Every year I vow that I'll start in January getting Christmas pulled together throughout the year and every year, I don't do that. Sigh! So right now I'm burning the midnight oil as usual. I've almost made a whole scarf since 4pm on what is now yesterday because it's 2am. I have three more gifts to finish before Christmas Eve. I've gotten the beadwork done on them but still have to assemble them and put the beaded edging on. I don't have to cook Christmas dinner, though. I have a new passion and it's those Dorito tacos at Taco Bell. So we're going to have that and all I have to do is make dessert. Yay!
My oldest grandson's Christmas is so meaningful this year. His real father disappeared before he was even 6 months old and he's never had any chance to know him. He found his other grandmother via the internet and called her. It turns out that his father had a major mental illness that showed up right after my grandson was born and she's been taking care of him ever since. Cory got to talk to his two uncles and his grandmother told him she's prayed for him all these years. I'm so happy for him. And I'm also glad for his sake that he found out his father didn't willfully just never keep in touch. I know this means so much to my grandson and I'm very happy for him. Sadly, his other grandfather passed away a couple of years ago. But he's welcomed with open arms into his father's family and that's beautiful. It's beautiful for his grandmother, too. She wants pictures of Corey all his growing up years and has requested that she can also hear stories of all the things that happened to him all those years. I know she was so thrilled when he was born and she was trying to keep in touch with him but her address was lost along the way. Thank goodness for the internet
In spite of being so busy trying to cram a ton of things into these last few days before Christmas, I'm still really enjoying this holiday. I may be tired, but I'm also very content and very thankful for everything.
Right after Christmas, I'll start taking photos and putting some things into the Jewel'n'Jeans Boutique.
I'm sure people are wondering if that's ever going to get done. And probably even doubting that it will. But I promise. I'm just slow, as usual.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Saturday, December 19, 2015
That Poor Little Bird
Quite a few years ago, I lived in an old hotel that had been made into apartments. I lived on the third floor. One night, a noise was keeping me awake. I could hear a chirping noise from the shorter building right beside my apartments. The chirping sounded like a little bird and it was the time of year when little birds start learning to fly. I thought it must be a fledgling that had fallen from a nest in one of the trees outside and it was cold and chirping for its mother. It would chirp for awhile and then stop but always, once again, that pathetic distressed chirping would start again. Finally, I just got really upset for that poor little bird. I knew I couldn't do anything for it, even though if I'd been able to figure out a way to do it, I'd have tried to rescue it. It just went on and on.
That chirping was so pathetic and loud. Obviously it was really in dire straits. After awhile, I started wishing a stray cat would go up there and put it out of its misery since obviously the mother wasn't going to rescue it. I couldn't think of anything else that could help the poor thing. Since it was doomed, I just hoped a cat would manage to get up there and at least it wouldn't suffer anymore.
After about three hours of this, I started praying for a cat to come do the evil deed so that poor bird would just shut up. Every time it stopped for a little while, just when I started to drift off to sleep, it would start up again. As I was praying for the little bird, asking God to just let it die so it wouldn't be suffering so much.,
God must have nudged me or something because the thought came to me "Wait a minute. That chirping stops for exactly the same length of time each time and then resumes. It must not be a little bird. It must be something else." I still couldn't get to sleep because the chirping sound was so loud but in awhile it finally stopped.
The next day I found out what the chirping was. It wasn't a bird. Some neighborhood kids had discovered that if they hit the button for the crosswalk twice in rapid succession, it would make the chirping sound. The chirping sound was an intentional function for the blind so that it would let them know when not to cross the street. But in addition to having learned how to make the chirping alarm work, the kids had also been jumping up and kicking the button with their feet instead of pushing it with their hand. That made the chirping alarm stay permanently chirping after awhile. Eventually the city fixed it so it wasn't stuck on and peace reined at long last.
That chirping was so pathetic and loud. Obviously it was really in dire straits. After awhile, I started wishing a stray cat would go up there and put it out of its misery since obviously the mother wasn't going to rescue it. I couldn't think of anything else that could help the poor thing. Since it was doomed, I just hoped a cat would manage to get up there and at least it wouldn't suffer anymore.
After about three hours of this, I started praying for a cat to come do the evil deed so that poor bird would just shut up. Every time it stopped for a little while, just when I started to drift off to sleep, it would start up again. As I was praying for the little bird, asking God to just let it die so it wouldn't be suffering so much.,
God must have nudged me or something because the thought came to me "Wait a minute. That chirping stops for exactly the same length of time each time and then resumes. It must not be a little bird. It must be something else." I still couldn't get to sleep because the chirping sound was so loud but in awhile it finally stopped.
The next day I found out what the chirping was. It wasn't a bird. Some neighborhood kids had discovered that if they hit the button for the crosswalk twice in rapid succession, it would make the chirping sound. The chirping sound was an intentional function for the blind so that it would let them know when not to cross the street. But in addition to having learned how to make the chirping alarm work, the kids had also been jumping up and kicking the button with their feet instead of pushing it with their hand. That made the chirping alarm stay permanently chirping after awhile. Eventually the city fixed it so it wasn't stuck on and peace reined at long last.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Christmas is Shaping Up
I love Craigslist. I was looking on freebies a couple nights ago and found an ad had appeared for a big box of crochet thread. I love working with thread but was running low. I pounced on the box of yarn and thread! And the lady was so sweet. She made me a beautiful Christmas centerpiece of cedar, holly, a white candle and big red and gold bow. She also gave me an adjustable desk/table that she'd gotten for her father when he lived with them before he passed away.
Last week my wonderfulness from Craigslist was a big box of goodies I won't mention because they're going to be Christmas gifts and I know my grandkids know about this blog. Far be it from me to blow the secret. Sorry kids. The girls and their fiances are going to come to visit the day after Christmas if they can so we'll get to open presents together. If they can't make it, I'll just ship the gifts down to them by UPS. I like those late presents that show up around Christmas. It always makes the holiday seem to last longer. And the girls and I, while they were teenagers still living at home, made the decision to do our Christmas late so we could take advantage of the big after-Christmas sales, so
It really amazes me how things work. I've been wishing I could make spa washcloths but I didn't have any of the worsted weight cotton yarn. When the big box of thread and yarn arrived, there was the right kind of yarn for the spa washcloths I want to make! My daughter Crys has been needing a warm scarf since it's really, really cold outside. There's just enough worsted weight yarn for a scarf for her scarf. I've made about a third of it while watching television tonight. And I've still got bunches and bunches of various weights of thread to make pretty things out of throughout the coming year. I want to have enough stuff for a table at next fall's holiday market since I didn't have enough done for this first one just passed. Now I have a lot of size 20, 30, 50 and even 100 weight. The 100 weight is like thin sewing thread because the higher the number, the thinner the thread.
I'm watching a nature show on this beautiful big TV I got from a really nice couple I found on Craigslist. It's "old school" flat screen. I see so many of the newer flat screens on there that say the newTV is broken, so I really prefer this monstrosity. It has a wonderful HD picture and I love watching nature and travel shows. I wish my laptop had a screen like that. I love to watch travel shows on Youtube before I go to sleep at night. I didn't have anything suitable to sit the TV on so they even brought me the chest of drawers they'd bought to use as a /TV stand when this TV was new.
