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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
Talk Tuesday! Last day of the month! Assess your work this month...tell us what you think, and what you've learned- both about yourself and your fellow participants. For one thing my May 23, Blog did not save. I built it in two sessions because of some busyness but I apparently did not save the second session properly. I just reviewed some of my blogs and found the glitch. Another thing about the 30-Day- challenge is some of the challenges are similar in different month or from last year so it is harder to find new angles. Over the months I have participated I have tried to make the blogs more interesting with net research to attempt to get away from repeating information from other times. So far, 2017 the challenges have been better and actually more challenging. As participants become more familiar with each other we share more. I'm surprised about blogging in general since no matter what part of the world we live in many reactions and experiences even in weather can be similar. Writing a blog seems to me you have to be very wordy expressive in order not to be misunderstood. Life moves forward in spurts and jogs. quote:“Only on the Internet can a person be lonely and popular at the same time.” ― Allison Burnett, Undiscovered Gyrl reference:http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/blogging ![Merit Badge in Blogging
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| Motivational Monday! Comedian {x-link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hope}, born on this day in 1903, once said "If I have to lay an egg for my country, I'll do it." He was a proud supporter of the US military and would often do comedy shows for troops stationed overseas. When have you "laid an egg" or lent your talents a greater good, be it writing or life in general? I support wounded warriors. When my family was younger I was a cub scout leader. I was a leader of a local youth outreach program in a church. Attending classes in college I gave away gloves and pencils to student around me who were in need. Every dog, cat, and parrot I presently own was someone else's cast off I give them homes. They give me love. There are lots of other things I have done now gone in the past. Every year the local post office does a food drive for the food bank to replenish winter supplies. We always give a bag of nonperishable to them. this year I stuffed it all in the post box at the end of the driveway fearing someone would just come along and grab and drive away with the bag.  My life is hampered by lack of a car so I don't have much of a social life. Plus, social security just goes so far. In order to hold down a job I would have to drive 35 miles away in one direction or another even if at my age I could convince someone to give me a job. And, if I had a job would I be able to maintain it with the stress levels and time needed to not only hold down the job and do my work to keep up at home? I recently sent in a questionnaire mailed out to medicare recipients. One of the questions was, "Are you able to complete the work that is expected of you at home?" Do you know there is a story on the internet that the elderly are quietly done away with by the USA if they are in someone's way. There is even a place on the net that tells you all about it.  Paranoia abounds.I had a math teacher in college that was an elderly lady. She was such an excellent teacher. She shared with me that the college would only let her work a certain number of hours because they wanted her to stay in good health. The freedom in our society isn't necessarily bad but it has a lot of glitches. When the so called baby boomer generation started to age I saw a lot of changes. The counties started ageing departments to deal with the problems experienced by aging people. Aging people deal with lots of physical problems that are brought on by stress experienced in their earlier years, abuse and work related body breakdown. Society is inclined to sweep aging under the table and put all their trust in younger generations of people. Who unfortunately still have some of the problems we older people grew up with. Ageing, Global Warming, War, North Korea building a missile program with the intent of striking the USA, Shall I worry or shall I plant the garden, fill the bird feeders outside, watch the new crop of baby red squirrels running up and down the trees, protect the robin's nest that was built outside the barn doors, read and review new books, clean the barn............... Sorry no time to worry. Just busy. If someone drives by and yells help me. I will probably look into it. ![Merit Badge in Just Because
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| The Sunday News! This week, legendary disco act KC and the Sunshine Band returned to the Billboard Pop Chart with their first single in decades...and quite a few groups whose heydays have long since passed have seen varying degrees of success in recent years. Which 60's, 70's, or 80's singer (or band) would you like to see make a successful musical comeback in the next year? Quote:I went through all the musicians in my life who I admire as bright, intelligent, virtuoso players. David Bowie Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/musicians.html How about Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers? Oh yeah you said 60's, 70's, or 80's. Then I guess I can't say right now. The thing is we watch a lot of PBS. Many of the singers from the years stated are there to listen to often. If they are still alive and singing PBS is putting them forward for our entertainment. And, if they are not alive PBS is playing every concert they ever taped on specials for our entertainment. If they need a comeback PBS will make it happen. I have a fantasy that if we piped the right kind of music across the war zones of the earth the men who are killing would become confused about their ideas and begin to grow gardens or build houses with indoor plumbing and read books to their children about history, science and literature.  The fantasy returns often maybe it's time to write a story? |
