anda gal pal I used to work with, took to the highway north toGeorgia O'Keefe country to spend a day playing in muddy mirky mineral water and painting ourbodies with warm brown velvety mud. Thankfully it's about 10 degrees cooler there in Ojo Caliente whichis about a ½ hour south of Abiquiu, so it's not to uncomfortablesoaking in the hot springs pools. You could spend all day here for $12; we did!!!: Check it out: Ojo Caliente Springs SpaThis is the arsenic and iron (yes arsenic!) pool. The smell reminded me of my cast iron skillets when they get wet!!! LOLThe mud pit below is where you cover yourself in the mineral rich mud, bake to a crusty texture then take a dip in the murky hot water, shower off then head off to the next one which was a sulphur bath that I wasn't too keen on because of the smell. "Hey, does this mud make me look like 40 miles of a bad dirt road?"I liked the mud pit so much I hit it a couple of times.
This is he main mineral pool for all ages, since kids aren't allowed in the hot mineral pools. Off to the right of the pic is one more smaller mineral pool that was just way to hot for me and my friend. The pool has hammocks hanging to siesta in or a lounge chair incaseyour hammock challanged. I knew I had to have one of them red hammocks so, while we were leaving I hit the gift shoppe hoping to find a Ojo Spa t-shirt, but at $35 a pop I cringed at plunking down that kind of doe for a cotton T but I saw they were selling the hammocks in 5 colors so I grabbed up a red one.I've always longed for a nice hammock and these were cheaper than ones I had priced over the years.I'll hang it under my huge tree in the backyard and pretend I'm on the beach in Mexico.Where's my Margarita, guacamole and blue corn tortilla's? We finished up the day with a Milagro Wrap. After we dipped and re-dipped in the 5 mineral pools we had some quiet time where we were wrapped mummy style in a cotton sheet then covered with a heavy wool blanket, that prompted your body to sweat out toxins. And boy did it ever. No pics of that as it is hard to take picutres when your in bondage. And as usual I fell asleep...When you learn to relax your mind and turn off the chatter to meditate, it makes it real easy to snooze offBarn Swallows are everywhere and so beautifuland dainty these are nesting under the portal on the speaker that pipes in the "Spa" music. While I was mud baking I noticed on the cliffsabove, a lion looking face that seemed to be looking down on us. On the trip back to the city we stopped in Santa Fe at Tomasitas for a bite of mexican food and the best Margarita I think I've ever had since moving here...Tomasita's was originally part of the Santa Fe train depot and constructed in brick in 1904 and the entire interior is still red brick with floor to ceiling windows and wood floors.
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Watching the baby bread n butter pickle grow

2009-06-28T12:20:00.005-06:00

I was out puttering in my garden early, checkin the produce population progress, and peeked in at the blossoms on my zucchinni and cuke vines and I found this little baby...he is only about 1" and this is my first year for growing cukes to pickle. I put some up earlier this month for a test drive and can't wait to make a batch more. Just amazing!!!This little fella will grow into a nice fat juicy bread n butter pickle for my burger.
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Just like ol' times daddy....

2009-06-21T17:48:00.004-06:00

Sorry Maxine for cross-contaminating chicken with shrimp, hope you'll forgive me. The weather was warm today with a tiny breeze like back home in CA and I'd marinated the yard bird in a cuban grilling brine for a couple of hours and skewered the shrimp to then plaster with melted butter and garlic. I put a pot of beans on in the pressure cooker, threw in a ham hock, made a green salad (I was craving moms slaw) and with a frosty beer and miss puss cat, ate with mom and dad in my heart outside under the umbrella like we did back then.... I do suspect after that feast Callie is upchucking somewhere now in the house. Everyone is making their own memories today with their daddies...I am reliving mine in my heart.

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Dear Daddy:

2009-06-21T09:42:00.016-06:00

I hope this letter finds you well daddy...I am very well and think of you everyday. My summers are especially dear to me now more than ever, for they bring me back home to nest in my childhood, a warm place to sit and reflect on the life you and mom provided for your children. So I'll sit for a spell to write to you on another Father's day without you to let you know how I so deeply I miss you and mom. You never realize just how much or how deep ones love can grow even after death, how after so many years since you both left that it seems like yesterday you and mom were here. I think about you and mom every day and reflect often of our life together and how grateful I am to have had parents like you and mom. The hole in my heart from missing you is mended daily by black and white photos and all my memories of the camping, the trips to Missouri, you teaching me how to fish, and the many BBQ's in the back yard with your dog Tanya & the cats Nellie, Gracie and TC. All those little things of life that are forever seared in my mind that no one can ever erase and all the money in world can never replace. Life seems so short and your life when you were here gets farther and farther away but still I think your right here and you are just a phone call away and your voices on the other end of the phone when you answer after the 3rd ring are sharp and clear. I can bring you back in an instant to re-live a blink of a moment...then I cry, then smile because I lived it and daddy if I could go back and change anything about our life together I'd leave it just the way it was for it was perfect and you both are the reason I became the great person I am and little pieces (some bigger than others) of you daddy are embedded in me and mom I have turned into "my mother" and I'll carry and cherish that with me until I die.... I thank you both for giving us a wonderful life, wonderful memories and sharing your life with us kids. I learned so much from you and I know we'll meet again.
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY
P.S. Daddy I bought some "snips" to grill and I'll use the little Weber I bought for you for Father's day years ago, that I lugged out here after I replaced it with a bigger Weber on a Father's day years later. Momma don't eat shell-fish so we'll have chicken too and of course what would a backyard BBQ be without a seafood lovin' house cat and your favorite beer or beers?
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Mr. Finch wakes me every morning @4:30

