Monday, September 19, 2011

Deeelightful Dahlia

My late summer present!  I purchased some bulbs and tubers through a fund-raiser, and unfortunately, these are the only fruits of that purchase-other than the good work that the donation made possible. 
It is  a variety of Dahlia, and the color is even in the fall range.
Just when you think it is time to trim and pluck and toss, here comes this pretty reminder of why we plant and water and patiently wait. 

Sometimes I am not so patient-OK, that was a given as those who know me can attest.
But, I had totally written off this plant, and truthfully, was internally grumbling about being ripped off. Maybe God knew I needed something pretty, and he was just waiting for the best time?  That's what I am going with.
And speaking of "going with", I have come to a decision-if Boo-Boo the cat is sleeping on our unmade bed, and it is time for us to leave the house, I am going to let her sleep.
I am always certain that I will have an emergency situation, and someone will need to come to my house and see the unmade bed-you can't avoid seeing it, the bedroom is right off the dining room, visible as you go to any room.  They will then of course assume that I am a lazy slob.  And that is what I have convinced myself that I am if I leave without the bed being made.
But, we have a twist in our exit pattern now, we need to have all the doors (3) wide open to the outside for the motorized wheelchair to zip through, and if I disturb the sleeping cat just to make the bed, she will also zip through the open doors! Not good, not only because she is a pip to catch, but as you know, I am a chipmunk/snake assassin,  ( read this link and the comment for my dark side  Die chipmunk, die!   ) and there might be some lethal dregs out there for sweet kitty to nibble.  We can not take that chance with our beloved little cat.
So, I will leave the bed unmade when necessary, and please do not judge me harshly if you see that "nail on the chalkboard" situation.

Today,    LIFE IS A HIGHWAY  enjoy.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sunny Day

We have a new blank slate today, sun is warming us, leaves are beginning to turn. I am going to a baby shower, one of my favorite things to do!
I am striving for a calm, stressless day-stress being caused be me. myself and I, no one else.
Everyday is a gift, take it and run.  There it is in my head and hopefully in my actions.
Thanks for stopping by, and hey, go have some pumpkin coffee.  If you don't have any Pumpkin Coffee made by Green Mountain, just put a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon in your dry coffee grounds before you push start. It's all in the smeller anyway.

And for you to remember that there always is a rainbow, just around the corner,
click and enjoy:
Judy singing for you

Friday, September 16, 2011

Really Pat Robertson?

Pat did it again.  He said it is OK to divorce a spouse with Alzheimer's Disease, because even though we get married for sickness and health, Alzheimer's Disease is a form of death.

(Deep breath. Stay calm so you can get your point across Sally.)

Alzheimer's Disease is a form of death he said, key word "form", Death is the absence of Life, not the journey towards death.  And Alzheimer's Disease  is just one of the paths that we take towards death, like MS, Cancer, ALS, Heart Disease.  Just because the spouse afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease might not be mentally aware of the Divorce, is not a reason for it to be "OK".

Shame on you Pat Robertson. 

The love and devotion that spouses of people with Alzheimer's Disease give knows no bounds, just as other care takers provide for their ill loved ones.

This remark of his sounds like he thinks this disease is unique, and all bets are off, vows be damned.

But I am thinking that Pat Robertson is not a spiritual leader, but a publicity whore.  The negative attention he received for his "AIDS is punishment for the  Gay community" remarks has worn off and he needs a new jolt of attention.

Couldn't a gifted spiritual leader have given better advice than to divorce the person with Alzheimer's Disease.  Aah, that is the real problem, you can't be what you are not!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I just don't know what to say.

As you have done, I am listening to so many  commentaries, reading the articles, watching specials about the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.
I could not think of anything to write that could possibly compare with those learned scholars. There is nothing that we could do to bring back one loved one, or spare them their destiny.   I  can only say, I am sorry for all the pain, and I will never forget..........

A Save for Thanksgiving time recipe...

I am really thinking fall today.  I  decided to make up something different for dessert.  When I make cranberry relish, I usually cook cranberries, or grind them.  Then I add sugar (as little as possible, but you do need some), either chopped up whole oranges or drained Mandarin oranges and if no one is allergic, chopped up walnuts.
Today, I thought I would use these flavors and made this:


CRANBERRY RELISH CAKE


1 pkg. Yellow cake mix

3 eggs

½ cup milk


Mix all above with fork in large bowl until crumbs all moist.

Add 1 can WHOLEberry cranberry sauce-break up with fork as you mix it into batter. Add 1 large can well drained Mandarin oranges, 1 cup walnuts- chopped roughly. Use spatula to mix well.

Pour into sprayed 13x9 pan, bake in preheated 350 degrees oven 35-40 minutes, check center with toothpick at 35 minutes.

