Bertie 的个人资料Beach gal Bertie照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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10月24日 Cassie Starbright
The name she came with was Tinkerbell, but having had a Tinker in the long ago past, I renamed her Cassie Starbright and we call her Cassie. Cassie’s story was sad. She had apparently gotten pregnant on her first heat. Her owners from eastern Washington no longer wanted her and turned her into a rescue place. The kittens were all adopted but no on wanted this beautiful girl. She was then moved to Collar of Hope. When we got her she smelled like motor oil, and her coat was stringy looking and had some kind of oil or grease on it. I took her to our vet to check everything out. She was healthy, neutered, and had her shots and the impregnated ID chip. He prescribed a bath with Dawn soap which they use to clean up birds in oil spills. He said it would cut the oil but had something soothing to the skin in it. So Cassie had a bath that night. Then I began combing her. Cassie loves to be petted and sometimes rolls over to get her under side petted too. This is our new love, but Ayesha whom I lost to old age will always stay in my heart too. There is no limit to love. 9月12日 Once again joy of finding missing persons in my lifeI joined Facebook at the recommendation of my son, Jim Jr. DH kept saying it was dangerous. So I make sure I only accept people I know as friends. My experience has been wonderful. I hope if it is dangerous, they will get that part fixed because there can be so much more contact with people on a daily basis.
First I found three lost granddaughters and their mom. That was wonderful for me. I got to catch up with them in their college experiences. One wants to come and visit me for spring break next year. I hope she does.
Next I found many friends all over the world that I have known for years on the catsnquilts site. It even has pictures so we can see what our long time friends look like. (I refrained from saying "old friends"
 )Then I found some dear church friends and we can talk about our interests and concerns. Even our Pastor joined but he doesn't write much.
Next I found some dear friends from years ago.
And now I have been finding cousins that I knew when I was growing up, but lost as they married. changed their name and moved to different places. We were all busy as young adults, raising our children and assuming our new roles in life. I kept up with the aunts and uncles and we shared the same grandfather and Grandma. It is so much fun to find them and see their pictures. Now we have a lot of catching up to do. It just warms my heart.
My only regret was losing one friend, Beth, because Facebook thought she had a virus. But I see I have her address in my email, so I can keep in touch through that.
I'd say Facebook has been a blessing to me and many of us love it. I just hope we don't have any problems by sticking with people we know. This isn't a great writing, but it is something I really appreciate. We are long past sitting around a radio at night for news or a comedy like, Fibber Magee and Molly. The Great Gildersleve, George and Gracie, or the Inter Sanctom Mysteries. How fast our world is changing. It is mind boggling now. What will the future bring?
8月30日 This is the way it was.It was 1968 and several good people were running for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of our Nation. We lived in Iowa and I was selected to be a voting delegate at the convention. Because of that there were a lot of parties and gatherings in Des Moines to get to know the candidates. It was quite accidental that I was standing in a hotel entryway with Ted Kennedy and our then governor, Harold Hughes. Unbeknownst by me, a picture was taken and it appeared on the front page of the Des Moines Register the next Sunday morning. I still have a copy.
It seems so long ago. We were young, all of us. Teddy was helping his brother, Bobby, in his run to be our nomination. We all thought Teddy would be a candidate in 4 or 8 more years. But it wasn't to be. I think I would have voted for Bobby if he hadn't been removed by an assassin. That really hurt. Remember the song, "Abraham, Martin, and John? Then they added Bobby when they sang it. It always made me sad to hear, and remember how many ways our worold would have been different if any or all of them had lived.
One of the candidates was Hubert Humphrey. He had been an excellent and intelligent Senator. But he wouldn't consider ending another wrong war, Viet Nam. Therefore he couldn't win. But he had a very unusual ability. I met him at one of the shindigs in Des Moines. I said hello to him and introduced myself. About three months later, i was at the airport meeting my husband frtom a business trip he'd made. Hi plane landed, but people were not allowed to get off until some dignitary and his entourage deplaned. As we stood there waiting we saw the Secret Service men and then it was Hubert Humphrey who deplaned. As he walked by, he turned to me, and said, "hello Bertha". I was amazed that he remembered my name. Later I learned that he had an uncaqnny ability to remember people and their names. I still can't imagine, with all the people he met in his lifetime, how he could do that.