2009-06-18T12:14:00.010-06:00

Well you might be up and raring to go but I'd like to sleep a few more hours you little bird with the red feathers! House Finch or not this is my house and I'll get up when I'm good and ready...so there!!! If you'd like to experience what I endurehours before the sun comes up click on the link: House Finch He really does have quite a beautiful songeven though he sits practically on my window sill. This dude is a Curve Billed Thrasher and is quite vocal This sleek black beauty is a Boat Tailed Grackleand they have an iridescent blue or purple to their feathers I could sit outside for hours just listening to Gods birds, drinking iced tea or early mornings with my Duncan Donuts Hazelnut coffee with Hazelnut creamer :-)Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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My daddy would be so proud of me

2009-06-17T16:01:00.005-06:00

My daddy was full of talent and ya just never knew what was cookin up in his brain. He liked to tinker alot out in his garage and I bet ya a nickle he'd approve of these. Easy to make and once the wind hits them they take off a spinnin.Before:
After: Yep daddy would like these and he'd be floored that his eldest child could make em without cutting up her fingers on the sharp edges...daddy (God rest his cotton darned socks) I have callouses on my callouses so not to worry none!
My daddy made these out of horseshoe nails. The one inback he made when I moved to NM and it's a Roadrunner.The second is just some little man that will balance on anything you put him on. Yes, he was a cleaver cleaver man and momma sure snagged a good one..... I sure do miss him. Stop in at my second blog and leave your calling card:
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Made me a mess a Bread n Butter pickles

2009-06-17T14:28:00.004-06:00

Ya know those flash back images that flood your mind and you time travel right back in time to that exact moment in time to experience it all over again? There are too many to ever keep track of but when they hit me it's like someone is yanking me by the arm and I go voluntarily back there. My grandmother Essie was a farm woman and anything that could be canned, was canned, and in large numbers too for future meals. I recall her bread n butter pickles icy cold right outta the jar they were canned in and always at dinner and supper....lunch as we know it today was called dinner or the mid-day meal which was the largest meal they ate after being in the fields workin....and dinner as we know it was supper. I do recall the mid-day meal was the largest and God the kitchen was so hot in July don't know how she did it....the only indoor luxury was electricity and maybe a fan blowing a breeze around. Grandpa was about as useless a a hog winding a watch in the kitchen so he just waited around for the women to do their job of cookin for him. I also lean towards green beans seasoned up right with her own hog bacon and tons of pepper as a tribute to my memories of the farm...Whenever my own momma would watch me dump a half a pepper shaker on my food she'd frown and chirp "Goodnight!!!Gail why do ya need so much pepper?" Now my daddy would salt dill pickles and his beer, so somethin got switched in our DNA....And of course nothing beats Essies handmade churned butter...why even 40 years later, when I buy butter I'll let it sit out to obtain a sour taste just like hers. After my jars seal I'll pop them puppies in the fridg to later on have my Essie canning moments and dream of the farm. The brain is such an awesome organ that seizes moments your never even aware of until decades later when you smell or taste something and that specially selected moment ages ago just pops in your head like a switch was turned on....
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No wonder our Grandparents miss them good ole days!!!

2009-06-13T17:44:00.011-06:00

Bayer's Heroin A bottle of Bayer's heroin. Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. It was also used to treat children with strong cough.
Cocoa Wine Metcalf Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani Wine Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it's time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with aVatican gold medal.
Maltine Produced by Maltine Manufacturing Company of New York . It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal. Children should take half a glass.
A paper weight A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne ( Mannheim , Germany ). They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

Opium for Asthma

No comment

Cocaine drops for toothaches Very popular for children in 1885. Not only they relieved the pain, they made the children happy!

Opium for newborns I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but 46% alcohol!!!!!)

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Summer time calls back my childhood

2009-06-09T08:06:00.009-06:00

=The summer months pull out more childhood memories than any other time of the year for me. With so many summers spent camping and loading up the car for a long haul to rural Missouri to my mothers parents farm... I wish I could go back in time to just peek in. I learned to fish at an early age with nothin more than a stick, some fishing line with a hook and worm at the end and a red and white "Bobber" floating that would excite me everytime it moved. Thank you mom and dad for the life you gave us......
I loved fish then and probably eat more fish now, thanks to my parents, than I ever did growin up. I am especially strung out on catfish. Fix me a mess a cats rolled in cornmeal with Maxine's coleslaw and some buttermilk biscuits and I'm good. Wish I still had that mop of curls....& my daddy's eyebrows. Glenda was in escrow at the time this pic was taken by momma. =

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"Local Albuquerque woman hears voices telling her where to go"

