A Slower Pace

Politically Correct?

2012-03-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm glad our country, or a least some of us, are more aware of the harm caused by racist language and actions. It's about time we began watching our mouths and actions. However, from time to time I find myself between a rock and a hard place.

Most of you are aware of Bob's ongoing health problems. He has a specialist in just about every field imaginable, and today I made an appointment for him with another one, a rheumatologist to deal with autoimmune issues.

I get very nervous when I have to do this, and it doesn't go away until I can find the doctor's picture online. Once I see the doctor is as American as apple pie I'm fine. It can get pretty sensitive if you indicate you'll only accept an American with no accent.

This is my situation. Bob will be 80 in June. He's lost in medical language before he starts. He has a significant enough hearing loss that foreign accents really give him a fit. Medical language is very difficult to understand unless you and the doctor have the same mother tongue. Bob is a very pleasant man and likes to tease. That's often a non-starter from the get-go if you have a foreign doctor. Humor just does not transfer well among all cultures.

A few years ago Bob was very unhappy with his cardiologist so we asked the family doctor for a referral to someone else. He was resistant to doing that because he felt like this doctor was excellent in his field. He asked me to go with Bob to his next visit and see if I could determine what the problem was.

When Dr. Ho entered the room I knew immediately what the problem was. He was Asian with a significant accent and was totally lost with Bob's attempts at humor. Reporting this to our doctor he agreed a referral was in order. There was nothing wrong with the doctor, Bob just couldn't understand what he said and couldn't figure out why he never smiled when he tried to tease him a little. Bob needs someone who chats with him, some give and take, but that was not in Dr. Ho's culture, so we were off to an American as apple pie doctor. Probably Dr. Ho was the better doctor but psychologically he was driving Bob crazy. Bob wasn't showing signs of racism, he simply could not understand what the man said.

The doctor's name for today's referral was Fraback. I thought we were safe but I was mighty relieved to see a picture of this new doctor and learn he was a native Oregonian and had been practicing in Portland for some 30 years.

I try to be politically correct but sometimes it's not easy.

$300 a pound

2012-03-13T12:22:00.003-07:00

Lagotto Romagnolo

A truffle sniffing dog.

Apparently it's truffle time again in Oregon. I read an interesting article in the paper this morning about it. In Europe they prefer the Lagotto Romagnolo dog breed for sniffing truffles. They apparently have a keen sense of smell for truffles. In the United States they sometimes use pigs. I've never been a good enough cook to require truffles that cost $300 a pound. I think they're also stinky. You sure wouldn't want a bag of those to go bad in your fridge.

_____________________________________

I'm sure you get tired of me talking about the beauty of Oregon but I'm not going to stop so deal with it. We moved from Texas to Oregon in 2004 and I don't think there's ever been a day that I've not been fascinated by something. Sometimes it's the people, and sometimes it's the beauty of nature that surrounds us. It would be very hard for me to move back to Texas. (Notice I did not say I would not move back to Texas, I simply said it would be hard.) Our vet says when God retires it will be to Oregon. I'm pleading with you to visit Beebonnet blog and look at her pictures.

_____________________________________

Daughter Susan keeps a set of clothes here so she doesn't have to deal with luggage when she's visits here. I sent her a text this morning telling her she was now officially gone. The last thing she does, the night before she leaves, is laundry. Some things weren't completely dry when it was time for her to leave. I put those things away this morning. She's officially gone now.

______________________________________

Oh dear, I almost forgot. Son Rodger's family will be having one of these sisters euthanized this afternoon. I'd tell you their names but they're Japanese and I couldn't spell them if I tried. I do well to say them. The sisters have been together 13 years, most of the time sharing the same cat bed. You never see one without the other. I expect it's going to be hard on the one that's left. The vet gave Rodger the news late yesterday afternoon so Rodger took the cat back home so they could say their goodbyes to her. He'll take her in early this afternoon to have it done. It's causing some angst all around as they're leaving for Japan on Thursday which leaves us, as the pet sitters, a little concerned about the remaining sister.

French Macaroons

2012-03-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

French Macaroons

Have you tried French Macaroons? They are so good you'll lick your lips. Yesterday son and daughter-in-law brought me a selection. I will eat one every time I get a chance. They purchased mine at a

Moonstruck Chocolate Shop.

Angry Birds Backpack

The birthday week-end was a smashing success, and would you believe, I have no pictures. I'm not the photographer at family events. Caleb was very excited about his Angry Birds backpack but I think his mother was more excited about it.

Susan left about an hour ago to go back to Texas. We always enjoy having her but then it's time for her to go, and time for us to put everything back in it's place and settle back into our normal routine.

It seems like it's been a month since I checked the news but I doubt I've missed a lot. I never touched the Sunday paper and that's a first for me.

I'm off now to settle in.

Remember When

2012-03-08T09:32:00.001-08:00

Boob Scarf

Yesterday I came across this picture while looking online for knitting patterns. Made me think of the days when women burned their bras to show solidarity. I hope nobody gets the bright idea for us to all wear boob scarves. I'll have to pass on that one.

______________________________________

OR-7 Tweets

It seems OR-7 is now tweeting on Twitter. Go to Twitter and type in WolfOR7 and you should find him (or the person in wolf skin pretending to be him).

______________________________________

I'm off now to clean the bathroom before 'one and only aunt' arrives. Guess who is going to the airport with his dad to pick her up?

One Aunt

2012-03-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

We are a family of ones. I have one husband, one son, one daughter-in-law, one grandson, and one daughter. 'One daughter' is very important in the life of 'one grandson.' 'One daughter-in-law' has no siblings so that makes daughter the 'one and only aunt.'

She will arrive from Texas tomorrow in time to kick off birthday week-end for 'one grandson' Caleb. She's the most important guest, the source of gifts mom and dad have said 'no' to because they don't want to spend the money, but they don't mind if Aunt Susan does. Just tell Aunt Susan if you want something.

Caleb turns ten, and we're having an 'Angry Birds' theme this year. I crocheted the hat he's wearing at Christmas. He'll be getting an expensive 'Angry Birds' backpack to take with him on their upcoming trip to Japan later this month. And of course he needed an 'Angry Birds' cover for the iPod Touch he'll be taking on the plane to keep him entertained. There's also the matter of ear buds. If you have an 'Angry Birds' cover you also need 'Angry Birds' ear buds, so he'll be getting those as well. Oh, and one more thing, a gift card for i-Tunes to buy games, after all it's a long flight to Japan. We had to tone it down this year because his father said we over did it at Christmas. and since they're leaving March 15 for Japan he said he didn't need a lot of gifts. One and only Aunt has also sent the party goods for the 'Angry Birds' celebration.

One and only aunts can be very good for a child. I had one and, next to my mother, she was the most important person in my life. Go one and only aunt, go. Caleb loves you.
__________________________________________

Currently I'm reading a little every day in At Knit's End: Meditations for Women who Knit too Much, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, better known as 'The Yarn Harlot.' She makes me laugh.

"It's difficult for those who live with passionate knitters. From time to time, they might even consider us odd. Every time my husband starts talking about how crazy I am to like knitting this much, I remind him . . . it could be worse. What if I were this interested in cabbage?"

Another Cat Story

2012-03-04T19:11:00.001-08:00

Before I move away from the dead cat subject I have one more tale to tell.

This afternoon when grandson Caleb came to visit, the first words out of his mouth were "Where are Mr. O's ashes?" I remembered the vet telling me it would be a mistake not to get the ashes. I guess he was right, but it cost me $85 to cremate that cat and get his ashes and I don't even like ashes. I could have bought some nice yarn with that $85. But as the vet said, sometimes you have to put family feelings ahead of money.

The tale I want to tell you is about son Rodger's cat. They do not give up their pets easily. They believe strongly in heroic measures. They'd kept their old cat alive far beyond what I thought was appropriate. They had her at home where they nursed her 24/7.

It seldom snows here in Portland, OR but that year we had a doozy. The city was paralyzed, even the transit system had stopped running. The old cat finally managed to die on her own in the early morning hours. What to do now? Everything was frozen, the streets were bad and the transit system wasn't running. It was no time to have a dead cat. Rodger wrapped the cat in a towel and put her in the trunk of his car where the temps were well below freezing. The next day the transit began to run again but the streets were still bad so son Rodger put that frozen cat in a bag and boarded the transit. He rode it as far as he could and then walked the rest of the way to the vet's office to leave the cat for cremation.

Next to that experience, $85 was nothing for a box of ashes.
________________________

I've said before grandson Caleb would be an obese child were his parents not so attentive. They've been watching his diet for probably two years. Rodger got him a fancy step counter and walks every day with him and they read how many steps he's take and how many miles he's walked. He'll be 10 this week and he looks good. Every time he comes over here I tell him how good he looks. We've noticed lately he never wants a dessert or treat. Bob asked Rodger about it this afternoon and he said Caleb had done that on his own. Do you think a 10 year old boy is capable of doing that, and if so, why isn't his grandmother?
__________________________

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

I should Have Chosen Fish

2012-03-02T14:08:00.001-08:00

Reading Patti's blog the other day I realized what a mistake I made years ago in choosing to have cats and dogs for pets. At least you can flush a fish at the end..

Today was the day we had to make the decision to put our wonderful Mr. O down. I hate doing that, just hate it. He came to us almost 8 years ago. The vet guessed him to be about 9 at the time. He gave us eight years of total love. He was a lap cat beyond any I've ever known, and spent most of his time purring. In those days he weighed in at eighteen pounds, today he weighed in at nine.

Bob and I disagree strongly on caring for pets health needs. This morning when I realized the time had come I wasn't sure which I dreaded more, putting the cat down or telling Bob the cat needed to go to the vet. I told him that if it were the 70s my dad would simply take his gun and the cat and go for a walk, returning without the cat, but we don't live in the 70s. Times have changed.

It was expensive, $223. I could have saved some money by not having him cremated in order to keep the ashes. I chose to go that way because I'm not into keeping ashes. Gone is gone to me. However, the vet begged, and I do mean begged, me not to go that way. My son also uses the same vet. He assured me he knew Rodger well enough to know that it would be a big mistake if I did not go for the ashes.

My daughter-in-law is Japanese. Her religious tradition is Shinto/Buddhist. Rodger is in sympathy with some things in those traditions. Believe me, it is a big deal around their house when a pet dies. They put up an alter/shrine for a few weeks after the death. Rodger has a shelf in his closet where they keep the ashes of their deceased pets. (I'm going on a diet today because when it's time for my ashes to be put on that shelf I don't won't my box to be bigger that the cats.')

I knew the vet had a point, so I relented and went for the ashes. I'll pick them up in a few days and take them to Rodger and Naomi. I've asked them to explain to grandson Caleb that Mr. O is gone. I'm not sure what their process is for doing that.

Do I want another cat? You bet I do. Will I get another cat? Absolutely not. For the entire 50 years Bob and I have been married we've fought over the expense of taking a pet to the vet. I'm too old for that these days.

I think one thing that adds to Bob's anti-vet thinking is that we have excellent health insurance, and in spite of Bob's health problems, we never pay a penny. Health insurance for pets is not very good, yet the costs are very high. It's hard to imagine paying more for your pet's healthcare than you pay for your own.

Well, that's one down and one to go. We still have our little dog and I'll have the same battles with Bob when that time comes for the dog. I should have chosen fish years ago.

A Bunch of Snobs

2012-02-29T09:18:00.002-08:00

My my, what people will say to win elections. While reading a tongue-in-cheek column this morning I learned GOP voters will be choosing this election from the "most educated set of presidential candidates ever. Santorum himself has both a law degree and an M.B.A., as well as his undergraduate degree from Penn State. He would also be only the second U.S. president - after the incumbent, the snob - to be the son of a Ph.D.

Mitt Romney also has both a law degree and an M.B.A, both from Harvard. But even Santorum and Romeny look less academic than the other Republican candidates who can both be called "Dr." Newt Gingrich has a Ph.D. in History and Ron Paul has an M.D. from Duke?

Somehow, they all escaped indoctrination by liberal professors - although in each case, the professors had almost a decade to try."

Have we been listening the last few days to a case of "do as I say, not as I do?"
________________________________________
I do have to say I've seen a few people in life who seemed to have no curiosity or desire to learn. What a tragedy. Is there a way to inject in people a sense of curiosity and a desire to learn or do we just come programed that way? Often when I'm downtown Portland I look at the young people that hang out around Courthouse Square and wonder about them. They're faces betray their lack of purpose, their lack of motivation. It's all very sad.

Sadder still are closed minds. Have you ever know anyone with a closed mind? It seems to happen a lot in politics and religion. From personal experience I'd say it usually develops out of fear and a sense of insecurity. From my time as 'church queen' I can remember a time when I didn't read anything that wasn't published by my denomination's press. I was afraid I didn't know enough to always recognize corrupted doctrine and figured if I didn't stray from my denomination's sanctioned reading material I'd be okay.

I'm the perfect example of what Mr. Santorum fears. I hit an institution of higher learning fully indoctrinated as an evangelical. In my case, however, I had curiosity and an open mind. I'd just never been exposed to all the things I might learn if I moved out of my closed world. Wow, did my mind explode. I was like a sponge. I couldn't get enough.

Oh dear, I'm also the 'church queen' who's 'fallen from grace.' That 'learnin' can be a scary thing in the minds of some people. I say "Yea for learnin'."
_________________________________________

Apparently OR-7 may be homesick.

Like A Bat Outta Hell

2012-02-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

Do you ever find yourself mentally flying like a bat outta hell? I find myself doing that a lot. Surely our ancestors were not bombarded from all sides with more information than their brains could absorb. Sometimes I want to scream STOP, let me get organized. Let me deal with what's already in my brain before you dump more on me.

I have too much curiosity in too many things and it takes very little to overstimulate my poor little brain. On the other hand, if I don't have stimulation I quickly get bored and that's worse.

Yesterday I found myself in that position once again, flying like a bat outta hell, and accomplishing nothing. Sometimes I remind myself of a hummingbird flitting from place to place for a sip of nectar.

I've been on a knitting binge, reading, studying, and looking for new ideas, but accomplishing very little. Knitting socks makes me calm and content so I just got myself up and gathered up all the yarn in sight that wasn't sock yarn and hid it in the closet. Back to socks Linda. Down girl down.

I have several books on my Kindle I want to read and have been flying too fast to start any of them, no concentration. Today I will start a book. Bring it on down Linda. Touch ground again.

I'm off now to buy cat food and get my hair cut. Surely I won't hear anything stimulating on those two errands.

Just Thrumming Away

2012-02-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

I began the mitten thrumming adventure with this golden orange yarn I had on hand and this roving, which is enough for New York City to thrum mittens. Now, I am well aware the orange does not go with the yellow but there are other colors I can use. I'm also aware the world isn't beating a path to my door for orange mittens. Just remember this is to be a 'test' pair of mittens. Oops, Bob is talking to me.