That was an interesting time. I did not continue with politics because wealthy people paid the costs that allowed me to attend of all those fund raisers. Then they told us to vote the way they told us to, or we wouldn't be back. That didn't seem very democratic. So I voted my conscience and never allowed my self to go further. It was a very sweet, and sad time, 1968. The night Bobby was shot, my beloved Grandmother died in La Jolla at the age of 89.
And now my friend Teddy is gone too, and my husband and I are senior members of our world. Time passes, but memories never die.
8月26日 Ode to AyeshaIt has been three days and it still hurts so badly. I still look for her everywhere. It is so hard to accept that she is gone. But I am trying to remember the good times, and honor the sweet little pal she was.
She had been dumped and all summer she would walk on top of our fence. But if I opened the door to give her food she was skittish and ran away. On an October Saturday that Jim and I were standing in our garage talking when she came up to us and rubbed our legs. I picked her up and she purred. Jim said "she's ours". We spent the afternoon trying to find a vet that would check to see if she was safe to put with our other two cats. The animal clinics close early on Saturday. We finally found an emergency clinic and it cost a lot but he okayed her health. I put her in the downstairs bath with tha door closed so the cats could get acquainted under the door. Then we took her to our vet on Monday. He guessed she was between 2 and 5 years old. She was so little the vet said she wouldn't have survived the winter if we hadn't adopted her. She only weighed 6 lbs.
Jim named her from a Psi-fi book meaning, "she who must be obeyed". Ayesha was a beautiful blue point Balinese. Her eyes were a deep blue. Her purr was so soft that it was hard to hear it. She settled in. She slept every night between my knees in bed as I slept on my side. She would jump up on the bathroom counter when I combed my hair in the mornings and then climbed on my shoulder to hitch a free ride downstairs for her breakfast. She always met us at the door when we came home.
Ayesha was a lap cat. She kept excellent time, because she was always around at the time for snacks or feeding. She loved the water fountain we had in the living room and did most of her drinking there.
When I wanted her and she was upstairs, if I started singing she would run downstairs, jump on my lap. and look into my eyes. Then she'd lay on my lap and purr.
I used to tease her and sing, "how much is that doggie in the windoe" or "Oh where oh where has my little dog gone", but she knew she was loved.
Her last illness and death was so fast. The vet said that was usully the way with renal failure. He said that is what causes deathe in most older cats. He also thougt she was older than we thought, Possibly 17 to 19 years old. We had her 12 years. She was strictly an indoor cat with us, but sometimes I'd carry her outside and we walk around enjoying the cool early mornings. The vet offered to take her back into the clinic so I wouldn't have to see her die. But I felt I owed it to her to be her comforter to the end. I was aready crying, but I don't think she minded. I bawled for two or three hours and still cry inside most of the time.
How on earth do these little animals get into our hearts and and become so much of our lives.?   The only time I remember crying this hard was when my Dad died. A pet isn't human but they become your fur family. We almost take them for granted until we lose them. Ayesha will always be in my heart and I so hope there is a rainbow bridge, and we will reunite someday. And I thank her for twelve beautiful years that she lifted our hearts and gave us her love.8月22日 More of our experience in the Hoosier State.One memory was very embarrassing for me. There was no nursery in the church so younger families like us took our young ones with us to services. Seven families had had babies about the same time that we did. One couple had twins. On this particular Sunday, our baby daughter started fussing a bit. I thought I could quiet her down but didn't have a chance. My husband said from the pulpit, "will you please take that baby out?". I did and later asked him about it. He said the other babies didn't bother him but ours did. I never believed that for a minute.