2009-06-05T14:41:00.013-06:00

Now, I have had this yellow floral slip-cover for a long long long long time (20+ years) knowing when I bought it I didn't have a chair to put it on so it hung out folded in a closet for many years untila friend at work about 15 years ago was fixin to heave-ho an old old green club chair to the dump naturallyI had to have a smack down with her over her decisionand said she best bring it to my house and not the dumpor else. She did!!! I love this faded floral 2pc coverand I have lost count of how many times it's be repairedand it's so worn and thread bare it's a royal pity....I still love it!!! Well, I knew one day I'd find a replacementfor it and all I had to do was be patient and know oneday I would. Slipcover replacement energy had beenorbiting the universe and back for at least a decadeand maybe deep down inside I'd forgot I'd even launched it.Okay, so that voice in my head that tells me who, what, where and when slipped one in my earthis morning while downing coffee...so I put myDunkin Donuts Hazelnut flavor coffee in the fridge forice coffee later and off I went. I just go and don'tanticipate finding anything when this happensI just let go of any resistance and simply "go browsing".I hit a few church basement thrift shops first andfound a few pieces of Pyrex I'd been hunting for @50¢ ea...The ladies offered me a cup of church lady coffee andwe had a bit of chit chat then I'm on my way to the bigthrift store. I walk in the store and don't bother grabbinga buggy and just stroll to the bedding area just to look....There it is hanging on the rack and I almost pee'd on myself...yea really but I really did need to pee after church coffee! This store separates everything so I knew that if there was a slip-cover then the cushion covers are hanging in the beddingarea with the pillow cases...how many people miss out on matching stuff because the stores wants to gouge us formore $$$$ by selling everything separate and notput matching items grouped as one price together? Dummies!!!

Callie doesn't care one way or another just aslong as she can still sit on the back of it and do a reach around to grab food before itmakes it into my mouth whileI sit and eat in front of the TV

Brand new old store stock never used heavy cotton floral slipcover. It's a bit busy I know, but I could not even think of trying to make one for the$12.99 I scored it for. I'd thought about making one but sheesh it'sa job and a half and I don't use patterns and frankly I justwasn't up to the chore nor the mess The label is still intact and made of actual cotton cloth too. I figure it's circa 60's or so?There were two of the seat cushion covers and I thought there may have been two chair covers so I looked but didn't spot anymore pieces, maybe a fellow bargin hunter grabbed it and wouldn't know the store splits everything up separate.Dummies!! This Card Table cover was bought by and neverused by Eunice for her Sunday after churchluncheon for fellowship & just catchin upon gossip with her clutch of closest girlfriends....It's a chintzy shiney cotton &quilted all spankin new ready for gossip and poker for $1.99 at same thrift store! Ain't life just sweet?Think I'll open up my Etsy account and sell it. I have a few more goodies as well for another post.Oh, don't ask me who Eunice is I just pulled her outta my hiney to give it a life once lived but not forgotten.Time to heat up some beans and corn bread I'm hungry after all that!=^..^=

Let's get a sip a cool water

2009-06-04T09:28:00.006-06:00

There are moments that rush over me when I am out slumming estate, garage and yard sales when something catches my eye on a wobly card table under piles of seemingly us-less used and dirty stuff. I can only describe what happens to me as if someone is grabbing me by the back of my scrawny neck and thrusts me into time traveling back to my childhood. We had one of these on the side of the house and who's to say what ever happened to it or if it ever survived us 3 rowdy hooligans? Momma and daddy also liked garage and yard sales too, so go fig...that could be where ours came from..... I snatched this childhood memory maker at a yard sale a weekend ago and doubt seriously I'd ever put it out in the deserts sweltering heat to bake and rot the grass green plastic bowl so maybe I'll hang it on a wall. I bet not to many of these survived a a brood of thirsty children. Ya know, to this very day I love the way the water tastes out of hot garden hose. Country singer Bucky Convington, has a video "A Different World" I think ya'll would appreciate. Copy and paste or click on this URL to watch it on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AlrFOBmdVI

God Bless the parents who drugged us

2009-06-04T08:22:00.004-06:00

I'd bet you a fat shiney nickle ya'll kin relate to this article below. I drug out my granny glasses to read it when it was sent to me from my cousin. So you'd best do the same honey and click on the pic to enlarge it!!! A-men Jesus!!!!!!!!And thank you mom and dad for the druggings we got growin up...I know, I was there and it made me a better person.

Only a mind like God's could give us such cool creatures

2009-05-28T19:51:00.006-06:00

Now wouldn't this come in handy in our world? "Honey, you can't fool me I can see right through you and I know what your thinking so don't roll them eyes at me sugar!!!"
What a cool-looking fish! The Barreleye, first discovered in 1939, has a see-through head and tubular eyes. On Feb. 23, scientists said its eyes rotate and allow the fish to look upward through its transparent head. The barreleye is adapted for life in a deep-sea environment where there's no sunlight.

Callie likes baseball? Who knew?

2009-05-28T19:30:00.003-06:00

I found this picture while looking at "animals in the news" I think I know where Callie goes when I am asleep
A four-legged outfielder had security guards scrambling during the fourth inning of a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field on April 21. The calico kitty was finally nabbed and handed into the stands by a guard, who held the cat by the tail. Some citizens of the Windy City slammed the ball club for treating a cat like that, although a local vet said the furry trespasser was fine.

I only do what the voices in my head tell me to do!

