"Memories, light the corners of my mind" ???

I got an email from an old friend the other day.  We went through all 12 years of grade school and high school together -

"You know what tomorrow is?" she asked.





May 28th, I thought.


"May 28, 1970 - our high school graduation day" she continued.

As if I could ever forget.

 How does it seem that some dates are inexplicably etched in your memory?

(If it were not for the copy of our wedding invitation, sealed in stained glass, that hangs on our bathroom wall (ok, I know that sounds like a funny place for it to be, but it works) I would never be able to remember our anniversary.  It gets mixed in with Earth Day and an old friend's birthday - I just always have to go look at it and check.)

Sorry, I digress -

And peonies - They always remind me of graduation too.  We lived in a small town in North Central Washington - there were no florists - but you always knew who had the best gardens and that is who did the flowers for the important community events.  Big baskets of peonies and branches of bridal veil spirea decorated the gym that day.

I think I was co-valedictorian (ok, it's been 45 years - the mind is not the steel trap it used to be, ha ha)  That meant I had to give a speech!

Me, "Miss last minute/procrastination is my middle name", knew weeks before the ceremony that I was going to have to give that speech.  Mr. Godden, our principal, had to approve it before hand and kept bugging me.  "I'll get it done!" I said - probably somewhat testily because in those days there was no Wikipedia, no computers to help you hastily write up something "meaningful"  - no, it had to be HAND WRITTEN on to those 3x5 cards, with all of your "main points" written in capitals, so you wouldn't forget them.

Here I am in my 18 year old splendor

Well, I finally got my speech written, I do remember that it was something inspiring about where we were all going from here.  And I can still remember that main point:  "AND WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE" -  (flip to next card) - Oh, crap - even though I had just written this dribble, I knew for sure, that the next sentence, which instructed us all on where to go from here - was missing.  I hadn't had time to proof read my cards.  Damn...  and in the way that memories hide in the corners of your mind, to tell you the truth, I really don't remember how I recovered from that boo-boo.

Somehow I finished up the speech, got my diploma and was off to the many "graduation parties" that were happening that night - well not really "many" - there were only 12 of us - and nine of us had gone through all 12 years together - "One big happy family" - yeah, right...

But I still remember that date - May 28, 1970. 

Not quite Christmas in July...

So, my family, although we're all in the same state, is spread out, and it's awkward to drive through the traffic or over the passes to get together for Christmas- so, we don't really "celebrate" together like many other families do - in fact we kind of have a laissez faire attitude about Christmas presents - sort of a "you'll get them when you get them" approach. 

My sisters got their 2014 Christmas presents from me in May...well, I was only 5 months late...

Last week, I got a call from my youngest sister - she sort of goes by the philosophy of you'll get yours when I get mine.  And since she got her's last month , I've been anticipating  her call -

"I sent your Christmas package today - it's coming to your office - I hope that's OK?"

"I've included some "Hand-me-up" clothes" she said.  (And these two cool reusable shopping totes) 

Oh, good - I love her "hand-me-ups" - she has fairly good taste in clothes...

The first item in the box was a small muslin covered pillow - "hmmm, I thought - this is "weird" " - but then I dug down a little deeper, and found this really cute pillow cover  - Kitty and, velvet - what else could you ask for...

A decorated mug & coaster set - bigger than it looks - probably holds almost two cups -

Just perfect for the hot lemon tea that I can make with the dehydrated lemons that Trish sent me...

I love dragonflies -

This scarf is almost 4' square - so it is really more of a shawl - Old Navy - who'd a thought???

And, of course, the perfect stocking stuffer items - stickers, a box of Peeps and these cute elastic hair bands........

All in all, a pretty good Christmas box, don't ya think? 

A SweetTart Surprise!

A couple of months ago my friend Trish, the Heavenly Maven from The Katnip Lounge (and Mommy to THIRTEEN of the most entertaining and engaging kitties you will ever meet!!!) mentioned that they had their own lemon tree in their yard (they live close to Las Vegas) and that she uses her food dehydrator and makes dried lemon slices. "Oh, that sounds yummy!" I said.

Last week, in the mail I got this wonderful package of lemony goodness!  I haven't had time to try anything but a nibble of one - sufficiently lemony flavor.  Can't wait to come up with ideas for their use!

