Friday whatnot...Rant on Bigotry, Bbox art, Fall Color in SoCal, and skywatcher. UPDATE to include ....

the no shopping on Thanksgiving button that is raging around facebook.

Here's the button:

Read about it HERE

Speaking of .....
Thanksgiving was part trial, part survival and part fun. I think I'm working in that soup kitchen next year.  I overate, due to not refusing dessert - which I should have done - because my inner turmoil was boiling away under the radar.

You see, I'm not very big on Bigotry.   Of course, it wasn't everyone there who was guilty but,  unhappily, it was several of the ones that I was cornered with.  God, give me strength!  We are never going to be a better country unless, and until, that UGLY little monster is buried in an unmarked grave.

There, I've had my say.

Now for something more fun:  A nearby city must have turned the artists loose on the B Boxes again, so there is something to look at besides boring brown or black square junk sticking up out of the ground and covered over with irritating graffiti.

I'm trying to get snaps of more of them on trips around the bigger streets.  Santa Cruz has theirs decorated all over the city, and since it's a city full of artists, theirs are truly works of art.  I'll post some of the ones I snapped pix of in Santa Cruz in the next post.

Fall Color is provided by the maturation of plantings around the cities, some of the trees being fully mature and some teensy.  At my sister's the trees are all big, and they are gorgeous.  Here is some curbside glory.  Sometimes beauty is laying right there at our feet.

The last storm left us with some of the most beauteous of sunsets:

We had rain today, in the early hours.  Yay!  We did not go out for Black Friday.  Hopefully we have no aging appliances that are just waiting for February to turn up their toes.   But!  But, it is cold for the SoCalians.  They, like their Reptilian Ancestors, need lots of heat to make it through the winter.

Isn't he/she pretty?

This picture comes from HERE, and you will like this blog just for all the very colorful photos and such.

Now, like the little reptile in the snap, I'm going to say Adios!  Sorry I just can't do Friday things.  Someday maybe I'll figure some of them out!

"Obamacare" (aka The ACA), The "Incidental Economist" Blog, and Bonehead Boehner's crisis of truth....

Firstly, I want to say a Big Thank You to the Founding Fathers, especially to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, for their fight to establish the Bill of Rights!

I'm putting all this here mainly  because it's my blog and I don't want to lose track of it. 
But, also, it's all here just in case you didn't see the whole melodrama unfold so you, if you wish, can enjoy it, too. 

New blog on the favorites page, Under the Day Lily button in the side bar.

And, since I've thought this all along:

"I would still like to see how much of the problem on Healthcare.gov was a result of DDOS attacks*, since there is now some clear evidence that happened, fomented by right-wing web sites. "

{from and Article HERE}  so that in years to come, I can read it and laugh out loud.

*DDOS  Distributed Denial of Service

I love this country!

RANT: Appalling.... this is America? Kalief Brouder

This Justice system has to do something about their problems.   It is not a crime to be Black in this country but some people who have the power to do such egregious miscarriages of freedoms and due process just don't get the message.    

Kalief says, "I will never get those years back"

I guess we can be thankful, this Thursday, if this doesn't happen to one of our own kids, or friends, or classmates. 

What is that matter with us?    This is America for God's Sake!  People come here in droves to escape things like this being done under the cover of the law.

Happy Birthday, from the Penguins... Music Monday!

Happy Birthday Baby...

Sunday Stealing: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Meme

It's Thanksgiving in the States! Wishing everyone a lovely holiday! 

This week's Thanksgiving Meme comes from the archives!  

1. What do you have for breakfast on Thanksgiving?
Oatmeal usually.   Then I make sweet potato casserole for later.
2. Do you go to a Thanksgiving parade or watch one on TV?  
I don't watch football but all the guys do.  I wish there weren't any games on to be honest.
3. Do you serve appetizers, lunch, or snacks during the day?  
We sometimes have a veggie and dip appetizer but dinner is served midday so not many snacks, no.
4. What are the traditional favorites?  
For the meal or appetizers?  We have Roast turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed garlic potatoes, candied yams, green beans, rolls and pies.
5. What new recipes will you try this year?
Our family likes all the traditional foods.  This holiday comes only once a year.
6. What part of the meal do you never compromise?  
See above
7. Who gets to carve the turkey?
BIL carves the turkey.  He's really good at it.
8. Family style around the table or buffet style and everyone sits wherever there’s room?
Family style and everyone fills their plates from the counters unless we have outside tables, then it's buffet style.
9. How many will be at your table this year?
There will be at least 10 maybe 12.
10. Once you're at the table, do you say grace or a toast or does everyone go around and say what they're thankful for?  I say grace twice a day but no one else in this side of the family does it so, no, no grace, no thankfulness, just being happy in each others company.
11. Cranberry sauce… yay or nay?
Like it. So, Yay
12. What time do you eat Thanksgiving Dinner?  
Around 2pm
13. Three best pies for Thanksgiving dessert? 
Pumpkin, Pecan, and Apple
14. Do you have dessert right after the main meal or later on?  
Later
15. Favorite leftover?
Stuffing and Gravy with leftover cranberries on the side.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving all you stateside friends!

