Wondering

I have been writing this blog since 2004 and in all that time I think I have gotten less than 150 comments total, on hundreds and hundred of posts.  How do I go about getting a more comment-y response?  I read other blogs and write comments and my blog address, but so far that has yielded very few (like 40) remarks, most from bloggers that I didn't visit myself.  A few exceptions (and I thank you for that).  When I read back over my posts, they sounds reasonably coherent and rant-free; is it that the topics are too boring?

I stand corrected: there have been 430+ comments, including 50 or so from just the last 8 posts.  But why aren't these being posted?  I can read them on the http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8929312#publishedcomments page, but not here with the posts.  What gives?

Any insights into this will be much appreciated.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Does your train of thought have a caboose?"

Photographer extraordinaire

Well, not really.  I have been doing some photos outdoors this week, but I am not satisfied with the results yet.  I wish there were some way to get a higher elevation, so I can look down on the house and the front yard foliage.  I have been known to climb a ladder to photograph the swimming pool (that entry is on here somewhere), but that is not high enough.  I'll wander around tomorrow, weather permitting.

I have taken several photo classes over the years.  The latest is from Better Photo, an online critiqued variety; the problem is a combination of the high price per class, and having to devote a great amount of time to the assignments.  They have been sending me emails nearly everyday, and I guess they are suffering from a downturn of students due to the economics of the day, less discretionary funds to go around;  I know I don't currently have $395, for an 8 week course, to do this.

Am I scary enough?

This is BC who thinks she actually fits in this box.  It looks like she burst out of it.

Bumper Sticker:  "Sometimes life just sucks the jelly right out of your donut."

Sliding Right Along

Well, I kinda let things slide here for a bit, but I promise to do better.  Or at least make the attempt. 

It is 5 am and I am finally sleepy again, so I will work on this tomorrow when I am not so zombie-ish.

This is my daughter, at the pumpkin place we went to on Saturday.  So much to see!  A live band, all kinds of vendors, flowers everywhere.  I amazed myself at all the walking I did, mostly due to having a shopping cart to push and keep my balance.
It has been several years since we were there, we must remember to go again next year.

I am slowly working on the third knitted scarf, like the first one but without the errors.  It is white, with a lovely soft hand.  This one will be a gift.  Assuming all goes well.

It is very foggy here this morning, everything outside sounds muffled.  The bird feeders are still being used pretty much all day, I worry that this mild start in weather will hamper their migration, maybe we should take the feeders down?  This is the first year for them, all the outdoor cats are now too fat and too lazy to lie in wait for a bird snack.  One of the outdoor cats has disappeared, a tomcat; they come and go, looking for love (of the female cat kind) I guess.  Maybe he will turn up again.  He is a black cat, I worry when I don't see them near Halloween.


I got my hair cut and I hate it.  Maybe it will be OK once it grows out a bit.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "I've got a perfect body but it's in the trunk and beginning to smell."

Fall

Fall, my favorite season, has begun, and I love it.  Cool crisp days, a little breeze, the leaves just beginning to turn, it is all so beautiful.  I thought about posting a photo here, but decided to wait until the leaves are more striking.  One good frost will do it.  I do realize that my last post extolled the beautiful fall season, but every day brings more color and the feel of crispy leaves underfoot.

The horses are feeling fall too, jumping into the air and bucking.  For 20+ year old horses, it is pretty neat to watch, although I hold my breath every time, these geriatric horses that think they are still colts.  It will break my heart when it is time for them to go.

My heart catheterization went OK, the worst part was the waiting in the little cubical to get started.  The results were a good heart for my age.  I think the next is to check the electrical circuits, see if I need a new battery or whatever.  I won't know much until I see the heart doctor in October; I  know she will recommend that I lose weight.  Sigh.  I did get the final cap on my broken tooth, so I can eat on both sides of my mouth.  Heaven forbid that I curtail my eating.  My only souvenir of the heart cath is a pretty big bruise on my arm where they inserted the catheter.  