2009-05-27T14:28:00.010-06:00

Ever been slumming at the thrift store minding your own business looking for the stuff you go ga-ga over and those little voices in your head start telling you to turn your buggy around and you head non-voluteerily to a section of the store you never in a coons age visit....Like the shoe department? ewwwww lets get some foot disease from another planet in a used pair of shoes...I don't care if they are Monolo Blahnick or whatever and they are $9.99 or not, I draw the line at athelets foot footware...okay? And underclothing is a big NO NO and a no brainer. Now purses I fancy have to be practical and functional and hold a lot of crap and just in case there is a natural disaster I'll be content knowing what I have in my purse incase I am stranded away from home that I'll be okay for a couple of days....Momma always said that it's better to have it and not need it, than needing it and not have it!!!Soooo here I am thinking I've eye spied everything on my mental list that draws me into second hand stores in the first place...Thank you mother Maxine for introducing us kids to second hand stores since the beginning of time.... and I cruise by a gianormous mound of purses in a bin...Hey I smell good leather and with my well trained bloodhound of a smeller see this bag peering out from under jean purses painted badly with fabric paint and other hideous purses that you couldn't give away at your yard sale because they're so ugly. Okay so now with my recent disappointment with the thrift stores jacking up the prices triple time I think to myself...Gail...Oh they probably have a double digit price tag stapled inside...alas as I open it I could not believe mine eyes to see that $4.99 was all it was...I'm thinking again to mineself...Ya'll in the pricing area need to put down that crack pipe and wake the hell up people this is a $200+ Banana Republic leather handbag and this should be up front in a locked case next to the crap you think is priceless and museum worthy like velvet paintings of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe or those used Snuggies and a glow in the dark toilet seat along with packages of astronaut diapers!!!! So they can keep on smoking up that crack and letting the good stuff slip through their dirty little price makers fingers!! I have a few more goodies I scored "just mindin my own business" that I'll share too. P.S. My new bag is large and roomy too and there's lots of room for all my crap.....

Nature's perfection inspires me

2009-05-13T13:18:00.006-06:00

Birdies don't go to nest building college nor do they give a rats ass how it looks...as long as it will accomodate her new family.... For the last month I watched this momma build a nest in a high up safe spot, away from prowling felines in search of afternoon entertainment...Upon closer inspection I recognize string and dryer lint that I save through out the year and scatter it in trees and shrubs that birds frequent...my daddy used to do this as well and now I carry on his tradition. I see blue threads from a tarp that covers up a wood pile and my coco fiber planter liners get harvested and beat to hell by beaks...yep there's lots of that in they're nests........can they see color? And during nest building season I notice some larger birds gathering beaks full of mud after I've done a morning watering. So now after waiting and listening for signs of life I finally started to hear babies chirping a few weeks ago. They seem to be now venturing out of the nest trying out their wings while momma bird rests in a nearby tree coaxing them. Take more time out and notice nature and how perfect it is... even a simple quitely built nest in a tree or high up under a porch can inpire me!!!

Genuine use of someones imagination

2009-04-30T18:39:00.005-06:00

It looks a little crowded in there don't it?
Wish I had this ol hoopty in my yard.I'd add drapes
and have Hollyhocks pouring out of the windows.
While I was out and about today bicycling
I eye spied such a relic in someones back yard
that was screaming "Take me home"...it was an older
International Harvester Truck cab only and it
was turquoise. One year I set up one of my many
iron beds in my front yard for my "flower bed"
and there were a couple of little girls that visited
their grandmother around the corner almost everyday
after school and once one of the little girls asked
me if I was gonna sleep in the bed. Never think your
to old for being silly or childlike...embrace what
God gave you and don't worry what others might think
about you. I say the crazier you are the happier you are and
you'll make others happy and smile.

What's the bestest part about Easter?

2009-04-11T09:08:00.003-06:00

Why the PEEPS of course!

Callie goes undercover to bust an illegal Easter grass gang

2009-04-04T11:07:00.004-06:00

click on photos to read

HOPPY EASTER

2009-04-04T10:40:00.004-06:00

you may have to click on photos to read
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE EASTER CANDY?

Penguin Porn caught Callie's attention

2009-03-21T21:31:00.003-06:00

"March of the Penguins"...I love Morgan Freeman.... was on PBS today and Miss Puss was parked on the back of a chair trying to take a nap. The sounds that the penguins were making got her attention and just so happens two were swooning each other and gettin ready to get their freak on when I looked over at Callie and she was staring confused at the TV. Luckily my camera was within reach so I clicked the camera then I said Callie cover your eyes but she refused and ignored me-AGAIN!!!.

Re-arranged and deranged I love that cluttered lived in look

2009-03-14T19:19:00.006-06:00

I admit I am a pack rat and love junking and antiquing but have put a final halt to it...I don't need anymore crap...so for the last few weeks of just hangin around the house I have completely redone the whole house using the stuff I have pack ratted and accumulated for decades. I like a busy room and hanging stuff on the walls instead of cluttering up tables etc cozies up a room and creates a niche corner for camping out with Callie. I found the neon clock in a dumpster 20yrs ago when I lived in CA. All I had to do was cut a new piece of glass then etch the edge to hide the neon tube and it keeps time perfectionary!!So where's miss puss? In her heated cat cave of course only sticking her head out if she thinks I'm stuffing my face. I made some rockin yam fries this afternoon in the oven and OMG were they ever good and Callie actually took a shine to them and snagged a bite right outta my hand. To make them I wrapped one whole yam or sweet potato in foil and kinda half cooked it then removed it from oven, sliced in skinnies and dreadged in OVOO then baked in shallow pan again about 20 mins...They are naturally sweet so just a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg and I ate them puppies gone!!!!Guess what's fer lunch tomorrow? Yes the rest of them yammies I bought...and hello they're super good for me too. I have been known to open up a can of plain pumpkin and graze on it all day. Okay and same with tomato paste too-I just eat it right outta that little can...lots of lycopene!
click on the pic for an up close and nosey look see

A day spent sewing and begging spring to get here!