Five Minute Friday. Well. I wrote about Last, DMV- yay it's over.. Pink Sky at Night!

I need to remember to go to HOME page on Lisa's page.  Duh!  Gals, I am soooo tired, what can I say?

"Last" is the word, only it wasn't.  It was supposed to be "Fly".  I could write a lot about fly in five minutes!  Shucks!  Be that as it may, I present you with:

Last

Being the parents in a large family, you learned how to make things last.  The first thing that comes to mind is the Dollars passing through your hands.   This is going to be short because I'm mostly avoiding other definitions of this word.  Bear with me.

The last time I saw my mother she was visiting our house for a few weeks and at coffee one morning she wore a thrift store Chinese silk kimono in the morning light.  It was a bright iridescent orange and the memory of the morning sun reflecting off the embroideries and the silk is something that I can remember to this day.

Cars used to be built to last.  They also were so heavy that it was like crashing two tanks into each other, with some major differences.  Tanks would not cave each other in or wrap themselves around trees.

Since  there are only two minutes left on this I will say the last thing.  Today, I got 100% on my driver's test, met some lovely people at the DMV and got a smilie face on the receipt  from the agent who helped me.  She told me I could wave that in the air for all the teens in the room.  Sadly, many of them were failing the test today, for various reasons, but one young lad who had his entire family with him was grinning from ear to ear when he was told he passed!  And, his family cheered him and applauded, as did the rest of us!  Theater!  You just gotta love it!


That's the last second going!  Happiness is contagious!  Be sure to go give it to someone!

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 I have to put the Pink sky picture up tomorrow because I'm too tired to mess with it tonight!   But it was just an amazing color.  I promise it for tomorrow....  Sweet Dreams!

Late night update....  This sky and the glow of it on everything was enchanting.  The color only lasted for four or so minutes, as the clouds moved out of position but it was like being inside the atmosphere of an Old Master's Painting.  

Looking straight up at the sky in the open

Through the angles of the eaves of the roof.

Good night!  I will go visiting tomorrow to see what everyone wrote about "Fly", and not "Last". 

Not so Wordless Wednesday....Book: Following Atticus by Tom Ryan, and a Sky Watcher post

Mr. Z tore through this book at an amazing speed.  I started reading it this morning and already got to page 31.  It's thoroughly gripping.  This one will not be leaving our library.  I have to leave it to go to my sister's but I'm wondering if she would mind if I read it while there.  Yeah.  Probably. lol

I have to dash off to my sister's now but wanted to share this book PDQ because, let's face it, "I've got mine."   I wanted to spread the word, as Sister Diana did to me, about this book.   Thank you, Diana!

Skywatcher:

We've been getting lots and LOTS of floating clouds but no rain.  We need the rain.  Today started out clear and sunny, and those teasing clouds came back around about 11:00 am.  *Sigh*  This is the Optum Building - it may have a different name amongst Architects - along 8.  The picture is from yesterday as I drove home from Ceramics.  I love the reflections.

Tuesday was a busy day. Ceramic Rant! Whew!

A bit of the doggie part I usually do on Tuesday.  Wolfie would approve.  He's been doing well, and I think that he's getting very vocal and clingy when the pack is separated.  I'm trying to figure out why but then, we've had him for three years now.  Unbelievable but true!  We really love this little Rapscallion! 

I love this cartoon.  This one I love especially because Opal is knitting, and she is
being very kind to the dog.  Last week, he tried to prrr like the cat, and ended up growling.  Poor little fellow!

Ceramics report rant:  Redacted.. And I have to say that I must learn to edit my rants much more closely!

