Went to the fair--again

Mary and I went to the Clallam County Fair at noontime today.  I wore a heavy sweatshirt as it was a tad chilly in my backyard.  One of the more dumber things I've done. I was cooking like Julia Child while skinny little teenagers in short shorts strutted around making me feel old.

Like the Jeff Co Fair, I noticed a whole lot of older folks with wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and crutches.  Many were sitting down so I fit right in.  My foot wasn't bothering me much at all but my sciatica sure was.  We browsed the exhibits and then sat down to have some fish and chips. 

I think the exhibits were down a bit.  Perhaps the judging of ribbons had something to do with it. I saw next to no ribbons in the photography section and the quilts (like PT) gave few blues WHEN THEY REALLY SHOULD GIVE A BLUE TO EVERYONE!  My favorite quilt was one with old ladies hankies worked into the design 3-D fashion for the women's skirts.  My favorite artsy craft was this round tray that had miscellaneous doodads glued to it-- Odd stuff like keys, pencil sharpener, tiny bric-a-brac, etc.  Saw a sign saying no cell phone cameras, no cameras, no camcorders allowed. 

I entered one quilt raffle (saw few raffles) and saw few giveaways. Lots of food venders, and other merchandise venders and lots of carnival rides and games.  We never made it to even one animal barn.  I only took two pictures and one video.  We didn't stay too long as it was getting hot and we were ready for home.  Tomorrow we'll hit the casino for lunch and a little gambling.

Otherwise, I think I'll kick back and take it easy. Got a jigsaw puzzle in the works and lots of books to read and videos to watch.

P.S.  Later in the afternoon.....

Just posted my first piece for my new blog on the PT Leader website.
http://www.ptleader.com/
click on blogs at the top of the page
scroll down to TOWN KID
I'll be posting a picture as soon as I receive it in an email so watch for that.

Kids with Guns, JP Patches, and a new Blog

Every once in a while I'll enter the KOMO Channel 4 news trivia contest to see if I can get it right. I don't think I have yet. While on my way to their link, I saw this story about JP Patches retiring for good.  For those not from around here, he was Seattle's biggest celebrity for several years. He had a kids' show from 1958-1981 (my kids all watched him) and my oldest went to get an autograph last year when he was appearing somewhere.  I have a couple photographs of him and Gertrude with Mary and Sue when they were little.  Surprised me to see how he looks in real life now. Interesting video....



Oh man, it smells good in here right now.  I came across a yeast package that expired in Jul '10 but I just had to see if it was still good so I made up some homemade cinnamon rolls. They look just fine to me and I can hardly wait to dig in.

Mary Norton and I have decided to take in the Clallam County Fair tomorrow morning. I'm hoping if I use a walking stick, I can get around a little better than I did at the Jefferson County Fair.  I've tried various shoes, pads, and inserts to see if I can't land on something comfy. I think I've got it beat and then it flares up again. I even got out my old "boot" but that was so NOT fun, I threw it back out in the garage.

Before the kids came home from visiting their aunt and uncle, they made a Toys R Us stop. Hunter picked up this soft dart gun and him and Maddie spent the better part of the afternoon shooting at targets and each other.  At one point, Maddie took a break to get back on the computer so Hunter decided to shoot a dart up into my very tall skylight. 

Uh oh.....I hear.  He's determined to retrieve his dart, however, so he goes to get another gun that shoots a different kind of dart.  These don't stick.  Here he is loading up, aiming, and then climbing up on my step stool with the patio umbrella when the gun wouldn't work.

Maddie's been wanting to use my new Spiffer mop ever since I bought it at the neighbor's yard sale.  We picked up the replacement pads and today she got her wish. She thought it was "cool."

My cousin, Marlee, who lives in Gig Harbor, sent me some photos she took while walking across the Narrows Bridge with friends.

And in case I forget...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SATURDAY COUS!