There was an elderly gentleman in our church whose wife had died recently. This man wore a bright orange wig. He was not someone I felt I could be comfortable with. One day, Jim said he would like to invite this man over for dinner because he was lonely. I didn't want to do this. I reminded Jim we had a young baby and I was concerned about cleanliness. Jim thought that wasn't a particularly Christian attitude and I had to agree. So we invited him and he came. We had our meal and then were talking together in the living room. He told us how his deceased sister came to him whenever he had a serious problem. She would sit on the side of the bed, he said, and talk to him until he had his concern worked out. After he left, I asked Jim if he believed this. Jim said we didn't really know one way or the other did we? So I figured he was right.
A few weeks later this man was struck in his car by a train and killed. Jim had the funeral. A couple of weeks later there was an estate sale. Since we still didn't have much we went and were able to get some garden utensils like a hoe, a spade and a couple of different kinds of rakes. After the sale was over we were told that nothing was stolen except his bright orange wig. That seemed so strange that anyone would want that.
Our church reminded me of that old movie, 'I'd climb the highest mountain". We had the annual church picnic in the summer. I had Deb in a Taylor Tot. which was a metal version of a stroller. Some of the older children liked to push her around in it and play with her.
When Deb was about six months old I became pregnant again, or as people said in those days I was "in the family way". More next time.
8月16日 And the family became three.Our first car was a 1936 Ford coupe. We had to have a car so Jim could call on people, but we didn't have much money. You know the saying "poor as church mice"! Well someone found this car for us but it didn't have a transmission. We paid $300 for it for the car. We bought a used transmission from a junk yard and the owner told us how to put it in. Jim did most of the work. But one night he came into the kitchen to tell me he needed my help. So I went out and crawled under the car to put some screws in a place that Jim's larger hands couldn't fit. Well he got the car to work and it served us well while we had it.
Our first baby was due on April 12. The night before April first our baby began setting up exercizes and the doctor said I should call Jim to come home. A nearby neighbor and his wife insisted I stay at their home and he would meet Jim's train. So in the middle of the night. Jim and I lay together in a twin bed. I relaxed and fell asleep. My brother in San Diego said later that our baby was playing an April fool's joke on us. In those days we didn't know the sex of the baby until it was born. So that whole weekend whenever we had time, we drove that Ford over all the bumpy roads we could find. All was calm. Then on Sunday night , Jim said, 'you know I have to go back to school tomorrow night don't you, and I said that I did.
That night I had put my hair up- in curlers and we went to sleep. Around midnight there was thunder and lightning and a big storm. We got up and then Jim went back to sleep. I had these funny little waves of something that I could time. I took my hair curlers out and began reading a magazine. About 5 am I woke Jim and said we'd better head for the hospital which was 25 miles away. The rain was pouring and that night two barns in the area burned down from lightning strikes. But at around 7:30 am our little daughter was born on April 5, still a week early.
There was another big storm that happened sometime during our stay in Indiana. It was on a Saturday, The wind was blowing very hard. We were debating whether we should go to the basement. We were watching trees a half mile away bending double. Jim said he thought we were okay. Well we were okay, but the next day at church our parishioners who knew about storms like that were all talking about going to their basements. This was all new to me because we never had storms like that ihn San Diego where I grew up.
So hopefully tomorrow night I'll add some more adventures in Indiana. 8月15日 Back home in IndianaIt was 1954 and 1955. Our little home in Indiana had a huge central furnace in the basement. We had to buy and put coal in it, hoping not to put too much or too little because that would change the temperature drastically. One night we got terribly hot. The wind had been blowing into the flue or something. We opened all the windows and tried to adjust all the entries into rooms. It was winter, but still hard to cool down enough to go to sleep.
I had a ringer washing machine, with the roller to get the soapy water out and into a tub of rinse water. After stirring, I used the roller to extract the rinse water and drop the clothes into a basket to be hung on a line. I had a terrible time trying to get all the soap out of diapers so the baby wouldn't be irritated. We had a clothes line to hang up the laundry. In winter diapers would dry stiff as a board. We started hanging them on line we stretched through the basement. Later we bouht a wooden rack for a fast dry upstairs for some of the baby things. I remember each time I was ironing maternity clothes, I would wonder if this would be the last time I'd have to do that.