So this is how my Christmas is shaping up for this year. I get to give some honest-to-goodness "bought with money" gifts instead of just handmade things like I always make.I know handmade gifts are wonderful, but for kids who aren't blessed with parents who can afford the latest big "deal", things that are homemade are disappointing. I raised all six kids with good values about what's really important in life and all that, but every kid deserves to be able to dream they might get the latest thing all their friends have gotten because sometimes they really do. All the kids are grown up now, but it hurt my heart when they were small and Santa didn't bring anything truly stupendous. I'm not able to give stupendous wonderfulness in the area of gifts, but my heart feels good that this year, I can give some things I didn't make along with the ones I did make.
So this is how my Christmas is shaping up for this year. I get to give some honest-to-goodness "bought with money" gifts instead of just handmade things like I always make.I know handmade gifts are wonderful, but for kids who aren't blessed with parents who can afford the latest big "deal", things that are homemade are disappointing. I raised all six kids with good values about what's really important in life and all that, but every kid deserves to be able to dream they might get the latest thing all their friends have gotten because sometimes they really do. All the kids are grown up now, but it hurt my heart when they were small and Santa didn't bring anything truly stupendous. I'm not able to give stupendous wonderfulness in the area of gifts, but my heart feels good that this year, I can give some things I didn't make along with the ones I did make.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Politics and Medicare .
I've moved to Washington from Oregon and it's been nothing but a mess medically. First I couldn't see my doctor because I need a Washington medical card. My prescriptions were filled with no problem at that time.
Then when I got the Washington medical coverage, now my part D shows the pharmacy as not covering me according to the pharmacy. It's been days and days that I've tried to remedy the problem. Today I spent literally hours on hold while calling one number who would only refer me to another government or state agency, around and around and around. Pass the buck. In the meantime I can't get my medications for blood pressure and my other medical conditions---they're sitting on the shelf at the pharmacy waiting for me to BUY them with money I don't have. It's just ridiculous. The card they asked for is the one I gave them but they've rejected it but it's valid and nobody seems to know where the problem is. If I ever needed my blood pressure medication, I certainly do at this point but I can't afford it unless we can get it filled with my coverage so that I only have to do co-pays of about $1 each.
And then when I try to watch TV, the only coverage seems to be the Chump. We need to dump the Chump and get on with some sane stuff. His methods are exactly like an abusive person handles people. He spouts bigotry and then when called on it, he say's "oh no, you've gotten it all wrong. I'm not bigoted at all, I'm the least bigoted person you'll ever meet". He's playing the public who are stupid enough to be cheering for the Naked Emperor, while the Naked Emperor swings his inadequate little naughty bits in full sight of the world. He so obviously considers his followers to be gullible, ignorant , ineffective little minions who will buy whatever he's trying to sell them without realizing that his baseball hat just looks stupid on him, which he knows, but he's playing to this ignorant group by making them think he's just a good ol' boy like they are who can play tough and make everything right. Everything he's presented has been just garbage that would only cause the country even more problems but his followers lap it up but on and on he goes.
I just saw a news clip where an eagle tried to bite him when he was doing an interview. That made my day. What more needs to be said? Even the national symbol, the bald eagle, doesn't like him. The eagle has more sense than followers of this chump, evidently.
On the other side of it, maybe the big crowds cheering this guy are just spoofing him and egging him on to see just what lengths he'll go to. They may mostly have no intention of voting. They're just enjoying the show. We can certainly hope that's it for lots of them. No sane thinking person would ever want him to be the Commander in Chief. We'd all be doomed. But at least if he's the nominee the Republicans choose, we can be sure Hilary will be a shoe-in.
I also have a question. If Obama has been mistrusted because his father was Muslim in Africa, then what about Ted Cruz? His father is Cuban and Cuba has been under US sanctions for most of the last 50 or so years. Why is Ted Cruz not ostracized right along with Obama?
Then when I got the Washington medical coverage, now my part D shows the pharmacy as not covering me according to the pharmacy. It's been days and days that I've tried to remedy the problem. Today I spent literally hours on hold while calling one number who would only refer me to another government or state agency, around and around and around. Pass the buck. In the meantime I can't get my medications for blood pressure and my other medical conditions---they're sitting on the shelf at the pharmacy waiting for me to BUY them with money I don't have. It's just ridiculous. The card they asked for is the one I gave them but they've rejected it but it's valid and nobody seems to know where the problem is. If I ever needed my blood pressure medication, I certainly do at this point but I can't afford it unless we can get it filled with my coverage so that I only have to do co-pays of about $1 each.
And then when I try to watch TV, the only coverage seems to be the Chump. We need to dump the Chump and get on with some sane stuff. His methods are exactly like an abusive person handles people. He spouts bigotry and then when called on it, he say's "oh no, you've gotten it all wrong. I'm not bigoted at all, I'm the least bigoted person you'll ever meet". He's playing the public who are stupid enough to be cheering for the Naked Emperor, while the Naked Emperor swings his inadequate little naughty bits in full sight of the world. He so obviously considers his followers to be gullible, ignorant , ineffective little minions who will buy whatever he's trying to sell them without realizing that his baseball hat just looks stupid on him, which he knows, but he's playing to this ignorant group by making them think he's just a good ol' boy like they are who can play tough and make everything right. Everything he's presented has been just garbage that would only cause the country even more problems but his followers lap it up but on and on he goes.
I just saw a news clip where an eagle tried to bite him when he was doing an interview. That made my day. What more needs to be said? Even the national symbol, the bald eagle, doesn't like him. The eagle has more sense than followers of this chump, evidently.
On the other side of it, maybe the big crowds cheering this guy are just spoofing him and egging him on to see just what lengths he'll go to. They may mostly have no intention of voting. They're just enjoying the show. We can certainly hope that's it for lots of them. No sane thinking person would ever want him to be the Commander in Chief. We'd all be doomed. But at least if he's the nominee the Republicans choose, we can be sure Hilary will be a shoe-in.
I also have a question. If Obama has been mistrusted because his father was Muslim in Africa, then what about Ted Cruz? His father is Cuban and Cuba has been under US sanctions for most of the last 50 or so years. Why is Ted Cruz not ostracized right along with Obama?
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Just Thinking about Christmas
This year most of my family isn't going to be here with me for Christmas. They're back in Oregon and with all the rain from the "pineapple express", we'd need to build an ark to get there. I've been feeling twinges of homesickness the closer it gets to Christmas. My youngest daughter and her sweetie are here in Washington so I'm going to cook dinner for them for the holiday. Once I got the two little grandchildren to raise, my energy didn't cover being the mom who does big family dinners after the kids are grown. Having just come back from a lupus crash, then becoming caregiver to two babies, my energy just didn't cover big family dinners. My oldest daughter stepped up and started doing the family dinner thing but she's in Oregon. I'm gonna miss her holiday dinners and especially the way she makes brussels sprouts with bacon.
I didn't bring any Christmas decorations with me when I moved here from Oregon. Who can be thinking of Christmas when it's 100 degrees every day and stays at nearly 70 degrees even after dark? We had to move me in the wee hours of the morning just to get through it. Every one of us was so bedraggled and exhausted from the heat that Christmas was the very last thing on my mind. My grand-daughter Sadie came along to help me get settled. She and I both just opened the windows of the apartment and went to sleep in spite of the sea gulls causing a ruckus outside.