Creation Saturday! Create a backstory from the strangest thing you've seen at a garage sale. May 27, 2017 The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. Neil Gaiman Read more at: {link: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/story.html} Just going to garage sales, flea markets, or stopping at a yard sale can glean questions and stories about articles on tables being presented for sale. I was strolling through the flea market one Saturday morning. Weather should encourage people on flea market day. Today, the temperature was mild, the sun was shining, plus, a light breeze was keeping shoppers cool. Grandmothers were talking with children about the stuffed animals on a table, while fathers sorted through the tools and mothers haggled about different prices on jewelry and dishes. There were a lot of shoppers at the long lines of merchant’s tables. In my kitchen is a set of dishes that belonged to my mother. They are English china. The set used to include small curved dishes that I used for side dishes. The curved dishes followed the natural curve of the dinner plates. Someone told me they were originally meant as finger bowls. The pattern is small pink roses on white china. Someone stole the small curved dishes. Just those few are gone the rest of the set seems to be complete. At the flea market I came across 6 dishes exactly like the ones I used to own sitting on a table with other odds and ends of dishes. First I just starred at them from the walking lane. Then, I moved in closer. They were stacked neatly on the table in close proximity to the sellers van. As I reached out to examine the top dish the seller exited the van and came over. “Do you like the dishes? I can give you a good price.” I turned the dish over. Stamped on the bottom was a gold crown and the insignia “Johnson Bros. England.” They were the size and shape of my missing china pieces but the little flowers were lavender not pink. The seller was very tall and carrying some extra pounds. I looked straight into his washed out blue eyes, “I don’t want to buy them. I was curious about them because they are exactly like some dishes that were stolen from my home. But, they are a different color. So, I was wondering where is the rest of the dish set?” His eyes narrowed. A smirk spread across his face. He would not answer. He shrugged and turned away back into the van. Can you tell me? Why would people pick a certain type of dish out of dish sets steal just that part of the set and resell them? Even as antiques the value is less if the set is not complete. One day we were traveling home from strawberry picking. I had five dollars left from the strawberry money and I was determined to keep it in my pocket. There was a table set up in a driveway in front of a small cottage, which was set back from the road. The cottage was tiny. It probably had a kitchen, bedroom and living room. Much more could not have fit. A young man was pacing around the table which had a few items on it. We stopped to look at the items. There was a darkly stained wooden box on the table. It looked hand made. There were beautiful patterned carvings on the box. It had obviously been well cared for by someone. When the man saw me admiring the box he offered it to me for five dollars. He said it had belonged to his grandmother who had recently died and he was just trying to eliminate some of her belongings. I would not part with my money. Now, when I watch “The Antiques Road Show” I wonder if he kept the box or how he disposed of it. What did she keep in such a beautiful box? Was it a jewelry box or a tea box, or an herb box? I also wonder if she had died or if he just took it to sell. I can’t remember what I did with the five dollars in my pocket but I remember how I was drawn to that box. I like pottery. Near us in surrounding communities there are potters, and glass blowers. A local college has classes for artists of all kinds. Most of the pottery I find is expensive at least for my pocket. Walking in a flea market one day I found two pottery bowls. Perhaps someone made them for ash trays. They are dishwasher safe and I use them for salad bowls. They are identical in size and shape, surely formed by the same hands. Also, they are fired with an excellent glaze. They are my favorite dishes for salads or pie. A young India teenager was watching over the table. “How much do you want for these dishes?” He was very shy. “Twenty-five cents for any dish on the table”. As I looked around I wondered if he was selling off the household kitchen ware to earn money. I took the two salad dishes and gave him a dollar. I doubt that any one else in that flea market was selling pottery dishes for a quarter. One day we were driving by a yard sale. It was a sunny day in the fall. On the tables I found a piece of barn board with a bird painted on it. I’ve never identified the bird. It could be a shrike, or a cuckoo. The bill is wrong for a shrike and the color is wrong for a cuckoo. Around here a lot of old wooden barns were torn down and replaced with newer models built with metal siding and roofs. The weathered wooden siding from the old barns were gray with age. Artists were inclined to use it to create things. People used it inside homes for accent walls to decorate their homes. I paid one dollar for the painting. “Did you paint this bird it is a very good painting?” As she took my money and laid it in her cash box she retorted, “No, I’m glad someone is taking it off my hands. My sister -in-Law painted it and gave it to me as a gift. I don’t want the ugly thing in my house.” It hangs on a wall in my hall just below a chick-a-Dee painting. The chick-a-Dee is painted on a piece of slate. I found the chick-a-Dee painting in a huge flea market that it takes a most of a day to walk through. I saw it on a table, it was listed for three dollars. I was surprised by the price and there wasn’t any one around. After walking around several rows of tables I decided to go back and see if I could find someone to pay. The first