Did I mention the knitting forum swap?  There are a lot of different kinds but they all work the same.  Each swap has a theme, and the one I am signed up for is the color wheel.  Evey month there is a different color.  This month's is pink; you get whatever is pink to send along to your swap partner (a different one every month) and they do the same for me.  There is a dollar amount, but I always overspend and then have to pare down the items.  It is a lot of fun, seeing what you get, anything from candy and coin purses, to (always of course) yarn.  I always love to get packages in the mail.

Time to go.
Here is the bumper sticker for the day:  "If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?"

An Early Fall Day

Having a lovely day today, the sky a clear blue and just warm enough.  I suppose we will still have some hot days, but for this weekend it is pool closing time.  I had only 3 times in the pool all summer.  Even when the water was warm enough, we had lightning storms nearly every afternoon/evening.  A pool is not where you want to be when lightning is around.

My luck with doctors is continuing, as the oncologist I saw sent me for an echocardiogram and chest x-ray, when I told him about my breathlessness.  They showed that my EF (?) was low, and to follow up with the cardiologist who would call me with an appointment.  So far no call, but taking the meds prescribed by the oncologist.  Guess I will have to follow up with the oncology office.  I don't even know the name of the doctor who is to contact me.

I saw the trailer for the new Riddick movie, starring Vin Diesel, a couple of days ago.  I want to see it (I really like the Riddick character), but it looks a little, um, intense.  I think I will wait until it comes out in DVD to watch it.  That way, if it gets to be too much, I can stop it and come back to it after a break.  And the cost of going to the movies!  $9.00 and then the absurd price for drinks and popcorn.  Makes buying the DVD sound quite reasonable.

Can't think of anything else to day, so hang in there, I'll do better next time.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "I've lost my mind and I'm pretty sure the kids took it."

Senior Moments

A senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership.  Taking off down the road, he floored it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little gray hair he had left.  "Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-94, pushing the pedal even more.  Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a state trooper behind him, lights flashing and siren blaring.  He floored it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120.  Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing?  I'm too old for this," and pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.  Pulling in behind him, the trooper walked up to the Corvette, looked at his watch, and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes.  Today is Friday.  If you can give me a reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go."

 

The old gentleman paused.  Then he said, "Years ago, my wife ran off with a State trooper.  I thought you were bringing her back."

"Have a good day, sir," replied the trooper.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "If at first you don't succeed then skydiving is not for you."

Pen-sive

I just love pens.  Fountain pens by Parker, vintage, are my favorite, but any clever or ordinary pen that writes nicely will do.  When I worked, I had this huge ceramic pot completely filled with pens.  When co-workers asked if I had, say, a red pen, I would pretend to study the big pot, and then give them whatever they needed, no return expected.

But when I got re-assigned to a lab, I only worked there long enough to give myself a nervous breakdown, and was on sick leave for 2 months.  I came back to collect my stuff for another job (which was wonderful) and found Dr. A. had taken all my retractable gel pens.  I guess he thought I had bought them somehow with his grant money, even though I had no access to his money and had bought all those pens myself (or maybe he thought finders keepers (he was from Ethiopia, maybe property is handled differently there) or maybe he thought I wouldn't be coming back)  I saw him writing with one particular pen, a Sarasa, that came multi-colored  and archival quality, so especially useful when writing up lab data.  But what was I supposed to do, snatch it out of his hand?  Anyway, I just found these same pens while ordering a new calendar, and today they came.  I am pleased all out of proportion to the value or scarcity of these pens; I feel like I won another round with Dr. A**hole.  Pardon my french.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Why be difficult, when with a bit of effort, you can be impossible?"

Appointments

I'm sitting here waiting to leave for a visit with the surgeon.  Next week I see the oncologist and the following week, the dentist, and then the new therapist.  Of all of these I dread the dentist the most.  I broke a tooth on Monday and the dentist was able to patch it up, so I can get by until that date to do a crown.  I hate it, the impression gags me and laying all the way upside down makes me feel faint.  Xanax beforehand.  No pretzels beforehand!   I called the derm doctor for an appt., and the soonest she has an opening is December!  Must be a good practice.  I have known her since she was a student in the lab where I worked, or I would probably change doctors to one closer to me. I seem to be failing one system at a time...