My brother who has GENETIC LINK BICYCLES in Port Hadlock has a couple of ads running in the Port Townsend Leader this week.  Look in the classifieds  under For Sale.  I think a picture is also shown in the ONLINE edition.

Everytime I go into his shop, my eyes are drawn to this pretty pink bike.  If I didn't already have my fold-up, I'd consider getting this beauty.  I love it!

And speaking of the Leader, I signed up for a new blog today. I've been running low on topics for my "Be True to your School" blog and thought I'd go in a different direction.  I wrote over 55,000 words for the school blog and may try to edit it down for a book.  My new blog, which I'll post as soon as I get this picture I requested, will be called 'TOWN KID'.

I'll have an endless supply of material to play around with as I write about living in Port Townsend from the late 20's to today.  My grandfather moved his family here in 1928 so my dad attended the same high school I did and I retired from the same factory him and my grandpa did.  Since most of his siblings stayed in Port Townsend as well, I played with all my cousins growing up.  Something kids today don't always have the pleasure of.

The Leader ran columns now and then called "You know you're a local if...." and those were really fun to read.  My posts will probably refer to my own family data for the most part. I've been trying to write a family history but it's slow going at times. I've only written a little over 1200 words and I edit it every morning.  Sometimes just sitting down to rattle off a few lines on the computer helps jog your memory bank and memories float to the surface that you had forgotten.  Maddie took a picture of me this morning while I was busy "at work."

Well, off to the living room.  Those cinnamon rolls are calling my name. I got a movie from Netflix to stick in the DVD player too.  Good times.

Sorry about that...

I should know better than to sit down and blog when I'm aching from head to toe. Nobody wants to hear about my pathetic body pains.....and I know it!  But does that stop me?  Nope.

Anyhow, I returned to the back yard because the half-off flowers I bought at Walmart were closer to death than life and I knew I needed to get them in the dirt with some fertilizer and water.  I don't know what I would do without my trusty ole camp stool to sit on for garden chores.
I worked away with the bees a buzzin' all around.  If the kids came out, I promptly put them to work retrieving this or watering that.

I finally got all the petunias planted in pots and the raised flower bed and put everything away so I could turn on the sprinkler.  Tomorrow I intend to RELAX!!!  I'm taping a couple of Joanne Woodward movies on TCM tonight so perhaps I'll sit and watch them and work on my cross stitch.

Here's my before and after....

And here's a video I've posted more than once just because I love it so much. Apparently a lot of people love it because it's been viewed over 34 million times.



And here a quick little news story I came across on Stan Boreson and Sheriff Tex. I used to watch both these guys all the time.  I can't remember now what Sheriff Tex's show offered.  Westerns?  I forget.

Sunny summer day

I wonder if I need to make a chiropractor appt.  I decided to do a little yard work this morning and it didn't take long before I was stumbling around like someone who is 87 years old.  I made a point of taking things easy and not overextending myself.  I needed to move some pots from the front yard to the back, pull some weeds, water, and vacuum out the car. 

I moved the pots one at a time using the wheelbarrow and I felt all the little chores I was attending to were minor.  I told Maddie I would walk halfway to her house to meet her this morning as she doesn't like going through the woods.  Hunter and I put Sammy on a leash and I may have walked a whole block or two.  I even used two walking sticks. I barely made it home and was walking so slow, you'd swear I had just got out of the hospital or something.

Since my neck and upper arms hurt along with my legs, low back, and hips, I figure I either need an adjustment or the sciatica is screwing me up.  I KNOW I didn't do THAT much to cause this more discomfort.  It's really starting to irritate me as I have a lot more on my list that needs tending to!  I took three iboprofen and they didn't seem to have any effect.

As I made a quick grocery list, I managed  to come up with more things I needed than I thought so I decided to make a Walmart run.  Not a good idea when my body is in rebellion mode.  We stopped at the bank so the kids could get money, stopped at the bread store, and then made our way to WM. 