I only have $19 left to stretch for the rest of the month, so I guess I'll be hitting the Dollar Tree for some decorations. I think $5 and a lot of imagination will work. I have to go to the doctor for some lab work tomorrow and then grocery shopping. It's been raining cats and dogs for days and days now. The town of Olympia reminds me of San Francisco or Hood River or Oregon City because it's built on hills. It also reminds me a little bit of Carmel, a little hobbit town with all the twisty little windy streets. I live at the bottom of the hills, so water is going to tend to all end up down here where I live. The port is only a block away. I should go have a look to see where the water level is.
Speaking of seagulls----the window washers came last week and washed the seagull poop off our windows. The forestry people or somebody came earlier in the fall and moved all the seagulls off to somewhere else so I don't hear them anymore, They were nesting on the roof and it was so bad that they said the seagull poop was running down the walls on the outside of the building. They had to put a new roof on both buildings. I realize the gulls were a big problem but I still miss hearing and seeing big flocks of them. I do see and hear an occasional one but not very often or very loudly and in spite of wind storms, there's no more gull poop on my windows. Yet.
I didn't bring any Christmas decorations with me when I moved here from Oregon. Who can be thinking of Christmas when it's 100 degrees every day and stays at nearly 70 degrees even after dark? We had to move me in the wee hours of the morning just to get through it. Every one of us was so bedraggled and exhausted from the heat that Christmas was the very last thing on my mind. My grand-daughter Sadie came along to help me get settled. She and I both just opened the windows of the apartment and went to sleep in spite of the sea gulls causing a ruckus outside.
I only have $19 left to stretch for the rest of the month, so I guess I'll be hitting the Dollar Tree for some decorations. I think $5 and a lot of imagination will work. I have to go to the doctor for some lab work tomorrow and then grocery shopping. It's been raining cats and dogs for days and days now. The town of Olympia reminds me of San Francisco or Hood River or Oregon City because it's built on hills. It also reminds me a little bit of Carmel, a little hobbit town with all the twisty little windy streets. I live at the bottom of the hills, so water is going to tend to all end up down here where I live. The port is only a block away. I should go have a look to see where the water level is.
Speaking of seagulls----the window washers came last week and washed the seagull poop off our windows. The forestry people or somebody came earlier in the fall and moved all the seagulls off to somewhere else so I don't hear them anymore, They were nesting on the roof and it was so bad that they said the seagull poop was running down the walls on the outside of the building. They had to put a new roof on both buildings. I realize the gulls were a big problem but I still miss hearing and seeing big flocks of them. I do see and hear an occasional one but not very often or very loudly and in spite of wind storms, there's no more gull poop on my windows. Yet.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Happy Holiday and Happy Birthday to Me
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| Murah!!! |
Gabriel's first word was "book" and he loves books so I'm building a nice library of classics to leave to him. They're mostly Leatherbound Classics from Amazon and Library of America books. I have 30+ volumes now and will continue to add to the library. I get them from used sellers if they're in good shape for rock bottom bargains and if I can't find a bargain I order new.
Gabriel's Mom is a writer like me. Her first book is going to be published soon. I can't wait to see it. It's illustrated using photos of herself as a fairy. It's an adult fantasy, I think.
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| Blowin' kisses to Granny |
I never thought I'd live this long, so I'm very thankful that I've made it this far. I'd really like to see 100 years old and I did have a great uncle who lived to be over 100 and most of my relatives live into their 90's on both sides of my family.
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| Thank you, Gabe! Granny loves you to the moon and back for a million years |
Now I'm getting some beadwork done for some orders I have and then I'm also making some jewelry that I can give as gifts and post here on a page I'm calling Jewels and Jeans boutique. My creations will be beaded denim with lace crocheted by me. Tarot cases, purses, book covers, jewelry, hatbands, guitar straps, belts, and much more. By this time next year, there will be pages and pages of stuff I've made that can either just be browsed through or bought.
Below are my cake and my poinsetta sitting on my old elephant. Off to bed for me now.
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| My luscious cake. |
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| My poinsetta plant. |
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Time for Thankfulness
Today I'm 70 years old. I'm very, very thankful for that. A counselor I was seeing when I was 40 said she was amazed I hadn't been a teen suicide. But that was 30 years ago. Now I'm sober for 30 years and a few months, which is something I'm extremely grateful for as well. My last drink was on May 5th of 1985.
I'm extremely thankful for my beautiful little apartment. It's giving me so much joy. As you've probably read in previous posts, I've furnished my little place through items from craigslist and for that I'm extremely grateful, too. It's very cozy and I have everything I could possibly need and then some.
I'm thankful for my family and the fine people they've become. At times I think they became that in spite of me. Even in my drinking days, my heart belonged to my kids and still does. And to my grandkids, too. I've always wanted for them what I didn't have, but not in the material sense. I always tried to provide for them the best I could, even though sometimes that wasn't very good. But I always tried to give them good values, a humor that would get them through tough times, consideration for others, and lots of love they knew I had for them.
I'm thankful for all my friends at Aeclectic Tarot forum where I've been a member for about 10 years or so. I've learned so much there. In my opinion, it's the world's greatest resource for learning divination of all kinds. It's a peaceful, respectful discussion forum with moderators who work hard to keep it that way without appearing to rule with an iron hand. The skill level of members ranges from those who aren't familiar with divination at all to scholars with decades if experience and vast knowledge.
I just became the new editor of our apartment complex newsletter, the Sand Pebble. I saw the "wanted" sign for a few weeks, always deciding to just see if anyone else would take it. They didn't so I finally caved. I'm happy and excited about it. I've always been a writer so heaven knows there wasn't any reason not to volunteer for the job. It will get me out and about and not so much of a hermit like I tend to be. This is definitely something new to be thankful about.
I'm extremely thankful for my little Gypsy, who is such good company and so much fun. She's so tiny that she's got some little cat toys because most regular dog toys are bigger than she is. She won't get any bigger. She's 18 months old and has now started putting on some weight. She has a little teddy bear that squeaks and she seems to think it's her baby or something since it makes a little noise. If I accidentally step on "the baby" she runs and hides it in the bed or somewhere. If I walk by it, she moves it out of my way. Every night she brings it to bed. When I say, "Okay, time for nite nite"and go to the bedroom, she goes and finds the little bear and brings it onto the bed. She's also got a tiny little stuffed Minnie Mouse that she always wants me to play catch with her with. I throw it and she always brings it back. I never taught her that. She just did it on her own. Awhile back I got her a little toy with a long body and I guess that one is the "red-headed step-child" because she just beats the heck out of it, shaking it and chewing it. She doesn't want me to throw "the baby" most of the time. If she loses Minnie for awhile and gets desperate for a game of catch, she'll break down finally and have me throw Baby a time or two, but mostly it's Minnie.