I'm now doing gray mittens for Bob. For many years he's suffered from extremely cold hands. At times he has to run warm water over his hands to get them to quit tingling. He frequently wears gloves in the house. I'm not sure these will help much since his cold hands are not caused by cold temperatures but I'm willing to give it a try.

This is the inside of the mitten. Putting your hand in all that should be toasty warm.
________________________________
I had an email today from a family history researcher. This is what the email said:

"Hi Linda,
Would like to exchange info with you regarding Martha A. Holmes Tidwell family. We may each have things the other doesn't. Martha was my g-grandmother."

My first thought was RATS! If you ever write someone asking for family information this is how not to do it.
a) I don't know this person from spook.
b) What's his line to Martha?
c) Has he ever been to Hood county Texas?
d) A hint about how long he's been doing this kind of research would have been helpful.

This caused me to have to send him an email asking about all this. That information makes an incredible amount of difference in what I send him. (I'd rather be thrumming mittens.)

I've done the email and gotten his response and still don't know how much research he's done. Doesn't sound like a lot.

From reading his information I believe he should have told me he was looking for the family of Radford and Martha Tidwell. I have a mountain of information and pictures on Radford and his family but what does he mean by the Martha A. Holmes Tidwell family? He doesn't mention her husband Radford. I have next to nothing on Martha. She's been a tough one to track. I've tried.

I'll send him a little stuff and see what happens. Perhaps then I'll get some idea about all this.

I'd rather thrum mittens, really.

Church Queen Says "None"

2012-02-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

I often shock others but seldom shock myself. Yesterday it happened. The caller ID said "Opinion Poll." I avoid those unless it's an election year because I don't know much about anything else. This one happened to be about the death penalty measure that may be on the Oregon ballot in 2014. I suppose they are testing the waters to see how bad the fight will be. At the end of the questions the man asked for some statistical information like, my level of education, political party, and my religious affiliation.

I was given these choices, "Protestant (including Baptists)," Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Other or None. I halted, and then halted again. Finally I said "None." As quick as I said it I heard my mother spinning in her grave. I was a 'church queen' for most of my life. Gracious, how could this be? The 'queen' has fallen from grace (please don't pray for my soul).
_____________________________________________
With my renewed vow to walk every day I can possibly face the weather I'm embarking on a new knitting project today, thrumming.

The mitten on top is the outside and the bottom one is the inside. Don't those look warm? You can thrum hats and slippers also. The thrums are unspun roving pulled off in little pieces and knitted in with the yarn, producing the pattern on the top mitten. This will send me to the yarn store later today to buy roving. I'm expecting this to be a fun project and the outcome a toasty warm pair of mittens.

I Feel Pressure

2012-02-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a real wimp about walking in the rain and the exercise room equipment gives my bad knee a fit. I like to read the paper and have a cup of coffee before I take on such challenges. But this is the face I saw when I opened the paper this morning.

Lois Campbell 104

Good ole Lois to make me feel bad. I hate old ladies like her. She takes an exercise class for seniors three days a week at a health & fitness center, and works with both a naturopath and an osteopath. She says "If I'm going to live this long, I better have as few pains as possible." I feel pressure.

Then there's one of our own, Djan-ity. Read her post from yesterday. I'm not sure we're of the same species. I got tired just reading about all the exercise she gets. She apparently gets up bright eyed and bushy tailed every morning anxious to climb mountains and jump out of airplanes. I can't even get up enough energy to feel pressured by her activities.

Oh how I wish knitting counted as exercise. The only calluses I have are on my fingers from using knitting needles so much.

Looks like the rain has stopped. I'll probably have time to get in a walk before it starts raining again, darn it.

_______________________________

I did get my new plants potted. They seem to be happy. They're on a covered patio so I don't think I'll have to worry about them.

I bought the primroses and pansies at 4 for $5, even though I only wanted 3. I stuck to my guns and planted only 3 to each pot.

Here's the 4th primrose, balancing out grandson's 'special' rocks. The tall plant is an "Oregon grape". I think it's suppose to be Oregon's state flower, or something Oregon related. I can't imagine why any body in Oregon would pick such a plant. With all the beautiful flowers in this state this one is pitiful. I picked it because it was hardy to keep on the patio but it's actually a shrub. Soon it will have to go live in son's yard.

The 4th pansy went to live in another pot with the big dragon fly and more of grandson's 'special' rocks.

____________________

Not only has it stopped raining, the sun has come out. Now I have no excuse at all.

$20.8 M Surely Not

2012-02-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

More about Greg Oden

Those of you who know me have probably fainted by now at the thought of me writing about anything athletic. I never go near the sports section of our newspaper, and watch no sports on TV, let alone attend a game.

Since this made front page news in The Oregonian I could not let it pass. In my lack of appreciation for sports I would submit that the focus on Wall Street's abuses, and Mitt Romney's wealth, needs to be turned to athletics.

"The Blazers have paid Oden more than $20 million over five seasons, and he has played in 82 games, the equivalent of one NBA season." That amounts to $26,908 per point. "It would take 714 years for the average Portland, OR resident to earn what Greg Oden earned in five years ($20.8M)."

Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed

2012-02-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, with new knitting ideas dancing in my mind. It's a typical Oregon day, the kind that bring unbelievable springs. Spring explodes into color and we forget all about the dreary, overcast, rainy days.

I had another self talk last night and this is what I said.

Self
Surely you aren't serious about burying your head in the sand? Come on, get real, this stuff is your passion. Why would you want to get out now when so many good things are in progress?

Elections only last for a season, a long season, but this too will pass. Shut up and get back in the game. You know this stuff keeps your brain cells multiplying. Only new brain cells can absorb the shock of some of this stuff. This is the stuff that causes you to go searching for facts, and where you learn new things. Yesterday you were listening to your old brain cells.

Patti said it well in her comment:
"The sad thing is that we want the truth that fits our beliefs and I am not sure it is possible to find an unvarnished truth."

Well that's it for today. I'm off to play with string and sticks, a better choice than politics. Keep knitting, Linda, just keep knitting.

Looking A Few Knowledgeable People

2012-02-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

It is now clear to me I'm going to have to become active in fighting the negative in our society today. This being an election year the political nonsense drowns out sensible thinking. I cannot allow that to happen to me. I do not want to lock myself in a closet to get away from it. I do not want to become an isolationist because I'm keenly interested in many things. I'm just tired of getting all my information wrapped in political nonsense.

How am I going to accomplish this? That's a good question, one I'm not sure I can totally answer right now. I think it's going to be a work in progress. Perhaps we can work together on this.

I'm looking for a few knowledgeable people, who are not under political influence in their writing, and owe nothing to either political party. They have to be able to document their experience or research on a subject that makes them someone worth reading. I don't want people who come and go depending on which political party is in office. They need to be centrists I suppose, not too far to the left or too far to the right. You know, reasonable. I know, it's a word we don't hear much these days.

Books are a good source of information but they don't keep you updated. I'm looking for people who frequently write articles, blog, twitter, or any other form of communication I can follow. I prefer to be able to sit in my easy chair and read it on my iPad.

These are the subjects I'm interested in at the moment, although, my interests are revolving. Your interests may be different. If so, let us know.

Health Care Reform
Someone who can speak to my level of comprehension to explain Health Care Reform. The babble on TV, radio, the rumor mills etc. are maddening to me. Just the facts please, just the facts.

The Pentagon's increased focus on the Pacific Rim countries.
What's really going on? What am I missing? What do I need to be watching?

The space race with the Pacific Rim countries.
What happens when these countries have their own space programs sending people into space? Who owns space? Who's responsible when one country's space junk damages another country's space investment? Will these countries be in conflict among themselves? Will conflict develop between those countries and the United States, Russia, and European Space Agency that are already in space?

Cyber War
Is this real or just something put out by political rumor mills?

Foreign Affairs
What's real out there? We've heard so much political babble that I don't feel like I know anything close to the truth .

Homeland Security
Again, the political babble has drowned out the facts. What's real, what's fiction?

If you follow anybody that's putting out good information on these subjects I'd certainly like to know how I can avail myself of that information.

Let me hear from you on this subject.

Looking For A Few Good People

2012-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

Let me describe the kind of people I'm trying to find. People who are:

1) Proud to be Americans.
2) Don't think the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
3) Think this country is still capable of doing great things.
4) Understands working together is the secret to accomplishing great things.
5) Can see something positive in health care reform.
6) Who see the value in education, particularly in the sciences and math.
7) Who do not fear science and reason.
8) Who do not mind paying taxes for the multitude of services we receive in this country.
9) Who can understand working for the good of the whole, not just the good of a few.

If you are one of these people, or you know anyone who is, we need to unite. The negative voices in this country are drowning out the positive voices. It's said the squeaky wheel gets oiled. Let's become the squeaky wheel.
____________________________

In the world of medicine I am excited about the research being done on implanted chips to medicate patients. In my younger days I worked twelve years in a medical clinic. So many of the office visits would have been unnecessary had the patients been taking their medications properly. I view this research as a positive in health care reform. Bring it on.
____________________________

Be positive, fight the negative.

A Shopping She Did Go

2012-02-16T11:47:00.000-08:00

It's raining today so I went shopping. Poor planning.

One thing on my list was a surge protector with more than six plug-ins. Now days some things plug into only one plug but take up the room of two plugs. Very frustrating. I fixed that problem. The long black item in my basket is a twelve hole one. Note the extra space between the plug-ins.

You can see I did purchase primroses and pansies. I had planned to only purchase three of each but the sign was four for five dollars and I didn't want to confuse any one so I went for four.

I also purchased a cyclamen, another of my favorites. Anybody like rice cakes? I do.

No sale on decorative pots so when all else fails go for a clay pot. The black trash can is to keep the bird seed in on the patio so it looks neat out there rather than messy.

When I'm finished blogging I'll be heading out to sweep up this mess. It's enough of a mess caused by the birds but this squirrel mess has to go. I tried yesterday to be nice to him by putting out squirrel food just for him. That rascal will not touch corn. Who ever heard of a squirrel not eating corn? I'm going to sweep this up and take the bag with me next time I go walking in the park. I'll pour it out over there. You never know, there may be a homeless squirrel over there who would be happy to eat corn.

I bought pumpkin seeds to see what he'll do with those. If he doesn't eat those he's out of luck. He'll just have to eat the sunflower seed knocked out of the feeder by the birds.

I didn't do a very good job yesterday identifying my finches. I believe the Lesser Goldfinch is a totally different bird than the American Goldfinch. The Lesser Goldfinch is seen in the Willamette Valley of Oregon but not in Washington state.

The American Goldfinch has a different range map that does include Washington state. I beg to argue with this range map though, I lived a lot of years in Texas and we had American Goldfinches there.

I guess that leaves only the African Violets to deal with. I was determined to buy one this time. Would you believe there was not a single one in the store? Said they'd been wiped out on Valentine's Day. I'll have to try that another day.

I'm off to sweep bird crap, literally.

Doctors, Birds & Flowers

2012-02-15T10:12:00.000-08:00

Bob is gone for the morning doing the doctor circuit. He has an appointment with his hematologist, and will then stop by the office of his cardiologist to give them some blood. Everybody wants blood from him.

I'm going out after lunch, probably by myself. I'm on a mission and it usually isn't good to include Bob when doing that kind of shopping. He's a one store, 'get-er-done' kind of shopper.

First on my list will be primroses. I love them because their bright colors always cheer me up. It's hard not to smile when you look at them. I was never able to do much with them in Texas because of the heat but they last quite a long time here. I consider them happy plants. I already have a pot waiting for them on the covered patio.

Next will be pansies. I love their little faces. It's such fun to greet them each morning. I need to buy a pot and some dirt for them. They're also happy plants.

Next I'll look at the African Violets. I cannot tell you how many times I've been to the store and set one in my basket, only to return it to the stand before leaving the store. I don't have a very good place to have them. I have one windowsill that might work. I only want one. Have you ever seen an African Violet lover be content with one? I haven't, usually their violet area looks more like the one above. I'll see if I can keep one in my basket this time.

The more I look at my flock of finches the more I believe they're Lesser Goldfinches rather than American Goldfinches.

That's okay, we can't all be brilliant in life.

Birds & Wolves

2012-02-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

This is a poor picture but it's the best I could do looking through a glass door on a rainy day. If you look closely you can see I have visitors to my feeders. Most of them flew away when I walked to the door.

We have a problem however, a poop problem. The top of the bottom feeder has a lot of bird poop on it, falling from birds feeding at the top feeder. Birds apparently have to manners when it comes to pooping. Bob will move one of the feeders to the right, just around the corner. That should work, the seed will still be dry.

Most of the birds are gold finches with a few LBJ (little brown jobs) mixed in. I'm delighted all the birds are small, just a fit for the small feeding station. I didn't make a picture of the hummingbird feeder because no one was drinking at the time but we still have hummingbird customers as well.

As far as I know OR-7 is still in California.

His brother, OR-9, was shot this week in Idaho.

OR-7 became an international celebrity when he began his journey across Oregon and into California.

His brother OR-9 simply crossed the border into Idaho, and was killed near a cattle feedlot and winter calving area on February 2. Not a safe place to be OR-9.

The laws in Oregon and Idaho are very different regarding wolves. "Oregon wildlife officials have handed down a kill order for the Imnaha pack's alpha male sire, OR-4, and a uncollared younger wolf from the pack (another of OR-7's siblings) for attacking cattle. That order remains on hold pending the resolution of a lawsuit filed by conservation groups."

Stay in California OR-7, stay in California.

Hello Rain

2012-02-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

We awoke to rain this morning. Oregonians do not expect sunny days, or even days that it doesn't rain, from January to mid-June. Yesterday on our wonderful walk I took note of the perfect strangers we met who stopped to comment on the unusual weather, and how wonderful it was to have some dry, sunny days in February. Looking at the paper I see rain for the next week. Our weather treat may be over.

I must have been out of my mind when I decided to knit grandson a pair of socks. Why would I even think of knitting socks for a growing boy? I'm knitting them on size 0 needles in hopes they'll be tight enough he can't destroy them the first week. I'm ready for the toe on the first one. I'll have him try this one on tomorrow when he comes to visit. If it doesn't fit I'll rip it out and never knit for a growing boy again. Dumb idea.

I'm knitting myself a pair out of self-patterning yarn. I've never used that kind of yarn before and it's such fun. All plain mindless knitting made interesting by watching the pattern develop.
___________________________

Reading the editorial page of my newspaper this morning I found this text interesting- "Litigators are paid to be prepared, if not necessarily glib and slick. Two and a half years ago, though, Charles J. Cooper, a lawyer defending the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 - barring gays and lesbians in the state from marrying - found himself stuttering.

A federal judge had just asked him : "What would the harm be in permitting gay and lesbian couples to marry?"