There was also a differerent problem with the basement. It seems they unknowingly built the house on a spring. So the basement floor was covered with flooding water to about 6 inches. So we each kept a pair of golashes on the second step up to put on every time we went down there. This all sounds terrible, but we were young and happy and just did what we needed to do. Automatic washers and dryers were new then so I'd never known any thing but old fashioned wringer washers.
Our home had a stand of beautiful purple Irises all along the driveway in front. There were the prettiest Redbud trees I've ever seen in Indiana. Iowa had them too but they weren't as brilliantly beautiful. We also drove around and crossed covered bridges which are mostly extinct now. The state was picturesque and we loved it. Wabash college was a men's college and we had a good friend who taught there. Two of our children were born in Crawfordsville.
Shannondale was a tiny town people would say if you blinked driving through you'd miss it. It was 25 miles east of Crawfordsville, and 25 miles west of Lebanon. There were approximately 25 homes there and the white frame church. We were told that only about 5 of the houses in town had indoor bathrooms. Thank goodness ours was one of them.
 Most of the congregation came from surrounding farms. The church had outhouses, his and hers.We had a rule that we never pick up hitch hikers because of the danger. One day I was driving home from Crawfordsville when I recognized our friend from Wabash college, Dr. Cotton. He always hitch hiked. He was an older fellow so I gave him a ride as far as I was going. Then later when I told Jim I had picked up a hitch hiker, I didn't tell him who at first. That was one of the few times in our 56 years of marriage that I was able to put a joke on him. It was usually the other way around.
Tomorrow I'll tell you how we got a car, and what happened when the big storm came. 8月14日 Our first real home.The first manse we lived in was a relatively new small home. It was on two acres in Shannondale, Indiana. We moved there just weeks before our first child, our daughter was born. We had almost no furniture. Another minister friend aand his wife sold us a new Beauty Rest matress and spring set because it was too firm for them. So we had a bed. The first purchase we made was a Frigidaire, because I told Jim we had to have it to keep baby food safe. So Jim went to the credit union at Seminary and borrowed enough for the refrigerator. Some one gave us a small table to eat on. The kitchenette area had a cute little corner builtin for dishes. When Debby was born the congregation took up a collection for a new sofa and matching chair. And my parents sent all of our wedding gifts.
We had baby equipment. We had bought a nice crib and mattress. One of Jim's aunts had broken her wrist before we moved south. I had stayed at her house for a couple or more weeks to help with her two young sons, both around 3 years of age. After that her husband insisted on giving us a small crib, a bathinette, a playpen, and a nice little table that acted as a high chair but could be converted to a play table when Deb got older. They didn't think they would need them again.
That first summer a farmer sold us a calf to raise for food on one of the fenced in acres. Unfortunately we even named her. When it was time to sacrfice her, that was very hard for both Jim and me.
One day two elders from the church came on the manse property with guns, hunting. I got enough nerve to ask them to please not shoot around the manse. We had a baby and a cat and me who didn't want to be in the line of fire in an accident. They nicely oblidged us.
During this time Jim was finishing up at the Seminary in Chicago. He spent four days at school and three days with us in the field. I went to Frankfort on Friday evenings to meet his train. There are more interesting things that happened there so I will follow this topic for a few days. Hope you like it. 8月11日 So this is the way it is!This is a bit of our recent history that leads up to the present. My husband worked at Microsoft until he was 73. We gave him a huge non retirement party for his 70th birthday and all of the family was there. Then for the first time Jim took a real vacation at the occasion of our 50th anniverary. Again family and friends came to an open house at son Jim and wife Suzy's home. Then the family went to Long Beach, Wa. to a bed and breakfast. Jim and I had a special suite with an extra room. In the evening all the family gathered there, played games, and sang to accompaniment of Peter's guitar.
Well the upshot was that Jim decided he liked being relaxed, enjoying life, and when he got back he resigned giving two weeks notice. They asked him to stay the month so he agreed to do that. His bosses said if he ever wanted to come back they'd take him. I thought that was a wonderful way to leave.
We have lived in Redmond, Wa. 17 years which is the longest we've lived anywhere in our marriage. We've lived in our townhome for 12 years. We have three sons and family living nearby. Once or twice a year Deb and Peter come to visit so everyone gets to be together. My brother's son Dean now lives in Seattle. His fiance just finished her work at Univ. of Wa. and starts her internship as a hospital Pharmcist.