In general, I'm just thankful for everything in my life today. Even for the challenges. There are always difficulties in life, some of them very serious, but they can help to mold us into a stronger and more caring, contented person if we just do our best to understand that we're the ones who bring whatever our lives contain for better or worse in a high percentage of instances. If what we're becoming isn't good, we can change our ways and go in a better direction. As Maya Angelou said, "We do the best we can. When we know better, we do better." I believe that's true of myself and everyone around me. That doesn't mean I can excuse and condone inequality, cruelty, or crime. It just means I don't try to change anyone but me and I detour around people and situations that would drag me backwards in my own journey through life. I don't put them down or take the posture that I'm better or more enlightened than they are. I just detour with compassion, knowing they haven't gone in a direction that will make their lives fulfilling and peaceful.yet.
I'm extremely thankful for my beautiful little apartment. It's giving me so much joy. As you've probably read in previous posts, I've furnished my little place through items from craigslist and for that I'm extremely grateful, too. It's very cozy and I have everything I could possibly need and then some.
I'm thankful for my family and the fine people they've become. At times I think they became that in spite of me. Even in my drinking days, my heart belonged to my kids and still does. And to my grandkids, too. I've always wanted for them what I didn't have, but not in the material sense. I always tried to provide for them the best I could, even though sometimes that wasn't very good. But I always tried to give them good values, a humor that would get them through tough times, consideration for others, and lots of love they knew I had for them.
I'm thankful for all my friends at Aeclectic Tarot forum where I've been a member for about 10 years or so. I've learned so much there. In my opinion, it's the world's greatest resource for learning divination of all kinds. It's a peaceful, respectful discussion forum with moderators who work hard to keep it that way without appearing to rule with an iron hand. The skill level of members ranges from those who aren't familiar with divination at all to scholars with decades if experience and vast knowledge.
I just became the new editor of our apartment complex newsletter, the Sand Pebble. I saw the "wanted" sign for a few weeks, always deciding to just see if anyone else would take it. They didn't so I finally caved. I'm happy and excited about it. I've always been a writer so heaven knows there wasn't any reason not to volunteer for the job. It will get me out and about and not so much of a hermit like I tend to be. This is definitely something new to be thankful about.
I'm extremely thankful for my little Gypsy, who is such good company and so much fun. She's so tiny that she's got some little cat toys because most regular dog toys are bigger than she is. She won't get any bigger. She's 18 months old and has now started putting on some weight. She has a little teddy bear that squeaks and she seems to think it's her baby or something since it makes a little noise. If I accidentally step on "the baby" she runs and hides it in the bed or somewhere. If I walk by it, she moves it out of my way. Every night she brings it to bed. When I say, "Okay, time for nite nite"and go to the bedroom, she goes and finds the little bear and brings it onto the bed. She's also got a tiny little stuffed Minnie Mouse that she always wants me to play catch with her with. I throw it and she always brings it back. I never taught her that. She just did it on her own. Awhile back I got her a little toy with a long body and I guess that one is the "red-headed step-child" because she just beats the heck out of it, shaking it and chewing it. She doesn't want me to throw "the baby" most of the time. If she loses Minnie for awhile and gets desperate for a game of catch, she'll break down finally and have me throw Baby a time or two, but mostly it's Minnie.
In general, I'm just thankful for everything in my life today. Even for the challenges. There are always difficulties in life, some of them very serious, but they can help to mold us into a stronger and more caring, contented person if we just do our best to understand that we're the ones who bring whatever our lives contain for better or worse in a high percentage of instances. If what we're becoming isn't good, we can change our ways and go in a better direction. As Maya Angelou said, "We do the best we can. When we know better, we do better." I believe that's true of myself and everyone around me. That doesn't mean I can excuse and condone inequality, cruelty, or crime. It just means I don't try to change anyone but me and I detour around people and situations that would drag me backwards in my own journey through life. I don't put them down or take the posture that I'm better or more enlightened than they are. I just detour with compassion, knowing they haven't gone in a direction that will make their lives fulfilling and peaceful.yet.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
OK So I'm a Late Bloomer. Better Late than Nipped in the Bud from the Gate
After seeing a sign on the manager's office door for several weeks saying there was a need for a new editor for the Sand Pebble, which is the newsletter for the Boardwalk complex of senior apartments, I finally gave in and said I'd take the job. My first thought was "Meh, I've worked all my life. This sounds like work. I don't think I'll volunteer" but every time I went downstairs, there was that same old flyer, saying they needed an editor.
I decided it would be good for me to take the job because it will get me out of the apartment and doing things that could be really enjoyable. There are many, many activities and trips offered, for one thing, and I haven't joined into any of them since I moved here in August. I have a good phone with a great camera in it, so taking photos of the activities and trips will be no problem and if it's something I can't take Gypsy along on, my daughter will come "babysit" her. I couldn't find any really good excuse to justify continuing to NOT take the job.
The retiring editor spent some time this afternoon filling me in on what I'll need to know and gave me some pointers when she dropped off the files. all of which I appreciate very much. Now I'll be cruising Craigslist again to find a free file cabinet. I have a drawer I'm keeping the files in for now, but a file cabinet, or at the very least a file box, will be a lot more efficient than just a bunch of file folders and clippings floating around in a drawer.
Now I'm looking for some good free word processing type software that will be easy to lay out the pages and photos with. Back when I edited the entertainment magazine, we had to use a typewriter and graph paper, cutting out the copy in pieces and actually pasting it onto a big sheet of graph paper and pasting the photos into the places by hand. This will be so much easier if I can find the right computer software. If anyone who reads this blog knows of good free software, I hope they'll leave me a comment to let me know.
I decided it would be good for me to take the job because it will get me out of the apartment and doing things that could be really enjoyable. There are many, many activities and trips offered, for one thing, and I haven't joined into any of them since I moved here in August. I have a good phone with a great camera in it, so taking photos of the activities and trips will be no problem and if it's something I can't take Gypsy along on, my daughter will come "babysit" her. I couldn't find any really good excuse to justify continuing to NOT take the job.
The retiring editor spent some time this afternoon filling me in on what I'll need to know and gave me some pointers when she dropped off the files. all of which I appreciate very much. Now I'll be cruising Craigslist again to find a free file cabinet. I have a drawer I'm keeping the files in for now, but a file cabinet, or at the very least a file box, will be a lot more efficient than just a bunch of file folders and clippings floating around in a drawer.
Now I'm looking for some good free word processing type software that will be easy to lay out the pages and photos with. Back when I edited the entertainment magazine, we had to use a typewriter and graph paper, cutting out the copy in pieces and actually pasting it onto a big sheet of graph paper and pasting the photos into the places by hand. This will be so much easier if I can find the right computer software. If anyone who reads this blog knows of good free software, I hope they'll leave me a comment to let me know.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Craigslist is an Amazing Resource
Today I met some beautiful people who brought me a nice great big TV and a stand to hold it. I noticed an ad on craigslist where someone was offering a big old style flat screen TV and because it was so big, they offered the stand for it, too. They were offering it and said that if the person needed it to be brought to them they'd bring it and set it up. So that's what happened. I answered their ad and now I have a very beautiful, big TV and I don't have to try to see the very small screen I had till now. They're the nicest people and I'm very touched.
The people who put the desk I now have on craigslist also brought it to me and set it up for me and then went back home and brought me a computer chair, a set of pretty canisters and a pretty holiday cake plate too. Here's the beautiful desk I have now. It holds the library I've been building for my great-grandson, my Tarot books and journals as well as being where I can use my laptop and do beadwork. This wasn't free. I paid $50 for the desk.