Responded Cooper: "Your honor, my answer is: I don't know. I don't know."

"But note that Tuesday's ruling was narrowly tailored. Finding that the right to marry cannot be taken away is very different from finding that gays and lesbians have the right to marry in the first place."

Interesting article.

A Walk & Buffalo Wings

2012-02-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to stop canceling out the good that I do. Bob and I had a nice walk but stopped on the way home and bought buffalo wings.

There's been a lot of times in the last few years when Bob wasn't able to walk so it was exciting to me to see how well he handled our walk today, plus it was his suggestion that we go for a walk.

Along the way I stopped and picked up this stick with lichen growing on it, and a little piece of bark with moss on it. I just love this stuff. Bob doesn't share my love affair with lichen and moss. Something green was also growing on the sidewalk.
___________________________________
I've noticed a lot of chatter lately about getting government out of our lives so we can live our lives without government intervention. What confuses me is, the same people are chattering about making laws to control sex in this country and the uteruses of women. Isn't that government intervention when you tell people who they can have sex with and what they can do with their uteruses? Wasn't there a time when we called men obsessed with women and sex "dirty ole men?" I believe their imaginations have been over used. They need to give it a rest.

Packing Heat & Loving Jesus

2012-02-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

We are having beautiful weather here in the Pacific Northwest. It's unusual for us to see the sun this time of year so we're enjoying every moment of it.

This evening when Bob took Caleb home he noticed little round seed looking things in the drive way, on the porch and all around the house. He learned Naomi, our Japanese daughter-in-law, had been teaching Caleb some of his Japanese heritage. Apparently on February 1 families rid their homes of evil spirits. They throw soy bean seeds around their houses. I'm sure there's more to it that that but I don't know what it is. I think it's better if the father wears an evil mask for beans to be thrown at him but since Rodger didn't have one he was spared that part of the ritual. I often wonder how Caleb will blend his Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian heritage.

In 2008 the family visited Japan as they do every year or so. That year Caleb learned to pray in the Buddhist or Shinto tradition, I'm not sure which. I often think about my parents and wonder, as good Christians, how they would handle this for their great grandchild. The older I get the smaller the world gets.
_______________________________
I have a 'friend' on Facebook that grew up with me many years ago. He became a minister and today serves as a chaplain in a prison. He writes often about how much he enjoys sharing the love of Jesus with the inmates. One day last week he wrote these words:

"Yes it's old. Yes it works. Yes it's loaded. Yes I would. On to another subject. . ."

Do you think people feel the love of Jesus while loading a gun that might be used to shoot another human being?

A Little Testy

2012-02-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

After the 2008 election I swore off being involved in politics ever again. I did not swear off commenting on issues.

I was blindsided by the Komen decision regarding Planned Parenthood. I think the reason it made me so mad was because I didn't have enough information for lack of research. Who would have thought you needed to keep check on the Komen Foundation?

"Before this week, all those pink ribbons, shirts, yogurt cups, and even baseball bats, constituted one of the purest symbols in American society-they stood not only for the fight against breast cancer, but also for the courage and the lives of women who have beaten the disease.

But the symbolism got more complicated this week after the leaders of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation took one of the nation's most important women's health organizations right into the snarl of abortion politics."

"That's not Komen. The advocacy group has done incredible things for breast cancer research and treatment - for the health and lives of millions of women. It needs now to get back to its mission, which was, and always should be, as pure as that pink symbol."

I encourage you to read this article, it's very good.

My personal opinion is that those leaders who've shown themselves to be prone to political influence should resign. Under new leadership this fine organization can be restored, and this dark smudge removed.

Planned Parenthood is not the evil organization we've been told it was. Listening to the abortion opposition people you would think Planned Parenthood's only service was abortions. Wrong.

Here again I had failed to do my research so I found this article extremely interesting about the services offered by Planned Parenthood. Good organization, we need to support it.
________________________________
I'll stop here, but now that I've been unleashed you can expect more to come.

Sometimes I Wonder

2012-02-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Have you been following the efforts to save the whooping crane? This morning there was a good Associated Press article about their progress. Apparently the whooping cranes have figured out that big crane leading them isn't one of them at all, but rather a human doing something stupid. They've said "no more" and settled down in Alabama, not Florida where they hoped to lead them.

This is an elusive seabird called the marbled murrelet. It lives here in the Pacific Northwest and while it swims happily on its way, it's giving headaches to the legal system in America as well as some Oregonians.

There are some politicians today who believe we should dig a hole and stick our head in it. Cut all contact with foreign countries, think only of ourselves. How do they propose to do that when nature chooses to connect countries? There was an interesting article in this morning's paper about the possibility of the Japanese Tsunami debris arriving on the west coast in late 2012-2013. It's a small world.

Last but not least, we have a hero among us. Virginia State Senator Janet Howell has suggested an amendment to a controversial anti-choice bill in her state. She has suggested if women requesting an abortion are required by this bill to have mandatory vaginal sonograms that men requesting prescriptions for erectile dysfunction drugs be subject to rectal exams and stress tests. Go Senator Howell go. We need more women like you.

See my earlier post about life's oddities.

Moss & Other Stuff

2012-02-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

As most of you know I am a transplant to the Pacific Northwest. We moved here seven years ago. I can make a complete fool of myself over some of the new things I've seen here. One is moss, I just go crazy over the moss that grows here. I'm going to refer you again to Linda Letters. She lives in Seattle, and I live in the Portland metroplex but the same kind of mosses grow here. Take a look at her post from yesterday, I almost shorted out my keyboard drooling on it.
________________________
Now, on to other mundane things. Exercise and counting calories, I hate both of those but it seems I'm stuck for life with them. Before I went for my walk this morning, I said to myself, "Self, Gabby Giffords would be thrilled if those two things were the only challenges facing her." And I told myself the world is full of hungry people who would delight in having to count calories. It didn't work, I still hate exercise and counting calories.
_________________________
I also had a talk with the great schedule maker, whoever that is. You see astronauts have their time scheduled for them in five minute increments when they're in space. I'm not sure I want a schedule that tight but I would like to make some changes. This is all I'm asking.

a) Remove all mundane tasks, like making the bed, small errands, housekeeping chores etc.
b) More time in the mornings for reading and working on my iPad. Two to three hours is just not enough.
c) Stop time while I'm on my iPad so I don't feel so guilty about the amount of time I spend there.
d) Sometime in the afternoon I'd like a shot of energy.
e) Several hours of uninterrupted knitting time in the afternoon and evening.

I don't think I'm asking a lot. Great schedule maker, you should be able to make these adjustments in a flash. Thanks.

Plum Sake'

2012-01-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to say today has started much better than yesterday. I was drinking a glass of Plum Sake' before 10 a.m. yesterday. I suffer from benign essential tremors, also known as familial tremors. There is currently no treatment available but the neurologist told me a glass of wine would give short term relief. I don't do alcohol because I don't like the taste, so anytime I drink it you know it's for medicinal purposes. Yesterday the tremors were so bad I could not use my knitting needles so I figured it was time to drink up. Most of the time I can deal with it but occasionally I have a day like yesterday when I can't.
____________________________
I had a senior moment this morning. Couldn't get my iron to heat up. I was very frustrated by the thought of having to take time out of my day to purchase a new iron. I solved the problem eventually by plugging it in.
____________________________

A few days ago I wrote a post mentioning a gray wolf named OR-7 that had left his pack in Oregon, and took off on his own searching for love in all the wrong places. At that time he had crossed Oregon into California and seemed headed for Nevada. Today's paper reports he has turned back from Nevada and is back in California where he has a more dependable food source. Every time news of OR-7 makes the paper the anti-wolf people go berserk. I'm amazed someone hasn't killed him by now. Run OR-7, run.

Feathers Everywhere

2012-01-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to report we have sunshine and feathers at my house today.

The birds have responded to my invitation to visit my new feeding station.

I have no pictures of birds on the feeders. I think I would frighten them away if I went out with a camera. We had several days of very hard rain. I was becoming discouraged that they weren't going to come; that perhaps they didn't like my protected feeding station.

We've had no rain the last couple of days and there's been feathers everywhere out there. The hummingbirds are right in there with the rest to drink from their feeder. Sometimes other birds sit on the hummingbird feeder waiting their turn at the seed feeders but it doesn't seem to bother the hummers. They come right on and drink anyway.

Wonder what birds do for food in heavy rain? The hummers weren't out in the rain either.

Chubby gray squirrel has not been a problem, though that could change at any moment. He cleans up the sunflower seeds the birds flick out of their feeder. I hope he never looks up to see where those seeds are coming from.

Alas, rain begins again on Sunday.

Life Goes On

2012-01-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the comments regarding my fall. Made me feel down right loved.

Gabby Giffords hugging House Cloak Room attendant Ella Terry

Yes, I've had a hard time watching Gabby Giffords resignation from Congress. I agree with the statement "sometimes it's hard to watch someone do the right thing."

The editorial page of our paper had a piece about her this morning.

"It was supposed to be a storybook ending, good triumphing over evil, the courageous congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords making a full and remarkable recovery from a brutal assassination attempt a year ago, and then legislating happily ever after.

Instead, in a two-minute, almost-too-painful-to-watch resignation speech posted on YouTube, in an emotional return to the scene of the shooting, and in a rousing ovation from her congressional colleagues at Tuesday's State of the Union address, there is a different and sadder ending.

In his play "Henry VIII," William Shakespeare wrote of the "tender leaves of hopes," and that describes what so many Americans attached to Giffords..."
______________________________

Do you like Twitter? I never "tweet" but I certainly enjoy reading other people's "tweets." One hundred forty characters or less is usually enough for me on most subjects. I have about 35 people I follow, a mix of political analysts, professional knitters, space exploration folks etc. I'm often alerted to news articles and photos, and I like that very much.

Facebook I could live without. I keep saying I'm going to close my account but Son doesn't want me to. He says just ignore it. I say, that's not enough. Facebook is a strange animal and you never know what it's doing while you are away.

I'm off now to wind some yarn and get on with my knitting life.

Acrobat? Not!

2012-01-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

No pictures, thank goodness. Yesterday I wore a pair of Crocs to the grocery store and fell flat on my face in the store. It caused quite a scene.

I never wear Crocs outside the house except to walk the dog. Because it was raining and water was everywhere I thought that would be a good thing to wear when doing errands. Wrong!

Crocs don't move. A few feet from the door my shoe stopped but I did not. I landed face down, right on my nose, on the tile covered concrete floor. It was a sight to behold.

My feet came out of my shoes so I was pleased I was wearing my newest pair of hand knitted socks. I'm grateful nothing was broken because the fall was hard enough to have broken bones. I'm amazed my glasses were not broken since I landed face down. I have a fat lip and am sore in places but I seem to be in good shape. There's much I have to be thankful about.

I hadn't been out of the house in days and it may be days more before I venture out again.

Son and Grandson ventured out to a park near their house to check the water level.

Luck Happens

2012-01-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Buddy

Sometimes luck just happens. It rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest and Buddy takes it all in stride unless it's a hard rain. When hard rain comes he's afraid of it. We're all in trouble then. Today is one of those days. We don't have hard rain all that often but we are this week. It's better that what Linda Reeder is getting in Seattle.

Buddy won't let anyone take him out but Bob on days like this. If I put on a hat and get my rain gear on he's afraid of me and begins barking at me. I've tried taking him out anyway but he just keeps looking back over his shoulder at me with a terrified look and won't do a thing. I honestly didn't teach this to him. I just lucked out. Remember the old saying about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks? I'm sure it's true in this case. I don't even intend to try.

_____________________________________

This week Bob opened this can of asparagus and I was reminded of something from my childhood. I'm not sure how I learned there was even such a thing as asparagus. It certainly wasn't grown around where I lived but I must have tasted it somewhere and was hooked. My favorite food. We lived frugally so mother didn't spend money on exotic foods. Once in a great while she would splurge and buy me a can of asparagus, open it, and put it in a bowl. That was it. Right out of the can. I loved it and to this day that's the way I eat asparagus.

I also loved olives. One Christmas my aunt had a slender jar of fancy olives she planned to add to the table for dinner. When the time came the jar was empty. I'd eaten every one of them. She thought I could do no wrong so she laughed and accepted the fact with grace. My mother did not.

Solution!

2012-01-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

Perhaps there is a Google god after all. I never use forums. I always get tangled up in them, but given I was desperate, and a reader sent me the link to Google's help forum, I tried. Talk about quick. Instantly a reply:

DarkUFO has posted an answer to the question "Blogger sometimes freezes and will not allow readers to comment.":

We've raised this with Google Engineering. Until it is fixed I would suggest settings your comments to either Full-Screen or Pop up rather than Embed.

NOTE: The problem does not happen with Google Chrome,so you should switch to using Google Chrome in the meantime

Hopefully Google will announce when the issues are fixed.

I'm impressed. I immediately went to settings and changed the comments to 'pop-up' and was able to read your comments. Now about Google Chrome, what is that? Something new for me to learn I suppose. I'm probably the only one in the world not using it.

I try to stay on top of all this digital stuff but sometimes you just wear out and need a break. This is what happens when you take a break.

___________________________

I was amused a little bit ago when doing my hair.

This is husband Bob. Note the color of his hair.

This is a picture of me from my fat days. Note the color of my hair.

The other day Bob, very nicely, suggested "I might want to color my hair." My response, NOT! Have you heard the saying "the pot calling the kettle black?" I think that's what that is.

Done in by Blogger

2012-01-17T16:01:00.000-08:00

I've been informed my blog is not accepting comments, seems it's freezing up. I've had trouble with it myself the last few days. It freezes and won't let me see my comments.

I've looked around some and don't see a place to report this. Do I just wait and hope it heals itself?

I've done nothing to the blog, no new formats etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Darn, and I liked yesterday's post.

hillinlinda@gmail.com

Wolves, Cormorants, & Condors

2012-01-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

It's not easy saving the earth and its inhabitants.

What happens when cormorants, protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act eat salmon and steelhead protected by the Endangered Species Act?

The Oregon Zoo breeds Condor chicks and sends them to California. "The effort to restore the species, nearly extinct in the 1980s has cost tens of millions of dollars."

Somebody came up with the bright idea of a multibillion-dollar Southern California wind industry. Would you believe condors and wind turbines don't mix?

Will wind farm owners be held criminally liable if a turbine's spinning blades kill a condor? Condors are a federally protected bird. "Will banks and other investors shy away from financing wind projects for fear that the unauthorized 'incidental take'- to use the legal language of the federal Endangered Species Act - of a cordor could prompt interruptions in the electricity production, and thus revenues, or even lead to the shutdown of wind farms?"