Speaking of failing, DH pulled a tendon in his heel, and the chiro that he goes to wrapped it, for support, like the athletes' ankles are wrapped.  When DH took it off two days later, he had a mammoth blister on the top of his foot where the bandage rubbed.  Now he has no bandage and I refuse to re-wrap it until he sees the chiro on Friday.  Meanwhile he can't get a shoe on, only his slippers.
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Back from the doctor, now I have to have another procedure done.  My insurance coverage is top-notch, fortunately.

My kids (now grown) went to a Catholic school for grades 1 to 6.  Today in the grocery store I saw a little girl wearing the school uniform that my daughter did, a plaid skirt in green, red and black.  It took me back; such a benefit to have a uniform, no arguments about what matches, or too tight or too short, etc.  I fully support all schools having uniforms for their students, in addition to the benefits above, there is no competition about who has nicer clothes, designer jeans, t-shirts with questionable slogans, and on and on.  Maybe in another 20 years...

Bumper sticker for the day:  "He who hesitates is not only lost, but miles from the next exit."

Knitting

Here is my first patterned knitted item, a scarf about 5 feet long. I have made hats, but the only garment I made I raveled back, it had such severe goofs in it.  So here it is my best item to date.  (Using my guitar for a prop.)

Maybe (horse) is running around the barn screaming, for no apparent reason.  Guess I'll go check it out.  Back later.

OK, she has stopped with all the screaming, still can't figure out what set her off .  One of those horsey things.

I am doing another scarf, while the pattern is fresh in my mind.  Not that it is complicated, but I want this one to be error free.  If that is even possible.  I have been machine knitting off and on for years, but I am determined to learn how to do other then straight stockinette stitch..  I am pretty pleased how this is going.  I know people say, why go to so much trouble when you can buy knitted things so cheaply?  But if you want a certain color, a certain style or fit, you could look a looonngg time and never find just what you want.  Plus, it is enjoyable to knit (as long as it is going OK.) One of a kind, too.

I am sitting here dyeing (my hair) and boy does it stink.  You would think it would destroy your hair, all those chemicals, but my hair actually behaves better right after being colored.  When my hair grew back after the chemo treatment, I left it gray for several weeks, and I would flinch every time I saw myself in a mirror, the grey made me look sickly and drab.  It took many treatments before I got my chosen color back, but I am being real particular now to keep it done.  I sure would like to be a "grandma", but not look like one.  Not that it is likely I will ever have a grandchild, both D and S are adamant about that, and given the state the world is in now I guess I can see why.  Maybe if  I rented a kid for a weekend I would change my mind.  My aunt says she kinda felt like me until she had her grandnephew for a few days, when she was glad to welcome peace and quiet back.  But think of all the baby stuff I could knit!

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Never argue with an idiot.  They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience."

Wordless Wednesday

Bumper sticker of the day:  "Editing is a rewording activity."

Lazy Summer Days

After some really hot weather, we have a lovely day here today, 66 degrees and fluffy white clouds in a pure blue sky.  A little chilly for swimming, but probably OK this weekend.

Above is a photo I took a few days ago.  The hummers were not the least bothered by me and my camera, there was a steady stream of birds at the feeder.  I took dozens of shots, never sure if the bird was visible or not, they move so fast!  I mostly  just listened for them and got the feeder in focus, ready for a bird.  Perversely they often fed from the openings in the back of the feeder.

Do you know the old saw about shooting photos?  If you can, shoot it good.  If you can't shoot it good, shoot it big.  If you can't shoot it big, shoot it red.  I have at least two of these covered.

See my view counter over on the right side?  Today I hit 21,000 views since 2007.  I know that is not a lot, compared to many blogs, but I am happy with it.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Cover me:  I'm changing lanes."

Ah, the Mysteries of the Electronic Age

Here I am again!

What, you didn't miss me?  Five entire days without an internet connection? And all because of a lightning storm that crashed one TV, one router box, one pool pump, and, as it turned out, one ethernet card on my desktop computer.  So I am connecting now with my Macbook and I can't see the keys because I am typing in the dark.  Why am I in the dark? Because in the light, the glass door attracts bugs outside while the cat BC makes like a pogo stick, jumping straight up and then falling down Kerthunk! over and over again, trying to catch the bugs on the other side of the glass.