This shows part of it but the photo below shows the top of the desk hutch where the big Hotei, guardian spirit of fortunetellers sits. The desk is 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It's wonderful, It's been very well taken care of and I l love it. My apartment is small, but I don't have anything to put on the walls, so I think this adds interest, functionality and is just the right choice for me.
On Monday the newsletter stuff will be handed over to me. I've accepted the job of editor of the Boardwalk newsletter, called the Sand Pebble. I'm so excited. I tend to be a hermit so this job will be a good way to get me out and about and I know I'm going to just love doing it. It's a volunteer position but that's not a problem for me. They provide the publishing, so it's not an expense for me. All I have to do is go out and get the news and pictures and then do the writing and layout.
My bed was another craigslist find and so is my couch. Craigslist is really a wonderful resource, even though it can sometimes be frustrating if the people offering the items don't respond to answers to their ads. Cory and Crys gave me a little bookcase and side table for my bedroom, so that's covered.. My bedroom is very small so there's isn't room for a lot in there but I have a twin bed which is all I prefer to have anyway, so it's plenty spacious for what I need.
I now have to rearrange my living room to make it function better, but the only thing I now need to find is a small table and chairs. It will need to be just a very small sort of bistro table but considering that craigslist has furnished my little abode so far, I'm sure my table is going to be on offer before long, too.
Tomorrow I'm going to take more pictures to post here. Other people have such cute little alcove decorations in front of their doors that I'm going to keep my eyes open to find a way to make my own little decorations.
This is enough for now. Crys is going to be staying with me a couple days for Thanksgiving since it's my birthday that day and she's going to help me work more on the blog so I can learn how to keep expanding it and making it nice.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Futture Plans for Frog Music
Hello. It's me. I'm not a beauty on the outside by any means and especially not with my hair skinned back, no makeup and in my nightgown, but here's me, anyway. I don't know how I got that partial little picture there so that means I also don't know how to remove it, but what you're seeing is the bottom of my big purple Buddha with a string of Halloween lights around it in that little postage stamp thing. Hey---I'm just happy I learned how to put pictures in my blog. I'll get better at it in time. I promise.I've started this blog in hopes to do several things with this one online "presence" or whatever it would be called. It will be an ongoing project and will be done gradually but here's what I plan to do.
Tarot and Lenormand are very important to me, so a lot of my posts will involve discussion of cards, methods of reading, and images of cards used with the permission of the creators-. I'll also write about the way I read the cards and share knowledge I've gained in nearing 20 years of working with the cards. I'll be writing deck and book reviews and also will provide a way to contact me for readings by email and phone. Maybe even by Skype eventually, depending on how quickly I can get this blog fleshed out.
I also do interesting things with beads, using very, very tiny beads to embellish things I make. I've used buckskin a lot in the past but in the future, I'll be using denim. I'm always accepting donations of denim jeans that friends and family don't want so I've got a slowly growing stockpile of denim to use instead of buckskin. I've chosen to use denim because it's cost effective. Buckskin is getting more expensive and although it's been what I've used for years now, I just feel that denim is a good, inexpensive way to make the same kinds of items I used to make with buckskin and I can keep my prices reasonable. I'll be making Tarot and Lenormand card cases using denim decorated with my bead embroidery as well as purses and other items.. I'm moving away from using my bead looms as much and am working more with size 15 beads to do bead embroidery on the card cases. Those will appear now and then for sale. I'll try to arrange the blog so they're on show in a particular page or group of pages that will be easy to find all in one place. The use of denim will also make the card cases hand washable, which will be welcome to buyers, I'm sure.
I make jewelry that will be featured. I've got about 30 pairs of earrings made that I'll begin taking photos of tomorrow so I can post them right away. Other things I'm still working on making. This time of year when the holidays roll around, I get really caught up in making gifts but in January the new things will be coming out that I can show.
I make crone dolls and after Christmas I'll be putting some of those here. Native American style elders and crones are a favorite of mine. I sculpt and dress them myself.
Since I'm so chatty, there will be plenty of anecdotes, recipes, and whatever else. I'm trying to make this blog just a comfy, easy-to-read, interesting place to browse around on.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Combat Fleas without Poisoning Your Pet
My miniature pinscher named Taz lived for almost 15 years. Tomorrow, had I not had to have him put to sleep, would have been his 15th birthday. I've blamed myself in a way because I used topical very strong flea medications on him. He started developing tumors and finally, that's what I had to have him euthenized for. One tumor was so huge and he was suffering so it just had to be done. Flea medications are insecticides and insecticides are the deadliest poisons.
Now I have my little tiny chihuahua named Gypsy and I refuse to use flea medications of any kind on her. I give her a bath, sometimes every few days, using Dawn dishwashing soap to lather her up with really well. It kills fleas almost immediately. Leaving it on for a few minutes is recommended but I've found that within just a couple of minutes I can rinse her off and the fleas are dead going down the drain. I also use some shampoo and conditioner on her that I get at the Dollar Tree. It's called tea tree and the shampoo does smell faintly like tea tree oil but the conditioner doesn't smell of it at all, Tea tree oil is now thought not to be good for animals but there's such a small amount in the shampoo that I've found she's fine with it. After rinsing her well from Dawn, I then later her again with the shampoo, lather well and rinse. After that I use the conditioner on her and rinse that. Most of the time she doesn't have any fleas at all. For the first couple of months we were here in Washington she had no fleas. Then we visited in Oregon and she brought back a few which naturally multiplied.
I used to make my own dog shampoo using tea tree oil, peppermint, eucalyptus and a couple other oils in a plain liquid soap base. It worked really well and the dogs I used it on didn't seem to have any ill effects so I was really surprised when I recently heard it's not advised to be used on pets. As I said, the tiny bit that's in the shampoo Gypsy and I both use seems to be a deterrent for getting more fleas. The Dawn kills them but I found that only using that, she still gets more fleas back. Using the Dawn first, shampoo second and then conditioner works a miracle and I'm going to continue with it.
Vacuuming really well and immediately taking the vacuumed up stuff out of the house and putting it in the garbage adds to the flea ridding routine I use. It's kind of a nuisance to bathe her every two or three days if she's scratching and I see fleas again, and she hates baths, but it's worth the effort, knowing I'm not poisoning her. Vacuuming is a chore, too, but keeping the fleas away is worth that effort, too.
This apartment complex has tons of little dogs and cats and of course, outside fleas are everywhere, but this method of treating Gypsy's fleas has worked wonders.
I also don't feed her entirely on dry food. The food I use is the best I've been able to buy, but I add sensible things to her food from what I eat. Not anything that's bad for her but just vegetables, cooked meats, sometimes broth----just whatever is good for her. I've been happy that she'll eat the dog food right up instead of preferring my food and leaving the dog food. I used to feed my pets only dry food and a few treats, but then dog foods became really bad, in my opinion.
I hope this flea treatment will be helpful to anyone reading this. Of course, if you have large dogs, shampooing them every few days would be too tedious but if your pets are small, it's worth the added effort to keep your pets healthy and not poisoned with pesticides.