time around a man at a nearby table had watched me examine the painting. When I returned to the row the table was still there but the painting was not visible so I thought I was just lost in the wrong row. Then I saw the same man watching from a different table. “There was a painting of a chick-a-Dee here on a piece of slate. Did someone buy it?” “No, You have the wrong table we don’t have any paintings for sale.” “Is this your table. I’m sure this is the right place.” He had an odd look on his face. Then, he walked over to a nearby truck and pulled out the slate painting. “Is this what your looking for?” “Is it still for sale? “Yes.” “Is it still three dollars?” “I suppose so.” As I handed over my money I queried him. “Did you paint it?” “No. I’m just watching over the table.” “Do you know who painted it.” “No. It could be anyone.” I don’t yard sale or flea market shop often. I’ve been in a “get rid of it” mood for a long time. However, sometimes I like trolling for something that is a piece that makes me wonder who, what, why, when or where. |
Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1959, the word "Frisbee" became a registered trademark of Wham-O. What is your favorite memory of a childhood summer outdoor toy ? From: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/tree-house “TREE HOUSE A tree house, a free house, A secret you and me house, A high up in the leafy branches Cozy as can be house. A street house, a neat house, Be sure to wipe your feet house Is not my kind of house at all- Let's go live in a tree house.” ―By Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends I remember books, my bicycle and dog & cat friends. I probably spent hours riding up and down our country road. There was very light to almost no traffic on the road. Forest lined the edges of the dirt road, where large tracks of unused land was at that time. Much of the land has been split into 30 to 50 acre pieces now. There are many homes on the road. It is still a gravel based road. But, it is a cross road to other roads so we have a lot more traffic. My dad had a dog, then as a teenager I had my own dog. I used to spend hours roaming the woods and land behind our home with a dog on a leash. Now, there are more real bears around so I stay closer to home when I'm out with my dog. There was a trapeze that my brother hung from a rafter in the barn. I spent days playing on it. It was over the hay mow so a soft landing was guaranteed. He also built me my own tree platform where I liked to read and spend time looking up at the sky and the tree limbs that rose high into the sky. It was in a very tall maple tree. I spent so much time in that tree it was like a friend. My brother had a platform seat clear up in the top limbs of that tree. He would go up so high I couldn't see him. When he came down he would tell me how far he could see and tell me about some of the sights he could see. From the age of 12 or so I spent a lot of time at my Aunt's house during the summer. My aunt paid me for house cleaning and garden work in the summer. They had a small truck garden business. I learned to plant and grow strawberries. And, of course I read all their books.  Nope no Frisbee in the picture until my children were growing up. Keep on keepin on! |
The Wildcard Round! Today's winner will get 5000 GPs! One big thing versus lots of little things...take that in any direction you'd like.  Quote:Our deep respect for the land and its harvest is the legacy of generations of farmers who put food on our tables, preserved our landscape, and inspired us with a powerful work ethic. James H. Douglas, Jr. Read more at: {link: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/harvest.html} You have to look forward to a harvest. Even though, at the time of Memorial Day the days of summer still reel out before you like a road you haven't traveled yet. Harvest is the one big thing in this blog today. I shopped for plants last week. I don't always get to plant as much as I want. My gardening skills are a bit on the hilarious side. Weeds are always a problem. I garden in beds it's suppose to work better than long boring rows. I'm planting vegetables this year as well as flowers. The little things in today's blog are 3 different kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, 2 kinds of Hubbard squash, broccoli, cauliflower, red onions ( I planted these last year they did not grow. This year, last year's onion plants are up and growing exactly where they were planted last year.  ) pansies, herbs: winter thyme, lavender, lemon mint and others, impatiens, a new yellow begonia, zucchini, parsnips, maybe peppers if I find some plants. plus I only have one variety of cucumber I need more. There are several beds to put plants in. I like vine squash, cucumber and zucchini because the leaves and vines running around other plants in the beds keep the weeds from growing. then you get to eat the yummy squash at the end of the season. Because of the beds being the size and shape they are I plant vegetables and flowers mixed up. Hopefully, in a symmetrical manner so they look liked it's planned. Turning the dirt in the beds is done by hand with shovel and fork. This was the first year ever that caused me to wonder how many years I will be able to physically achieve this work. Also, this is an unusual year because I rarely plant until the first of June. We had all that warm weather in February which woke up the gardening urge early. I'm still working on one of the beds but most of the plants are in the ground and being watered regularly by spring rains. If the chipmunks don't get things, harvest should be fun and yummy. Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. reference: American Standard, Logos International Study Bible |
