The Twins go trick or treating with Sammy

Maddie's a nerd, Hunter's a gangster, Sammy's a hot dog.  They stopped in so I could take a picture.  I took about a minute video as well. Gonna close the blinds and turn off the lights now and head to the living room. I seldom get any trick or treaters anyhow.

Halloween is finally here!

If I was younger, I know I'd get into the spirit of Halloween more and put some effort into a costume or at least decorations but I've got other fish to fry now that I'm in my late 60's. Besides, who'd see me?  I'd have to take a picture of myself and post it on my blog or Facebook. I'm personally looking forward to some of the movies and programs being on some topic other than vampires and monsters.

I was so tired last night after our all-day venture into Jefferson County that I ended up going to bed at 8:15.  Guess my party days are over if I can't last longer than that!  Before heading to Shari Glessing's party, we hit a few shops in downtown Port Townsend.  I bought a black and white cow for my cow display in the bathroom and a 2012 Gatheringplace calendar depicting PT scenes.  I just love these calendars. I have several of the past calendar paintings on display in this room.  Some of 2012's will go up as well.  My favorites are Feb, Mar, June, Oct. & Dec.

Out in Hadlock, I made a trip to the library to donate my 'Walkin' on Water' book.  I used to spend a lot of time at that library when I lived across the street and it felt strange to walk around and see the changes.  I did apply for a library card while there as they had a book I wanted to read but PA didn't have in their collection. Apparently, you can mail the book back fairly cheap if you're not going to be in the neighborhood when it's due.  I got Homer Tobin's book about his life 'The World was Young and I was too'.

I also stopped in to see Honey von Goerken who used to fill in for me at the mill. She's 80 now and mostly blind but she still gets out and about using Dial-a-ride.  She's been going to a monthly (or is it every Tuesday?) lunch with friends for 20 years.  I happened to ask her how she met some of these ladies and she told me one of them she met in a public restroom. She needed toilet paper and asked the person to hand some under the stall door.  Only Honey would make a friend that way. Ha Ha

I also stopped at a house near Honey's to buy a Rotary raffle ticket. Mary and Jen went in on it with me.  They sell 500 only ($100 a piece) and there are 4 cash prizes, the first one being $10,000.

I took 74 pictures at the party but ended up deleting about 40 of them later. Was trying to get a good Xmas card picture with the grandkids but none turned out that great. I may use one of them, though. Here's some of the pics I took...

Carol Baltes beginning the pumpklin carving activity

 Granddaughter Catie decided on the stencil she wanted to use

 Jenny Erickson works on decorating cookies. (Shari's recipe is to die for)

 Chocolate cupcakes with gummy worms coming out of them.

The treehouse David Glessing built for his 5th grade project several years ago. (He's a senior now)

The drive into town was very pretty with all the trees turning into their autumn colors.  Coming home was rainy and windy, though, and by then we were all worn out and eager to get back to our houses.

Well, I've got to make a quick run into town. Dave Worley picked up the wrong book at our 50th reunion and I need to mail him the correct one. Think I'll stop at Safeway too.  My calendar for the first week of November is blank. Guess I'll do the usual---sewing and computer and reading.

Trivia for today:  the last bunch for now but I think Les sent me something else I can use tomorrow. I'll reread it.

Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters

Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy

Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down

Everything weighs one percent less at the equator

Busy day in Jefferson County

Have a lot to talk about but am way too tired tonight.  Drive home was mostly in the wind and rain and boy, was I happy to get in the house and into my jammies.  Had a good time, though, and will post more pictures tomorrow.  I did put four on Facebook.

 two group shots taken as we were leaving. Unfortunately some people are hidden. Glad I got four pictures total of the group

 Cody Hewitt with his mom, Tami

 David and Dillon Glessing with their mom, Shari (the hostess)

 me posing with two of my daughters, Mary and Jenni (Hunter in the front)

 Tami Hewitt trying out the mask I've had since the 80's

 I managed to sit down on a wet spot and it was noticed immediately, of course. (my butt was wet most of the afternoon although Shari did offer me a hair dryer.)