I told the kids I was thinking of riding around in one of those motorized carts because it was hurting to walk today.  Hunter said:  "Please don't."  I guess he thought having a granny in a riding cart was too embarrassing.  So I walked.  When we got to checkout, my cart was high with purchases. (I'd bought three things not on my list)  As usual, there were too few checkers and every line seemed to be people like me with lots to buy.

One clerk (captain of the day I guess) would walk up and down waiting for the checkers to need her.  The woman behind me wanted a pack of cigarettes only and the "captain" told her Line 16 was the ONLY line she could buy them in.  (This is where I was and I was already behind two people with a ton of purchases)  The captain said "Sorry about that," and the smoker said "oh, that's alright."  And Joyce said:  "No.  That isn't alright.  Where's the customer service in this store anyway?"

That comment bonded me and the smoker, of course, and we proceeded to vent to each other about how Walmart was a friendlier place to shop when they were smaller and how we try to avoid the place as much as possible now.  I told her I end up bonding with somebody in line everytime I go to Walmart and that she should check out the videos on YouTube of Walmart rants as there are a ton of them from all over the US.

I let the smoker go ahead of me, of course, and then the checker had a problem with her machine and "the Captain" had to come and do her magic with keys and such.  What made us both even madder was that "the Captain" wouldn't take a minute to sell her a pack of smokes YET....another guy came by (notice I said GUY) and she said:  Come on over here, I'll help you and she opens up a register for him.  Then she closes it again.  The smoker and I looked at each other and just fumed.

The strange thing is....I was in Sequim Walmart last week and the floor clerks were all over themselves being helpful.  I was asked by two different people if I needed assistance finding something and they were ready to take me there.  This will change, though, I'm afraid. Sequim is in the process of building a super Walmart now and once they're done, I suspect all customer service will fly right out the window.

I've made a habit out of trying to find what I need at thrift stores first or Swains.  Safeway and Albertsons aren't my favorite stores in the world either but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.

Here's a picture of Sammy dozing on the back porch. See how good my grass is coming in.  The second shot is a close-up.  He's such a cutie pie.

Well, I guess I've ranted enough for now. I'm heading back outside to try and transplant some flowers into pots. I'll use my camp stool to sit down. One way or another, I'm going to finish my list!

On the road

Drove over to the Hilltop gas station on the other side of the Hood Canal Bridge to pick up the twins.  They had a fun-filled four days at their Uncle Andy and Aunt Mary's house.  Spent 5 hours at the Woodland Park Zoo, went to the Cougar Mt. zoo, saw a movie, shopped Toys R Us, and went school clothes shopping.  The kids had birthday gift cards to shop with as well so my trunk was loaded up with packages.

I stopped at Wild Birds in Gardiner on the way home so Maddie could use the restroom. Hunter wanted to stay in the car and asked me to lock the doors.  I went into the gift shop to browse (big mistake) and when I came out, my car alarm was blaring. He tried to unlock the doors for Maddie but didn't do it correctly, apparently.  Expensive potty break stop for me because I was in a shopping mood. Bought two wind thingies.  The first one is brass cups that chime in the wind and sound even cooler when raindrops hit them.  I've always enjoyed the rainbow whirly gigs so was pleased to see them on sale.

I stopped at the local grocery store in my neighborhood that has a post office sub station. I sure wish they could figure out the correct price for mailing stuff.  A few weeks ago I mailed 20 reunion disks and she charged me over a dollar a piece.  Today, she decided the price was 64 cents. Same packaging.  I asked her why she charged me more last time and she seemed confused.  Thought maybe her scale was off.  Yeah, right.

I decided to stop in Sequim on the way home as I wanted to look over the new Ross clothing store and Grocery Outlook next door.  Wasn't all that impressed with either.  Ross had a lot of open space so I guess they'll fill up as time goes on.  I was sitting up front waiting for Maddie to finish looking at their jeans selection and noticed that every employee who left had to open their purse and/or sack so the security guy could look inside.