Thank you Trish!



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The Birth of a Princess

Last month a new Princess was born - 

 Marietta's Lilah! 

Oh, you thought I meant THIS Princess -Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (ie Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana...)  Sober looking little thing, isn't she? 

Not as good looking as "Uncle Henry", but here are all of Lilah's Aunties and cousins - checking in to see what all of the excitement is about. 

This is Lilah's brother Sammy  -  (pre-sold, can you believe it!)  They are actually almost a month old, so I need to get out and take some new pictures.  His horns are going to be massive and she has just the sweetest face. 

Nothing says spring like new lambs! 




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Life is going on

This was Bella's favorite perch when we were out in the barn/greenhouse area.  Surveying his kingdom.  

Thank you to everyone of you for your kind thoughts and prayers about Bella.  He still has not returned and as I do not have a sense of his "spirit" anyplace close, I don't know what else to do but think of him in the arms of his angels. 





Meanwhile the kids have stopped sitting on the back porch and staring into space, and they are eating again - not that I was worried that they would starve to death, I think Gracie must weigh about 20 pounds!  But for the first 10 days or so, they just didn't seem that interested in food.

But they definitely are interested in snuggles - big time - ask my how easy it is to type with a cat on your lap.  And he doesn't "perch" - he kind of spreads out to be as comfortable as he can get - laying on my keyboard tray - silly cat...

Both The Shepherd & I have had bad head colds/cough/laryngitis/sneezy type stuff.  I even took a day off work last week - I think George was the only one who got any sleep that night.... I probably should have taken two days off especially since one of my jobs is to answer the phone, and that is pretty hard to do when you sound like a squeaky toy

We sheared a couple of weeks ago, and I have lots of pictures of pretty fleeces - I'll try to post them this next week.




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Losing hope

 My heart is broken. 

The thin late winter sun does little to brighten my day - saddened by the disappearance of our sweet kitty Bella.

Even George & Gracie seem sad.  They sit on the back porch and stare off into the distance - like I do - hoping to see her in the shadows





And they are kind of off their feed too - where as last week, they would chow down twice a day on a bowl of crunchies and 1/3 of a "hockey puck" can of "stinky goodness" - now, they barely eat 1/4 of a can, and not so much on the crunchies either.   (which, really, isn't a bad thing, they are both a little (well maybe a lot) pudgy) 

I just don't like the not knowing. 

Sigh.....




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Without a Trace

Back in the fall of 2011, a very sweet kitty came to live with us - abandoned?  No, I think he was actually supposed to live up at "the barn" next door, but they obviously weren't feeding this cat, because he was starving to death.  Literally. 

So pretty soon, he was eating on the back porch, then inside the back door, then, why the heck not, in the kitchen with George & Gracie.

 Bella was (is?) a beautiful cat - furry furry black and big green eyes.  I have 39 posts labeled with Bella - you can go back and read through them - the biggest surprise was last year when I took her to the vet & found out she was a "he"  - We called Bella our Transgendered cat - because "he" really did seem like a "she"

Bella disappeared on Thursday.  Coyote?
Maybe ... 

Thursday night is the first time since Bella came to live with us that he hasn't met me at the gate when I came home from work - hmmm - bad feeling about this. 

I've called the neighbors and put it out on the neighborhood facebook page that he is missing.  Hopefully he's just locked in someone's garage and will be home soon.  Keep good thoughts... I'll keep you posted. 

Taking a break in the Caribbean from the cold wintery weather

A co-worker and her husband recently celebrated their anniversary on the island Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean  - her pictures were so pretty, I asked her if I could share them with you - especially for any friends on the east coast - spring is out there somewhere.....

Beautiful tropical beaches

George, Gracie & Bella liked the picture of the burds just lined up like a buffet

Miles of beach, and hotels....

I wonder what it was like before?

Beautiful shells

And other kinds of fauna...

Just as beautiful under the sea

Remember the warm sandy feet when the cold winds blow. 

Hope you enjoyed these pictures of paradise  -  Have a great week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

photo copyright Rachel Vos*

And there's nothing better than walking in the rain with your sister!






*Thanks Rachel for letting me use the picture of the girls :-)  

12th Man (& 12th Woman) Pride

The team at Security Solutions has a lot of 12th Man pride ... well, all except for our controller, Brian, who's a die-hard 49ers fan. We love him, anyway.