2009-02-25T18:53:00.004-07:00

She calls it a tea cozy to keep her pot of tea warm so I'll warm up the tea cozy while she sews.
I bought this fabric to redo the smaller ottoman pictured below in an earlier post, but sheesh I really use my gianormous ottoman year round so last night I cut it up (I never use a pattern)...then early this morning I started on it and knocked it out by the time Oprah was over. Doing the welt cord takes up lots of time and I thought I'd never get done with the ruffle, which used about a mile of cloth. I also peeled off a pile of pillows to go with my floral sofa cover yesterday....and can't wait to see what I'll jump into tomorrow!!! I love Ralph Lauren sheets and always buy extras for projects. I have never subscribed to anyones notion about things matching or complementing each other and subscribe to my own notion that if I like it, it's comin in the house. You can tell alot about folks by their enviornment and well, guess you could say this is the inside of my brain!!!!

Finally a warm day and a sunny spot

2009-02-20T18:39:00.003-07:00

Mom has the whole dang house flipped inside and after a day of snooping in what she is doing I find a spot to catch the afternoon sun coming in the west windowThis pillow is mine I saw it first

Out of hibernation, if only for a moment

2009-01-30T17:59:00.004-07:00

I crawled out of my cave today for a minute only to crawl back under the electric blanket on my sofa to conserve heat and store energy. So I thought I'd throw this up of Callie keepin a careful watch on the back door....There are 3 cats who live across the street with their human pets so on occasion Olive, a grey tabby, pops by the back door, if it's open, to see if I'm passing out Callie leftovers. Now, Olive and Callie have never been what you might call properly introduced so they sit and stare at each other through the screen. The screen door lower section is covered in plastic as the male toms in the hood backed up and sprayed and it hit the door and smells horrid and as bad a stanky skunk funk...so they can't even sniff each other. Once I just barely cracked the screen door open so they could sniff but Olive reached through and tried a right upper cut to Callie's jib. Sheesh how ungrateful can you be and still beg and expect to gets treats now?? Olive would probably open up a can of whoop ass on Callie. Olive is a very loving and affectionate 5 year old but I don't trust her no way no how! It looks as if Olive is saying to Callie "Look deeply into my eyes you simple minded, funny lookin patch work, spoiled rotten house cat and give me some grub biotch!"

Callie thinks mom's new chair needs polishing before it can be used!

2009-01-03T16:22:00.007-07:00

I have a good gentlemen friend, who just happens to be an antique furniture dealer and we trade "stuff" occasionally. So when I showed him a table I'd picked up for dirt money...I asked him if he'd trade me the table for this rockin little side chair. This table is what rocks his world and makes him drool. I bought it stripped so he said he'd put a cherry stain on it and will probably slap a $400+ ticket on it. Today he came by and we traded "stuff". Callie took a shine to the back of it to give it a thumbs up and thought it needed polishing I guess...she is clawless (she came to me that way)...sometimes clueless....so polish away Callie. I need to hunt down some doily screws to hold down them blasted arm protectors. It came with two small feather pillows as well....but I'll probably use em on my sofa. It is the most cushyious & sofest cozy comfy old chair I have ever owned...and I've owned many.

You have to squeeze out a cat food fart on stuff you want for yourself

2008-12-25T19:45:00.006-07:00

This is mine...finders keepers!

She just had to decorate my only place of peace

2008-12-25T19:32:00.004-07:00

Hell hath no furry like a disappointed calico on Christmas morning

2008-12-25T11:50:00.005-07:00

Callie does some time traveling during the holidays

2008-12-20T10:22:00.001-07:00

I loved my life in the 50's

Seems not even the cat pillows are safe from her camera

2008-12-20T09:15:00.011-07:00

Sorry mom, I tried to get here
as soon as I could to stop her.
I have our therapist on the phone

Christmas is a time to humiliate our pets

2008-12-19T10:27:00.010-07:00

CALLIE'S DO'S AND DON'T'S:
Don't over catnip when dressing us,
especially if we just got outta re-hab HO HO-friggin' HO!!!!!!!!
Do remember that we have feelings
too but in the form of hairballs.
Soooo...I made you a Christmas
present mommy, it's in your new slippers.
Did I mention I have
PETA on speed dial!

Huh oh...I think I'm having another hairball
moment...stand back
No calico cats were harmed
or drugged during the making
of these Christmas memories.
I love my shelter calico!!
PEACE TO ALL

The Christmas Shoes.....grab some kleenex folks

2008-12-15T17:55:00.002-07:00

Scroll down the page first to turn off the christmas music...next to the minute counter there's a stop or pause button There's a movie too so you'll need more kleenex

Memories from home

2008-12-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

In the 50's in Oakland in our first home. Our childhood home that just sold is so full of memories....Our daddy made this tree himself one christmas from no doubt momma's broom or mop. I remember watching him wrapping tin foil on welding rod and drilling out the holes. He was so talented and I got alot of his natural talents but honestly I would never attempt such a project. This summer I snagged a freebie aluminum tree at a yard sale in it's original box marked 1962 but sheeeesh when I drug it in the house I discovered it was taller that my 8 foot ceilings so back out side it went...anyway I don't have a color wheel to show it off and the instructions say "Thou shall not use lights on the tree"...and Lord knows I can't do a lightless tree! Gosh Charlie Brown what would Santa think?That's me on the far right with Glenda in the middle our cousin Diana on the left and brother standing guard over us gals.