I've tried not to post anything about the French attacks, so it's taken me a few days to think of anything I could post that would be a little positive in light of this insanity our world is becoming. I'll continue to try to post only things that are more positive and not using the focus of terrorism.
Now I have my little tiny chihuahua named Gypsy and I refuse to use flea medications of any kind on her. I give her a bath, sometimes every few days, using Dawn dishwashing soap to lather her up with really well. It kills fleas almost immediately. Leaving it on for a few minutes is recommended but I've found that within just a couple of minutes I can rinse her off and the fleas are dead going down the drain. I also use some shampoo and conditioner on her that I get at the Dollar Tree. It's called tea tree and the shampoo does smell faintly like tea tree oil but the conditioner doesn't smell of it at all, Tea tree oil is now thought not to be good for animals but there's such a small amount in the shampoo that I've found she's fine with it. After rinsing her well from Dawn, I then later her again with the shampoo, lather well and rinse. After that I use the conditioner on her and rinse that. Most of the time she doesn't have any fleas at all. For the first couple of months we were here in Washington she had no fleas. Then we visited in Oregon and she brought back a few which naturally multiplied.
I used to make my own dog shampoo using tea tree oil, peppermint, eucalyptus and a couple other oils in a plain liquid soap base. It worked really well and the dogs I used it on didn't seem to have any ill effects so I was really surprised when I recently heard it's not advised to be used on pets. As I said, the tiny bit that's in the shampoo Gypsy and I both use seems to be a deterrent for getting more fleas. The Dawn kills them but I found that only using that, she still gets more fleas back. Using the Dawn first, shampoo second and then conditioner works a miracle and I'm going to continue with it.
Vacuuming really well and immediately taking the vacuumed up stuff out of the house and putting it in the garbage adds to the flea ridding routine I use. It's kind of a nuisance to bathe her every two or three days if she's scratching and I see fleas again, and she hates baths, but it's worth the effort, knowing I'm not poisoning her. Vacuuming is a chore, too, but keeping the fleas away is worth that effort, too.
This apartment complex has tons of little dogs and cats and of course, outside fleas are everywhere, but this method of treating Gypsy's fleas has worked wonders.
I also don't feed her entirely on dry food. The food I use is the best I've been able to buy, but I add sensible things to her food from what I eat. Not anything that's bad for her but just vegetables, cooked meats, sometimes broth----just whatever is good for her. I've been happy that she'll eat the dog food right up instead of preferring my food and leaving the dog food. I used to feed my pets only dry food and a few treats, but then dog foods became really bad, in my opinion.
I hope this flea treatment will be helpful to anyone reading this. Of course, if you have large dogs, shampooing them every few days would be too tedious but if your pets are small, it's worth the added effort to keep your pets healthy and not poisoned with pesticides.
I've tried not to post anything about the French attacks, so it's taken me a few days to think of anything I could post that would be a little positive in light of this insanity our world is becoming. I'll continue to try to post only things that are more positive and not using the focus of terrorism.
Friday, November 13, 2015
And They say Oregon is Wet!
My part of Washington is really, really wet right now and supposed to get wetter. We're in the bulls eye area for inheriting the big storm Alaska jus91 t finished with. I don't mind the wind and rain, being a native Oregonian. Lots of rain is what makes the Pacific Northwest so beautiful. In Oregon, though, there's a coast range of mountains between where I come from and the coast, so the coast gets the brunt of the storms. Here, I'm in the southern Puget Sound area where there aren't the mountains to shield us, I guess.
Due to a glitch, I didn't have internet yesterday and I didn't have cable either. They're both from the same source so when I lose one, I lose the second within a little while. During the wind and rain storm yesterday, I was reading a book called American Sea Writing, which is a compilation of writings from the 1600's to the year 2,000. It seemed pretty apropo to the driving wind and rain. I could kind of imagine being at sea. One of the writings was an excerpt from a woman who would sometimes go out to sea, kids and all, with her husband on his travels.
This woman was Mary Rowland. She and her husband had two little girls, so the children were with them on their travels. She writes of it being 91 degrees below decks, with very high humidity from the steam coming off the stuff stowed in the hold, so it was difficult to sleep. She describes being "tormented with vermin" meaning roaches by the thousands. They were everywhere, including in their trunks of clothing. And roaches didn't respond to "scalding" so I guess she tried to kill them with boiling water. Then she mentions that the millions of flies had finally subsided, but maggots had hatched out. She wrote that maggots will bite a live person. And then she also complains of mosquito infestation, and since they're out at sea, the mosquitos just eat them alive since there are only 20 available humans on board. She says the maggots crawl out of the raisins and figs they're carrying in their food stuff and that she tries very hard to get the beds cleared of the maggots and cockroaches before going to bed at night but that it doesn't help any because the cockroaches and maggots then crawl on the ceiling and drop back down into their beds.
Reading this story in the book, I wondered how anyone could take their little children and just live at sea like that with them, husband or no husband. But they'd been married 24 years and the books says she often went with her husband, so I guess she didn't mind. She also speaks of cutting out and sewing clothing while at sea. She mentions that she met other women in the ports who had been at sea with their own husbands and how they tried to socialize together while the husbands were off-loading and taking on new cargo but that it wasn't easy to do.
We think our mail is slow and unreliable in our modern times. In the years when ships were the chief means of getting around, the ship had to take any letters they wanted to mail, wrap them around a rock or brick and tie it and then when they could get close enough to another ship in port that was going the direction they wanted the letter to go in, they'd climb into the rigging and throw the mail at the deck of the other ship. If they missed, the mail ended up in the sea where it sank to the bottom. Maybe our mail service isn't so bad after all.
Due to a glitch, I didn't have internet yesterday and I didn't have cable either. They're both from the same source so when I lose one, I lose the second within a little while. During the wind and rain storm yesterday, I was reading a book called American Sea Writing, which is a compilation of writings from the 1600's to the year 2,000. It seemed pretty apropo to the driving wind and rain. I could kind of imagine being at sea. One of the writings was an excerpt from a woman who would sometimes go out to sea, kids and all, with her husband on his travels.
This woman was Mary Rowland. She and her husband had two little girls, so the children were with them on their travels. She writes of it being 91 degrees below decks, with very high humidity from the steam coming off the stuff stowed in the hold, so it was difficult to sleep. She describes being "tormented with vermin" meaning roaches by the thousands. They were everywhere, including in their trunks of clothing. And roaches didn't respond to "scalding" so I guess she tried to kill them with boiling water. Then she mentions that the millions of flies had finally subsided, but maggots had hatched out. She wrote that maggots will bite a live person. And then she also complains of mosquito infestation, and since they're out at sea, the mosquitos just eat them alive since there are only 20 available humans on board. She says the maggots crawl out of the raisins and figs they're carrying in their food stuff and that she tries very hard to get the beds cleared of the maggots and cockroaches before going to bed at night but that it doesn't help any because the cockroaches and maggots then crawl on the ceiling and drop back down into their beds.
Reading this story in the book, I wondered how anyone could take their little children and just live at sea like that with them, husband or no husband. But they'd been married 24 years and the books says she often went with her husband, so I guess she didn't mind. She also speaks of cutting out and sewing clothing while at sea. She mentions that she met other women in the ports who had been at sea with their own husbands and how they tried to socialize together while the husbands were off-loading and taking on new cargo but that it wasn't easy to do.