A brave man to wear red & gold in a sea of blue & green! 

Wishing our team the very best at Super Bowl XLIX!  

GO HAWKS!!!!

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Blue & Green to the core -

May the best team win - and of course we know who that will be!  

'Nuff said.

Be nice now.....

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Word Games...

 

My sister & I discuss "words" a lot (she is a self professed "word geek") - we'll talk about misused words, maybe misspelled  - what ever.  I thought of her when I saw this funny on Pinterest.  I love the Thesaurus that is built into MS Word, don't you? 

And I'm lovin' Pinterest - In fact the little sign that says "Pinterest is just electronic hoarding" fits me to a tea.  Ha ha ha.....

Making Pumpkin bread pudding for dessert tonight.  Hope it turns out tasty - I'll keep you posted. 

Have a good day! 

Ho, ho, ho - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Well, it's that time of year again!  The witch hazel is blooming,

and,

it's my birthday! 

Thank you to our friend Michelle for the pretty Jacque Lawson birthday e-card. 

The promise of longer days is holding my attention right now, and looking for some of my favorite spring flowers.

On Pinterest......

I don't know if it is a better addiction than computer solitaire or not???

 My oldest sister, the rat, is in Hawaii...

Eating cocoanut shrimp at the Kona Inn.  I'm sorry, cocoanut shrimp is just wrong in so many ways - however my next oldest sister and I decided that the reason I don't like cocoanut shrimp is that I prefer tarter sauce with my shrimp and we decided that, yes, that was disgusting.

The Shepherd & I went to dinner tonight with a long time friend from church that we don't see very often any more.  It was lovely to spend time with her.  We had Thai food - I had Prawn Pud Thai - it was delicious! 

And tomorrow, I am going out to lunch with some other long time friends who I used to work with - we've been going to lunch about every other month for at least 10 or 12 years now - maybe longer.  It is a comfort to have such long time friends.  

One thing that is different this year is that there is no snow on my birthday.  It used to be something that I could "count" on - but no snow tomorrow. The weather man says that there is a "0" percent chance of precipitation tomorrow!  Yeah!  


We had a quiet Christmas and a quiet New Year - spent New Year's Day at our friend Nancy's annual brunch.  Not as many people there as previously - many have moved to be closer to grandkids (!) and sadly some have passed away. 

But the food is always good and the music is even better.  And every year, new people come.  It is a fun tradition. 

I'm just finish up my "treats" to take to work tomorrow (when it is your birthday at our office YOU bring the treats)  I made Traditional Chex Mix - but I put Fritos and Cheetos in it as well as all the other goodies and double the sauce AND this year I put some Chipotle Tabasco sauce in the mix so it's got just a little bit of heat to it.  Yum...

To counter the heat I've also made some Caramel Chex Mix - instead of the Cheetos, it's got popcorn and I put some little bitty green M&M's in it - I'm going to finish it off with a drizzle of  "white" chocolate that's been tinted blue - - -

Can you say Seahawks colors???  One game separating us from Superbowl 49.  WooHoo!

Have a great day out there!  




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Yup, it's comin' on Christmas......

"It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace" *

Merry Christmas to all from everyone here on the farm!

*From the song "River" by Joni Mitchell

We gather together in joyful thanksgiving...

Howdy effurry body and effurry kitty!

Well, Mummy has been busier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs - ha ha ha ha

No, honestly, she has been -

She and the Shepherd went to see a singer lady called Joan Baez a couple of weeks ago.  Some of the peeps that she works with had never heard of Ms. Joanie before - I heard Mummy say they were cretins, what ever that means...

Anyhow, I heard her telling the Shepherd that this was one of the best concerts she had been to in a while.  Joan Baez is 71 years old (in People years!) and still touring over 50 dates a year.  She plays amazing guitar and still sings like an angel.  If you get a chance to see her in concert, Mummy says you should definitely go!

Well, we hate to complain, but it's been darn cold here - only in the 20's and I know we shouldn't complain, because we didn't get any snow and those poor people in Buffalo got 6 feet of the darn stuff.  But HEY, 20 degrees is just darn cold!  (ha ha, Mummy here - I walked into the bathroom and George was stretched out completely over the furnace vent!)  And yesterday it was so windy that when Mummy stopped at the gas station to put fuel in her car, the wind was blowing soooooo hard that she actually had to hold on to the car because she was afraid she was going to get blown over! But, it is clear and sunny (or in this case, would you say, clear and moony?) 