War Chest Wednesday! From a previous challenger... Would you rather be a sailor, or a shipbuilder? I'm mentally not suited to long voyages across the sea. I would rather build a ship. However, I don't think I would like to weld so I would rather design and oversee the building, than build it myself. One time I wanted to build a kayak. I did not have time to put into the project. There were easy plans available on the internet to make it possible. Tools for these kinds of projects might be a problem. It's better to think it through first than build if you have equipment to finish the project. Unlike Gibbs from NCIS it would not be fun to just build each piece by hand and take years to finish one boat. There is a game podcast on YOU TUBE that involves advertisements for games to build pirate ships and space vessels. After the building is complete the ships are used to fight or destroy. Quote: If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/antoinedes121261.html  |
| Talk Tuesday! What's the greatest fast food indulgence no longer available that you wish would come back and be something you can get at any time? McDonald's removed cherry pies from the menu for awhile but they brought them back later. Since this is an update I don't really remember what else was in the original blog about food. The restaurant with the Smiley Face Cookies used to have a Portabello Mushroom salad I liked but they took it off the menu quite a long time ago. We eat at Perkins often. I like their foods. Recently, I had a strawberry salad with greens, walnuts, chicken, and a strawberry sauce that was delicious. They change their menu a lot so you cannot always expect to get a dish that you may have liked before. If you are observant you may be able to recreate it in your kitchen. I asked for Russian dressing once, they did not have any, but what they brought instead was very similar and delicious. This seems to me more like a memory test than a real problem I caused by forgetting to save. My saved blog was here at one time. I checked it out earlier in the month. Since I was attacked by people who like to mind surf in the night over the memorial day holiday. This is especially easy when there are electrical storms going on. I woke up when I was dreaming about someone yelling forget forget. If you think I'm going you haven't read enough about scientific studies of the mind yet. In 2004 I was in a zoology class. We had a demonstration by a group of Doctors studying the mind. the main speaker stayed in the front while the others trolled the room. It was very interesting. The subject was the abilities of the mind and mental suggestion. Another interesting thing is the fact that the mind can understand and interpret languages other than the one you normally speak. Even though you may not have studied another language. I have studied minor Old Testament Hebrew, Spanish, the Russian alphabet, some Germain (the 1970's) and a smattering of French. As I've said before, I cannot speak any of these languages. But, I can occasionally read some language sentences about directions. Some day these types of situations will be well documented (maybe they all ready are) so that people will not be able to steal, lie and cheat someone by giving them deliberate mental suggestions as they sleep. A really safe free society may not show up in my lifetime but it is on its way down the road sooner than you think. We watched WWII movie Monday. War is presently bloody and inefficient. mankind is smarter than this. |
| Motivational Monday! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , born on this day in 1859, once said "Any truth is better than indefinite doubt." How do you relate to this? Truth is related to the words fact and reality. One of the reasons I don't watch a lot of news is the lack of facts based on reality. Reality has become like the twisted corridors in a maze. We are always looking for a clear window to look out of that will lead us to a verifiable certainty. If it is authentic truth, most likely it will be better than doubt. Doubt will cause us to wonder constantly what actually happened in any given situation. These are sometimes the thoughts that Mindfulness is helping us avoid. Many people don't appreciate truth. Truth should alleviate doubt. It should shed light on darkness. People should not be afraid of accuracy and truth. I like the way the dragon was treated in the "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", by C.S.Lewis. When the scales were ripped away, reality was a good thing. quotes: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_truth.html Reality is what people who are not grounded are avoiding. There are a lot of problems right now being experienced by people on the earth. Here is my question: Why is it that so many people are involved in the wars and starvation being experienced on the earth? Where are the leaders that are suppose to give meaningful advice to others and drag us out of poverty? Why do we continue to doubt when we vote for someone to lead? Reality shows us what is out there but not always how to avoid problems. If the meteorologist tells you it will rain today, then the sun comes out and shines, did he tell the truth? If there are two people rowing a boat, one person has steady strong strokes and the other person dips his paddle into the water but does not use it properly where will the boat go? Truth is like this sometimes. |
The Party: Quote:"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen."– Orhan Pamuk (author, My Name Is Red) Reference: {link:http://www.akc.org/content/entertainment/articles/dog-quotes/} This party is special. Owners would bring their dogs. I would blow up my favorite picture of Cheech for display. It shows him sleeping in the sun on a rug with two other dogs and the cats. For adventure: we could group walk on the trail around the pond and across the back of the property. Dogs and owners could take rides on the four wheeler or around the block in cars. Playtime with disks or tennis balls on the front lawn would also be available. Homemade dog treats pieces of carrot, sweet potato and meatballs would be available for the dogs. Pizza, grilled burgers, and hotdogs for the humans.   Before we depart for our homes we would gather and tell our favorite stories about animal friends we have known. In the land of dogs Cheech was one of the best. |
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