Then there's the on going story of OR-7, who's earned international fame for his travels across Oregon, into California, and headed now to Nevada. In 1995 it was decided to reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone park but the wolves didn't understand the boundary system. They moved into Idaho and now into Oregon. This has caused a lot of anger and hard feelings among those who want to save every wolf and those who want to kill every wolf. OR-7 separated himself from his pack in Oregon and went looking for love in all the wrong places. His travels continue to be of interest to the public but California and Nevada have no interest in introducing wolves to their states. California hasn't had wolves in 90 years and Nevada has never had wolves. Oregon wasn't interested either but they are here now. Now what happens? It's all tied up in the courts where it will be argued for years to come.

As I said earlier, it's not easy saving the earth and its inhabitants.

Weather Forecast and Birds

2012-01-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

We've been having some dry weather since Christmas, and that's unusual. This is the time of year somebody in the sky turns on the sprinkler system and forgets to turn it off.

Rain mixed with snow is forecast for most of the week. This morning I thought about what happens when we have this kind of forecast. Immediately Bob says "I've got to get gas for the car." Why? Knowing him, the tank is at least half full. Besides that, where are we going? These are the kind of days people like us need to stay inside.

While he was out getting gas he was going to go by the grocery store and pick up some things we might need, and lay in a supply of chili from Wendy's.

At 7:30 a.m. it was still dark outside. Now it is very gray and overcast. This adds to the angst.

I don't expect to get much snow but I do expect it to rain most of this week, the rest of the month, as well as February, March, April, May, and part of June.

It's this kind of weather that makes me long to feed the birds. I can't imagine a bird starving here but I want to feed them for my enjoyment on winter days. I've never been able to come up with a solution. There just isn't a good place to put up a feeder here, but yesterday I came up with something I hope will work.

I never tire of the moss that grows here. You can see the edge of the patio that was a lot greener before I swept it. Off the patio is some pretty little moss. Makes me smile.

I put out a flag to let the birds know I was open for business.

Then I went to the store and bought these hangers and the small feeders. Note the feeders do not have a lot of seed in them. There's a reason for that. It's almost impossible to keep seed dry here during the winter. My chair is just inside the door so I figure I can put out small amounts and add more as needed. It's easy for wet seed to mold and clog the holes.

No, I'm not crazy. That is a hummingbird feeder. There's one breed that lives here in the Willamette Valley the year around. Occasionally we've put out a feeder and I do remember going out every few minutes to wipe the snow off so the hummingbirds could get to it.

(Bob just called me to the window and we have a hummingbird at the feeder. That didn't take long.)

I am under no illusion this arrangement will keep the seed dry. My best hope is that it will help since they're hanging under a covered patio.

And I put out a source of water.

So far the hummingbird is the only customer we've had but the feeders went up late yesterday afternoon.
_______________

Now about that nice plump gray squirrel that crosses my patio multiple times a day. When I went to the store I contemplated getting a squirrel feeder and putting an ear of corn on it but my experience has been that they will rip the corn cob off and take the whole thing, feeder and all if necessary.

I did buy a small bag of squirrel food and will put a handful out everyday. I'll explain to him the system of sharing, he gets his and the birds get theirs. I'm sure he won't want to make me unhappy.

Finish 0f Yesterday's Post

2012-01-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

I'm back today to finish what I started yesterday. I believe we have reading in America covered. I was especially happy to see all the fiction readers. That's a big help to me. I've been under tremendous guilt for years for not reading fiction. Now I can let that go. You've got it covered. I don't know why I've never read fiction, that's just the way it's been all my life. From time to time I get an urge to reform my ways and leap into fiction with a big splash, only to soon find myself back on the beach reading nonfiction.

Very little of my reading makes good dinner conversation. I have a quirk that leads people to say I'm 'nosey' but I prefer the word 'curious.' I have difficulty reading anything that doesn't include people, and those people need to head for cover because I will research them until I know everything it's possible to know about them. I think that's called obsessive behavior.

My passion in reading has always been government and politics. Now that I've put myself on a political diet I just read government related things. I have to know who's who in Washington and every tidbit I can find about these people. Reading government history certainly puts things in perspective. There's very little in the political/government world today that hasn't been seen before.

After that, I jump around to what catches my fancy. Right now I'm totally into space exploration and China as it relates to their space exploration plans, military capabilities, and what their role might be in a cyber war. Currently I'm reading 'Cyber War' by Richard A Clarke. It's important to check your resources when doing this kind of reading. I believe Clarke wrote the hardback of this book in 2010. It's been on my Kindle for a while. I knew someday I would want to read it and apparently that time is now.

I have no idea what I'll be obsessed about next but whatever it is I'll be into it 110%.
_____________________________
I need to go for a walk now. The weatherman tells me beginning tomorrow the weather is going to be wet and nasty. It's been unusually dry this fall. By this time it's usually rain, rain everyday. It's time for that to begin.

Have a great day and keep reading.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

2012-01-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

This morning I was reminded how different we are in what we read. My sister-in law called to tell me how much she was enjoying a book I'd sent her on the subject of mental health. She went on and on about how that subject fascinates her. Not me. You won't find me near those kinds of books.

Art is a subject many people enjoy. They read about it and visit galleries and museums. I can't say that's a subject of great interest to me. When visiting such places I seem to enjoy the modern art most, and tend to like abstract paintings. That's all I know about art and have no interest in reading about it.

Music is a good one. The world if full of people who travel great distances to listen to music. I must have a tin ear. Tone the noise level down to the level you would use when listening to easy listening music and I can listen to anything and never know the difference. From time to time I listen to easy listening/background music but that's about it. I have no interest in reading about musicians.

I always feel dumb when working crossword puzzles because I never know the names of the actors that starred in any movies. When people refer to movies and tell me the actors in hopes some spark of intelligence will cross my face they're disappointed. I never read books about movie stars or Hollywood.

Sports is running America. Sometimes it's hard to find a hole to hide in when the TV comes on for a sporting event. It's not always safe to be in the room with avid sports fans as they can be dangerous. I leave all the books on sports for their reading pleasure.

History can be very boring. I do better reading historical fiction. I need people in what I read.

I've learned the hard way to stay away from politics and religion. Neither of those subjects do well in public conversation. Both were subjects I was passionate about in my younger years. I've laid them down now and no longer read on those subjects because I can't keep my mouth shut in public.

Genealogy is a very interesting subject but I've found people's eyes glaze over quickly if that's not their interest. If it is their interest they likely don't want to listen to your family stories. They'd rather listen to their own family stories. Genealogy drops like a rock in public conversation.

Cooking is another popular subject. My eyes glaze over very quickly on this topic. I don't cook. I don't want to cook and I don't want to read about cooking.

Now I have a problem. I could go on and on about reading interests but this post is already to long. What do I enjoy reading? I'll be back tomorrow to tell you.

What topics do you enjoy reading?

da Vinci Robot-Assisted Surgery

2012-01-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Last week-end when Linda's (Linda Letters) son had surgery to remove a kidney and was back home the next day, wearing elastic waisted pants, and able to sit at the dinner table with the rest of the family, I was blown away. How could he do that? Now I know, Linda posted this YouTube video on Facebook yesterday. Now it all makes sense.

I've been thinking about this since watching the video and have a few things I'd like to say.

1) This is amazing technology and every town should have it available to patients. The danger I see in this is that now every hospital in town will think they have to have it or their patients will think they're a second rate hospital.

This technology is major expensive. My opinion is, that to keep health costs down, every hospital doesn't need to purchase such equipment. Many years ago the Santa Fe Railroad had its own hospitals for employees. My father used one. It was located in a town with a major medical center. To cut costs, the RR hospital had an agreement with the major medical center to do expensive procedures. The patient would be placed in a van equipped like an ambulance and transported to the major medical center. After the procedure, the patient would then be transported back to the RR hospital to complete their needed stay. It was a big cost saver for the RR. Why can't that be done today?

This technology is current for only a short time. Every hospital doesn't need one. Let other hospitals purchase other expensive technology and share.

Then again if every hospital doesn't buy into this they might not sell enough to be profitable, and factory workers would lose their jobs. Is there anyway to win in this rat race?

2) Watching this video reminded me of technology I see when watching NASA videos. Now which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did NASA (government funds) do the research and development of robots and the medical world tapped into it? Or is it possible the medical world did the research and development and NASA tapped into it?
____________________________
Did you know that when the miners were trapped so long in that mine in Chile, NASA was asked to come and oversee feeding them and monitoring their health?
____________________________
That's enough of me for today. I'm off now to do a little knitting.

Need Sandals?

2012-01-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Today was an uplifting time reading the morning paper. Articles like this one make my day.

There's a positive example here. Capitalism doesn't have to go hand in hand with greed.
________________________

If you aren't a regular reader of Linda Letters you need to check out her latest post. I've never known a family that celebrates life like the Reeder family. This post is an example. Son Jake that she mentions had made it in time for the party in spite of having a kidney removed the day before. He's right there at the table with the rest of the clan. I have to admit I'd never heard of a Blue-Footed Booby.
________________________

The paper was full of goodies today, including book reviews to make me order two new books. I have a spring in my step now so I'm off to take a walk.

End Of Week

2012-01-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

I'm a scattered person. Just a little while ago Bob told me I needed to make a list. I wear myself out jumping from one thing to another. I work against that but it seems to be in my bones.

I've been reading bits and pieces about China and their space program. Yesterday I read David Ignatius column about the Pentagon turning its focus now to China and the Pacific. What does that mean? Sounds like something else I need to know more about. Today I set Google Alerts to reach out and bring me what's in the news about all this. Somewhere else for my attention to dart.
______________________
Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of the shooting in Arizona. Four books have been written about it in the past year:
The Tucson Tragedy by John Newport Ph.D.
Gabby by Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly and Jeffrey Zaslow
As Good As She Imagined by Roxanna Green, and Jerry B Jenkins
A Safeway in Arizona by Tom Zoellner

I've read the first two. I'll add reading the last two to my list of things to do.
_______________________
I should have walked today but the mist was mighty close to being rain so I went soft and stayed dry. Not a good thing to do.

I'm on a knitting binge right now so I'm off to play with yarn again. Have a good week-end.

Space Exploration

2012-01-05T11:41:00.000-08:00

International Space Station

Now why on earth would I be interested in this thing whirling around earth? I wonder that myself. Last year I watched two of the three final missions of the three space shuttles. That era in space is over and the three commanders of those missions are now retired from NASA. The ISS however is still zipping around us at 17,500 miles per hour. Why?

My first thought was to hope they killed the space program. There's been nothing but contention between NASA and Congress since its beginning. It soon became clear to me there was a lot more to space exploration than shuttle missions.

I've wished at times NASA could be turned over to the private sector but that's not likely to happen in total because of the international involvement. The US still needs an official presence. I was surprised to learn how many countries are involved in space exploration.

Just in the few months I've been following ISS there's been astronauts, and cosmonauts, from not only the US and Russia but Italy, Japan, and Holland. Canada provided the huge robotic arm used on ISS. I like this. The more international cooperation the better, we can't seem to cooperate anywhere else.

I am fascinated by the research being done on the ISS. I don't give a rip snort about a manned mission to Mars but some of the research is fascinating and can be used on earth as well.

On a lighter side, I confess to being hooked on Moon and Mars rovers. I love those little vehicles, they seem almost human, and besides that, they're very cute. I look forward to seeing more robots. Then there was Esmeralda and Gladys, the spiders who went spinning their way through space, literally. Fun stuff.

This new interest keeps me busy. I read books, watch documentaries on Netflix, and YouTube is full of things to watch. I use Twitter, Facebook, and Google Alerts to keep an eye out for me. In the mornings I wake up to new fun stuff to read and explore. From time to time you can find me watching NASA TV, checking the International Space Station site, and the NASA home page.

I find it all interesting and it keeps my brain cells moving.

Life Goes On

2012-01-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Not every day in my life is exciting. Some days I have nothing to say, if you can believe that. I'm enjoying those days right now.

For a few days I've been working on this welted cowl. You can read the details of it on my knitting blog.

I finished it yesterday and will be moving on to a new knitting project today.

Tonight I'll probably go to Knit Night at my local yarn shop.

Right now I'm going to take a walk wearing my new pink hat (details here) I knit just before Christmas. It actually goes quite well with my coat in spite of the colors in the photo. I like to be bright and cheerful when I walk.

I enjoyed reading Margaret and Helen this morning. (That's a close as I'm getting to politics this time around.)

Handy Items

2011-12-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

A few days before Christmas I won this bag in a drawing at my local yarn store. To my amazement it is turning out to be a handy item. I'd seen the Bella bags in the store but thought they were too large for my use. This one is 24"X18". We don't have a lot of room so I wondered how useful it would be but soon decided it was very handy.

Daughter and I can create quite a mess with our knitting. I handed the bag to her and suggested she keep her "stuff" in it while she was here. She kept all her knitting projects in it along with her iPad, iPhone and anything else she needed to keep up with. She just carried the bag with her from room to room and chair to chair. Very handy.
_________________________

I have a new zero tension mouse for my computer. I continue to have problems with my wrist from too much mouse clicking and knitting. Son has this kind of mouse at his work so I ordered one for me. As you can see I've yet to plug it in and use it. Guess that can go on my to-do-list.
_________________________

It's foggy with some light mist so I think I shall bundle up and take a walk. My walking schedule depends on what's falling, not on temperature.

Read Faster

2011-12-30T14:11:00.000-08:00

During the holidays I tossed items into this box that I wanted to read later. Too much was going on at the time but it's time now to visit that stack of "stuff." My guess is that most of it will find it's way into the trash. It's amazing how quickly 'new news' becomes 'old news.'

I still like this story from The Associated Press that appeared Christmas eve in The Oregonian.

"Auburn, Wash.--A 5-year old girl from suburban Seattle sent a letter to Santa attached to two pink balloons, and it ended up in the hands of a Northern California ranching family who say they'll make the girl's wishes come true.

Helen Cardenas of Auburn wrote the note in Spanish, asking for a doll, a tea set, shoes and pants, KOMO-TV reported.

Her mother, Rosa Cardenas de Beyes, helped send the note Dec. 2. She said she has been out of work and cash has been tight.

"I didn't know what to do," Candenas de Beyes said. "So I always told her we would send a balloon to Santa because that was a tradition when I was little."

The note ended up nearly 700 miles away in Laytonville, Calif.

A ranch hand translated the letter and called the phone number that was written along with an address. The Sanderson family drove to the nearest shopping mall to find gifts for the little girl, and they planned to ship them Friday."

Now, I could be cynical about this and say "whoever heard of balloons traveling 700 miles?"

I could slip into my environmentalist self and be angry that balloons were released into the air for birds and animals to find later and choke to death swallowing them and the attached strings.

I could but I won't. Instead I laid it aside to read again. I've read it a second time now and I still like it.

Back to the Routine

2011-12-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

The Angry Bird Hat I crocheted was a big hit. You never know with kids but grandson was very happy, and has worn it ever since.

Daughter and I had crocheted three hats for daughter-in-law but I failed to get pictures of them.