We hope you had a good Thanksgiving - Mummy and The Shepherd went over to their friend Nancy's house - Mummy made pies - pumpkin and apple and a pumpkin ice cream torte that she made up the recipe for!  It was semi-homemade pumpkin ice cream over pumpkin cake & everyone said it was very good (and she apologizes for not being able to get the picture right side up.  Her friend took the picture with her cell phone and even though Mummy edited the picture & saved it right side up, it still posted sideways.  Computers - bah)  She said that she will post the recipe, but she has to write it down first! 

Mummy also cooked a turkey here yesterday (Saturday) so she and The Shepherd would have "left overs" - and a turkey body to make soup with.  She gave me and Bella some little pieces of turkey meat tonight - it was very tasty.

Who ME?  I don't know nuthin about no glasses of water...

Speaking of Bella, she has been very naughty lately. The Shepherd runs a glass of water and leaves it on the counter before he goes to bed so he'll have something to drink if he gets up in the night.  Well, Bella thinks she should be able to drink out of that glass, and of course can't get her fat head in the glass and proceeds to knock it over, and gets water all over the place!  Mummy can't convince The Shepherd if he'd just leave a little bowl of water in the sink Bella wouldn't bother his glass, oh well...

Mummy promises that she'll be better at getting the news to you on a more consistent basis.  She has lots to tell you about the sheepies and other stuff. 

Have a great week!  XOX  Your roving reporter, George

Caturday Confessions

Hello Effurybody and Effurykitty! 

It's Caturday, and Mummy has a confession to make, don't you Mummy?

"Oh, I don't think so Gracie, what are you talking about?"

You know, about you bein' an addik.......  Tell the people what you are addikted to.....   Like something that is keeping you from telling our stories, because you are busy doing your addiktion thing on the computer...

"Oh, you mean shopping on Amazon.com?  That's not an addiktion, that's a necessity"

No, I mean when you say, "OK, just one more game and then I'll go to bed"  ....Admit it Mummy, you are addikted to (here it is folks - she is telling my secrets)  Computer Solitaire...........

Yup, plain old computer Solitaire has got me in it's grips - you know, the one at the top of the list when you click on the "Start" menu on your PC- not online or anything - just plain old Solitaire...I can sure see how people can get into trouble with gambling.  You think, just one more game and I'll win the next one. 

Holy cow! 

Who'd a thought?

So, at some point last summer, our water started to taste like dirt, or mold, or something icky to me - and since I asked The Shepherd and he didn't notice anything, and the pipes in our house are the same ones that came with the house, I was perplexed.

But I mentioned it at work and one of the ladies that I work with said, "Oh, that's because of the algae blooms on Lake Whatcom (our water source) and they have been putting lots of extra chlorine in the water to get rid of it."  Well, makes sense, I guess - but in the meantime - what to do. 

Then, one day I was walking through the local drugstore and wandered down the small appliance aisle - and what did I find, but a Britta water filter pitcher.  It was under $30 - what could I lose and if it really worked, I would gain - good tasting water.  Who'd a thought that it would be so easy...

I was truly stunned that this little pitcher with it's charcoal filter would deliver what it says - Great tasting water -

So I found myself some BPA free bottles and keep a filled one in the bathroom for teeth washing and taking pills.  And those swigs of water that you need to drink in the middle of the night...

Who'd a thought that it would be so easy.  Britta's got my vote. (well so do the new Lay's Bacon Mac & Cheese flavored potato chips but that's a whole 'nuther story) 

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Happy Birthday to the "Kittens"

Hey Mummy, we're not Kittens any more, in fact, in people years we are 4, but in Cat years, we are the ripe old age of 32!

And you are very Handsome too (I can say that, I'm their Mummy)

They have grown so much.  

When we got George and Gracie in July 2011, I was told they were born in the "middle of October 2010" but the lady I got them from did not know the exact date.

I decided that 10-10-10 would be a very auspicious date for the birthday of my kitties.  Don't you think that was a good date to pick? 

Happy birthday my babies. 

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