You know what?  I'm going back to sleep.

Later:

We are puppy sitting again today, fortunately they will be in the garage in crates, because the owners have a family emergency to go to.  We will probably let them in the kitchen later when we are all awake and breakfasted.  God they are noisy!  I can hear them upstairs and on the other side of the house.  Meanwhile Raven (the black Newf) is off to the vet for her checkup after all her problems.  She even had to wear an e-collar for  couple of weeks so she wouldn't lick or chew on the sores, which are finally all healed up.  Her appetite is back and she is playing with the other Newf.  Hopefully this visit will be cheap, maybe even free?  Not likely.

It is pouring outside, even though the weather said it would be overcast but no rain.  I heard thunder around 1 a.m. and got up to listen, and check the weather channel radar and I thought maybe I had imagined it.  But no, when I woke up this morning it was pouring all over my new summer furniture cushions.  I won't make that mistake again.  It is just that the cushions are hard to wrangle back into their storage box.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "The cops never think it's as funny as you do."

Monsoon, anyone?

It wasn't even supposed to rain today, but at 1 pm the sky opened up and along with lightning and thunder made us think about a boat.  There is a river in the back by the barn, going away from the barn which is good.

Our neighbors across from us asked us to keep an eye on their beagle pups (Max and Ruby) while the family went to an amusement park in Ohio.  They were fine in the morning, but with the storm, they were shivering, howling and shaking as the water slopped through the pen and on into the dog house.  We brought them inside here and put them in the kitchen with gates from our own puppy days on either side.  They were pretty scared, (they are only 7 weeks old) but now that they are dry and the worst of the storm is gone, they are sacked out on the towels we put down.  Dog towels, I hasten to add; that is the life cycle of towels in the household, first people towels, then when they get tatty they become dog towels and when they are really shredded they go to the barn as horse towels where they never return.  I'll take a photo (success) if I can do it without waking them up.  They are very noisy, and they are noisy any time they are awake, it seems.

I have been preoccupied the last week or so.  Both my primary care physician and my surgeon retired as of July1st.  I got in to see the regular doctor before he left to get all my scripts refilled; and I switched my appointments with the surgeon to another doctor in the same practice group.  Now as long as my oncologist, dermatologist, dentist, and psychiatrist keep working I should be OK again.

In addition to changing doctors, I have had to switch my meds around.  I had been taking Aleve every day, first thing in the morning, because it helped my bum knee a lot.  But  it is not without side effects, and so I am taking another NSAID which is not as effective.  Drat.

I somehow got into some poison ivy a few days ago.  I think it was from handling DH's grubby work jeans that he wore while mowing, since I have radar senses when it comes to the poison ivy plant itself.  It grows everywhere here, vines climbing a few of the black locust trees on the edge of our property; the vines have aerial roots that keep the vine alive even if it is cut off at the base.  Some of those vines are as big around as a man's forearm.  The only way to clear it now is to cut down the trees and haul them away.  Couldn't run the risk of burning the trees because inhaling the smoke from an ivy fire could give you a nasty anaphylaxis reaction.  Not good.

We were going to go out to dinner tonight, but I feel very tired for some reason, and with the puppies here until the owners get home, it is better to wait for some other night.  My knitting project was nearly done when I dropped 12 stitches on the end and they ran into "ladders".  Now the entire thing is unraveled and I will have to try again.   It is just as well; when I was unraveling, I found several other mistakes, where I dropped single stitches when binding off.  I'm going to knit a little looser this time.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "I'm not a psychiatrist; I'm just an expert at being confused."

Happy Fourth of July!

Bumper sticker for the day :  "Support a cause:  stop plate tectonics"

Wordless Wednesday

Well, wordless except for the bumper sticker of the day:  "The good thing about small cars is that you can fit twice as many into a traffic jam."