Son was left out and he noticed, so yesterday daughter and I knit hats for him.

(Excuse me, I'll be back in a little while. Daughter and I are off to a yarn shop.)

My most special gift was this little pot. Grandson made it in his pottery class. He really likes using a pottery wheel and will begin classes again in January. It's perfect for my stitch markers.

Tomorrow we're taking the whole family to a nice restuarant and on Friday Daughter flies back to Texas.

I Want One

2011-12-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

I want to do this. I was fascinated by this article in the paper today. I hope a lot of people around Portland decide to set up a Little Free Library.

After the holidays I think I will approach the management of this complex where we live and see if I can get permission to do this. First I'm going to show all this to Son. I think it would be a wonderful idea for their neighborhood. They're book lovers and I think it would be fun for Grandson to put out some children's books.

The ready to install libraries on the Little Free Library site are too pricey for my budget. I'll have to come up with something else. I'll think about it. First I have to find a home for it. Second, since I read most books on my Kindle, I'll have to come up with some books.
___________________________

I continue to be impressed by the Street Books project in downtown Portland. Those books go to the homeless. If I were homeless I'd certainly like to have a book to read.
Pictures from The Oregonian

Angry Bird Hat

2011-12-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

Grandson is into Angry Birds right now. When I came across the pattern for this hat I knew I had to make it. I hadn't crocheted in probably 25 years but found it like riding a bicycle, it all came back to me.

Now I'm left with all this cheap yarn. Goodwill, open the door, I'm on my way.

The Dark Days of Winter

2011-12-20T17:58:00.000-08:00

Now that we're in the dark days of winter in the Pacific Northwest perhaps I'll enjoy blogging again, a good way to reach out and connect with humanity.

By 4:30 p.m. I find myself closing the blinds and shutting down for the night. It's dark enough the whole world can look in on me unless I close the blinds. Morning light also comes late so the days are very short.

I must admit this is my happiest time of year. I love blocking the world out and snuggling down in my own little world to enjoy the evening.

On To New Things

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

I've been in a fog since attending my first Weight Watchers meeting yesterday. I've never done WW before so I have a lot to learn. I am impressed by the program and look forward to becoming comfortable with it. All new things seem to require some heavy time commitment up front, especially when it involves a computer.

Given that I haven't cooked in years, and very seldom shop in a grocery store this is going to require me to also embark on cooking and grocery shopping.

I figure if I can keep afloat with the program, and spend some extra time each day acquainting myself with all the new information, it won't be long before it becomes second nature. Well maybe, at least that's the goal.

There's no way I can keep this weight off without an accountability system. Now that I'm no longer seeing my doctor or the dietitian on a regular basis I had to look for something else. I think I've made a good choice. Addiction is addiction, some people attend AA, I'll be attending WW.
___________________________
Frail feline seems to be making good progress. I'm expecting a good report when we see the vet tomorrow. He's now eating us out of house and home so I'm taking that as a good sign. Pill Pockets quickly solved the problem of getting his heart medication down him.
___________________________
Sister-in-law is making good progress. She has repurposed Niece's bedroom. It's once again a guest bedroom with two empty closets. It took a lot of work but it's done now and that feels good and has given her a since of accomplishment.

She's located the agency she will use when she donates Niece's clothes. We agreed they should go to an agency that will use them to clothe other street people at no cost. It would have been easier to donate them to Goodwill where the clothes would be sold to whoever chose to walk in and purchase them. That's all well and good but doesn't serve the emotional need in this situation. The clothes need to go back on the street to people like Niece.

They've cleaned her car which was packed to the brim with clothes, food scraps, crack pipes, and the actual drugs.

Sister-in-law has purchased two new pair of pants and tops for casual wear. It had been a very long time since she'd bought anything for herself.

We are in limbo now until Niece receives her sentence. Her attorney keeps talking about 5 years to life. That's a wide span to try to plan around. He gives her parents no encouragement, and continues to say her situation is serious.
_________________________________
I'm currently listening to Cutting For Stone, another book where the dialect and voice inflection is very important. The author, Abraham Verghese, M.D. is an interesting man. I enjoyed this YouTube of one of his presentations.
_________________________________
I'm off now to learn more about WW.

The End of a Busy Week

2011-10-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm glad this week is gone. I didn't have anywhere to go today and that's the way I like it. I went for a walk this morning and out now and then to walk the dog and that's it. I love those kind of days.

Frail Feline is on the mend I believe. I fully expect him to be moved back to 'fixer-upper' when we see the vet next. It's wonderful to see him improving. He let us know early on he would rather die than eat rice no matter what we mixed it with. I assured him I'd rather die than try to force feed it to him. With that we set the box of baby rice cereal aside and went to plan B. Life is purring along smoothly now.

On Tuesday I plan to join Weight Watchers. Daughter has joined online so she can be my tech support but I need the accountability so I plan to attend the meetings. I am addicted to food and particularly ice cream. Some people attend AA meetings, I'll be attending WW meetings. Can't seem to keep the pounds off without the accountability factor.

Some time ago I wrote about my problems reading The Help. Since I'd already bought the book I didn't want to buy it again in audible form. Daughter thought I'd like listening to it, but I decided to just drop the subject. A few days ago I discovered it was in my audible library. I have no idea when I purchased it. I promptly tried listening to it and it was an awesome book. Listening made all the difference in the world. The southern dialect, and more importantly the voice inflections gave me a totally different read on the book. Makes me wonder how many more books I would view differently if I could listen to the audible form. Excuse me while I get something off my chest here, "Ms Hilly I hope you burn in hell." Phew, I feel better now that I've said it. I really did not like that woman.

The Fixer Uppers

2011-10-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning the human fixer-upper that lives here went in to have blood drawn in preparation for a check-up scheduled for next week.

This morning I took the feline fixer-upper in for a return visit to the vet and the news was not good. We are making progress on some of his problems but he's developed some new ones. His status is no longer 'fixer-upper' but has changed to 'frail.'

Apparently I'm going on full time nursing duty to see if we can bring feline back from the brink and the chances of that are not in our favor. The pancreatitis has settled down and we're doing well with that but he's now developed a heart problem and is dehydrated. I'm going to be spending my time pushing low fat food and liquids. Liquids, liquids, that's the name of the game now, and heart medication. I really hate to give up on this old guy. He's been a wonderful companion but I will if we're not able to turn this around soon. I've asked that no heroic measures be used on me when I am at the end of my life and I will do the same for him. No feeding tubes for me, no long term forced feeding for my feline friend.
____________________
I've cleared up the situation over the gas lease, I called the person who's been talking to my elderly cousin. All this disturbance is over 2 acres of land. She is the only one it involves. I'm thankful to be free of that situation. I was not looking forward to dealing with cousin over this matter. Now I don't have to do anything else.
____________________
Today is mammogram day for me. One of the irksome things in life, but again, I'm thankful to have that test available to me. Women in many countries do not have it available to them. I'll do it and not mutter.
____________________
I really do not like leaving my house every day to do errands. Seems like I've been doing just that for a number of days. I keep hoping it's going to stop soon but I'm getting worried. I'm making real progress with my to-do-list except someone is slipping in during the night adding new tasks at a faster rate than I'm completing them.

Have a good day.

Busy Day

2011-10-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

I do believe my plan is working. This morning I got a cell phone call from my sister-in-law to inform me she was out "getting things done." Best of all there was excitement in her voice. I find myself getting more done because I don't want her to get ahead of me in accomplishing things. This may turn out to be a good plan for both of us.

I had my to-do-list prepared and was ready to hit the ground running this morning. All was coming along nicely until the phone rang. Out the window went my schedule. It was an elderly cousin in Texas. Apparently someone had called her about leasing our grandfather's land to drill for gas. She was excited but not quite sure what was going on. Nobody is going to get rich off this but every time there's a new nibble my cousins or their heirs just go crazy. I own half the mineral rights and the other 7 heirs own the other half. Now I've got to spend time looking into this and report back to my cousin and try to bring her down to earth again. I suspect I'll get a call in the next day or two. Visiting with her took most of my morning and my to-do-list was sadly altered.

Before the phone call I read the newspaper and enjoyed reading three columns.
Ross Douthat
David Brooks
Alexandra Petri

On the Move

2011-10-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

What would I do without my blogging friends. I'm taking your advice and today I'm on the move again. I was overwhelmed for a few days but I've sorted out what I can fix and what I can't, and will work on what I can be a part in fixing.

Our niece is returning to prison, and the sentence is likely to be as much as 25 years. What does this mean? It means she will likely not be free again in the lifetime of her parents and perhaps even her brother.

We need a grieving time. We knew we were faced with two possibilities for Niece. Either she would die a violent death on the streets where she was living, or she would return to prison. Now we know, it's going to be prison. Both options require a grieving time.

The dreams Niece's parents had for their child are gone. Her room at home will need to be repurposed. Her clothes will need to be donated. What trinkets will they keep for memories sake? These are just some of the things that require grieving.

At the same time we must be working on the healing process. At this moment her parents are so beaten down they must have help to rise again and face a new world. A world where every time the phone rings their heart doesn't stop in fear, will it be Niece or will it be the police? A world without verbal abuse from Niece. A world without her unreasonable demands. A world where they can relax again. It's been many years since they've lived in that world. They've almost lost sight of it.

My sister-in-law and I have worked out an accountability system that we began today. Every day I will call her and we will discuss the following things:

a) Niece
What has she done that day to bringing closure to Niece's situation? Did she sort clothes; wash a load of clothes; choose the organization that will receive her clothes; work on repurposing her room; take care of some business related to niece, what of the many things to be done did she do?

b) Herself
What did she do for herself? Did she put on make-up; buy a new piece of clothing, sort through her clothes to see what she can still wear and get rid of what she can't; get her hair cut, etc?

c) Grandson
Niece's 25 year old son is living with his grandparents. It's a situation that needs to be resolved. It can be done if some of us continue to apply pressure to resolve it. I will ask her each day what she's done toward that goal.

d) Future
What has she thought about related to the future? They are 75 and 79, how do they want to spend their last days? Can they afford to continue to live in their house; would they be better served with a different living situation; what are they going to do to be social again, what do they enjoy as a couple?

Every day we will be discussing those subjects and I will report to her what I've done regarding weight loss and exercise. I think accountability is a good thing.

Last, but not least, they still have their daughter. They're beginning a new life chapter but they still have her. Once she's off drugs she will likely be a nice person again. They'll be able to correspond with her, send books for her to read, and visit her from time to time depending on the distance between them. It's not the life they hoped for, but I think life will be good again once they've all adjusted to the new norm.

Snap Out Of It

2011-10-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a few days when you kept saying to yourself "snap out of it" only to see no change in attitude? I'm in one of those periods now and it's very frustrating. I seem to be moving in slow motion.

I expect a low day or two after Daughter has been here for a visit. Following her visit Son had a long time friend take his life by hanging. That was very disturbing. Then came news an old friend's mental health demons had returned in a big way. That sent me back down memory lane and some of those memories were not good. Now news has come of a family situation that brings great sadness to my heart. My immediate family is okay and I have much to be thankful about. I seem to be suffering from an abundance of empathy that's getting to me into a sad spot.

I can't seem to hit the floor running in the morning. I think I need a surge of inspiration; a spark of excitement; something to laugh about; a new interest to explore; something to get me moving again. Perhaps this will be the week that happens.

Lack of Electrical Power in North Korea

2011-09-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

I found this article and the picture shocking. Check it out.

Relaxed Living Is Good

2011-09-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

I have a running 'to-do-list' but I'm not a slave to it. I'd miss a lot of interesting things if I were. I start the day with the local newspaper. A lot of days I don't find anything of particular interest but occasionally something catches my eye.

Today was one of those days. I don't read the sports section of the paper so I would have missed this one if Husband hadn't pointed it out to me. It's a weight loss story. Who would have thought about looking in the sports section for that kind of story, especially since it isn't related to a person involved in sports.

I've never met Michael Oneill, never heard of him. I'm glad he's had a weight loss of 271 pounds, but other people have done that. I'm more interested in the support group that formed to help him in this journey. Oh that other obese people could be so lucky.
_____________________________

I am fascinated with the Street Books library project that began last spring in downtown Portland. The idea of providing a lending library for people living on the street really appeals to me. I can imagine, if I were such a person, reading material would be at the top of my needs list, along with shelter and food.

I emailed Son to see if it might be possible to go to their location and deliver a check for their fundraising campaign. I told him I'd treat for lunch if he could work up a day trip of activities that included this stop. It would also be good for Grandson to learn about this effort. I call it a learning experience, a piece of education.

____________________________

It's almost noon now and I still haven't looked at my to-do-list. I'm off now to make the bed and do all those mundane chores. I prefer relaxed living, but perhaps mundane chores will make me appreciate relaxed living more.

Do I Still Care?

2011-09-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Is there anything I still need to care about? My working days are over, I've raised my children and I'm now classified as a 'senior.' It seems logical it should be a free ride the rest of the way.

I will always use the privilege of voting. It's the best way I have to make my opinion count. I've always cared about the workings of government but it's unhealthy for me to care about politics. I can't handle it anymore, but is it possible to be interested in one without the other creeping in? I still care but can no longer allow myself to be involved.
__________________
The prison system in this country is a real mess. Should I care? I was minding my own business yesterday listening to OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) when an interview ran smack into me. In Oregon we have a prisoner by the name of Gary Haugen who's been trying for months to stop the appeals process and allow him to be executed. Sounds like an easy thing to do but trust me, it's not. For months I've seen this man's name in the paper as people have intervened on his behalf, against his wishes, to keep him alive. The interview was with Rakha Naseem, a reporter who covered two similar cases in Oregon in the nineties. She has since written a novel called The Crying Tree. Gary Haugen read her book and sent word he would like her to visit him, which she has done. Guess what I'm reading now?

I found it interesting that a column appeared this morning in the editorial section of the paper about the death penalty. I took time to read it and found it worth the read. Do I still care about the prison system in this country? Yes, and particularly about the increasing number of the mentally ill finding themselves prisoners these days.
____________________
Last evening I watched this video on YouTube. Yes, I do still care that the education system in America is in a mess, but I also realize it can't be turned on a dime and reform, good or bad, takes time. Do I support public schools, absolutely. Do I want to see education sent to the states to manage, absolutely not. Aside from the schools themselves my concern is parents. So many children are from divorced homes these days, or single parent homes. Who's watching over their children's education while they work and may not be with their child much of the time? It seems to me public education can only do so much, and yes there are gaps, but I say parents need to be mindful of the child's needs and fill in those gaps. Not every child wants to play sports, not every child wants to do music. Parents need to become familiar enough with their own children to add the pieces of education unique to their child. It takes a lot more than the school house on the corner to educate a child. I believe I can justify caring about education. I have a grandson that I want to see educated in the best way possible but that won't come through the public school system alone.
____________________
I've decided it's probably not possible to turn off being interested in the things we've spent our lives caring about. I'll keep caring. Perhaps it will benefit no one but me but that's okay. It might be I'll even find some new things to care about. At the very least it will keep me informed enough to carry on a conversation about current events. Nobody wants to hear old people blabber on and on about the past.