As I've said before, we have 14 grands and so far 3 greats. We are the seniors and it is kind of a weird feeling. You never think about getting old until you get there.
 But we feel truly blessed. And the weather has cooled off again. We actually got some rain. So this is the story of a workaholic who learned that there is more to life than work. 8月10日 Ah TreesI think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest, against the earth's sweet flowing breast. A tree that looks at God all day. and lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in summer wear, a nest of robins in her hair. Upon whose bosom snow has lain,who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.
This poem by Joyce Kilmer, has always been a favorite of mine. Had I written it, I think I would have used a different word for "fools". However when I was an English major in college we were told that this is the worst poem ever written. How can that be when this poem speaks to peoples hearts and always makes you think of a peaceful place. Here in Washington, everywhere we drive there are beautiful trees of all kinds everywhere. Every March we get blossoms on Japanese Cherry trees. All year around there are all the evergreens in abundance, all kinds. There are Firs, Pines, Yews, Cyprus, and many others. Then there are Oaks, Maples, etc. We never get used to them. They are a thing of beauty everywhere, and all of the time. I am always reminded of this beautiful poem.
I respectfully protest that this is the worst poem ever written, but it is probably one of the best and speaks to the heart of us all.
8月9日 On the way to wellness.My husband is better now. He had a good week and didn't push himself, except with a computer set up for our townhome association which involved a humongus amount of time and effort. He even started joking again last Thursday. He broke up the congregation in church today during the children's sermon. They were really laughing. The minister invited him up front with the children, but thank goodness he didn't go.
Tomorrow at 10:30 they are going to attach something to his chest to measure his heart for 24 hours, waking, sleeping, going up and down stairs. Then at the same time Tuesaday it will be removed. Wenesday we return for another finger prick to see if the warfarin dose is right or needs another adjustment. Suddenly we are getting to know a lot of medical people pretty well.
 Church is really special with so many friends we care about and who care about us. The pastor preached his last sermon on Romans after about 6 months of "The Romans are coming" and then "The Romans are leaving. Today it was a story only found in Romans where Jesus healed 11 or 12 people of Leprosy. They were very happy, but only one, a Samaritan turned back to thank Jesus. It was again very thought provoking, which I like.
So we start another week. Hopefully we may get some rain for the first time in about 2 months. That will be very nice. I hope all of you have a wonderful, happy, and Spiritual week too. May something truly wonderful come your way this week. 8月8日 Lining up the fun things!This is a topic I have not written about in the past. I haven't done much in the way of hobbies for awhile because of the fatique issue, but now with the CPAP I am feeling so much better. I love to do puzzles, all kinds from the newspaper, and jigsaws. I enjoy games but DH doesn't like them so I watch our Mariners baseball games alone.
I enjoy writing as you know having read some of my book of family history. I love reading. Quilting is a hobby too.
I used to be a gardener but we can't do that outdoors here at our townhouse. I used to have indoor plants but that went away with the fatigue. I now have a Christmas Cactus that is many years old. It loves the window sill it lives on. And I have a small orchid in that same window. We grow grass for the cats in the window. I plan to go back to my African Violets soon.
I suppose computer work is a hobby too. It is certainly fun when you have contact with friends all over the world that you can talk to whenever.
Graham challenged me to a Scrabble game which might be fun but I have to figure out how to do that. Graham lives in Manchester. Do any of you know know if that is in England or one of those in this country? I would guess my husband, cats, kids, Grands and Greats are hobbies too, but they are much more than that.