Drove over a few blocks to visit an old friend from the mill. Honey Von Goerken is 80 now and mostly blind but still keeps really busy.

The party was a busy one. People carved pumpkins, decorated cookies, played ball outside, and ate and ate.  My favorites were Tami's chili and Jenny Erickson's cole slaw.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LINDA PEDERSEN TODAY!


More tomorrow.....

Relaxing today

I spent the morning getting a little housework done and decided in the middle of the vacuuming and laundry to rearrange the living room.  Wanted to switch two of the quilts--one on my bed and one on my wall. 

Then I sat down at the kitchen table to continue cutting out quilt pieces.  Am listening to a terrific audio book --The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.

This doesn't look like much but it's hours of work.  I didn't venture out at all today except to the mailbox.  And then all I got was the cable bill!  Dinner is leftover chicken fettucine--a recipe I just kind of threw together as I went along.  (pesto sauce, broccoli, chicken pieces, noodles.)

I intend to settle into the recliner (after dinner at the table while working a crossword puzzle) and watch a video and do some cross stitch. I've been thinking about making Christmas postcards this year and sent an order off to Walgreen's to get reprints of certain pictures I always liked.  Here's nine of them.......



Later in the day...

I left the house a little earlier than usual this morning as I needed to make some quick stops before picking up Mary Norton in Sequim.  Luckily, I zipped in and out of every place I needed to go.  Got gas at Safeway, pills at Walmart, mini blind handles at Home Depot and a Christmas present at Penneys.  The clerk talked me into applying for a credit card so I could get 15% discount. 

I looked over their collection of gold chains but even the cheapest one was $20 and I didn't want to spend that much.  I had found a little trinket in my jewelry box that I forgot I had. I've always liked it and decided I wanted to get a chain and start wearing it again.  After our casino lunch, I dropped off Mary and saw a garage sale in her neighborhood. Even though it was pouring down rain, I stopped.  Found a chain for a dollar so I was happy. Came home and put my little doodad on it.

I purchased this little charm at a jewelry store in Port Townsend in the 80's.

Maddie was going to be a hobo for halloween but she changed her mind and decided to be a nerd. Wanted an old pair of my glasses and since I hardly ever throw anything away, I was able to accommodate her.

I managed to leave the casino with $15 more than I walked in the door with so that was good. Can't say the buffet impressed me much, though.  Everything tasted kind of the same. I haven't been all that enthused with their food for quite a while now. At least not their Friday seafood selection.  Frozen tidbits you can fix yourself just as easily at home.

I did talk the girls into posing for a picture though.  I found a picture of us taken ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, and have posted it above today's shot.   I don't think we've changed much. Well, I have a little, I suppose.

Sunday I'm heading into Hadlock for a Halloween party so I plan to take pictures all afternoon.

Last Friday of October

It's 8:30 a.m. and I've got a couple hours to kill before I leave for the casino.  Surfed my usual internet sites but didn't find much of interest.  Already started muting the tv--first time being when Barbara Walters showed up to yak about her upcoming interview with billionairers.  Yeah, that's exactly what I'm interested in.

Did find the weather report interesting, though. Snow already in the northeast?!  Gees, but I'm glad I don't live there. Mary and Andy are flying to PA for Thanksgiving this year.  I hope they don't have a hassle with flight times and crowds and weather.  They're young, though. They can still hold up under stress. Better than I could, that's for sure.

I feel bad for Sammy this morning. I told Jenni to leave him home and I'd pick him up after I'm back from my lunch in Sequim.  He's going to feel like he's been deserted but it looks like rain today and I'd prefer he be inside Jenni's house for a few hours instead of outside in my yard. Maybe I should see about getting a little doghouse for the corner of the yard.  I wonder if Hunter could make one.

