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 |  Well, here it goes! 'The Bard's Hall Contest' got me blogging again, so wish me luck! |
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You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. -- Maya Angelou Here I go again, blogging! I'm doing this for:
My blog picture above is located in the beautiful, scenic Sedona, Arizona. We vacationed there at the end of December, 2019 thru January 2020 - right around when the pandemic began. What a chaotic year it was, too! A scary time for all of us! I am hoping that this blog will show my creativity, heart, and soul, and reveal a little more of myself. I'm a shy person at heart and don't post too much in Newsfeed, but I love reading what others are saying.  I'm off to post my first blog... |
| The Forth of July is coming up, and our family is going all out celebrating our independence day. As I've said before, my husband love potatoes, so I'm making my potato salad. 5 lbs. cooked potatoes - cut into small pieces 3 cups mayonnaise or use according to taste. 2 cups finely chopped pickles or relish 5 hard-cooked eggs, chopped ½ cup chopped red onion 3 tablespoons prepared mustard 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or pickle juice or both. 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste ½ teaspoon ground black pepper Stir mayonnaise and mustard together. Add pickles, hard-cooked eggs, red onion, cider vinegar, and salt, and pepper to taste. Stir together in a large bowl. Fold potatoes into the mayonnaise mixture. Top with Paprika. Allow to chill at least six hours, or overnight to allow all the flavors to absorb. We serve this with grilled brats (topped with sauerkraut) on a toasted bun. *************************** We buy our own fireworks. We live out in the country on a hill. Our neighbor do the same thing, so we can watch their fireworks as well as ours. It's a fun night out for the young and old. We were going to go on a short vacation to visit Garner State Park, Texas. We wanted to see the pristine Frio River which has a cold, clear, spring-fed waters that remains chilly even during the area's hot summers. This sounds so amazing, but we decided to put the trip off til next year. Maybe then, instead of going by RV, we can rent one of their cool cabins that they have advertised. We love doing that too! I wish a 'Happy 4th of July' to all! After all this pandemic scare of 2020, it's time to celebrate. Now I'm going out to take a walk and look at my beautiful flowers - After all the rain we had for the last three days, they've really perked up. “Independence Day: freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| When hubby and I were first married, we moved into a house where an older gentleman died. We didn't know it at the time, but it became obvious when we kept hearing noises, objects were move or knocked off the counter. We even heard heavy footsteps climb the stairs at night. It would wake us up when we would smell an awful odor. Our neighbor clued us in that his elderly neighbor lady found her husband dead in his chair. He died quietly of old age. She put the property up for rent, and we jumped at the chance for low rent. It was a well-kept up older home and we felt in love with the older furniture, the dark woodwork and wainscoting. We couldn't figure out why the rent was so low, but we didn't argue the point. Well, we found out in short time... There was this dark stain above where the old man died. We didn't like it, and decided to paint the ceiling to cover up that ugly stain - To our surprise, it appeared again through the two layers of paint. This shocked us and sent goosebumps along our arms. We decided on a drop ceiling to hide it, even though we knew it was still there, but no one else did when they came to visit. We stored the old chair in the barn, and rearranged the furniture. After a while we forgot about the stain because these other things happened. It was like the old man didn't want us there. The lights flickered, things would go flying off the counter, but it never happened when we had people over. We told them what was going on, but they thought we made it up to scare them. Well, we took this ghost's nonsense for four years, and decided to move when I became pregnant with our first child. We moved to a hobby farm that we learned to love, raised sheep, goats, cows, and had a llama to protect our animals from coyotes. We called him our Kung Fu Llama, because he could kick from the side as well as back. We wanted him to share the pasture with our two female horses. He didn't like them, and would come chest-first, bumping them. They kicked him and he made the weirdest sound. He usually didn't say much, but when he got kicked, that told us we couldn't have our horses share the pasture with him. He didn't mind the sheep, goats, or cow, but drew the line with horses. I remember getting into a discussion with ember_rain, who's no longer with WDC. She told me many ghost stories that happened to her. They really make me think that there has to be others this happens to. This is when I started to watch the paranormal shows on YouTube. Some of them get downright scary, and I think back at the ghostly home we rented. I never was so relieved and happy to move away from that place! The popularity of the paranormal, oddly enough, might even be grounds for encouragement. I think that the appetite for mystery, the enthusiasm for that which we do not understand, is healthy and to be fostered. It is the same appetite which drives the best of true science, and it is an appetite which true science is best qualified to satisfy. Richard Dawkins |