Fall Has Arrived

2011-09-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Would you believe I was thrilled this morning to wake up to cool temperatures, dreary overcast skies, and rain? See how I feel about that kind of weather next March.
___________________________________
I haven't posted in a while because I didn't have anything interesting to post about. Life has been busy though for the last two or three weeks.

Daughter came for six days and that was wonderful. She catches everything up for us when she comes. Not a lot of rest for her but very helpful for us. I wanted a particular lamp for the living room so she drove me to Lamps Plus to purchase the lamp, then worked with Bob to assemble it. All done in a fraction of the time it would have taken us to do it.

I do not like my furniture lined up around the walls, and that has significantly bugged me since I've been in this apartment. For seven years it's bugged me. She had an interesting idea while she was here so we jumped up and rearranged the living room. Even Bob likes it better. The sofa and chairs are at angles, no longer lined up around the walls.

It was time to buy new bedding and I really dread doing that so I managed to stall until she arrived to help us with that decision.

She also checks on all our electronic devices when she comes, updates what needs to be updated, shows us better ways to do things etc.

In between all these tasks we managed to shop for yarn and knit our little hearts out.
__________________________________
Yesterday afternoon I went to see a play, Crimes of the Heart, with Son. It was done by our local theater group, and we both enjoyed it. We need to do that again. With the holidays approaching I suspect it will need to be plays Grandson can attend. This one wasn't suitable for a nine-year-old. I think this is the only time Son and I have done anything that was just the two of us. It was nice. Anytime he invites me to do anything I always say yes and ask what later.
__________________________________
I've been reading and knitting some. Today I'm beginning a study of Fort Clatsop and the Lewis & Clark Expedition. In August Son and I took guests to Astoria, OR. They loved it and want to go back and spend a night or two. That area is so full of history you need more than a day to see it. Fort Clatsop is an amazing place I'm told so I'm going to see what I can learn about it. Perhaps I'll even suggest to Son that we take Grandson and check it out. I love to visit that part of Oregon.
__________________________________
It' time for me to move on and see if I can do something constructive today.

Unisex & One Fixer-Upper

2011-09-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

Unisex. Both restrooms at Fork & Spoon were unisex.
________________
One of my fixer-uppers was in the hospital part of the week with pancreatitis. He's home now and seems to be doing much better but the experience added a lot of stress to an already busy week.

Seattle, the Ferry, and Yarn

2011-09-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday daughter and I set out early for Seattle. The ferry there took us to Bainbridge Island.

We visited Churchmouse Yarn & Tea shop. It was every knitter's dream. We bought yarn until I dreamed about it last night.

Then to Fork & Spoon for lunch.

The restroom door signs were a bit confusing.

Raccoons, Gadgets and Company

2011-09-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

Son's raccoon family returned for another visit. He gave them permission to eat the tomatoes but apparently they weren't interested if they weren't going to be stealing so they left without touching them.
________________________________________

I'm going to have "Impulse Shopper" tattooed on my forehead in big neon letters. After daughter got through moving her preemies she saw that I'd purchased a Nook and called to say we needed to talk. The Nook went back to Barnes & Noble, and the Kindle I've had for a while went onto a bookshelf. I then added the Kindle and Nook applications to my iPad and all was wonderful. I miss the screen on the Kindle and Nook for easy reading but hey, I live in Oregon where the sun doesn't shine anyway, so I've adjusted to the glossy screen of the iPad and all is well.

At one point I laid out my gadgets and I had an iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Nook, and iPod. This is much nicer, only my iPhone and iPad to worry about now.
_______________________________________

I've never been a mystery reader. I suspect I could count on two fingers the number of mysteries I've read in my lifetime. In the last two weeks I've read three. Currently I'm reading The Shanghai Tunnel, by Sharan Newman. Portland, OR has what's called the Shanghai tunnel under some of the original downtown area. There are two stories about this tunnel, a good one for modern day consumption, and an ugly one that I suspect is closer to the truth. This tunnel has always intrigued me. I'm enjoying this mystery about the ugly story of the tunnel. I need to see if they're still doing tours of it and take one to see what I think of the real thing.
______________________________________

Daughter flies in tomorrow for a few days of RR from her nursing job. The preemies are doing well but everyone is still getting used to the new equipment and procedures. We're very excited she's coming. Haven't seen her since June and that's a long time for us between visits.

Preemies, Churches and Books

2011-09-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a special day at Cook Children's Medical Center. Daughter is nurse educator for the neonatal intensive care unit. They have worked long and hard to see the day when their preemies would be moved into this amazing new unit. Daughter is in the back of the picture standing next to a lady in a green shirt. I hope you'll read the article and look at the photos.
______________________________________

There was an update in today's paper related to the Mars Hill Evangelical Church and their plans to move into a gay neighborhood in Portland. Reading between the lines, I hope this means the church is having second thoughts about the move. I could not see this being a good experience for either group.
______________________________________

I saw today that the Gabby Gifford/Mark Kelly book will be available November 15.

_______________________________________

That's it for today.

Sunflowers, Babies, Kindles & Nooks

2011-09-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

In spite of our long, cold, wet spring, and cooler than usual summer, Son managed to grow sunflowers in Oregon.

_________________________________________

Ax & Wm

I want you to meet Alexander and William. I've known the mother of these special babies for a few years. I never doubted she and her husband would be wonderful parents, I just didn't expect identical twins to be their first experience at parenting. I get so excited every time I see Lori's added a new post about the boys.

__________________________________

For some years now I have been a loyal customer of Amazon. I was a customer long before Kindle came on the scene. It was always so easy to order from them and I could choose whether I wanted new or used books. Just 'one click' and it's done.

Lately this has been bothering me. The bookstore closest to me is Barnes & Noble, not Amazon. The closest independent bookstore to me is a satellite store of Powell's, not Amazon. Then why am I giving all my business to Amazon?

I thought about what it would be like if both Barnes & Noble and Powell's suddenly went out of business one day like we've recently seen happen to Borders. I'd be in a mess. Then why do I continue to support Amazon? Not smart.

Today I set out on a fact finding mission. I went first to Barnes and Noble with my bag of electronic devices. I purchased the cheapest Nook for $139, and here's the reasons why.

a) There's a flesh and blood employee always in the store to help with questions and problems, but I must admit Amazon provides excellent help for the Kindle. I guess I need more than this reason, although I do prefer people in skin over electronic or telephone help.

b) The cheaper Nook has the same reading screen as the Kindle. The color one has the glossy screen. I would not have given up the Kindle screen. It's far better than reading books on the iPad.

c) As best I've been able to tell, prices between Amazon and Barnes & Noble are pretty comparable. They each offer their own special goodies but overall they seem to be about the same.

d) I set up an account with Barnes & Noble like the account I have with Amazon. It's virtually the same service. Barnes & Noble also offer used books now along with new books.

e) Kindle is not a touch screen, the Nook is. At this moment that matters to me because I've about done my wrist in knitting and mouse clicking. The Kindle is more clicking, although I do expect my discomfort to be short lived.

Next it was on to the website of Powell's City of Books, a huge independent bookstore in Portland. They're trying to keep up but it's not as polished as Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Nevertheless, I set up an account with them also. They've always offered new and used books. Their shipping price is the same as Amazon.

This does not mean I'm abandoning Amazon, it simply means I will check first with Barnes & Noble, as well as Powells before ordering from Amazon.

Amazon will be launching a new Kindle later in the fall. Best I can tell it's a cross between a Kindle and an iPad. I think it's Amazon's response to Barnes & Noble's color Nook. They're both $249. It will be interesting to watch authors and the new Kindle.

All this to say I'm going to make a greater effort to support bookstores in my town. I don't want to wake up one day and find them gone like we saw with Borders.

_______________________________

Interesting blog post

Interesting column.

Gadgets, Brains & Books

2011-09-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

My Brain

Remember the days before computers when notebook organizers were popular? Oh my, I was a real sucker for those. I knew a woman that used one with MY BRAIN printed on the cover.

I've never gotten over the pleasure I felt in creating an 'organizer.' Now I do it digitally and it takes three gadgets to do it. I've got to work on shrinking my brain. This is just too much.

____________________________________

Now, back to my library experience. My reason for going to the library was for them to teach me how to download this book on to my iPad in audio form.

The process was simple enough except there were 260 on the waiting list. I have a copy on my Kindle that I can read and I did read one chapter. I seldom read anything from the 60s and the civil rights days. I find all that very disturbing. Of course the book became wildly popular and there's now a movie.

Since I appear to be the only person alive who did not care for this book I feel pressured now to make peace with it. Daughter listened to it as an audio book and thinks I'll do better listening to it than trying to read it. That meant I would then need to buy the book a second time to get the audio form. Silly me, I thought checking it out through the public library would be the simplest way, wrong.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Library Experience

2011-09-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

I visited my local library this week, and as always, was impressed.

You see the people here were in bad need of a new library building. Several times it was put before the voters for funding, but every time it failed. The last time it failed by 37 votes, heartbreaking.

The mayor and his wife were retired school teachers and very much supported building a new library. One day the mayor's wife passed this building and saw that it was vacant. She went home, picked up the mayor, and took him out to see it, with the instructions he should look into what it would cost to purchase it for a library.

The building was available for the amount of money already in the library fund, there was no need to go back to the voters for additional funding.That's how we came to have this new library. I think it looks like it was built to be a library. I'm very proud of the people here, and boo to the voters who were more worried about their property taxes than the city having an adequate library.

Son told me he was going to vote no because it would raise his taxes. I couldn't believe it. His second home is the public library. I never vote on financial things that appear on the ballot because I'm a retired person putting almost nothing into the tax system. I don't think it would be responsible of me to vote for things I won't be helping to pay for, but in this case I voted. I killed son's vote because I felt he was wrong.

Along with the building came these beautiful grounds where area residents enjoy walking and spending time. There's a blue heron rookery out there and a small forest of trees filled with beautiful woodpeckers.

Perhaps the "no voters" did the city a service in the long run, but I still don't like their attitude.
_____________________________
Now to the reason for writing this post. My purpose for visiting the library was to learn how to use the Oregon Digital Library Consortium or Library 2 Go as it's more commonly known. Before leaving the building I decided to check out some books to listen to as well as read, just to be sure I was comfortable with the process.

I was disappointed to find everything I found interesting had a waiting list. This has always been the reason I find it difficult to use a public library. I read very little fiction. When I want a book it's because I'm interested in the subject at that moment, not a month or six weeks down the road.

I've decided since I can afford to continue to buy what I read I will continue to do that. If there's ever a time in life when I don't have the funds to buy books I'll use the library at that time and be thankful for what's available. Until then I'll keep on doing what I'm doing now, buying books.

What's been your experience?

Picking a Fight

2011-09-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me well know of my past addiction to all things religious and political. I am a recovering addict. I promised myself when I started blogging again that I would not post about religion or politics. I try to read as little about those subjects as I possibly can these days.

This morning I slipped. On the front page of The Oregonian was this picture. Reading the accompanying article my anger rose significantly, a prime example of what I dislike the most about some evangelical Christians.

In my opinion this is picking a fight if I ever saw one. Christians of this mindset are usually also the most anti-Muslim. It's the highest form of religious aggression. I don't run scared of Muslims or gays but I do run scared of these "Christians."
________________________
As a word of explanation about the reference in this article to McMenamins (pub) check this site.
"Many of its locations are renovated historical properties; as of June 2004, nine are on the National Register of Historic Places."

We enjoy McMenamins and often take guests to some of their unusual locations for a meal. I regret we will not be able to take future guests to this site.

Catch Up Time

2011-08-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last year I wrote about the bear lady in Oregon who was in trouble for feeding wildlife, namely black bears. It's not nice to feed black bears in your neighborhood. Your neighbors won't like you, and it's bad for the bears, puts them at great risk.

Well, it seems her case has finally made it through the courts and she struck out. Surprise, she now says she doesn't like Oregon anymore and doesn't ever want to see Oregon again. She's moved on to California, but does admit she understands now why you should not feed wildlife.
_____________________________

DJan this one is for you, Hiking Yoga. If you aren't keeping up with DJan you should be. I didn't think it was possible to cram anything else into her exercise life but here it. She's addicted to hiking. Perhaps she could add a little yoga there. I doubt she could add yoga to her skydiving.
_____________________________

You thought I was teasing yesterday about my neighborhood? Look at this, the worlds largest mobile crane two miles from my house!
_______________________

Watch out world I'm out and about.

Cattails, Earthquakes, & Volcanoes

2011-08-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

I came across these cattails that made me smile so I stopped and made a picture of them. They made me feel like a child again. I've always loved cattails.
__________________________

This week's weather has been enough to make your head spin. Seems like Mother Nature got mixed up on her directions. What happened on the East Coast should have been happening on the West Coast. Don't trust that batty old woman, she doesn't know east from west.

In Texas the concern was hurricanes, and tarnadoes. This year I could add, grass fires, sand storms and drought. Once we moved to Oregon it was volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. I'm not particularly worried about tsumamis but I am concerned about volcanoes and earthquakes.

I try to be informed about such things but some of the information drives me crazy. The Oregonian's front page carried an article this morning about a "previously undetected seismic fault that appears to be active and dangerous on the northern flank of Mt. Hood. Oh dear, I think to myself, this could be bad. Reading further into the article I then read "Geologists know the fault caused a substantial quake sometime in the past 12,000 years... That means it is a relatively young fault". What did they say? Young, to me, is not 12,000 years. Perhaps I should stop reading that stuff, it makes my brain tired.
____________________________

I hate shopping but I went out for a little while yesterday. I also hate driving and by the time I got home I was ready to throw my car keys to the first person passing by. I understand the area where we live is now considered "trendy." I'm not sure what that means. Intel, has a new contract for the nanotech industry. I've never seen so many cranes, and pieces of earth moving equipment, in action while they're building another campus of new buildings. Luxury apartments are popping up everywhere. Traffic has increased greatly and so have people. I think this is supposed to be good but sometimes I wonder.
____________________________

Have a good day, I plan to.

Instant Connection

2011-08-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

I was a little fussy last evening, couldn't seem to find anything that made me happy. Finally, in desperation, I began looking through the Kindle books I'd archived. I ran across Highest Duty by "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow. I wondered when on earth I'd ever thought I'd like to read a book about a plane crash?

I'd read only three or four pages into the book when I felt instant connection. It seems Sullenberger was born in Denison, TX, and developed his love of airplanes from watching military planes land and take off at nearby Perrin Air Force Base in the sixties. And why should that matter you say?