We think our mail is slow and unreliable in our modern times. In the years when ships were the chief means of getting around, the ship had to take any letters they wanted to mail, wrap them around a rock or brick and tie it and then when they could get close enough to another ship in port that was going the direction they wanted the letter to go in, they'd climb into the rigging and throw the mail at the deck of the other ship. If they missed, the mail ended up in the sea where it sank to the bottom. Maybe our mail service isn't so bad after all.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
That Homesickness with No Reason
Lately I've been watching YouTube videos made by people who consider themselves to be "urban explorers". Some are so obnoxiously loud and try so hard to be witty that I just can't watch them but when I find videos by Tiki Trex and Dan Bell and others who just do their videos in a very homey, conversational tone, I love watching those. However, when I see some of the abandoned buildings, many absolutely beautiful in their day but now just sitting and rotting away, my heart aches. It's like a feeling of homesickness. Many of the buildings are from days gone by but some have been abandoned more recently, I can't help wondering why someone left these breathtaking homes and institutions to just crumble. Why doesn't somebody at least salvage the stained glass windows and immense fireplace surrounds and other gorgeous elements of the day? Why can we afford to just waste all that? When I was watching some of those last night, it occurred to me that maybe the pain I feel so acutely for some of them is a result of my having lived a past life there.
Once in awhile, a home will have police tape in it. That's pretty chilling, wondering what happened there that the police taped it off at one time. Normally those are the newer, more modern dwellings where not only is police tape there, but so is every single thing the people owned, including their food, clothing, children's beds and toys.
Sometimes it's easy to read the story in the stuff that's left. Like a home where there are disability aids. In one of them was a shower chair used by the disabled or elderly. Part of the home showed that normal life went on there for many years, but then going further back toward the bedroom area things that indicated an elderly or ill person lived there at the last. This home had a pair of crutches leaned up in a closet, the padded arm rests all taped up with silver duct tape. This was a person who had little money but lingered a long time and at one point would have used those crutches. Obviously the former resident had gradually deteriorated until even with help, they either couldn't live untended anymore or maybe they'd died.
Last night one of the Dan Bell videos was filmed in a house where a psychic/Tarot reader lived. It was really a pretty little house. I'd have loved to live and work there. But the upstairs was all about children. It looked like a baby and a little girl of maybe 4 or 5 had lived in those rooms, but it hadn't been touched. It was spotlessly clean although being children's rooms, toys and some clothing were all strewn around. That's normal. The walls and carpets seemed all nice and clean, as though these were children who were well cared for and loved.
Another video was of a "dead mall" that was all empty but the power was still on and I could hear "elevator music" playing. Eerie. It made me wonder why such a big mall had been just left to rot and be vandalized.
In the Poconos Dan did a series of videos of the resorts that had been there up till the 90's. Swingers resorts and honeymoon resorts, to name a couple of types. He's done a series of videos called "dead motels" that he's filmed.
For anyone who wants to spend a few hours just watching videos like this, I highly recommend Dan Bell's videos.
One of the resorts had been the place where a fugitive had hid out for weeks. His last name was Frein, I think. I forgot to Google the incident today. Instead housework was screaming at me so loudly that I cleaned my apartment instead. Don't you just hate when your home is so rude and demanding? I do but it produced results so I guess I can see the point.
Once in awhile, a home will have police tape in it. That's pretty chilling, wondering what happened there that the police taped it off at one time. Normally those are the newer, more modern dwellings where not only is police tape there, but so is every single thing the people owned, including their food, clothing, children's beds and toys.
Sometimes it's easy to read the story in the stuff that's left. Like a home where there are disability aids. In one of them was a shower chair used by the disabled or elderly. Part of the home showed that normal life went on there for many years, but then going further back toward the bedroom area things that indicated an elderly or ill person lived there at the last. This home had a pair of crutches leaned up in a closet, the padded arm rests all taped up with silver duct tape. This was a person who had little money but lingered a long time and at one point would have used those crutches. Obviously the former resident had gradually deteriorated until even with help, they either couldn't live untended anymore or maybe they'd died.
Last night one of the Dan Bell videos was filmed in a house where a psychic/Tarot reader lived. It was really a pretty little house. I'd have loved to live and work there. But the upstairs was all about children. It looked like a baby and a little girl of maybe 4 or 5 had lived in those rooms, but it hadn't been touched. It was spotlessly clean although being children's rooms, toys and some clothing were all strewn around. That's normal. The walls and carpets seemed all nice and clean, as though these were children who were well cared for and loved.
Another video was of a "dead mall" that was all empty but the power was still on and I could hear "elevator music" playing. Eerie. It made me wonder why such a big mall had been just left to rot and be vandalized.
In the Poconos Dan did a series of videos of the resorts that had been there up till the 90's. Swingers resorts and honeymoon resorts, to name a couple of types. He's done a series of videos called "dead motels" that he's filmed.
For anyone who wants to spend a few hours just watching videos like this, I highly recommend Dan Bell's videos.
One of the resorts had been the place where a fugitive had hid out for weeks. His last name was Frein, I think. I forgot to Google the incident today. Instead housework was screaming at me so loudly that I cleaned my apartment instead. Don't you just hate when your home is so rude and demanding? I do but it produced results so I guess I can see the point.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Ugh! The Stuff People will Eat!
I just happened to tune in to a program called Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern today. This episode is showing how head cheese and liverwurst are made. I just made a mental note never to eat either of those again. When I was a little girl I loved both and I thought I still do----till I watched what goes into them. My grandfather on my mother's side was first generation German and Granny made both of these for him when I was a little girl. And even when I was a not-so-little girl. These two foods will never pass my lips ever again. I've already sworn off hot dogs and hamburger unless I'm in a position where I'm at someone else's house who has nothing else offered. In that case, I suddenly become very full, having "just eaten" right before coming to their house. (Yeah---right!)
I understand that in past eras, people had to frugally make use of every part of an animal. My grandpa used to say "We eat every part on a pig except the squeal." When I was three or four, I came upon a pig's head in a big tub on the living room floor. I asked why it was there. It was so disgusting. My grandpa said, "We're making head cheese". If that was going to mean I had to put any part of that head in my mouth, I was NOT going to ever do that.
Later in the day, after my nap when I'd forgotten the pig's head, I came out to the kitchen and my uncle (who lived with us) stuffed something in my mouth. I thought it was really good and asked for more. He wouldn't tell me what it was till I'd eaten more than a little kid should. THEN he told me it was "head cheese" and when I asked what was in it, he told me.
My family was very poor, but when a child is small, they don't know what "poor" is. It wasn't unusual to sometimes have only a buttered piece of bread with unseasoned pinto bean soup poured on it.
I thought that was a wonderful meal when I was 4 years old. That's why things like a nasty pig's head ended up in the living room. It was given to us by a farmer who kept the rest of the pig, I remember coming to the living room from a nap and finding a calf on a big quilt on the living room floor, cleaned and ready to cut up. Another time it was a bucket of eels. Ewww! And a big fish of some kind another time. Neighbors often gave us their "offal", (which I still think is awful).. One of my favorite foods was pigeon. My uncles still lived at home and somewhere they'd found a flock of pigeons they killed and brought home. I ate two whole pigeons by myself. Granny told me that before I was born, during the Depression, they were given a goat to eat.