| Hubby and I love feeding the birds. We've been feeding them for ten years now, and we're seeing so many different kinds who visit the feeder. They are the Chickadees, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Goldfinch, Hummingbirds, Nuthatch, Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole. Blue Jay, Cardinal, and even the huge Pileated Woodpecker came to visit - Woody Woodpecker was drawn when looking at this bird. The first one at the feeder were the Chickadees. I fell in love with them immediately! The others ones I got to know by looking them up to see what they were called. When the Pileated came to the feeder, my granddaughter saw him first and got all excited. "Grandma, there's a big bird at the feeder!" I turned to look and was amazed at how he maneuvered his way to those little feeders. After a while, he got pretty good at it. For such a big bird, he sure didn't stay long to eat. The smaller birds eat more than he did. Birds are just like people, some of them get along, while others like to fight, wanting it all. Some get pretty mean, but I guess, when you have a feeder, you have to take the good with the bad. They all have to eat! I wrote a poem on one of the birds that came to the feeder. He likes to mock other birds sounds, and he is very good at it. I had this delightful conversation with another member on WDC. We talked about the different birds he saw at his feeder. He never heard about the Grackle, so I thought I would write a poem about this bird. He loved it and thought he was cute - I'm sad that he is no longer with WDC. This Common Grackle made a nest by the creek that goes through our place. This bird loves to visit our feeder. He's quite a character!  The Grackle looks like he’s been stretched A whole twelve inches is my guess. With his long black tail, black beak, bright yellow eyes; Gives him an eerie look as if in disguise. Bronze-iridescent body and a purple headdress, He struts across the lawn for dried grasses to fetch. Male and female alike deliver twigs, reeds and mud to the nest, Which takes one to four weeks isn’t an overstretch. The final touches alone does a female obtain, A feat of perfection the nest she attains. Takes another five days to make without respite, Who knows, she may be working all through the night? When ready, she'll lay four to seven eggs with pride, Of pale, greenish brown with dark marks inside. This amazing nest may be found fitted in a shrub or a tree Located anywhere from three to thirty feet high, roughly. Maybe you'll find it above the water or close to the ground Where the parents are waiting for their hatchlings spellbound. Which will take around thirteen or fourteen days forthright, Then another twelve to sixteen days for their young to take flight. Give food to the birds, you will then be surrounded by the wings of love, you will be encompassed by the joys of little silent hearts! Mehmet Murat Ildan |
| What do you think about 'critical race theory' that is being taught to young children in classroom throughout the United States? It all started for many years in universities, now it has moved to our public institutions, teaching young children to hate. It's discriminates against the white children, while the black children are revered. Critical Race Theory has progressed to government agencies, public school systems, teacher training programs, and corporate human resource departments as a form of diversity training programs, human resources modules, public policy frameworks, and school curriculum. They snuck this all in under our noses, never realizing what they were doing until now. You're hearing more and more that parents are rebelling against their child being taught such racial hypocrisy. It's been growing for over forty years, and I think this is why so many young people hate America. It started in 1990 as an identity-based Marxism. At first, they were noble in their thinking, but it has gotten way out of hand! When it started out, the founder of critical race theory believed racism was present in every aspect of life which was never a true fact - That white people only gave black people opportunities and freedoms when it suited their interest, but this is far from the truth, at least in this day and age. They're against free societies and want to replace it with advocates control. They believe science reasoning and evidence are white ways of thinking, so if you're colorblind, and love all human beings, this is a form of racism to them. They believe the U.S. should be under Totalitarianism - centralized control by an autocratic authority. In times of crisis, when people are frightened, this is when there are calls for totalitarianism. You'll never hear about this form of teaching from main street media. That's why we were all in the dark! This has all come out front and center, realizing the harm they were doing to our young children. These people who are for Critical Race Theory hate America and want everyone to do the same. They talk about the flag like it's insulting to them! They're trying to erase American history, tearing down our statures, wrecking havoc in our streets, wanting everyone to agree with them that everything about America is racist. When will this hate stop? When we finally realize who is hating on our country and stop them in their tracks. |