Tree safety according to Callie =^..^=

2008-12-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

No Callie it's not the new urban dwellers liter box

2008-12-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

Callie your eyes were not
quite bright enough for the
affect I was looking for.
I added a tray in the bottom
and put candles in it. . I may fill the bottom with sand then add the candles

Callie volunteers her time where she is needed for the holidays

2008-12-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

Your fireplace and Santa tip for the season

2008-12-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

"Timmy, you shouldn't have lit that match!" Well, you shouldn't have turned up the gas!"

Will Santa come down your chimney?

A Soldiers Christmas

2008-12-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to enlarge and read

New uses for silicon muffin pans

2008-12-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

I am headed to a craft show next week to set up and take in bajillions of moneies from folks so being a crafter, my brain is always on and in searchlight mode. I found these cheap cheap at Target for $2.50 and I have discovered that these silicon muffin pans rock for making my soaps. Unlike the stiff plastic ones, usually sold at crafts stores, the soaps pop right out of these and you can make more of them at a time. I love the brain God gave me!

Callie needs answers about her father's where abouts

2008-11-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

OMG I know I'll have to go into Peeps re-hab after the holidays as these new snowman Peeps in Sugar Cookie flavor are frightfully addicting! And let me tell you just how delicious they compliment your hot cocoa moments in front of the fireplace. Of course my fireplace is one of those cute electric ones with the heater and flames but a fireplace none the less!!Consumption warning: Do not take enternally, apply directly to hips, thighs and buttocks.

Poor Kitty

2008-11-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

What's this kitty saying? Seems he was just rescued by a fireman

Angel Blessing at Bedtime

2008-11-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

click on pic to enlarge to read this enchanting bedtime prayer

Thanksgiving tip #2

2008-11-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

A good host must always be a stickler for attractive food presentation! Always take the foil completely off the TV dinner before serving.Don't let these aprons fool you...we aren't wearing any underwear.

Tips for entertaining this Thanksgiving

2008-11-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

Now girls remember when you host a Thanksgiving dinner, it is essential that all the placemats match or, at the very least, that they all come from the same restaurant.

Bed for Callie from a spare chair

2008-10-29T14:38:00.000-06:00

I've had this chair in storage and decided to cut it down for a bed for Callie. I cut some scrap wood for the frame in the size I wanted the bed to be and attatched the back of chair for the headboard and the legs as the foot and added some metal fencing on bottom to hold the cushion. I used a nice soft feather pillow and covered it with this velvety cotton cloth I saved from a larger pillow. Then I mixed up my fav color green paint and added the finals from a curtain rod to the foot posts. Callie didn't take to it right away because she has a heated cat apartment (see post below) so I had to smear some cat narcotics on it to get her interested in it.

My little angel

2008-10-27T20:07:00.001-06:00

I was in Pier 1, eye balling the Christmas display, and could not resist this little pair of angel wings tree ornament and thought Callie would look cute with them on her back. Don't you agree she's the cutest blog angel?

To the cat cave Alfred

2008-10-26T10:30:00.000-06:00

If you look up the word spoiled in the dictionary you'd find a pictureof my calico cat Callie. She has her own heated cat cave duringthe winter. This house is old and just to darn drafty for a 15 year old cat.I love my child with fur and her needs come before mine. I do this every year for her.

Peeps ain't just for Easter

2008-10-22T18:32:00.000-06:00

I found these Peeps last
Christmas and they're peppermint
and make the bestest toppers for
your Hot Cocoa folks.

Callie does the cat walk

2008-10-22T17:10:00.000-06:00

I'm too sexy for my sweater, too sexy for my sweater It's chilly now and Callie
needs a turtle neck sweater
for our outside time to eat grass so
she can come back in the house and
hurl cat yack on the rug
She is leash trained and doesn't
mind the sweater at all and has
learned that when I put clothing
on her then she's hit the "You've won
the going outside lottery Miss Puss"

Chop Chop

2008-10-22T11:01:00.000-06:00

This kitchen farm table was one of my first antiques I bought in the mid 70's and over the weekend I got a hair up my butt and chopped 9" off the legs and made it into a coffee table. Nice gianormous drawer to hide all the crap is a bonus. It's been many colors over the years and it's been stripped a few times too. Incase I get hacksawer's remorse, I saved the legs so I can put em back on using double headed screws. Yea I know that sounds porney!

2008-10-19T21:33:00.000-06:00

I love old iron beds and currently
own about 7 maybe 8 of them and I used
to think I'd use all of them for a fence
and this pic gives me warm fuzzies!There's a house up the street with a couple of rusty beds sitting in the yard and I'mtempted to ask the owners if they'd like to unload them. I am totally insane andobsessed with these rusty relics of slumber

2008-10-19T21:17:00.000-06:00

I would sell everything I own for this mohair sofa and the drapes

Callie time travels

2008-10-08T15:20:00.000-06:00

2008-10-03T10:06:00.000-06:00

2008-09-29T20:49:00.000-06:00

2008-09-29T20:02:00.000-06:00

Harvest time in the country

2008-09-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

My neighbor Maggie and I took a ride out to the country this afternoon to a local harvest festival for pickin thru locally grown fruits and vegies, awesome bluegrass folk music and thousands of people and their pets and of course a smorgasbord of yummy homemade foods. For a minute I thought the group Soggy Bottom Boys were there as their music was straight out of "O brother where art thou" with George Clooney.
I couldn't resist this pug mug and a local organization for saving the Timber Wolf was there with Forrest a 2½ year old male...he was awesome and huge when he stood on his hind legs when a human best friend showed up

There were a few pygmy goats here and look behind him there is a camera on the ground. Maybe he headbutted some tourist, ate the film and left the camera as evidence. They don't smell very nice either. These tomatoes look like a cross between a green chili and a tomato and are a roma breed or something like that I was told and are about 6-7" long. I picked up a sack or two of the bestest apples, a pumpkin, butternut squash and of course green chilis to roast.