 So these are my thoughts tonight. Tomorrow will be church and I do enjoy that. We have a wonderful pastor and lots of people we care about there. And then we'll eat at the Brittish Pantry which is also a good experience. Then the work is going through the Sunday Newspaper.  8月7日 Cats and Quilts go together.I have belonged to a group on line called "catsnquilts" for people who like cats and quilts obviously.
for over 12 years. It is a fun group of women from all over the world. Most of our daily messages are on topic but once in a while someone needs her friends and we speak to her concern with encouragement. This group has special quilt block exchanges as it suits them. I am making a cat quilt for our king sized bed from some 6 1/2" squares of cat fabric from an exchange, plus some of my own fabric.For this group I run two activities. One is a birthday Fat Quarter project where those who want to participate sign up on our data sheet and I divide them up into teams of ten to twelve people. Then when each one has a birthday, the others on their team send them a birthday card and a fat quarter of fabric. Tonight I prepared three to send out. I'm a little behind because of the medical issues at hand. But they even like that as it spreads their BD out further. We think that when you reach a certain age you should have a BD month, or at least two weeks 0f celebrations.
The other is called Secret Santa. Again those who want to participate sign up. Then I cut out all the names, fold them up, mix them up, and then draw one by one and put them on the list I have printed. Then I write to each one telling them to whom they will be secret santa. This happens in October and November. Then each person prepares a box with one or two fat quarters, a quilty thing or two, something for that person's cats. Sometimes the SS will make some things which is nice, like balls or socks or pillows stuffed with catnip or a pot holder. They are asked not to send too much so others might feel bad. When the time comes, some open theirs too early, but most wait. It is up to them. But they must write on our site and tell about what they received so we all can enjoy it all.
There are lots of quilt sites and cat sites out there, but one is enough for me. I really enjoy this group and their posts. I do belong to Quilters club of America. It's a paid membership, but as one of the first to join I get a good rate. It includes some free patterns, and 3 or 4 issues of a magazine called "Quick Quilts"
Other than church and association of our homeowners from which I resigned Jan. 1 after 12 years of being Secretary, this is the extent of my organization activity. I have noticed that some of you enjoy quilting too. Also cats I'll bet. 8月6日 A bad dream but a good memory.I had a dream about Rattlesnakes last night and jim woke me saying I was screaming. I remember the dream vividly. Jim has never understood why I don't like snakes. I usually have good dreams but it must have been triggered by the Crankshaft funny paper that for several days we watched him in his garden as the rattler got closer. A little dog tried to warn him but he told the dog to quit barking. Finally when the snake attacked the little dog jumped up and took the bite for him. He rushed the little dog to the vet and now it will be okay.
When I was a child we walked a couple of blocks through fields of wild oats on a path or along the same field on the dirt road. We were warned that if we ever heard a rattle we were to freeze and not move. I remember wondering what the rattle would sound like.
Every spring Dad would do a controlled fire around our home that stood alone in those fields to protect it from fire. Snakes always came out and he would kill them. We were taught not to go near a rattler even if his head had been cut off because it could still bite for a while.
One time Mom found a baby rattler in front of her walk in closet and she phoned my Dad to come home from the school where he was Principal. He did.
Now when I think about it they never said anything about all of us kids playing hide and seek in those wild oats, or running after a jack rabbit through grass and cactus. We never feared any thing when we played. Life was good to kids in those days. We were close enough to the ocean to hear it and smell the salt air. We had a huge Pepper tree with a tire hanging down to swing on it. And we climbed it. We had a Cocker Spaniel for a while but he kept running away and taking part of the fence with him.  When we walked to our grocery store we would gaze in a large glass cabinet filled with penny candies to pick from, or at Christmas to pick the Christmas tree which would be delivered. There was home delivery in those days. So these are happy memories for me.8月4日 A political request to the news media.This will be short. I wish when the news people report about things our president is doing that they would give reports of people who support his actions. They immediately give the republican view which is always negative. Obama is trying to do what he was elected to do but people only get the negative reaction and not the positive so people's response is often fear or misunderstanding. It just seems unfair to never show the thoughts of both sides of every issue.
One interesting observation is that ugly happenings get top billing, same ole same ole day after day for weeks on end, even when there is nothing new, same person crying and saying the same things. So they could cut back on that and give a fair accounting to what most of us want to know about. I wish I knew who to write to to make this suggestion.