Cool, serve with vanilla ice cream, or top with powered sugar if desired.

Hope you like it, we all did. And let me be the first to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
I am the first right?

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wow, that was fast!

Gee, I remember being so excited to start wearing sandals and no coats, and, and well, everything that marks the seasonal change.
And today, well, today I am calling to schedule the furnace yearly maintenance, we have taken out the screens in the screen door, now it is just a door, and I am  wearing a long sleeved top for the umpteenth time this week!
Well, this also means that my favorite time of year is coming, and I really can't wait to get my many totes of fall stuff out.  Those colors are so warm and welcoming.  So, I need to stop whining about the cold, no cold, no pretty autumn.
And Billie Holiday agrees with me:
Autumn in New York

Monday, September 5, 2011

I get by with a little help from my friends.

I was told today that a SFriend wanted to comment, but it didn't work.  I had tried all that I had knowledge of, so I could not figure out how to fix it.  Then another blogger mailed me the instructions!  I commented on her blog, and she was trying to reciprocate, but unable to, so she passed on the  instructions:
It's really easy to change your setting so this is the form that comes up.

1. click on Settings
2. click on comments
3. scroll down to where it says Comment Form Placement and click on Full Page


I did what was listed, and I hope it works for all of you if you are having a problem with people commenting on your blog.

Please give commenting on my blog another try, and thanks for playing along with me while I learn the ins and outs.

Ernestine, the blogger who passed on this tip has a lovely site. here it is:
http://myjourneytomindfulness.blogspot.com/

Thanks again all who help each other.
A thank you song for all:
Friends are Quiet Angels

Saturday, September 3, 2011

One tooth less to brush.

Yesterday, I had a wisdom tooth pulled.  It was rebuilt many times in my many years, and this time I said, that is it-no more money showers for you.
 I found it broken in a most unconventional way.  I sleep face down in my pillow, teeth clamped tightly together. When I woke up, my tongue seemed bruised, and looking at my pillow, I found a piece of white filling.  The small size meant that more pieces were certainly someplace. Could not find them, wonder if I swallowed it/them in the night?  And the mirror showed that the reason my tongue was bruised and hurting was because with the filling gone, my remaining tooth stump was a lethal weapon.
This is reverse tooth fairy practice of course, leave a tooth, get some money. 
But becausee I am special, I found part of a tooth and spent some money.  One hundred and ninety-one dollars  to be exact. But really, the oral surgeon and his assistant were exactly what you want in  health care professionals, kind, polite, gentile and reassuring. And, they both told me that I had a small mouth-see, I always thought there was a small person hiding inside of me, and it was as close as my mouth!
They even called home before my appointment to say that the Dentist was running late, and that I could come there later for my appointment.  But, you know me right?  I had left already when they called, and got there 15 minutes early.  So, my wait was a tad longer.  But, it is what it is eh?
I got to read my email and check facebook on my wonderful droid, check over my schedule for the next few weeks and sit in an air-conditioned lovely room and be still.  Not always part of my life, so that in itself was a gift.
After the dentist, I needed to pick up SSon from his father's home, and then go to cash his paycheck-I took that opportunity to stock up on some "soft" food at the grocery store: yogurt and rice pudding.  And since I was still under the magical, pain-free  spell of the Novocaine, I did a cart worth of shopping too.  I did have to keep my mouth closed tightly on a gauze piece, so I could not talk, and my one cheek was way out there from the gauze, but hey, I was not as bad as some people in the store, pants hanging off their coolous, and "Stuff" flowing out of their tops.  Not a judgement, just stating the facts ma'am.  Of course we all know it was a judgement, but that was my feeble attempt at "live and let live", saw right though me did you?
I was a little uncomfortable last evening when everything wore off, but think about how other people are suffering with real aliments, and for me just a few Motrin and the pain is manageable.
So, think of the money I will save on toothpaste, floss and wear and tear of the toothbrush now that I have one less tooth to pay attention to.   What could I spend it on?  A sprinkle from the top of a doughnut?  A single layer of nail polish on my baby toe? Or hey, maybe I could save it up and buy a pack of sugar free gum-that is what the tooth fairy always left for my kids. One memorable time, SDaughter woke up before me the tooth fairy, and the item had to be snuck back in as if she did not look well enough when she first woke up.  I do believe that was the first inkling to her that the tooth fairy was not real.  
So listen, today I am fine, salt rinses trying to avoid the dreaded DRY SOCKET, lighter in the wallet, and enjoying Activia Greek Style yogurt-that I bought on sale, by-the-by.  Gifts everywhere.

Bottom line: how much wisdom did I lose along with the tooth?  I am off to  google that, and here is a little music selection for you, nothing to do with teeth, but trust me, I looked through some horrible tooth and tooth themed videos, and gave up, so instead here, is something else that reflects this Labor Day weekend.
"End of Summer"

Friday, September 2, 2011

Around the World...