| As I said at the beginning of my blog, I am a grandmother of six. Yes, they were a handful when I had to babysit. One of my grandchildren, Tristan, has ADHD, and he would stay with me when his parents went on a weekend vacation. When I tried to coax him into taking his pills, that always turned into a fight, so I just gave up. I didn't want to be the bad guy, making him do something he didn't want to do. He was highly active, so I found things for him to do. He liked throwing the basketball, so I made a game out of it - How many baskets can he make, can you beat me? These were fun times, and I enjoyed being with him. He loved skating, skiing downhill in the wintertime and later, he practiced skateboarding. Another of my grandchildren, Nathan, Tristan's brother, has Asperger’s and a touch of autism. I couldn't believe, when he grew older, the doctor prescribed six pills for him to take! My husband and I frowned when noticing how many pills he had to take. He smiled at us and took them all at once. He's a loner at times, and we would let him be. When he felt like socializing, we had a great time together. When he was a baby, I took care of him when his parents went to work, and he was a joy. When he got older, after his parents got a divorce, he became a handful. Was it because his mother babied him? I don't know! I still enjoyed being with him. He loves building things out of Lego's and some of the things he builds are impressive. I don't know how many Lego sets he has, but this is how he passes away his time. Nick, their cousin, had the same likes as Tristan. Anything that is challenging, he loves! He always wanted to trick us on Christmas, asking what we gave him? I told him no way am I telling you! He told me, "It's okay, grandma, I forget easy." I remember the time when he took his dad's jigsaw tool, he was around three at the time, his little legs were moving as he ran to throw it into his swimming pool. His dad ran after him yelling, no! But it was to no avail, he tossed it in. We all laughed, and his dad scolded us, "Don't encourage him!" He never liked the plastic tools we bought him; he liked the real tools his dad had. One Christmas he got a red 'Electric 4X4 Truck that he could drive. He really enjoyed it and would give the two neighbor girls a ride. That was the cutest thing, three blond kids, sitting together, each were around five years old. Leah, Nick's sister, is a joy. I mean, she had her mischievous phase, but has grown into quite a little girl. She loves all living things, and won't hurt them. When I stepped on a spider, she scolded me. I told, "I don't want that thing crawling back into the house, that's why I stepped on it." She loves horses with a passion! She thinks our llama, Bosco, our donkey, Daisy. and our goats and sheep are amazing. She gave each a name! She loves going to the zoo, play golf with her Uncle Kevin, and going on fair rides. Her little friend, Tori, didn't like going on rides, so Leah went on by herself. At the zoo, Leah was around six, she paced back and forth with the lion, and it looked like the lion was perturbed about it. So glad there was glass in between them. When she was small, she liked to mock different sounds like me clearing my throat, my son, Daniel, snapping his fingers, or whistling a tune. Anything that caught her fancy, she would mock it. Monica was a sad little girl that my daughter took in as her own. She was her husband daughter in his first marriage. Her mother didn't want her, so Gail became her mother. She had anger spells at first, but soon began to trust her father and Gail. She called me grandma, and I loved her for it. She loved to play dress up! While Leah was a tom boy, she was all girl who played with dolls, loved her Barbie Jeep, and loved school. She made friends easy and would meet them at the park - located nearby to her home. Nick and Leah were her brother and sister, Monica was two years older than them, so she would watch out for them. She didn't like riding horses, they scared her, but she didn't mind her uncle's three-wheeler. She got to be flower-girl twice and loved her beautiful dresses she got to wear to the weddings. Now if this was Leah, there would be a fight to get her to wear a dress, no matter how beautiful. Now I come to my last grandchild, Keara. When her parents parted ways, her mother moved away, and would not let my son see his own child. Who knew that it would come to this? We all liked Keara's mother, but she began showing her true colors when she got the engagement ring. We still gave her a pass, thinking this would all change when they got married. My son feels this was the biggest mistake of his life to ever get involved with her. The only thing that made him stay with her was his child. As the days went by, she turned Keara against her dad. She coaxed her to call her dad by his first name instead of Daddy. It got so bad that he asked for a divorce, never realizing he would never see his child again. We all remember Keara, love her, and pray that she is happy. “Grandchildren are a gift from above: one to cherish and to love.” |
| Hubby and I took care of a huge garden before we went into greenhouse growing. We grew lots of vegetables, like tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, peas, green beans, carrots, onions, cucumbers, beets, broccoli and cauliflower. We also grew watermelon, squash of all kinds, and green, yellow and red peppers. What we didn't eat, we sold at the farmer's market. When my husband got diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2011, we had tickets to go to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre - Jesus Christ Superstar was showcased. He had to miss it because he was in the VA hospital as the doctors were trying to figure out why he had such horrendous stomach pains. This is when we changed our eating habits. I changed with him, and concentrated on eating more vegetables along with our love of meat and potatoes. I found a great recipe in my mother's collection using tomatoes, green peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, and