We had our National Neighborhood Night Out tonight in our little park. We hire Armadillo Barbeque, the best in the area to serve ribs and chicken, cornbread, potato salad, cole slaw, set up out of their wagon oven. My job is to order the two large chocolate cakes, and serve them up on small plates with plastic forks from Cosco. We usually have around 150 people and probably had that tonight. Everyone brings their own chair and drink. It is really a fun time to meet your new neighbors and greet the ones you know. The fire deportment and police and ambulance drivers come and often show the children their vehicles, police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks. Last year the fire truck turned on the hoses for the kids. I think a good time was had by all and the weather was very nice with gentle breezes. Afterward Jim and I took leftover food and cake to the fire station and police department for those on the night shift to enjoy. 8月3日 Joy of the moment.Today my husband had an echocardiogram. The results were that the part of the heart that sets the pace isn't working right. We'll see a good Cardiologist on Wednesday so will know more then. Part of his discouragement is having a hard time finding anything to eat with the milk intolerance, and now possibly yogurt too. And he just doesn't feel well. He has lost 24 lbs. He goes to bed at 5:30 each day.
So in light of all this, I am sitting here thinking of things that make me happy.
First it would be my family, immediate and those scattered around the country that I also hold dear. I am greatful for each and every one of them. And next of course would be friends.
Next I think of our three kitties and grand cats and dogs.
i also enjoy animals and birds. We can't feed birds any more because our condo association won't allow it to avoid attracting river rats as we are next to a river. I enjoy emails that include pictures of lots of animals doing cute or unusual things.I love the ocean and the beaches along side. I get such a happy feeling breathing in Salt air and listening to the roar of waves. Sometimes I try to picture myself there when I have trouble falling asleep. In my next life, I'd like to live beside the ocean so i can enjoy it all of the time. This is a big smile of contentment.
I love colors especially blue. I don't care much for the drabs, but really enjoy the pure colors and shades.
I like pictures of beautiful places too.
I love books and the joy in reading both to learn and also to kind of feel other experiences, I guess. My favorites are mystery and british mysteries.
Music is also high on the list for feeling pleasure. This includes listening or participating by singing. I'll never forget the time one of my teenage sons were playing instruments in the living room and they asked me to sing. Later that son told me his friends thought I had such a nice voice. That made me feel so good.
Well these are the main things that bring joy and pleasure to my life. It is fun to reflect on these once in a while, especially when experiencing some of life's situations where you want to get through the difficulty whole and in tact. I wonder what you all like also. 8月1日 Ah the world of young people todayI often wonder if I am alone in not appreciating the messy side of style, hairdos, etc,
No amount of stylishness would make me subject my feet to those 6" heels women wear. Then the women started wearing what we, in our days, considered underwear on the outside. Now girls and women also wear clothes that give their bodies weird shapes, and often look like they slept in them. And their hairdos ar usually uncomed with crooked parts.
I saw a popular young hollywood star come out on stage who was a nice looking young man, but his hair which was a nice length looked like someone had deliberately messed it up.
In our church a young man who is paid to lead our young people, and does a good job, gave a sermon last summer. Even his mother was there. He stood up in shorts with holes in them like teens have in their jeans, and a shirt which looked like it had just come out of the dryer and was wrinkled all over. And we older folks just have to get used to it 'cause that's the way it is today.
I remember as a teen ager thinking that when I get old I would never complain about the youth being different from what we were in our day. It's a given that music is a problem. The loud noise that goes for music, hurts the ears of us elders. Besides that they like monotonus sounds over and over and over again. And the lyrics don't say anything. Alas. Now I am feeling like our seniors must have but I don't comment to any of them. I just don't understand why things have gone this far. As for fashion and high heels which have to hurt, I wonder why women and girls let men, often in Europe, dictate what will be their fashions.
So I keep thinking for topics for this blog to give it variety. Am I alone in what goes for okay today? At least none of this hurts anyone, which is part of the criteria for what's okay, in my mind. 7月31日 Our furry family membersJim and I have 3 cats because we both have always had cats and love them. Now we are told that pets make you live longer, a nice bonus.