I didn't get too much accomplished yesterday but was satisfied that I manged to mow the front and back lawns. That should do it until next spring.  I also continued cutting out quilt pieces. I've got a ton of material that is small remnants of sewing projects of yesteryear.  I never could throw out a pretty piece of material that I thought could be used in a quilt. It's slow going with this cutting project as I have a lot to get through but I can work on it for weeks at a time while sitting at my kitchen table and watching videos or listening to audio tapes.

I've got about three patterns I'm interested in so I'm cutting various sizes of squares and triangles.  I've been wanting to clean out these bins for years so if I succeed, I'll be mighty happy to cross that chore off my list--plus I'll have an abundance of pieces to keep me busy until the cows come home.  (If I had any cows, that is)

I've got over two hundred cassettes sitting in here along with my CDs. Everytime I look at them, I'm reminded of the great music I'm just not listening to. I have two boom boxes that play cassettes but sometimes they "act up" and try to chew up the tape.  Can't have that.  I'm thinking more and more that I may invest in one of those machines that converts tapes to CDs.
Then I can put them on my Ipod or delete individual songs from my computer that I know I'll never listen to.   Yep!  I think that's what I'm gonna do.

Well, I think I'll work on my next Leader blog a bit before I go fix my hair and get pretty for lunch with the girls at 7 Cedars.  I tried to talk them into dressing halloweenie but I was ignored. I will have our picture taken while there, though, and at least ONE OF US will be halloweenie. I'll post it this afternoon.

My next Leader blog will be about playing bingo at the Legion "back in the day."  Does anybody recall the name of that guy who did these large oversize wall paintings and sold them at Hilltop and other places?  The Legion had several hanging on the walls for a while.  He did them up quickly kind of like that painter on PBS who talks in a soothing voice and turns a canvas into a masterpiece.

Well, until later.....

Sammy waits for the kids to come home

I need to video how he acts when Jenni arrives. That makes us laugh every night.

Mid-Week Wednesday

Well, it's another day. Isn't that a profound statement?!  Ha!  It's 8:25 a.m. and I just finished a light breakfast and a cup of coffee.  Yeah, it's gonna be one of those kind of blog days. Not much to say.  Like what else is new?  hee hee

It's lookin' chilly outside but dry and I'm thinking I might get a chance to cut the lawn this afternoon.  Would prefer to let Hunter do it but he'll go to the other grandma's house today and I can't depend on dry weather lasting too long.  The neighbor cut his grass on Friday and I've looked like the messy step-child ever since.

My project for today (outside of the mowing) is to continue cutting out quilt pieces.  I'm going through each of my material bins one at a time and pressing and cutting as I go to empty them. Most of the scraps are small odds and ends too little for anything except specific cut-outs for squares and triangles.  And that's a relaxing pasttime as well.  I can sit at the kitchen table, listen to a book or watch a video and measure, cut, and stack to my heart's content.

I got out half a dozen templates with two specific block patterns in mind.  Having the pieces cut ahead of time is half the battle.  And I'm not giving up the battle.  I just have to re-evaluate exactly what I'm doing that makes my finished product look so awful.

Sewing and writing are what I enjoy doing the most, and while I'm not that great at sewing a lot of the time, I do know it's teaching me patience.  Yeah, I know. I'm laughing too.

Maddie made me a ghost decoration out of plastic bags yesterday and Hunter hung it up on the basketball hoop for me.  I told him to stay on the stepstool while I went to get my camera but he doesn't mind so I said: "Ok, here, take my picture then."  I did get him to pose a little later holding Sammy by the scarecrow on the porch.

Well, maybe I'll post more later in the day. Or not.  Some days there's just not much to talk about unless I rant on some subject or another.  And I can always find some subject to rant about. I must admit I did enjoy hearing Max lambast the judges on Dancing with the Stars. I've always thought the two male judges on that show were a complete waste of air time.

Gotta get bundled up now and go retrieve Sammy from Jenni's house.  We laughed and laughed yesterday.  I was at the computer and he was sitting on his perch watching out the window for Jenni to arrive. She finally pulled in the driveway and I knew without looking that she had pulled up because he started making these happy sounds--half laughing, half crying.