Planted out

This is one end of the dining room showing the plants at the windows where the bird feeders can be seen outside.  As you might guess, getting into this china cabinet is not very easy.  Right in the center, on the top shelf of the black stand, is a pot with two cacti, they look like cucumbers with an attitude.  They take the prize for continuous growth; some of the others are from my mom, who passed in 1999, but they have been re-started and re-re-started from cuttings as the original plants get too leggy or too straggly and the original  plant gets pitched once the cuttings are growing.

Bumper sticker for the day, "Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation."

And the rains came...

Not only raining here but hailing too.  The temperature dropped from 82 to 67 in about 45 minutes.

I am trying (at docs direction) different sleep meds, in the hope that I can find one which will let me sleep all night and not leave me like this in the morning:

So far, not so good.

The knitting forum that I follow is pretty big; about 96000 members and about 5500 posts a day.  The topics are arranged in groups, and not limited to knitting /   crocheting.  There is a thread going on now, 39 pages worth, on Paula Deen.  It's split about 50/50 between for and agin'  with most of the "for" group saying they like her recipes and that her racist bigoted remarks should be forgiven since she apologized.  The "against" group say they like her recipes, but that it's her big mouth that landed her in this trouble and if she has any gumption she should own up to her disgrace and disappear.  I myself don't like her recipes or her vocabulary.  Good riddance.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Blessed are the flexible, for they never get bent out of shape."

Wordless Wednesday

June J-birds

Here is a photo of a blue jay and a woodpecker on our squirrel feeder.  You can see the woodpecker eating a kernel  of corn.  It seems only fair since the squirrels eat out of the bird feeder.

It will soon be the 4th of July and already the booms and bangs are being heard in the neighborhood.  They send the cats under the beds, but the horses don't seem to notice.  It is a lot easier to soothe an anxious cat than doing the same for a 900 pound horse, so I am not complaining.  But fireworks are pretty expensive, so to put on much of a show you need $$$$.  And it is all over in 10 minutes, I don't see the attraction of firing off a few rockets and flash bangs.

When I was a kid one of the neighborhood kids lost an eye to a firecracker when he put one in a can and then looked at it when it didn't go off, the very thing they teach kids not to do.  And where were the parents?  Inside watching TV would be my guess.

 We went to a nearby mall on the anniversary of their first year in business and watched a phenomenal show by the Zambelli family, all co-ordinated to a musical score that was broadcast over a local radio station.  Incredible show.  Maybe a thousand families there, all OOOhing and AAAhing .  It has been 20+ years now and I still remember.

When we lived in San Francisco, on the fourth of July in 1976, there was this magnificent firework program due to be set off on Alcatraz Island.  Tens of thousands of people, all sitting anywhere there was a sight of the island, we were at the Marina.  About 15 minutes before it was due to start, one of SF's well-known fogs rolled in through the Golden Gate and completely hid the island.  We could all hear the firecracker noise, but couldn't see a thing.  Everybody went OOh and AAh as if they could really see something, an inside joke I guess.  I heard that the tall buildings had a wonderful view of the fireworks above the fog and reflected in it.  Or so we read in the paper the next day.  It was quite a let-down.  Except for all the pot smoke in the air.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Don't worry what people think.  They don't do it very often."

How to pill a cat.

How to Give a Cat a Pill (followed by How to Give a Dog a Pill)

1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm, as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop in the pill. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2. Retrieve pill from floor, and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw away soggy pill.

4. Take new pill from foil wrapper. Cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force open the jaws and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl, and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees. Hold front and rear paws, ignoring low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand, while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.

7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, and get another pill from foil wrapper. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth, and set aside for gluing later.

8. Wrap cat in large towel, and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat’s mouth open with pencil, and blow down straw.

9. Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans. Drink one beer to take away taste of pill. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10. Retrieve cat from neighbour’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11. Fetch screwdriver from garage, and replace cupboard door on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot and drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check medical records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw away tee-shirt and fetch another one from bedroom.

12. Call fire department to retrieve ****ing cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrapper.

13. Tie the little sod’s front paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Fetch heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth, followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash down pill.

14. Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm, and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call in at furniture shop on the way home, to order new dining table.

15. Place “Free Mutant Cat from Hell” ad in local newspaper and ring local pet shop to see if they have any bunnies.

How to Give a Dog a Pill

1. Wrap it in bacon.