Every cat has it's own distinctive personality. And it learns how to get it's way with you early on. They also keep time, and come and tell us when it is time for their canned food. They start by sitting and staring. You can pet them and they purr. But if you take too long getting up to feed them they begin their plaintive meows. Ours expect a small treat at bedtime and when we first get up in the morning. We take all the meds that doctors have prescribed for us, and then give them their little bits. By then they have jumped up on the bed expectantly.
Ayesha is a tiny little thing, a Balinese Blue Point. She was a stray that some one dropped off or she got away. We watched her all summer and she was skittish so we didn't try to feed her. But in October jim and I were standing in the garage, and she came in rubbing our legs and purring. Jim said "she's ours". The vets said she was between 2 and 5 years old. That makes her between 14 and 17 now. She slips a lot when she jumps and shows her age in other ways. But it is so funny, that when I sing, she comes running and gets right up to my face. In winter when I wanted her for a lap warmer, all I had to do was sing and she'd run downstairs and jump up. I liked to tease her and sing, "how much is that doggie in the window?" She didn't seem to mind.
Willie ( William of Orange} and his sister Tillie ( Matilda) joined us as 8 week olds in 2000 when we lost Tolliver and SiRacha of old age. Willie and Tillie were supposed to be tabbies, but they grew up to be biggg, Maine Coons. Willie, of course , is orange and the friendliest and only fellow. But his tail is always curled up over his back and the tail touches the middle of his back. I call him my teapot as he looks like he has a handle.
Tillie is what they call silver in color. Sne is beautiful and very dainty. She learned well from her feral mother to be afraid of everything. If a car door closes out front she is upstairs in a steak like lightning. Some times Willie will run too but unless there are children he will usually come back.
So this is our fur family. They are spoiled with love and petting and intertain us with their antics. So this is the story of the nest that emtied out 5 children, and brought in 3 cats.  7月29日 A New ExperienceThis morning I took Jim to church to run the sound system for Vacation Bible School. The church had no air cooling. Today our area hit 104 and Olympia got 106. It is the hottest Seattle area ever got in 118 years of records. And last night had the highest low, in the 90's. So all the teachers and kids were trying to make the best of it. I had to smile at their ingenuity. There was one room set aside with cold drinks and snacks that teachers or children could go in any time they felt need of it. Drinks including bottles of water were on ice but it did all melt before the morning was over. Their recreation was two teams who had some large sponges that they would soak and throw at each other. I don't know what the rules of the game were, but it must have helped to cool everyone off.
Outside on the other side of the church between two buildings, there were two large hoses raised up on posts, with large hoses attached to create huge mists and the kids could go and stand in it whenever they felt like it. And they did.
There were no lights on in any of the rooms. And all the doors were open, except mine. (I was working at setting up a library system that would be useful.) I thought closing my door helped a little.
People were setting up snacks and drinks for the kids in a large fellowship hall, now called a youth room, in the dark, and it was dark. Everyone seemed to survive but I was glad to get home afterward.
I had a long list of things I was going to do while Jim was at church this week. They were errands that have accumulated as we took one day at a time with all the medical appointments. It worked for two days!! :o) I am so glad we have our heat pump. The TV advertizes places people can go during the day to stay cool. Only 13% of the residents in Seattle have A/C. Every store sold out every thing they had in the way of fans and coolers.
Well tomorrow is another day and some day it will probably cool down, though not in the forseeable future.
7月28日 Have you tried Pandora?Music is a very real therapy for a lot of people, including me. No matter what my mood or life concerns at any given moment, hearing music that I love makes me feel better. Often in the evening when I come upstairs to my computer to visit with many friends and relatives on the web, I open Pandora. Pandora is a free site where you write down some of your favorite singers, and they begin to play their songs and similar artists. Each song you can click on "thumbs up" if you like it or "thumbs down" if you don't. As time goes by you have developed something like radio stations of just the music you like. One of my favorites is music from musicals like "South Pacific", "Oklahoma", and many others. Another includes vocalists popular when I was younger, and throughout my life. So I pick one and as I work, my spirit rises with the songs. And this is free. I believe it is one of the best things offered. You can play it while you do other things, or even while relaxing with Solitaire or TriPeaks. I offer this so that if you haven't tried it, you might want to pull it up and see what you think of it.
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