He runs to the door, she picks him up, and he licks and licks and licks her face.  She bends down and says:  "Give Maddie a kiss too."  He hesitates, gives her ONE QUICK LICK and then turns back to Jenni and gives her ten more licks.  We're rolling on the floor laughing and she does it again.  And he obliges.  One quick lick for Maddie, ten licks for MAMA!

Trivia for today:

Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams

The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year

The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust

I Will Be Patient--Someday...

Most of the time I'm pretty patient.  My kids are probably rolling on the floor laughing right now. Okay. Most of the time, I'm not all that patient. Things that get my goat---

Candy bars that cost a dollar or more and used to be a nickel, too many TV commercials or stupid programs and cable companies soaking us year after year forcing us to subscribe to a bunch of shows we'll never watch and accepting "their package programming",  celebrities who get way too much attention (and on the NEWS no less!), drivers who forget their manners behind the wheel, my lame vacuum cleaner that sucks yet doesn't suck and the cord always gets wound up and the filter needs cleaning if you pick up even a small amount of dirt, the hoops you have to jump through to make a medical appt (forget even talking to a doctor!), body parts that remind me everyday that I'm aging and overweight, sewing projects that remind me that I'm never going to be that good at sewing (even though I've played around with it since I was TEN!), my willpower that completely fades into the sunset whenever I think about sweets or carbs, my handwriting that looks like I have a heart condition but actually indicates I'm unstable, and prices that continue to climb at the gas pumps, the grocery store, the utility company, and medical insurance companies.  I could go on but you get the general idea.

Okay...on to nicer subjects. 

I walked over to get Sammy and as usual, he was very excited to see me.  I keep thinking I should get a little dog of my own just so he'll have company here. I don't really play with him much as I'm busy at the computer or sewing machine or doing my own thing.  He was soooo excited when my sister came with her dog, Newman.  I'm thinking it over.  I do this all the time. I keep telling myself I want a pet and then I think about the responsibility and the cost and the inconvenience of having a pet and I talk myself out of it.  Ideally, Jenni would get a second dog for her dog and I could watch them both and then have them both go home at night.  She's resisting my suggestion, however. 

I know why I'm kinda crabby this morning. My foot hurts.  Yesterday it was halfway okay and I hoped things were improving.  I'm probably going to have to visit the podiatrist again and see what else can be done.  It's plagued me since July but I think I'll give it until January before I pursue further treatment.  Sometimes if you just wait, things fix themselves.  I know that's not always the case.  I'm due for a colonoscopy this year and I told myself I would make the appt before 2012 arrived.  I haven't done it yet. If I got it over with, I'd probably be much happier but....who wants to be happy?  Hee Hee

My cousin, Marlee Morin, shares pictures with me that she takes on her walks in Gig Harbor. They're so pretty. Here's two of them and then some that I took around the neighborhood.

 My pretty little tree I brought from my yard in Sequim. It's colorful in the fall.

 An impulse buy at Walmart a few weeks ago. I like seeing them on my back porch.

 Trees changing color as seen from my living room window

A deer watched me as I walked through the woods this morning to pick up Sammy.

I got a book and CD in the mail yesterday and started reading it last night in bed. 

It's by Gail Davies who used to live in Port Townsend. I skipped ahead a little to read her PT memories but she was only there for a year and it didn't sound like it was a great year in her life.  The book is well written, though, and I'll enjoy reading it, I'm sure. She signed it for me and signed another ad insert telling me to say hi to my brother. (I ordered it from her website)

I worked on a sewing project yesterday afternoon and was taking my time with it as I wanted to use it as a gift.  Seems like even the simplest of my projects are hard for me.  I had to rip seams out two or three times.

