Family

This is a photo of DH (center) and his sister and brother, taken in 2009.  I have photos taken more recently of the brother, but he looks awful.  He is now on Hospice care, drifting in and out of consciousness at his sister's home in Kentucky.   You can see how tall and heavy he is, and I don't know how his sister can cope, even with hospice care and health aides that come in.  So this is a bittersweet photo, as we wait to hear that he has passed.  The waiting is very hard on everyone.

Bumper sticker of the day:  "Life isn't tied with a bow . . . . but it's still a gift."

Cure All Cancers

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West Virginia Beauty

This beautiful scene is at Hawksnest in West Virginia.  I was there once for a conference, and my photos were nowhere near as beautiful as this. A lot of WV has breathtaking views, and unspoiled areas that few people ever see.


I'm tired today after a bad night of almost sleeping, but not really.  I finally ended up on the couch, my bedroom was so stinky from a plumbing problem in my bathroom that was fixed (for now) but the memory lingers on.  Owning a home is one long series of problems, it seems, now that our home is 35 years old.  We have done all kinds of improvements and repairs over the years and I am tired of it all.  However, there is no alternative for now.  Readers that are longing for "a place of their own" are advised to think carefully about what they are taking on before mortgaging their life away.

I think I will try a nap, and see if that improves my outlook.  To one and all, here and there, I am thinking of all the anguish you are dealing with, and hoping that all is resolved soon and for the best. 

Peace.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind ... and the ones that mind don't matter."

Knock offs

I like to use looms to knit on, these are the round or narrow plastic looms with pegs on it that you wrap the yarn around.  There are a couple of manufacturers of them, but if you look online or in looming books, the main ones used are "Knifty Knitters".  I have read that the company that makes these (based in Provo Utah) was discontinuing them.  So I have a set of the round looms, but I wanted to get a set of the long narrow ones, which a number of patterns call for.  I went on eBay and found very few sets available, but there were a couple that were listed.  I won the bid on one of them, not realizing until I went to PayPal to pay for them that they were located in China.  I don't doubt that the Utah ones were actually made in China too.  Anyway, it has been 2 months or so, and they arrived today in the mail, all held together in rubber bands and tissue paper inside a big bag that was tightly taped together.  They look fine; but there is no name on them and the "how-to" instructions are without any brand name.  I think I have inadvertently bought a knock-off.  I have had a lot of opportunities over the years to buy name-brand merchandise at what had to be knock-off prices, and I never buy them; I feel it penalizes the original seller and causes them to raise prices to cover the costs of "outing" the pirates.  That having been said, I can't think of anything to do to  mitigate this error on my part.  They may break down while still new, and that will be my penalty for not paying attention to this.

We have survived the last gasp of winter earlier this week, when we had a lovely snowfall.  That is, it was the kind that sticks to the trees and leaves the roads clear.  But along with it was a 25 degree low that night, and our jonquils, ready to bloom, froze, even though they were covered.  Drat.  Every fall we resolve to put in more bulbs than the bunch next to the steps, and every year we forget until spring, when everyone else has loads of flowers and we have 12 or so.  If we don't plant bulbs this fall, then we probably won't even have that many.  And to be really strange, it is time to mow now, and some of the neighbors have done that today.   Strange weather.

The horses have been outside mostly this week.  We have been unable to find a source for wood shavings to put in their stalls, and so they need to be out as long as the weather is not brutal.  They have cover to go to where we feed them hay and grain, and although they don't have the brains to come in out of the rain, they could if they wanted to.

One of our neighbors recently got two beagle pups to train for hunting (what?  I don't know.  Rabbits?) and they are in a kennel with a dog house nearly all the time.  When they see anyone - the kids playing, other dogs, etc. etc. - they bark.  Not really bark; they howl.  It is driving me crazy.  The odd thing is, we borrowed the kennel when our Newfs were puppies, so the one-year old pup wouldn't get too rambunctious with the 10 week old one.  We alternated who was in and who was out, and moved the kennel every couple of days to be in the shade and on un-trampled grass.  We really appreciated the use of it, but the neighbor has yet to move the kennel to a fresh spot, and about half the time the pups have their doghouse upside down.  I'd like it if they moved them to the back of their property, so the howling would be muffled somewhat, but I know that won't happen.  And just so you know, our dogs have about one acre fenced and none of it near the neighbors, and they don't bark unless someone is in the driveway.  If then.

Back to the laundry.

Bumper sticker of the day:  "Wouldn't it be great if we could put ourselves in the dryer for 10 minutes and come out wrinkle free and three sizes smaller?"

P.S.  I changed the font here, as I found the original too hard to read.  I think I like this one, but I'll have to get used to it.  What do you think?

Do you remember?

When all the girls had to wear skirts to school (no minis either)

When kids could ride their bikes home after school.  Without helmets .

When no one warned kids of anything except "don't talk to strangers"

When milk cost $1 a gallon

When the Sunday comics were 4 pages long, both sides

Telephone party lines, and the guilty pleasure of eavesdropping

The automatic outward fling of the driver's right hand if there was a sudden stop and kids in the front seat (no seat belts or car seats)

Hand turn signals

Stop signs everywhere instead of traffic lights

When girls wearing shorts didn't have to decide whether to pull them down to cover their butt, up to cover their muffin top or just pick the seam out of their crack.                      

When you cashed your paycheck and put the money in envelopes for each bill to be paid.

Hula hoops, and the one the neighbor gave us.  I bet it really wasn't too big for her son.

When bullies were a fact of life and you learned to avoid them at all times.

Remember when coffee cans opened with a metal key fastened to the bottom of the can?

When Bic pens left blobs of ink when you wrote with them


Some of these have hugely improved now, so no, I don't get too nostalgic for the old days. 

Bumper Sticker for the day:  "Yet, despite the look on my face, you're still talking."