It matters because Bob and I married in 1962 while Bob was stationed at Perrin Air Force Base. Bob was not a pilot but he spent many an hour on the runway helping planes fly. I eagerly read some passages from the book to him. Next thing I knew we had moved to the computer for more information. We had quite a discussion about the days we were stationed at Perrin. Our son was born on that base in 1964. My fussy self went away instantly.

I learned Jeffrey Zaslow also wrote "The Last Lecture" with Randy Pausch, and is currently writing a book with Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly. He has a very good writing style for telling personal stories.

What a small world.

August Walk

2011-08-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

I took a few pictures on my morning walk one day this week and thought I'd share them with you.

I begin with a walk around the complex. In winter there's sometimes water where you see the rocks, but not this week. It's August, remember.

A glimpse of one of the pools on the upper right.

I suppose that is a willow tree. Whatever it is I enjoy it.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is but I'm entertained by its shape.

The second half of my walk is through an adjoining park.

That's it for today folks. Have a good day.

Question?

2011-08-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Last fall Son received a plant arrangement in a basket. In a state of decline they brought it to me. I did no better with it. Breathing its last breath I re-potted it but that didn't help. Sick of looking at it I banished it to the covered patio in early spring. Now it's a very happy.

The question is what to do with it this winter? It is not going to be happy back in the house I fear. I also think it probably needs a larger pot. Should I leave it on the patio and hope it makes it or try something else?

Temps are seldom below freezing here, the patio is covered, and it's sitting against a wall.

Life decisions are tough.

Fixer-Uppers

2011-08-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the love of my life. He's growing old and had a health issue last week. When I took him to the vet he told me he was in the "fixer-upper" stage of his life. He said I needed to watch him closely as health issues are more frequent in that stage of life.

That shouldn't be too hard as I'm already living with a "fixer-upper". Now I have two.

Come to think of it, I suppose I fit in that category as well. We're just a house full of "fixer-uppers".

Time To Switch Knitting For Reading

2011-08-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

We had our first 90 degree day yesterday and automatically my brain thought "summer is here, time to stop knitting and start reading".

I'm in the middle of Lumby's Bounty, by Gail Fraser, on my Kindle.

Son mentioned a book he was reading about Comanche Indians. That caused me to take note. Comanche Indians are interesting to me because I grew up on their land in Texas. The name is used a lot in that part of Texas. There's Comanche Peak, notice I said 'peak', not 'mountain'. Never the less it's a nice little bump on the Texas landscape. Comanche Peak Power Plant is very near my grandfather's farm. There's a town, Comanche, Texas, and Parker county is named for Quanah Parker. I added Empire of the Summer Moon , by S.C. Gwynne, to my iPad this morning.

On my walk the crows were unusually loud. DJan had written a while back about reading Crow Planet, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. I came home and added it to my iPhone.

That should keep me busy for a few days, along with a little sock knitting. I have trouble reading during the day. I experience twinges of guilt that I'm not 'working'. It's odd that I don't experience that guilt when I'm knitting.
____________________
Next up is deciding how I'm going to receive news from now until after the 2012 election. I'm not a TV person so I don't tune in to the cable news loops. I do have their apps on my iPhone and iPad. I spend some time every day scrolling through to see which news blips I want to watch on my gadgets. Some days I find a few things I'm interested in and other days I don't.

I have no plans to watch the debates this time around. 2008 pretty much did me in for debates. I'll probably hop around among blogs, columnists, and anything else I find along the way that's brief.

I do like to keep up with the world news, and the general news around the country. I guess I'll keep up the hunt and peck system for that as well. I wish I could go to one source and be done with it but I guess that would be boring, and I should be very thankful for the many sources I have to choose from.
______________________
I'm off to bed now to read a while.

Back to My Routine

2011-08-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Company's gone now and today, all of us woke up ready to get back into our routines. It's nice to have a break but routine feels good again.

We had a wonderful time. Probably the highlight was the day we spent in Astoria.

I don't make good pictures so I asked nine year old Grandson to take my camera and make pictures of anything, just make pictures. The green, moss covered posts here are all that's left from the old fish canneries. I can't imagine working years on end canning fish.

We ate lunch at Baked Alaska where this was part of the view from our table.

A visit to Astoria column is always a must. It's 164 steps to the top and two of our party made the climb.

The scenery surrounding the column is spectacular. Astoria looks very different from where we live.
_____________________
David Books latest column was of great interest to me and it's not political. I'll probably read it at least once more, maybe twice to be sure I've taken it all in.
_____________________
Forecasts are we will reach 92 degrees today. If so, it will be the first 90 degree day this summer. I'd better get my walk in now while it's cool.

A Busy Week

2011-08-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

I've found in retirement anything out of the routine schedule seems much bigger than before my retirement. I hate that. I'm going to have to clean my bathroom and dust in the same day and I feel pressured.

We have company arriving tomorrow from Wichita Falls, TX and Denver, CO. I thought they were arriving on Wednesday but I was wrong. They're arriving on Tuesday, thus the pressure.

We're going to see if we can cool off those Texans. I'm a little disappointed that it looks like temperatures will be in the low eighties. I would have preferred high seventies, but I suppose when you've been having temperatures well over one hundred for days on end the low eighties will be fine.

They're in such a drought in Texas they will enjoy seeing how green things are in Oregon. Even though we've been here seven years I never tire of seeing the beautiful hanging baskets everywhere you go here. They're so refreshing.

This is a picture I made last summer but I don't have time this morning to run out and make new ones. Remember, I have to clean the bathroom and dust today.

On Main street in our town they have double hangers on the lamp posts with two of these hanging on each post.

How about petunias in August?

Have a good week. I probably won't be around until after my company leaves on Friday.

Health of Native Americans

2011-08-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

I come across a lot of information in the course of a day, most of it barely touching my mind. However, from time to time, I come across something that makes me stop and take a closer look. Yesterday was one of those times.

A conference of Native American physicians have been meeting in Portland this week. Modern medicine's approach has fractured the holistic healing practices of Native Americans, who have the worst health problems in the nation. On some level I've known that for years.

What I did not know was "the life expectancy for Native Americans is 63 years compared with 74 for the general population. In South Dakota, the median age of death is 81 for the general population; 58 for Native Americans."

"The statistical differences continue: The death rate among Native Americans from diabetes is three times as high as the general population's; six times as high from alcohol; more than two times as high from accidents and 60 percent higher from suicide."

The statement that stopped me in my tracks was this one: "We need to address the underlying wounded spirits, the loss of culture, the loss of land and how that affects people's spirits." Wow.

I encourage you to read the article, it's interesting.

A Good Deed

2011-08-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

Talked with Daughter this afternoon and heard an interesting experience in her day. Her door bell rang and she opened the door to find a young woman, dressed in hospital scrubs, in distress. She'd had car trouble on a nearby street and needed to use a phone.

Daughter scanned the area and could see nothing threatening. The woman invited her to step outside so she could show her the car. Daughter handed her cell phone to her, she made a call, and that was it.

Later in the day Daughter found a rose and a note in her storm door. It was from the young woman explaining what a horrible day she had been having, that no one would open their door to her. She was thanking daughter for being so kind to her.

It seems we're more and more afraid to trust people. I think that's sad. The young woman was black. I don't want to believe that was the reason no one opened their door.

It was certainly a thought provoking experience, that such a small deed had meant so much to another human being.

I wonder what I would have done in that situation?

A Dog I Could Love

2011-08-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of my time telling people I will never own another dog, never. This is a borzois, and I would have a hard time saying no to having one of these dogs. I believe I could have an intelligent conversation with this dog and it wouldn't bark all the time I was talking.

I read an article this morning that stated Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is being evaluated to see if she qualifies for this kind of dog as a service dog.
"Operation Wolfhound, which operates out of Arizona, uses borzois because the breed has the temperament most suitable to respond to stress. Congresswoman Giffords worked with Operation Wolfhound from the beginning and her staff is very important to them."

The breeder in the article is donating 5 of her 12 dogs to Operation Wolfhound that places them as service dogs for veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I think you will find the article interesting.

The pictures are from the Internet but I do not know how to give credits for them.

Summer Is Noisy

2011-08-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from a walk, not a particularly nice walk because of the noise. It's a nice August day, 64 degrees at 2 pm, it seemed the right thing to do to take a walk.

We seldom need air conditioning so summer means we have the windows and doors open. People are just plain noisy. There's cars, motorcycles, bicycles that cause my dog to bark, people in conversation and assorted other noises.

I always hope I'm setting off on a nice peaceful walk but that never seems to happen. The grounds here are beautifully landscaped but that means noise. Today it was riding mowers, push mowers, hedge clippers, and leaf blowers. I've never understood why it takes 4 men in a group to blow leaves. It's four times the noise and I'm sure leaves can't be that hard to blow. There's also the fresh cut grass that causes me to sneeze and make more noise.

Summer is time to update the complex. There are painters and aluminium ladders everywhere you look. They also power wash the buildings during the summer.

In just a few weeks it will be time to close up the house and wait for the rain to begin. I suspect if I walk during that time it will be peaceful and quiet but I've never enjoyed walking the the cold rain.

I've decided I need to call a meeting of the complex management, landscape management, and Mother Nature. This plan isn't working. We need some changes.

The Cherry Tree

2011-08-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I posted this picture of the raccoons in Son's cherry tree.

Daughter-in-law continues to make photos documenting any additional visits by the bandits. She was surprised to catch this visitor a few days ago.

I hope kitten and bandits don't decide to visit at the same time.

Did You Know?

2011-08-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Will Texas governor Rick Perry run for president in 2012?

Did you know:

Americans have elected three Presidents and one Vice-President from Texas.

President Dwight Eisenhower was born in Texas, but never considered to be a Texan, so he doesn't count.

Texas will soon have three Presidential Libraries.

How many Presidential Libraries does one state need?

Empty Seats in Congress

2011-08-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

It was nice to see Congresswoman Gabby Giffords back at the Capital on Monday evening. The chatter since that event has certainly been interesting.

I have to admit, I was surprised how soon after the shooting people began the push to remove her from office, to have the governor of Arizona remove her. That gave me a clear message those people weren't on the 'smart list' since they knew so little about government they thought the governor could do such a thing. Remember Gabby's federal level, not state level. The governor has no power to remove her from office.

I understand people not liking her, and not voting for her. There's nothing wrong with that. What I don't understand is how vitriolic some of the language had gotten. What has happened to respect in this country? Are these people so small minded they're jealous of the attention she's gotten? I wonder how many of these people are actually from Arizona, or her district? To those who think Arizona will go to hell in a hand basket if she's not back in her office in Washington immediately, I say "stop and think."

First the constitution has to be rewritten to remove her from office. If they couldn't agree on raising the debt ceiling they'll never agree on rewriting the constitution. Give it up, move on, there are a lot more important things to worry about.

Think back to the 1800s when a congressman beat a senator's head so bad that his cane broke. That senator's seat was empty for three years until he recovered enough to return to office.

The networks went nuts that Monday's appearance meant she was definitely going to run for office again. No wonder her husband keeps her cloistered away from the news media.

No doubt she wanted to return to Washington for that vote. Has anyone stopped to think that trip was also therapy? It put her back in her work environment that she had not seen since her shooting. All that may look very different to her now. No doubt the halls seemed longer. How will it be if she has limited use of her right hand and arm? What changes will she have to make? How long will it be before she's confident to return to Washington on her own? She now has new information to process in the coming days of her recovery.

Her husband is also facing big changes in his career. The media has gone nuts with rumors he'll run for office. Somehow I don't think that will happen. As he said himself, he's "the space guy."

No one knows what the future holds for this couple. How about having a little patience while they work out their plans for the future? Shelve the politics and act like caring human beings. You'll feel better for it and so will everyone around you.

There's more than one way to have an empty seat in Congress. We've had an empty seat for a number of years from the district where I live in Oregon. Congressman David Wu has finally resigned from office this week. His seat was empty even when his body was present. His mind and activities were certainly not on the district he was elected to serve.

I was proud of the House of Representatives Monday for crossing party lines and showing true love and support for Gabby.

Daughter Sends Message

2011-08-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

I received this email message from Daughter in Texas.

Good Morning…

The sun is out, skies are hazy, 93 degrees at 9:30 am. – on track for 111 degrees…day 33 above 100.

Level Orange Air Pollution Alert, Excessive Heat Warning, and an Energy Emergency Alert – Level 1 all scheduled for today…

Hallway lights are off and all shades are down at the office…

Have a good day…because we won’t …

Satan's Weather

2011-08-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

I spent part of my day yesterday sending weather related text messages to friends in Texas. I woke up to 54 degrees, they woke up to 86 degrees. It was 80 degrees here when it was 107 there. From the responses I received, it was evident some people didn't think that was a nice thing for me to do. One even responded that Satan had called wanting his weather back!
____________________
Nicholas Kristof's column was certainly one I needed to read as a recovering evangelical.
___________________
Thomas Friedman's column was also interesting.

Relieved?

2011-08-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

Why do I not feel better now that a last minute agreement has been reached in Washington?

1) I feel like I've been had. Most of us never doubted they'd come to an agreement at the last minute. I resent those wasted days of political theatrics.

2) It was another nail in the coffin of my respect for elected officials in Washington.

3) The trust has been broken, and it's very hard to build again.

4) I am embarrassed for my country. We really are a better country than what we've seen lately of our government office holders in Washington. I feel dirty, like I need a political bath.
__________________________
Check out Margaret and Helen for a good chuckle.

Raccoon Raid

2011-07-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

Daughter-in-Law made this picture last evening of four raccoons raiding one of their backyard cherry trees.

Son says the top one was the leader because he's the only one that talked.

A Good Day in the Neighborhood

2011-07-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Thinking about the weather this morning, and those trying to survive the heat, I reaized we have much to be thankful for in the Pacific Northwest. During the winter we missed all the harsh winter storms and so far have missed the intense summer heat.

I complained a lot about the rain during the winter and early spring. After all it was the second coolest, wettest spring on record. I've made notes throughout my calendar to help me cope with that in the coming days of winter.

The high yesterday was 70 degrees but it looks now like temps will be in the 80s for the next few days. We have yet to reach 90 degrees. Yesterday I was in a store and commented I was not at all attracted to the sale racks of summer clothes since I have yet to wear the ones I purchased for this summer. The clerk said that seemed to be the attitude of a lot of shoppers.
____________________________________
I find the current debate in Washington embarrassing. I try to remind myself most of it is political posturing and theatrics. I have purposely not had the TV on for days, and I've been good at skipping newspaper articles about it. But like grains of sand blowing into a house during a bad sandstorm the news of Washington seems to creep in when you least expect it. It seems to cast a negative gloom over the land. I have to work against experiencing that feeling.
____________________________________
Bob got a jury summons recently. He's old enough that he doesn't have to serve but he figures he has the time and perhaps it will save some self employed person from having to serve. Actually his motive is not that pure. He's nosey and wants to see how the jury system works in Oregon. I get a summons about every two years and he's never gotten one. Once I was chosen to serve on a case. Personally I wish they'd forget my name. Last night when he went to the website to retrieve the instructions for today he learned they had canceled the summons for a group of people. His number was in that group and he was disappointed.
___________________________________
Leonard Pitts column was interesting this morning.