I found a few counted cross stitch designs at Goodwill that were already completed. They were done especially well so I bought them to stitch material strips around to make wall hangings or table tops or runners.  I cut  several shades of blue, sewed them together, sewed a backing on, turned it right side out and inserted a thin layer of batting.  Then I sewed up the bottom.  It looked "okay" but I thought it might look better if I sewed along the seams to give it a quilted look.  Big mistake. 

I used a long stitch and took my time but as usually happens, my stitches got smaller and smaller and my material puckered and by the time I was done, I had a real piece of junk.  The stitches were too small to try and pull out everything so I just said the hell with it!  The left hand bottom section is especially awful.  I only  had a little bit of the outside blue so I wanted to hem the thing first and then quilt stitch it. I thought it would be okay since it was a small piece but alas, I probably should have tried sewing in the ditch first and then went back to hem.

I don't know how my little masterpieces can look so dreadful when I try so hard and go so slow to be accurate.  This is why I spend more time writing than sewing.  I've been struggling with trying to come up with a story line so I can write "my book."  Once I get started, it will give me a reason to jump out of bed each morning in anticipation.

And in conclusion....here's Sammy....

Emails I've kept

I received a very interesting email from Bill Koepke last week and while it was quite long, I've edited it down to one page and plan to post it on here. Has to do with rubbish from the Japan quake washing up on our beaches. It was a fascinating read for me as I love going to the beach and lookin' for "stuff."

A vast field of debris, swept out to sea following the Japan earthquake and tsunami, is floating towards the U.S. West Coast. Cars, whole houses and even severed feet in shoes. More than 200,000 buildings were washed out by the enormous waves that followed the 9.0 quake on March 11.


Several thousand bodies were washed out to sea following the disaster and while most of the limbs will come apart and break down in the water, feet encased in shoes will float.
Members of the U.S. Navy's 7th fleet, who spotted the extraordinary floating rubbish, say they have never seen anything like it and are warning the debris now poses a threat to shipping traffic. It's very challenging to move through these to consider these boats run on propellers and that these fishing nets or other debris can be dangerous to the vessels that are actually trying to do the work.

Scientists say the first bits of debris from Japan are due to reach the West Coast in a year's time after being carried by currents toward Washington, Oregon and California. They will then turn toward Hawaii and back again toward Asia, circulating in what is known as the North Pacific Gyre. Authorities rely heavily on a network of thousands of beachcombers to report the location and details of their finds.

Only a small portion of that debris will wash ashore, and how fast it gets there and where it lands depends on buoyancy, material and other factors. Fishing vessels or items that poke out of the water and are more likely influenced by wind may show up in a year, while items like lumber pieces, survey stakes and household items may take two to three years.
Old flip flops, plastic toys, bags, children's pacifiers, toothbrushes, tons of plastic bottles and even whole yachts are just some of the rubbish floating in the so-called 'great pacific garbage patch'.

The debris was trapped by the rotational currents of the North Pacific Gyre, which draws it from across the North Pacific Ocean, including coastal waters off North America and Japan. It ends up bobbing about like a rubbish soup miles off the coast of California.
It is difficult to say just how big the area of ocean trash is, but some reports say it is roughly three times the size of Texas.

There is also a North Atlantic and Indian Ocean garbage patch. If the items aren't blown ashore by winds or get caught up in another oceanic gyre, they'll continue to drift in the North Pacific loop and complete the circle in about six years. 'The material that is actually blown in will be a fraction' of the tsunami debris. 'Some will break up in transit. A lot of it will miss our coast. Some will split up and head up to Gulf of Alaska and British Columbia.'

'All this debris will find a way to reach the West Coast or stop in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,' a swirling mass of concentrated marine litter in the Pacific Ocean. Much of the debris will be plastic, which doesn't completely break down. That raises concerns about marine pollution and the potential harm to marine life. But the amount of tsunami debris, while massive, still pales in comparison to the litter that is dumped into oceans on a regular basis.

Port Angeles doesn't have great beachcombing beaches but if I lived in Port Townsend, I'd try to get out there at least a couple times a week to walk around.