I asked him why that was necessary and he said Ross had over a thousand stores and it was store policy.  I don't think I'd be all that excited about having an employer who wanted to look in my purse everytime I left the store when my shift ended.  Granted they've probably had a lot of theft to deal with but still.....

Grocery Outlook kind of reminded me of the Dollar Store.  I suppose their prices did appear a little cheaper but their aisles were too narrow to navigate the too large carts.  I hate that.  I started to buy three ears of corn as they were cheaper than Safeway but when I picked up one, it felt like it had been frozen.  I decided I'd pass on corn today.

I just saw a kid about 11 or so go by on roller blades. He was having so much fun and seemed really happy.  Following behind was his dad in a motorized cart giving directions and cheering him on.  The dad didn't look that old and somehow the whole scene kind of made me sad.  I sensed that the dad wanted to be on skates too but couldn't.

I stopped at Penneys and picked up a set of sheets that were on sale for half off.  Hunter wanted to go look at the shirts and shoes to see how much money he saved buying stuff on the Seattle side.  Made me laugh.   They're both excited about the fair starting this week. Maddie will work the Camp Fire booth and Hunter will probably hang out there as well. Jenni is judging in the arts and crafts department.  I haven't made up my mind yet if I'll go. 

I woke up at 4 a.m. and thought for a while I was going to have to get up. I stayed put, though, and eventually fell asleep for another couple of hours.  Weird dreams as usual. This one had Ray Merritt in it among other people.  Sure is hard to believe the kids go back to school in a couple of weeks.  I think they're both looking forward to it, though.  Being sixth graders at elementary school is kind of like being a senior in high school.

Hunter had to go to an orthopedic surgeon this afternoon to get his cast on. They told him no carnival rides this week. The cast has to be sawed off when it's time.

This doesn't usually happen

I went to a movie last week (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Enjoyed it.  Went again this afternoon to see 'The Help'. Loved it!  A lot of the time I 'm disappointed after leaving theatres and think...."hmmmm...I probably could have done better."  'The Help' definitely deserves an Oscar nomination--and a win in my opinion.  Really good flick. 

When I got to the movie house, there was a long line of people outside. Luckily, Mary Norton beat me there and she was 3rd  from the front so I got to go to the head of the line.  Deer Park Theatre people don't have their act together as far as organizing crowds so it was a heck of a mess trying to find the end of the line inside the lobby as people were trying to exit and buy popcorn.  They also didn't let folks know that certain movies were seating people and it wasn't necessary to get in the line.  I think I'll give them a call or write them a note. Somebody needs to do a better job.

Anyhow, our movie was about 3/4 full but we got nice seats and could see very well.  At one point, we saw two very old ladies trying to decide if they wanted to climb over four people to get to some center seats by me.  I got up and moved over two so they could sit where me and Mary were.  I think one was half blind and the other half deaf by the way they couldn't figure out where to sit.  One lady said:  "Where are you Emma? I can't find you."  (she was standing right next to her)  Mary told me later the woman next to her had her hearing aid turned on real high and she kept hearing this buzzing sound.

Walking out to the cars afterwards, I heard this guy complain to his wife: You just don't know how uncomfortable it is to have people on either side of you eating popcorn.  It was noisy and it smelled!  Always interesting to see how older audiences react in movies.  I'm  watching to see if everyone has as hard a time getting up to walk as I do, and I was pretty sure there was going to be applause.  (And there was)  A few sat there because they wanted to read the credits.

I could have gone in there blindfolded and know that it was older folks watching the movie just by the audio reactions I heard.  Especially when the blacks were verbally mistreated or the children or wives were not treated well.  You could hear the murmurs of disapproval and almost make out "tsk tsks".  And they laughed out loud  at a lot of the funny stuff too.  I often smile or chuckle a bit but I don't usually laugh out loud too much.  Usually when I do laugh loud, I'm the only one laughing. (What's that tell 'ya?)  Like today....I think I laughed out loud when this lady puked.  I guess that's what amuses me.