Below is a an article about a speaker for our club.  This meeting happened a few years ago, but I thought it was very interesting to hear his story.  I hope you like it.

The Kiwanis Club of Marilla was the host to Ken Frey this past week, who spoke of his life-changing trip around the world with his wife Cheryl one year after they were married. Many slides were shown during Frey’s talk, which really brought the adventure right into the meeting room. Most of the pictures were taken by Cheryl. The trip changed from “we hope to some day...” to a reality after they mentioned their goal to a 94-year-old friend. He advised them to do the trip instead of talking about “someday,” and they realized he was correct. So they worked very hard to save money, purchased a 39-foot boat which they got sea-ready, christened it Hanna and left for their journey July of 1991. They began the trip along the Erie Canal, actually being pulled by a mule for part of the distance. The outbound route went along the Eastern Seaboard, where they encountered some extremely bad weather which gave a sudden reality check for these novices’ voyagers. Tying yourself to the various parts of the boat was extremely important in bad weather.


Global Positioning Systems (GPS) were not widely available for navigation at the beginning of their trip because not enough satellites were connected to the system. The original navigation method which they used was Celestial Navigation-using stars, the sun and a sextant to pinpoint their location. Toward the end of their trip, as technology advanced, a GPS was used which gave their actual location within 100 yards.

Fresh water while traveling on the saltwater Oceans was an important supply, and very hard to acquire. They did use a reverse osmosis system to convert water from salt to fresh. Showering was done with buckets of salt water, lemon Joy soap and rinsing with a precious small amount of fresh water.

They paid $300 to spend an entire day traveling through the Panama Canal toward the beginning of their journey, and in the canal they were dwarfed by large freighters.
Freighters were one of their concerns during the trip, since their size vessel might not be seen by a large ship. Even during the night, they would need to check the horizon every twenty minutes to watch for approaching freighters.

They decided that all of their stops would include a request from the locals to see any regional waterfalls or churches, sometimes these waterfalls really were large and powerful, sometimes the water barely trickled down a hill. Many of the churches were still being used, but some were overgrown with vegetation.

All the residents they came into contact with around the world were very welcoming to them; they were fascinated by their story and by Cheryl’s blonde hair and blue eyes-features none of them had. The children of the world especially were excited to meet them. The life they saw was a simple life for the natives, fishing, visiting with neighbors and making beautiful carved items and cloth. Many times celebrations were held in their honor because they choose to visit.
Because of the kindness shown by so many strangers to them, Frey has never charged a fee to do this presentation-it is his way of passing on this kindness.

A ham radio was their main source of communication, and it was very comforting to be able to call home to Alden New York from anywhere in the world. This was especially good when they would travel very long distances with no sign of life either in the water or the skies. Their longest stretch of this stark alone-time was 24 days on their way to Easter Island.

Many languages were used during their 4-year trip, their Spanish and French were passable, but other languages like Portuguese and Indonesian were more of a challenge.

Money was brought in American Currency since this was widely accepted, and in small amounts, with more funds being wired to banks as needed.

Stopping at the Equator, they followed tradition and had a celebration involving silly costumes and drinking a toast to their 94-year-old friend using some Cognac which he gave them.

A son named Gabriel was born to them in New Zealand in 1994, with the local medical doctors very willing to allow Frey to assist in the birth as much as he and his wife desired. This blue-eyed towhead was quickly the hit of the visits to small islands-he was looked upon as a rarity because of his coloring, and many cultures wished that he be carried while still less than two years old, so he had many different hands willing to hold him. They were always treated graciously during their visits to the villages, but this new baby brought a different sweet tone to their interaction.

Because of the birth of their son, they spent about four months in New Zealand, traveling around by car. They also used this time to spruce up their boat and acquire new charts for the rest of their voyage.

One part of their trip included a stop in South Africa, at the time when Nelson Mandela was recently released from prison. The part of the trip around the southern shoreline of Africa was too treacherous to take Gabriel on, so Cheryl and the baby went by car with friends across South Africa and later connected back with Frey.

Surprisingly, they made contact with some of the same people making similar voyages, along their travels, people that they never expected to see again would turn up at another island. These friendships were very important to the Freys.

Their trip continued on toward home, taking four years, covering 40 thousand miles and visiting a total of 28 countries.

They entered the Hudson River, traveling once again down the Erie Canal, arriving at Crawdaddy’s Restaurant in the Buffalo New York Marina to a large contingent of family and friends.

Their family now includes four children, and someday, maybe they will take another trip and share this adventure also with the members of the Kiwanis Club of Marilla who very much enjoyed this exciting account.