Have you ever used Google maps or Google earth to surf around and look at stuff from the air? It's kind of a fun pasttime. I recently "flew" over Chetzemoka Park and North Beach and Fort Worden. Fascinating. 

I had a fairly quiet weekend. Made 4 potholders and an apron yesterday and then took in a movie with Jenni.  It had a really good rating on IMDB and I was eagerly looking forward to it.
I'm interested in politics so I thought 'The Ides of March' would be worth the money.  Well, sad to say, I left the theatre disappointed.  I like a lot of the actors (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, and Ryan Gosling) but the ending  totally sucked.  Kind of like the author was tired and didn't want to write anymore so he just stopped.  Those kind of movies really tick me off!
The theatre itself (upstairs at the Lincoln in downtown P.A.) was fairly empty of viewers. Maybe
20 at the most.
 
The previews included the latest Twilight movie and Liam Neeson in Grey Wolf. Jenni wanted to see Twilight and I wanted to see Wolf.  We stopped at Safeway afterwards (7 p.m.) and man, was the place empty.  I liked it.
 
I listened to an audio book while sewing yesterday....The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.  Makes me want to see if I can't find the movie and rewatch it.  I'm reading 'Islands in the Stream' by Hemingway now.  The first part seems familiar and I wonder if I haven't read it already.
 
I find it interesting that Mitt Romney is running a tv campaign bringing out all the Mormans.  I suppose it's necessary because there's a huge segment of population that thinks the Morman religion is a sect. I know some parts of our country are more heavily into religion than others--like the Bible Belt, for example.  We are a diverse country, that's for sure.  I don't have any problem with a Morman being president but everytime I see yet another commercial about it, I'm reminded that Mitt has money to burn.  I don't suppose there's any chance of a person winning who isn't rich, though, so I'll just have to deal with it.  A poor man (or woman) is never gonna be the head of the United States.
 
Funny the way we've evolved over this issue. I remember when I was a senior in high school and Kennedy was running.  The fact he was a Catholic was actually discussed as a mark against his popularity and ability to win. We've come a long ways, I guess.
 
Trivia for today:
 
When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight (I want to know how we know this?)

In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed

Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside

And here's Johnny Cash in the 60's and in later life...

Going down my list...

I got up before 7 a.m. but only because I was having a horrific nightmare and I felt the need to distance myself from dreamland.  Even with a rocky beginning to the day, though, I did manage to get a lot of things accomplished around here.

I rearranged my sewing area in the kitchen as I felt I needed a better light at the machine.  One thing led to another and I ended up rearranging other areas just a tad.  I finished up my tulip wall hanging and started sewing some pot holders and an apron. 

I had received some really cute pictures in an email and decided to try and make postcards out of them.  I saved them to my photos, enlarged them a little and sent them to Walgreen's for prints.  They turned out pretty good so I glued them on to heavier paper and let them sit under heavy books for a few hours. 

I'm thinking I might try to make Christmas cards that way this year. Postage just keeps going up and going up, and while I always liked to send cards, I might have to reconsider this year and just send out a few photo postcards instead.  They're still 29 cents but that's better than 45 cents. Here's one of the photos I made into a card.

I've been listening to an audio book by Ernest Hemingway and have discovered that I really like the way he writes. I went to the library and got two more books by him.

I did up a couple loads of laundry, put clean sheets on the bed, and made a pot of chicken soup.  Tomorrow I think I'll kick back a little and just watch some videos or listen to books.  Have found that my foot flares up every time I try to get a lot of chores done.  I don't know what I'm going to do about this problem. It's been plaguing me since July and I thought for sure it would ease up after three months.

Not being able to walk can put a real crimp in your lifestyle. I've already been challenged with arthritis and sciatica that comes and goes on a regular basis.  The ringing in my ears is going to be with me for life, I guess.  I get a reprieve every now and then but it never seems to last too long.  I really don't care for this aging process one bit!

I got an order delivered from Miles Kimball today. Man, that sure was fast.  Unfortunately, I don't like two of the items so I'm going to return them.  The rest of the stuff is terrific, though. 