carrots. I make this now and then along with many other recipes I have in my favorites online or in my binders. It's called Garden Salad 7oz. of Le Veneziane Gluten Free Pasta - cooked - (Anellini Little Ring Soup Noodles) 1 medium tomato (diced) 1 green pepper (diced) 2 cups shredded cabbage 2 small cucumbers (peeled and diced) 2 carrots (grated) Dressing 3/4 to 1 cup salad dressing 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup vinegar Shake in jar until mixed. Pour over salad ingredients, toss. This recipe is quite good, it's filling, and my family loves it. If you don't want to make this much, you can cut this recipe in half. You can use Creamette Macaroni rings for this recipe, too. We're of German heritage, and love our meat and potatoes combo. As I said before, I love to cook, and love to make different dishes, but to no avail. All my hubby wanted was meat and potatoes! I do stretch my skills on holidays, though, and on these days I can shine, and then back to making meat and potatoes. Boring! Anyone else have this problem. Well, we're at least eating fruits and vegetables again, and I'm happy about that. “Cooking is all about people. Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people get together to eat.” — Guy Fieri |
| I call this episode of fake names ~ "Our Trial of Errors!'~ My husband and I used fake names when dating in our teens. I was Brenda Star and he was Marty Randolph. We were young and experimenting with how much we can get away with. When we met, these are the names we gave each other. Let's just say, this didn't make our day, and we were both angry about it! We sure found out how others felt about being cheated - when they gave their real name and we didn't. This was a life lesson we both didn't forget. When we met, it was magic in so many ways, and then to find out we gave each other fake names! Unfortunately, we both forgot to give our real names when we parted. The next day, we didn't know how to get in contact with each other. I thought he was a cad and he thought... well, I can't say what he called me. We were both young and foolish. I wrote a funny story about hubby and I using fake names for Lornda - 'Queen of Comedy' - in celebration on her thirteenth anniversary. I made her laugh, well,  and she gave me this Merit Badge. ![Merit Badge in Queen of Comedy
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A little something for making me laugh a lot with your funny true story at the [Link To Item #2213042] forum. Thanks for stopping by, Brenda Star, (*^*Rolling*^*) to celebrate my 13th! *^*Bigsmile*^* ~Lornda A.K.A. The Queen of Comedy *^*Crown*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Queen_of_Comedy-1875103_14.gif) I also wrote a poem on the subject: "Invalid Item"  It was on Valentine’s Day when we first met, He held my hand as we walked, becoming enthralled, On our trek through the park when rain began to fall, We laughed, and we danced, getting soaking wet. Our hearts rejoiced on what we shared that night, Bodies close, we danced as birds sang their tune, A kiss goodnight under a huge silver moon, Brought passion and desire that felt so right. I remember that day when I took a chance, The promises we made stoked our desire, My heart melted as we ignited the fire, On that Valentine’s Day I felt romanced. If only we gave our right names, we’d meet again, But we played the game, jinxing our love forever, Never to ignite the fire we built together, Alas, this story happens now and then. Are we star-cross lovers trying to right a wrong? Scented flowers in the park sprout hope again, To live our lives together as it all began, Because it’s in your arms where I belong. Readers asked - Did we met again? Yes, we did at a party our mutual friend's get-together. We were two years older and a whole lot wiser, but we still didn't speak for quite awhile. The so-called Marty came up and asked why I gave him a fake name? He looked angry and in my defense, "You did it too, you cad! So don't spout off at me!" When we calmed down, we talked. We gave each other our real names and the rest 'they say is history.' |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHctCo32_pU - If you want to watch what is really going on at the border. I'm concerned, that's why I'm blogging about it. The U.S. borders is now open to anyone wishing to come into out country. Would you let any Tom, Dick, and Harry come into your home? Well, this is what is happening to our country! Anyone can come, no matter wherever that is, and they are coming in droves. Why? For the free stuff that is being offered by the Biden Administration. The United States is being overpopulated, meaning our schools will suffer; unless, your child is going to a private school. I can't imagine teaching children who can't speak English. How is that done? There are so many question going through my mind. First of all, there are no background checks, so if these people have a criminal background, it's unknown. We have enough crime on our streets as it is! Second, they are not being tested for covid-19 or any other disease that they may be carries of. This is worrisome to a lot of people, not just me. Third, the drug cartel are happy with our open border policy. Drugs are pouring into our country, along with human trafficker's. Even children of all ages are coming without their parents by smugglers called coyotes. What happens to them once they cross? Nobody really knows for sure. I, as a parent, could never do this, so this makes me wonder what these parents are thinking? Do they want their children to have a better life this badly that they are willing to pay huge sums to these coyotes just to bring them here. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing, but I don't think so. Maybe this all will be straightened out over time, but how much more can our country stand before our economy is ruined beyond repair. So it's home again, and home again, America for me! My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be, In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars, Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars. ~Henry Van Dyke, |