Some sunflowers for sale and along the roadside as we walked back to the car
I love New Mexico, it is so beautiful this time of year...Oh, lets not forget to pick up a couple of chili ristra's to hang up. The ristra (string of chile) was originated as a method of drying and preserving chile pods for future use in cooking. Every fall, after the chile harvest is over, bright red ristras are seen everywhere in New Mexico, displayed on homes and roadside stands.

Royal Gorge near Taos

2008-09-24T14:13:00.000-06:00

I've never been much interested in touristy picture taking and gravitate more toward landscapes and clouds, especially clouds. The Royal Gorge is awesome but it hard to snap pictures and get the right perspective of how deep it actually is so I turn my camera toward the horizon
I altered the sign at the Royal Gorge just a little bit

I know what it will feel like to stand before Him!

2008-09-24T07:35:00.000-06:00

Some of you are familiar with the song "I can only imagine" by Mercyme. The song is so prefectly & simply composed that it makes us ponder what it will be like when that beautiful day comes when we stand in front of Him. The song probably makes you think that we must die first to do that. Well, I had the opportunity last weekend to do that without death taking me to Him. I am very intune with who I am and why we are all here and there's never been a shred of doubt who God is and I know He is within me and I am a part of Him with every breath I take and I talk to him everyday.
I took a rode trip with a friend up to northern New Mexico for some breath taking scenery with the tail end of our trip landing us in Colorado Springs CO. We stayed with my friends daughter who then took us on a day trip in her car to do a little shopping and then she said she thought we'd enjoy The Garden of the Gods, so we meandered through granite terrain, winding up a little road in search of this garden. I kept thinking it was some garden with lots of colorful foliage and maybe a waterfall or two. We seemed to be going around in circles and drove by a red rock formation that reminded me of Sedona in Arizona, we drove past it pausing for a moment then moving on. I'm thinking to myself "We drove up here just to drive by?...stop the freakin' car lady!" Around we went until we came to a clearing where there was a parking lot....and when I stepped out of the car I looked up and out and I had my 1 millionth out of body experience that came over me and it took my breath away. I was right then, right there standing in His presence and living the lyrics to that song and I was not dead I was alive. Before me was the most breathtaking outcropping of red sandstone in the middle of millions of acres of granite. My eyes filled with tears as I stood there speechless at this gift given to us by God and I could not stop crying and I knew this moment would stay with me for the rest of my life. There are geological reasons for how this formed over the eons, but God was behind it and he gets all the credit!!
It was as if during creation God thought this area needs a little color so he threw out these formations for us, to leave his mark to remind us that this is what he can do. I was a part of it and felt Him so strongly I could hardly breath or move and just stood there in his presence in that moment, I was in awe, I could have dropped to my knees singing Hallelujah but surely I would have ended up on Youtube. Thank you God for this gift and I know this is what happiness really is and it's all I need. It was one of the strongest, of the many defining moments in life, I've had that has changed me to remind me what life is really all about. I saw Him and felt Him to my core. Ever have one of those moments where your living one way then a light shines in your life, then afterwards your life is another way? Sometimes we get so busy trying to make a living we forget to make a life worth living and to me it's as simple as being in the moment right now and just being, seeing and feeling God around. And for those who say they don't believe God exists or they need proof I say prove he doesn't because all you have to do is step outside. You think all of this is some random freak of the universe or an accident? I saw Him that afternoon. I could have spent all day here and loved this formation that looked like someone with hands together in prayer

If you click on the picture below you can see a tiny white speck down at the bottom at about 5 o'clock. At the top of a rock is a guy in a white shirt sitting on top of it. There were groups of rock climbers who got day permits to scale up these babies. They gave me goose flesh!!

This is Balanced Rock and it's been like this for millions of years. So how would you like to wake to this everyday?? This is the sunrise out of the house we stayed at in Colorado Springs...pretty awesome eh?

2008-09-15T18:08:00.000-06:00

Or do they? I can think of a few

2008-09-12T15:10:00.000-06:00

Is it a destination or a journey? If you don't care where your going, any road will get you there.

2008-08-31T16:39:00.000-06:00

When I showed this chair, and what I'd done to it, to my antique dealer bud his face turned bright red and I thought he was fixin to have a heart attack right in front of me. After he calmed down he shook me silly and asked me if I had gone insane. Yea, So what if I am I said! I told him it's just an old tree covered in cloth. He offered to put it in his shop to see if anyone was crazy enough to buy it, and slapped a price tag on it. About a week later I stopped by for a visit just to chew some fat.... and while I was there a couple of dealers came in to say hey. They asked it he'd gotten any new stuff in and he said look around and see for yourself. This chair was probably the only piece in his large shop painted white and it stuck out like grandpa's front tooth and one commented Oh my God what the hell is that, that's as as ugly as home made soap. The other fella said the person who painted that should be drawn and quartered and left for the buzzards. I piped up " Oh yea you go ahead and try it....I like it!" Never thought I'd hear the end of it from everyone in the shoppe. It didn't sell and only turned into a conversation piece so back home it came. And it's for sale if you wanna come'n pick it up. Click on the chair for a better looksee. It's from the later part of the 1800's and imagine how many corseted butts sat on it taking afternoon tea, biscuits and gossip?? Woof!!