I decided to stop at Safeway on the way home to pick up Chinese for dinner. Bought two little boxes of chow mein and sweet and sour chicken and reheated broccoli in the fridge. Only ate half of it so now I've got tomorrow's supper as well.

Ruth called me while I was driving and said I won one of the gift baskets at the alumni booth. Boy, was I surprised!  I usually only buy one ticket every year but this time they had two baskets so I spent $5 on tickets.  I don't know what's all in there but I'll find out this Friday when I meet the girls at the casino for lunch.  I'll probably use a lot of the stuff for Christmas presents.

If you go to the Leader website, you can click on some YouTube videos of the fair.  Interesting to see.  One shot especially was taken from the grandstands and did a sweeping view. There sure was a lot of the fair I didn't see again this year.  Disappointing to me as I would have liked to wandered around and browsed every corner of the place.  Hopefully, next year I'll be in better shape.  Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

Well,  gotta go wash a few dishes and  get my jammies on. Intend to watch a video I checked out of the library.  Looked over the Sunday night lineup and couldn't find one thing of interest.  I am taping Breaking Bad but it's on at 10 pm and I'll be in bed by that time.

Quiet Saturday at home

I've pretty much laid low today. Did make a quick Safeway and library run, though. Kind of interesting driving around in the early hours as you have the streets to yourself  and can take time to look at things.  I should have pulled out my camera phone to take a picture of the Safeway aisles I was walking down.  Most were lined with boxes as the floor workers did their shelf-stocking chores.

I found 8 VHS movies at the library to buy. Only 50 cents a piece and most I hadn't seen. I fed the neighbor's cats and then came home to do a few household chores like laundry, new sheets on the bed, and dishes.

My next writing project is still stop and go and start again. I imagine I'll jump from one thing to another before I settle in with the road I want to take.  I started writing about my childhood neighborhoods and that led me to research various topics that popped into my head. Decided I wanted to read up a little bit on Joe Kuhn, the guy my childhood street was named after.

Surfing on the computer can make the day pass quickly as you never know where the next click is going to take you.  I came across some interesting pictures and then realized they were in a Jefferson County Historical Society book I had on my book shelf.  This one, for example, shows Lawrence Street several years ago. I posted one of my pictures below it.

I just love seeing the way places change over the years.
One of my facebook friends (Lois Venarchick) posted a picture her son, Jake, took when he climbed up "The Rock" in Chimacum.  I just loved it!  I can remember going up there in the 60's.

A neighbor lady (2nd house down) is having a garage sale today. I bought a Swiffer mop and a snow shovel for $2.50 each.  Wish I had felt a little better as it would have been a perfect time for me to haul the garage sale stuff in my garage out to the driveway. She's had people stopping all day and I'm sure I could have sold a few items.   Would have saved me the trouble of putting up signs but then I would have had to sit out there all day and I just wasn't up for it. She had a brand new Dell printer her grandson said she'd probably sell cheap. I probably should have bought it as mine is kind of rinky dink at times.  Just couldn't motivate myself, though.    Missed opportunities.She's a widow and said she lost $65,000 on her house. Moved in about the same time I did but her husband died a few months back and she's going to Utah to be nearer her kids.

One of my cousins in Bellingham has a daughter getting married next month. I'd like to attend but it's at Wawawai Park in Colton over in the Pullman area.  Just too far for me to drive.  These are the times I wish I had a boyfriend--One who loved to drive.

Well, guess I'll look over the pantry and see if I can get interested in anything for dinner.  I just don't have much desire to prepare meals these days.  I wish I had a personal chef or even a neighbor who loved to cook and would bring me stuff.

Here's a picture my granddaughter Catie posted on Facebook of her and her dad and half sister, Audrey.