Below are some Henny Youngman jokes I got from Les Walden today. Can't share some of them as they're naughty but these made me laugh....

I saw a poor old lady fall over today on the ice!! At least I presume she was poor - she only had $1.20 in her purse.

My girlfriend thinks that I'm a stalker. Well, she's not exactly my girlfriend yet.

A wife says to her husband you're always pushing me around and talking behind my back. He says what do you expect? You're in a wheel chair.

I was explaining to my wife last night that when you die you get reincarnated but must come back as a different creature. She said she would like to come back as a cow. I said, "You're obviously not listening".

The wife has been missing a week now. Police said to prepare for theworst. So, I have been to the thrift shop to get all of her clothes back.

Being a modest man, when I checked into my hotel on a recent trip, I
said to the lady at the registration desk, "I hope the porn channel in
my room is disabled." To which she replied, "No, it's regular people-porn, you sick bastard.

The Red Cross have just knocked at our door and asked if we could help towards the floods in Pakistan. I said we would love to, but our garden hose only reaches the driveway.

And here's some trivia...

Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.
The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when  knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.

If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.

It's Friday

I don't really have much to yak about today but then my posts (a lot of the time) are just me yakking about nothing in particular.  So, with that in mind.....

I walked over to get Sammy and could hear him barking inside the house a block away. I'd thought before that he heard my steps and stick coming but now I'm not so sure. Maybe he was just barking to be barking. Surely he couldn't hear that far away.  He doesn't usually bark without some noise provoking him, though.  He gets so excited when he hears the jingle of my keys in the lock.  I'd swear he'd talk if he could.  Makes me laugh.

Anyhow, we started our return trip and I decided to take some pictures with my phone of the woods we walk through.  The kids aren't particularly at ease having to walk through these woods alone. I kind of know how they feel. Mainly because there's a couple of "camps" built.  They are very possibly just camps that kids have made but nowadays with the homeless finding shelter in the woods, you just never know for sure.

I keep my wits about me and am glad the path through is only a block long.

After leaving Walgreen's, I stopped at Safeway to buy about $40 worth.  Came home and wrote two letters, did some housework, and now I'm gonna take a nap.  Like I said...not much today.

Here's some more trivia, though.......

In ancient Greece , tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

A comet's tail always points away from the sun

The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent

At the sewing machine today

Hunter was home sick with a cold today so we hung out together.  I worked on my tulip garden wall hanging and he played on the computer a bit, watched tv, and even wanted to learn how to cross stitch.  He made a couple of wall hangings for his parents saying Mom and Dad.  And he did quite well on them too.  I had a piece of aida cloth that was 12 count for his very first attempt but he had to switch to 14 count for the second one. I think he enjoyed that particular craft because he could see the finished product right away. Not like latch hook that takes longer.

As I studied my tulip garden directions and figured out how to use transfer paper for applique designs (I never can remember), I finally decided to alter that pattern here and there.  Tomorrow I'll put the backing on but here's the pattern picture and my own interpretation below that.  I wish now I had used darker red or purple for the tulips but I can always make it again now that I kind of know how to put it together.

Well, I don't have much else to write about.  Just one of those stickin'-around-the-house days.  News was kinda interesting, though, what with Kadhafi being brought down, Lindsey Lohan trotting off in handcuffs, Port Angeles girl being found dead in Port Ludlow,  wild animals loose in the midwest, and Baby Lisa's parents being put through the ringer again.  Sure is a mystery there.   Hard to tell if the police are on the right track or not.  I imagine they're talking to neighbors and such to find out more about the parents. We'll just have to wait and see what develops.  If the parents are innocent, it's a damn shame they're being put through this.  If they're guilty, well, we'll know sooner or later.

I don't have anything on my agenda this weekend. Guess I'll settle in and watch videos and read.  Think I'll start another sewing project too. I'm kinda on a roll now.

And here's a music clip I've always loved.....