2008-08-31T16:05:00.000-06:00

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.
"Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder"
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table,
put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back
on the table and take out the garbage first

But then I think,
since I'm going to be near the mailbox
when I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table,
and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks,
but first I need to push the Coke aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Coke is getting warm,
and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke,
a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk,
but first I'm going to water the flowers..
I set the glasses back down on the counter,
fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table..
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
but first I'll water the flowers..
I pour some water in the flowers ,
but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table,
get some towels and wipe up the spill..
Then, I head down the hall trying to
remember what I was planning to do..
At the end of the day:
the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water,.
there is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys..
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some
help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....
Do me a favor. Forward this to everyone you know,
because I don't remember who I've sent it to..
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!.

2008-08-29T09:41:00.000-06:00

REFRESH YOUR PERSPECTIVE
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered:
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!
Pass this on to friends and acquaintances and help them refresh their perspective and appreciation.
"Life is too short and friends are too few."

2008-08-27T17:09:00.000-06:00

From a very early age Glenda had a passion for singing and hollering.

I had a passion for sleeping (still do) with my thumb and my black n white teddy bear (see photo below). I don't suck my thumb any more but Glenda is still singing and hollering.

What tree did you fall out of?

2008-08-26T14:06:00.000-06:00

I fell out of this tree what about you honey?

WHAT TREE DID YOU FALL FROM?
Find your birthday and then find your tree.
This is cool and pretty accurate.
Find your tree below and see what you are like
Dec 23 to Jan 01 Apple Tree
Jan 01 to Jan 11 Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 Elm Tree
Jan 25 to Feb 03 Cypress Tree
Feb 04 to Feb 08 Poplar Tree
Feb 09 to Feb 18 Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 Pine Tree
Mar 01 to Mar 10 Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) Oak Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 Walnut Tree
May 01 to May 14 Poplar Tree
May 15 to May 24 Chestnut Tree
May 25 to Jun 03 Ash Tree
Jun 04 to Jun 13 Hornbeam Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 Fig Tree
Jun 24 (only) Birch Tree
Jun 25 to Jul 04 Apple Tree
Jul 05 to Jul 14 Fir Tree
Jul 15 to Jul 25 Elm Tree
Jul 26 to Aug 04 Cypress Tree
Aug 05 to Aug 13 Poplar Tree
Aug 14 to Aug 23 Cedar Tree
Aug 24 to Sep 01 Pine Tree
Sep 02 to Sep 12 Weeping Willow Tree
Sep 13 to Sep 22 Lime Tree
Sep 23 (only) Olive Tree
Sep 24 to Oct 03 Hazelnut Tree
Oct 04 to Oct 13 Rowan Tree
Oct 14 to Oct 23 Maple Tree
Oct 24 to Nov 11 Walnut Tree
Nov 12 to Nov 21 Chestnut Tree
Nov 22 to Dec 01 Ash Tree
Dec 02 to Dec 11 Hornbeam Tree
Dec 12 to Dec 21 Fig Tree
Dec 22 (only) Beech Tree
TREES (in alphabetical order)
Apple Tree (Love) -- quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal and attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.
Ash Tree (Ambition) -- extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented, likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable, restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and much emotional support.
Beech Tree (Creative) -- has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).
Birch Tree (Inspiration) -- vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.
Cedar Tree (Confidence ) -- of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.
Chestnut Tree (Honesty) -- of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others' feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.
Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) -- strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give but doesn't necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.
Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness ) -- pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.
Fig Tree (Sensibility ) -- very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, sexually oriented, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.
Fir tree (Mysterious) -- extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many friends, very reliable.
Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary ) -- charming, sense of humor, very demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody, sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgment and expects complete fairness.
Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste) -- of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, is not egotistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.
Lime Tree (Doubt) - intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones, hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for family and friends, has many talents but not always enough time to use them, great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.
Maple Tree (Independence of Mind ) -- no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.
Oak Tree (Brave) -- robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.
Olive Tree (Wisdom) -- loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.
Pine Tree (Peacemaker) -- loves agreeable company, craves peace and harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self-esteem, needs affection and reassurance.
Poplar Tree (Uncertainty) -- looks very decorative, talented, not very self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.
Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) -- full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.
Walnut Tree (Passion) -- unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.
Weeping Willow (Melancholy) - likes to be stress free, loves family life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh.
Gee wizz...Now wasn't that fun?
*Oh...I'm a Maple*

2008-08-22T10:23:00.000-06:00

This is my grandparents farm house in rural Missouri. No indoor plumbing and a two holer out beyond the rabbit hutches. The well was right outside the back door off the kitchen and nothing beats drawing up a fresh bucket of spring water when you've been chasin cows and chickens on a hot July afternoon. Probably my most vivid memory is the scent of wet dry grass and hay and the sound of thunder off in the east headed our direction. That old house had a wonderful old smell to it...No it weren't her cookin but the smell of old mahogany & oak furniture. Every once in a while I'll walk into an antique shoppe and that distinct wood smell finds my nose and takes me back to that old farm.