As I sit here thinking back to those times, I just don't understand how we survived without food poisoning. The closest we came to refrigeration was an old oak "ice box" my grandparents got somewhere. We never used it because where we lived, there wasn't anywhere to get ice and even if there had been, we couldn't have bought any. There wasn't money for it. For anyone young enough not to know what an "ice box" is, it was an oak cabinet with a shelf in it. On the bottom was a place where a big block of ice would be put and there was a hole in that shelf where the melted water came out and enough space under the cabinet to sit a basin under the hole to catch the melted water. The food was put up on the shelf above the block of ice. The way my grandmother kept anything kind of cool was to set it inside an apple crate nailed up in a kitchen window. The window was on the side of the house that didn't get the sun and it was actually outside the window, where there was air circulation and at night, if it was cold weather, the food would stay cool during the night. And then because there wasn't any sun on it, the cold of the night coolness would last part way through the day. She mostly usually kept an open can of milk in the window box to use in her tea. It might have held butter sometimes, too.
When I was watching something about the 1800's on Youtube the other day, I saw a cream separator like we had when I was little. It was operated by using a hand crank. We got our milk and cream from the neighbors who had a dairy, so the cream separator was just sitting in our storage shed unused. Some mice had made a nest in it. I probably only remembered that because of the mice. Granny just skimmed off the cream from our milk with a big spoon once it had risen. Nothing in the world is better than cream on one's oatmeal. Unless it's sour cream butter. If you make butter with fresh cream, it's called "sweet cream" butter, but there's another kind of butter that can be made with cream that's soured. Granny was throwing some sour cream away once, which upset me till she explained that sour cream is good, but sometimes a bad bacteria would get into the cream and "spoil" the cream so it wasn't good for making sour cream butter.
I'm sure some of these memories were covered in the other blog I tried to start. I've been looking at this blank page all day without any good ideas to write about, though, so I was determined to write something even if it was redundant. I'll try to do better tomorrow.
I understand that in past eras, people had to frugally make use of every part of an animal. My grandpa used to say "We eat every part on a pig except the squeal." When I was three or four, I came upon a pig's head in a big tub on the living room floor. I asked why it was there. It was so disgusting. My grandpa said, "We're making head cheese". If that was going to mean I had to put any part of that head in my mouth, I was NOT going to ever do that.
Later in the day, after my nap when I'd forgotten the pig's head, I came out to the kitchen and my uncle (who lived with us) stuffed something in my mouth. I thought it was really good and asked for more. He wouldn't tell me what it was till I'd eaten more than a little kid should. THEN he told me it was "head cheese" and when I asked what was in it, he told me.
My family was very poor, but when a child is small, they don't know what "poor" is. It wasn't unusual to sometimes have only a buttered piece of bread with unseasoned pinto bean soup poured on it.
I thought that was a wonderful meal when I was 4 years old. That's why things like a nasty pig's head ended up in the living room. It was given to us by a farmer who kept the rest of the pig, I remember coming to the living room from a nap and finding a calf on a big quilt on the living room floor, cleaned and ready to cut up. Another time it was a bucket of eels. Ewww! And a big fish of some kind another time. Neighbors often gave us their "offal", (which I still think is awful).. One of my favorite foods was pigeon. My uncles still lived at home and somewhere they'd found a flock of pigeons they killed and brought home. I ate two whole pigeons by myself. Granny told me that before I was born, during the Depression, they were given a goat to eat.
As I sit here thinking back to those times, I just don't understand how we survived without food poisoning. The closest we came to refrigeration was an old oak "ice box" my grandparents got somewhere. We never used it because where we lived, there wasn't anywhere to get ice and even if there had been, we couldn't have bought any. There wasn't money for it. For anyone young enough not to know what an "ice box" is, it was an oak cabinet with a shelf in it. On the bottom was a place where a big block of ice would be put and there was a hole in that shelf where the melted water came out and enough space under the cabinet to sit a basin under the hole to catch the melted water. The food was put up on the shelf above the block of ice. The way my grandmother kept anything kind of cool was to set it inside an apple crate nailed up in a kitchen window. The window was on the side of the house that didn't get the sun and it was actually outside the window, where there was air circulation and at night, if it was cold weather, the food would stay cool during the night. And then because there wasn't any sun on it, the cold of the night coolness would last part way through the day. She mostly usually kept an open can of milk in the window box to use in her tea. It might have held butter sometimes, too.
When I was watching something about the 1800's on Youtube the other day, I saw a cream separator like we had when I was little. It was operated by using a hand crank. We got our milk and cream from the neighbors who had a dairy, so the cream separator was just sitting in our storage shed unused. Some mice had made a nest in it. I probably only remembered that because of the mice. Granny just skimmed off the cream from our milk with a big spoon once it had risen. Nothing in the world is better than cream on one's oatmeal. Unless it's sour cream butter. If you make butter with fresh cream, it's called "sweet cream" butter, but there's another kind of butter that can be made with cream that's soured. Granny was throwing some sour cream away once, which upset me till she explained that sour cream is good, but sometimes a bad bacteria would get into the cream and "spoil" the cream so it wasn't good for making sour cream butter.
I'm sure some of these memories were covered in the other blog I tried to start. I've been looking at this blank page all day without any good ideas to write about, though, so I was determined to write something even if it was redundant. I'll try to do better tomorrow.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Why the Title Frog Music?
When I wrote my poem called "Frog Music" in 1983, I got a lot of chuckles and laughs from it. At the time, though, as I sat listening to the frogs "singing" their mating songs one spring night, it just seemed appropriate. When I sat before this blank blog page for hours without being able to come up with a name for this blog, all at once the title came back to me and I just knew that was it. It's not a title that's going to bring Tarot and Lenormand users or beadworkers or any other specific topic because I haven't added any specific words that would draw those people in, but I think this silly little title is pretty appropriate for the use I'll be making of the blog.
I've started blogs and websites before but I'm not very computer savvy so I've let them fall by the way, giving up before I was at all successful either because it was a paid site and I couldn't afford to keep it up when I was raising grandkids or just giving up because I couldn't do a good job of making the blog look nice and follow a logical course. Right now, I've moved to another state and for the first time in my life, I'm living totally alone. Now I can devote the time and effort to making an actual, functioning blog where I can post my thoughts, post items I make, and in general create something that might be of interest to those who come across it.
My goal is to write at least something every day. It won't always be on the same topic, probably, but at least it will be something I've contributed to the blog world, for whatever it's worth.
I've started blogs and websites before but I'm not very computer savvy so I've let them fall by the way, giving up before I was at all successful either because it was a paid site and I couldn't afford to keep it up when I was raising grandkids or just giving up because I couldn't do a good job of making the blog look nice and follow a logical course. Right now, I've moved to another state and for the first time in my life, I'm living totally alone. Now I can devote the time and effort to making an actual, functioning blog where I can post my thoughts, post items I make, and in general create something that might be of interest to those who come across it.
My goal is to write at least something every day. It won't always be on the same topic, probably, but at least it will be something I've contributed to the blog world, for whatever it's worth.
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