| My husband has Celiac disease, {he calls it Silly-ass disease). He cannot eat anything gluten. My older son, Kevin, his fiancée has the beginning symptoms of it. We always wondered why she disappeared after eating? It was because she was having severe stomach pains. Why is this happening more and more these days, is it because of the foods we are eating? I'll delve more into this later on - how we changed our eating habits. ~This is for all who are suffering from Celiac disease~ I studied up on this and wondered what hubby can eat. He loved having sandwiches for lunch, but bread is out of the question these days - at least the bread that has gluten in it. Unfortunately he hates the gluten-free bread that you can buy, so I had to find an alternative to flour. Well, that means mixing different flours and starches together. Here is my favorite mixture if you want to bake bread for your loved ones. You can buy gluten-free flour now, but if you want to mix your own different flours and starches, just use the mixture below - then follow any recipe. Corn Starch - 2 cups Potato Starch - 2 cups Rice Flour - 2 cups Corn Flour - 1 cup Potato Starch - 3/4 cup Amaranth Flour - 1/4 cup {adds protein} Instead of yeast you use Xanthan gum - Measure out 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Whisk ingredients together until well blended, then put in airtight container. Store in cool place. This is hubby's birthday cake recipe. It's call Vanilla Sponge Cake which he loves. The best part, he can eat without having to worry about gluten. I found this recipe delicious as well. Try it, you'll like it, too. Measure out 2 cups from the flour mixture above or any of your favorite flour. 3 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1 1/2 cups sugar 7 egg yolks 3/4 cups cold water 7 egg whites 1/2 cream of tartar 2 tsp. vanilla Preheat oven to 325. Prepare a 10-inch tube pan by cutting parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan only. Do not grease the pan! Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. In a large bowl beat the eggs and water on low speed until foamy. Raise the speed to medium and begin to add the sugar 2 tsp. at a time until incorporated. Continue to beat 8 minutes total until mixture is thick and gained in volume. Whip egg whites until stiff but not dry. Sift flour mixture over the egg yolk mixture and fold in until blended. Add in the egg white mixture slowly, folding in 1/4 of it at a time. Work gently until it's all incorporated. Bake at 325 degrees for an hour. Test with knife, if it comes out clean the cake is done. Invert the pan, let it stand until completely cool. Then frost with your own frosting and decorate to your liking. Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp; but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne |
~Here’s what I’ll discuss in my blog~ I wrote in my journal when I was a teenage - everything about my classmates, boys, or just hanging out on the weekend amongst other stuff. I had plenty to say back then; now, not so much. I got married young, after five children later - who are all grown and left home - three got married and are now divorced. My other two sons commented, "If this is how it all goes down, I'm never getting married!" Even after all this, my five children found someone else to be with, but are now taking it easy, not jumping into marriage or at least not at this time. Out of these three failed marriages, I have six wonderful grandchildren. They appear to accept their parents’ separation; well, not a first, but let's just say they are adapting. They are growing so fast! Hubby and I lived on a forty-acre hobby farm for thirty years and have now moved to a smaller home that sits on eight acres. It has a small orchard, a huge garden where we grow our herbs and vegetable, and good size lawn. We love getting down and dirty, digging in the soil and watching things grow. My opinion pieces will be me keeping up on the latest news that's on YouTube. We watch Newsmax TV, The Next News Network, and Black Conservative Patriot to name a few - They comment on what they think is happening. I also go to https://x22report.com/, he tells it as it is. There’s no bright, shiny propaganda like the main street media likes to spout. I call them the ‘Echo Chamber Incorporated!’ Beware, I tell it as I see it, no holding back here! I love to cook and will have some great recipes that I’ll share with everyone. We started with growing tomatoes in the garden, then decided to go to greenhouse growing where we grew lots of tomatoes which we sold at the Farmer's Market. We did that for fourteen years and are not doing that anymore - It’s a lot of work! I do get angry at what is happening to our great country! Where we were finally energy independent, we're back to begging from countries who hate us. Gas prices have gone up, food prices will go up, things like this you will hear me commenting on. I will also tell a funny story how hubby and I met. It made Lornda laugh, so I think it's legit - a 'comedy of errors' on our part. It's a little embarrassing, too! “As long as you can laugh at yourself, you will never cease to be amused.” |
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