Were You Surprised?

2011-07-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to learn the terrorist in Norway was a man of Norwegian descent, and a right wing Christian fundamentalist. Like a lot of people, I expected to hear it was a person of Middle Eastern descent, and a right wing Muslim fundamentalist.

These extremists have a lot in common; hate, fear, anger, militancy, and both think they speak for God or Allah.

Perhaps it's time we begin to focus more on home grown people that look more like ourselves rather than focusing on people of Middle Eastern descent. Personally, I've always feared right wing Christian fundamentalists in our own country more than I've ever feared right wing Muslim fundamentalists of the Middle East.
________________________________
It got a little warm around here yesterday, in the mid 80s. Today it's back in the 70s. That makes me very happy. I'm looking for a place to live that stays 55 to 75 degrees year around.
________________________________
I read in the paper this morning that Congressman David Wu has announced he will not seek re-election. I live in his district and find that to be very good news. Let the ethics investigation begin.
________________________________
I woke up this morning feeling the need to show my independence. Bob has a comfort zone and all is well as long as I stay within those boundaries. I wanted to go to a yarn shop out of that zone. I thought about it a while and decided to make a break and go for it. It was sixteen miles from the house. All went well and I was quite proud of myself for exerting my independence, and he was quite relieved that I got back home with the car in one piece.

These are my sale purchases from Twisted yarn shop, my favorite place to shop for sock yarn. I'm off to knit now. Have a good day.

The Cows Are Coming

2011-07-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we ate at a fish restaurant with Son and family. As we were leaving NPR was warning about the danger of not having enough fish to feed the world in the future. Apparently we're eating too many fish. I did my part to save the fish, I ordered a brisket sandwich instead.

Now the cows and their defenders will be coming after me. Remember folks, I'm a Texan. I cut my teeth on brisket. There's probably more cows in Texas than fish, although I have nothing to base that claim on.

A friend sent this link to an animated lecture and I was fascinated by the animation. (Contents of the lecture are beside the point). I wouldn't mind attending lectures if they were animated. Thanks Tom for the link.

I'm off to the wetlands for the afternoon. I'll kiss a frog for you.

Words

2011-07-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

I have the following words posted on my refrigerator door and bathroom mirror:

ONLY FOOD I CHOOSE TO EAT CAN MAKE ME FAT.

I find keeping extra weight off harder than losing it.
_______________________________

Ruth Marcus was interesting this morning.
_______________________________

Now that we've brought up the subject of the next wars being over water, where do you think the borders and battle lines will be drawn for those wars? The same as the ones over oil or different?

Wacky

2011-07-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

The morning went well until I went outside to walk the dog, and realized I was wearing navy pants with a black top. Wonder how the rest of the day will go?

NPR this morning talked about conserving water. According to them we may run out of it some day. I don't remember hearing a lot about water conservation when I lived in Texas. In Oregon, few days go by that I don't hear something about it. Get this picture; in Texas it's hotter than h___, there's a bad drought, and wildfires are raging but they don't talk much about conserving water for such times in the future. In Oregon where it never stops raining and a drink of water is always available from a puddle, they never stop talking about the need to conserve water. WACKY

I have to admit I had to do a little mental adjustment when I watched the astronauts drinking water from pouches on the International Space Station. The thought that only a few hours before that water might have been in the form of urine caused me to blink. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the commercial world took NASA's research and developed filtering systems to be used across the world in natural disasters where there's plenty of water but it is contaminated? Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone has been thinking about that instead of the debt ceiling?

Sometimes Fun Just Happens

2011-07-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

In the 70s & 80s I worked for two doctors that were married to each other and affectionately known to everyone as Dr. Bob & Dr. Martha. They are in their mid-eighties now, and I haven't worked for them since 1987. Last week they called from Texas to say they were coming to Washington state, then down to Oregon and wanted to visit us. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Since we are apartment dwellers I offered to make hotel reservations for them but they would have none of that. I never let guests sleep on the sleeper sofa but I did that night when I learned he had to sleep in a recliner. We stayed up late catching up with our lives. The next morning they were in no hurry to leave. We sat around the table drinking coffee and visiting some more. In time they left to continue their journey, and I can't remember when I've had more fun.

Do you read non-fiction books? I found these tips by Michael Hyatt interesting

When It Rains

2011-07-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

Today it is 60 degrees and raining. When I think about the parts of the country running triple digit temperatures I'm thankful for the weather here.

I complained bitterly about the rain during the winter, Now it's summer, cooler than normal, still raining, and I think the weather is wonderful. Go figure.

A Nice Break

2011-07-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

It was refreshing to take a break from blogging but now I'm beginning to miss my blogging friends. I did some interesting things in the month I was away. One thing was a visit to my first Lavender Festival. As you can see by our expressions, I had a better time than Grandson.

If I'd stayed away much longer I'm not sure I would have recognized the Blogger dashboard. I can't say I found the changes helpful but perhaps in time I will.

On the editorial page of this morning's paper I read an interesting piece titled "Creating healthy doctors begins in medical school." Gee, what a concept. It's refreshing to know "applicants to the medical school at Oregon Health & Science University will now be rigorously examined for their emotional intelligence: the ability to communicate with real people in real situations." I like that idea. It's been a long time coming. Book smarts is not the only kind of smarts needed to be an effective doctor.

Sometimes Thomas Friedman bores me but not today. I found his piece on the new job market interesting.

There was also a good piece on the end of the space shuttle program.

I'll be back tomorrow with more prattle.

The End of a Season

2011-05-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

I've gone through many seasons in life, some good and some bad. Even the good seasons eventually came to an end. That time has come for me with blogging.

I've said many times that I didn't think I would ever stop blogging, but for now, I no longer feel that way.

Should I change my mind I'll look you up and comment on your blogs.

In the mean time, happy blogging to each of you.

Earth and Space

2011-05-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy morning here on earth and in space. I was up early to be sure the Endeavor shuttle had safely docked to the International Space Station while I was asleep. Their sleep cycle does not sync with mine, imagine that. Early afternoon, earth time, they Velcro themselves to the wall for a sleep cycle and have been waking up to start their day as I'm beginning to think about ending mine.

My channel of choice for the next few days will be NASA TV . They don't broadcast all the time but they do a lot of the time, usually in the early mornings and late afternoons. They play clips of the days activities at the top of the hour as the day winds down so if I miss anything during the day I can catch it then.

It's been a fascinating experience on many levels following Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords. I've learned a lot. I'd never heard of either one of them before the January shooting.

a) I've learned a lot about the space shuttle program. Leave it to me to get interested in it as it's coming to an end. I've spent very little time the past 30 years thinking about the space program. I read about all six of Endeavor's crew so I feel like I know them. They are a fascinating group of guys and I'm totally absorbed in all their activities in space.

b) I knew nothing about traumatic brain injury before the shooting. My ears perk right up over anything medical so I've read some books on the subject, and followed Gabby's case closely. I also prowl around on the computer for more information. Interesting stuff.

c) Only after Gabby was shot did I realize our military forces are not eligible for the level of care she is receiving. That sent me off in another direction. Fortunately that topic was already being actively addressed by Congress on it's way to the Pentagon for a change in that situation. Gabby's shooting added support to that cause. Her care is being paid through Workman's Comp, or so I've read.

d) It was interesting to follow Tucson, and how that city dealt with the shooting. It's impressive the many good things that have happened as they've pulled together in the healing process. I read about their food bank just this week, so the good stuff is continuing to happen.

e) Today should be a good day for Gabby. Since January she's lived without part of her skull, and today she will have surgery to restore it. That should give her a tremendous psychological boost. I've read that it's bothered her and she touches it a lot. How would you like living with a large part of your skull looking like a deflated football? Apparently this procedure should improve her balance, and patients often get a boost in their recovery once this is done, though no one is sure why. It's considered a "no big deal" procedure by the doctors. Recovery time is said to be one to two days. The NASA doctors that are in daily contact with the shuttle crew will deliver information to Mark from the doctors in Houston.

f) The next big thing will be the safe landing of the shuttle. Landings are dicey. Apparently shuttles are poor airplanes and have to assume that role in landing. Then it will be decision time. In the coming months they will need to make major decisions about their futures. There will be no more shuttles for Mark to fly or support. He's a Navy Captain, assigned to NASA. With 24 years service in the Navy he's eligible to retire if he chooses. I have no idea what he future might be with NASA. Gabby's political future looms big. Will she return to congress? Will she run for the Senate? Mark has two teen-age daughters, that apparently live with him, so their futures will also need to be added to the mix. I wish the very best for this family.

I'm trying to focus on knitting the 'Summit Shawl' during this time. Trust me, I have no plans for an orange shawl, the yarn ball just happened to start with that color. It actually shades through a number of bright colors. I'm approaching red, and it can't come too soon. Before it's over there will be green, blue, red, yellow and whatever else they decided to throw in.

Now that the space guys are asleep I plan to spend some time outside because we have a beautiful day and I want to take advantage of it.

It's Me Again

2011-05-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

I took some time off to do some knitting and enjoyed every minute of it. It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you aren't reading blogs all day.

I've had some emails wondering what happened to me which I appreciated very much. It's nice to know you're missed. I decided it was time to get back in the saddle before I became a relic of the past.

A number of you asked for pictures of what I was doing. Well, here they are. Bob did the best he could using my iPhone, so they aren't the best.

This neck warmer is called Wham Bam Thank You Lamb! It's a free pattern on Ravelry. It's a fun project using only 100 yards of yarn. I used Misti Alpaca Chunky, 108 yards and used all of it. The pattern calls for size 13 needles but I used size 15 needles and was pleased with the results.

I used the Garter Hug pattern to experiment on some neck scarves, it's $3 on Ravelry. I really don't like having a bare neck. This pattern works quite well for this project because it has very long tails that I pull to the front under the scarf and pin or tie them. Everything stays in place, and I can wear them all day without having to adjust tails. I hate mothering tails. I made this in several colors but this one is my favorite. I absolutely love this color and would do something larger but cotton yarn gets heavy real quick. I made this one with Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima in the Marigold colorway. The center of the scarf is 12" so it takes only one skein. I think I used size 9 needles, maybe 10.

Same pattern but knit too loose. I think I used 10.5 needles and probably should have used 9. I don't like the long tails on this size scarf. The yarn is Plymouth Kudo in the 40 colorway.

I'd had this piece in the works for months and months so I needed to finish it. The long tails are very bad on this piece, never again. It's knit in Noro Kureyon.

Another free pattern on Ravelry, the Josephine Shawl. I used one skein on sock yarn and 10.5 needles but should have used 9. This pattern is different because it is knit on the bias so it drapes well around the neck.

______________________

That's it for the easy stuff. It's on now to more challenging things.

I'm having a lot of fun with this piece. It's two strands of sock yarn knitted on size 10 DPN. The pattern is in Lynne Barr's book Knitting New Scarves. I wouldn't call this piece a scarf, nor can I imagine myself knitting 110 inches of it to wrap 3 times around my neck. I'll knit until it's the length I'm happy with and I'll stop.

Today I ordered another Lynne Barr book, Reversible Knitting.

The other challenging (for me) piece I'm working on is the Summit Shawl, free on Knitty.com. I have it cast on and it seems to be going well except I had to stop and learn to knit backward in order not to have to turn my work every 6 stitches. Got that done so I'm ready to go. Aren't computers and YouTube wonderful knitting tools? I'm knitting this piece using Kauni yarn using size 6 needles. I also think it would be beautiful made out of Silky Wool.
________________________________
That's it folks. I'll be back, but probably not every day.

I'm Knitting

2011-04-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

Pardon me while I finish some knitting.

Fascinator

2011-04-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Making an attempt to get excited about the royal wedding later this week, I read an interesting article about hats. (Coverage begins at 1:00 a.m. here on the west coast.)

In the article the word fascinator was mentioned. That touched me off on a chase. Fascinator was a word from my past. Where had I heard or known that word? As is so often the case, it was from my childhood. Hadn't thought of the word in years.

It wasn't this far back in history that I knew the word fascinator, or perhaps I just didn't know anyone who crocheted fancy ones like these.

This is more like the fascinators I once knew.

My, how things have changed. This is now referred to as a fascinator.

_________________________________________

I also read an interesting article about public transportation and the difference it has made in the life of a person with Down syndrome. Made me wish it was available to all people with disabilities.

_________________________________________

We've had an ongoing problem here for the last three years between the public school district and the parents of an autistic child. The parents want the child's dog to attend classes with the him. I have to say I have sided with the school district as I've followed the situation. This article puts me even more on the side of the school district.

Monday Post

2011-04-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm glad Easter is over and done with. Mentally I can now move on with spring. We had a nice day with Son and his family. As with most weeks I was happy to see Monday morning arrive, one of the joys of retirement.
____________________________________
I enjoyed reading Ronni Bennett's post Adventures in Moving Far Away. Much of what she says can be applied to short moves as well. I suggest you read it. It has good suggestions to think about, the future is now for most of us. Moving from Texas to Oregon upon retirement made her post especially interesting to me.
____________________________________
Check out these two sites for the latest information on Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly.

There's also Katie Couric's interview with Mark Kelly and his twin brother Scott, both astronauts. That airs this evening on CBS Evening News.
_____________________________________
Any Texans reading this blog will probably enjoy this article from The Oregonian. There's not a lot Austin and Portland have in common except their weirdness.
_____________________________________
I expect to have an interesting week and hope you do as well.

Too Much of a Good Thing

2011-04-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last evening I saw Carol Burnett on TV, and it was not a good experience. In my opinion, she's had too much plastic surgery. I checked her age and she is 77. I found it all rather sad.
__________________________________________
Katie Couric's interview with astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, will air Monday evening, on CBS Evening News.
__________________________________________
I hope those of you going to the royal wedding will be dressed appropriately. The time is a little early for me so I plan to sleep in and catch the shuttle launch a little later in the day. I don't have to buy new clothes for it. I do hope though to catch bits and pieces of the wedding on replay, to see the women's hats.
_________________________________________
It pleases me to see Congresswoman Giffords staff joining forces with others pushing for better health care coverage for veterans with brain injuries.

"Members of Giffords’s staff also plan to join advocates encouraging Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to expand the range of cognitive rehabilitative therapies that Tricare, the military’s insurance program for nearly 4 million active-duty and retired service members, covers in case of brain injury."
_________________________________________

Today is my day to volunteer at the wetlands. I found this article about befriending frogs interesting, and this information about red legged frogs helpful.
_________________________________________
I plan to knit away the week-end. Hope your week-end is good.