We are getting our kiln room back into spiffiness due, in part, to a new manager, two of them in fact.   They have done the major portion of cleaning out several years of being dumped on by she who cannot be named .

 There is a new director at the Rec Center, and thank heaven for it because we got back our kiln room and shelving!  Soooooooooo, happily,  today I moved onto new, lower shelves, for the sake of my back and shortness, and we moved molds onto my old ones.

I must tell you that we have been at the center for about 25 years, and through thick and thin, we met up and did our craft.   When a new director (manager) came a few years ago, she stormed through like a whirlwind and pitched us off half of our space and put an enormous television (and it's caddy) right up against the kilns.   I am speaking of a TV that was at least 50 inches big, right next to our kilns and then knocked them askew from their stands.  We had to horse them back onto the stands, straighten up the rings, and she did it again.  She eventually ended up by shoving the kilns so close to the wall that we couldn't get between or around them to plug them in.    She also filled the whole table, that is supposed to be for green ware and pouring small molds, with detritus, some of which stayed in place for years.  One such item being a white dress shirt which just got progressively dirtier.

I'm so glad we have a new person there now.  Things have never seemed so calm and clean since forever.  Thank you to the Kiln Gods!   We are not the only rec center to have kilns but we have taken a lot of focused abuse at our center.  I hope that we've seen the end of it. 

Music Monday - Holst's ..Mars! And closer to home, Heavenly Energy in Germany.

 Star Wars!


Fighting for the Earth:
THIS is an article from Sojourners Faith in Action for Social Justice site.  I thought, in view of the formidable interest the new Pope is showing  in proper stewardship of God's Footstool, it would be a great time to bring such things to the forefront of my tiny corner of the blogging world.  

The article is called "Heavenly Energy" and is about a church in Germany's journey into solar power.  The article is from 2112 and was written by Sven Eberlein.

An excerpt:

"As the Sladeks and their friends went on to educate themselves about safer alternatives to nuclear power, they found a natural ally in Rev. Hasenbrink. “God has put a lot of love into this creation,” Hasenbrink says, explaining what he considers the natural affinity between faith and environmental stewardship. “When you look around, you can only be in awe of how well-conceived everything is, and we humans are called upon to not only be beneficiaries but to intelligently and responsibly sustain this creation.”

God is watching us, from a distance

Sunday Stealing, plus Tort Report-Hibernation!

First, the Tort Report.  A pre hibernation weigh in for the three adults.   The two four year olds are too small to let hibernate (aka torpor)

Poko Ono...11.5 pounds
Churchy...10.5
Lucky.... 9.5.  He is a growing boy but gets pushed around by the Daddy, so I'll watch to take him out and see that he's OK around the end of January.  Lucky needs to get a head start on the weeds and stuff of Spring.

Sunday Stealing.

Come join the fun!  Click on the link Button...




The ASK Meme, part one
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.
Let's go!!!

From For The Adventure

The ASK Meme, part one

1. What’s your favorite candle scent? 
I love Wintergreen.  But also, Peach- and let's not forget Lavender.

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? 
Boy this one is easy.  Sandra Bullock!
3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? 
I think James Garner would fit right into my family.  He looks just like my brother anyway.

Thank you, Starpulse.com

4. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married? 
Been there, did that... hehe
5. Do you know a hoarder? 
No, but I watched all the shows to make sure that I'm not one.
6. Can you do a split? 
In my prime I could do this, and all the other really difficult yoga postures.  I did it to keep my back from being trouble.
7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? 
I've ridden a two wheeler since I was four years old.  My two aunts taught me to pedal their big bike and one day I just got on it and rode away.  My grandmother was worried but my aunts and grandpa were very proud.
8. How many oceans have you swam in? 
 One and only one.  The Pacific.  I love the ocean and would still swim in it if I could.
9. How many countries have you been to?
Two.
10. Is anyone in your family in the military? 
I'm sure some of my cousins' kids are, but not any of the adults that I know of.  
11. Have you named any of your body parts? 
People actually do this?
12. If you had a child today, what would you name him/her? 
A boy would be David.  I've kind of run out of girl's names.
13. What’s the worst grade you got on a test? 
An F.  I just did not get Algebra at first.
14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child? 
I always looked forward to "Harry Owen's and the Royal Hawaiians" show.
15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight? 
Beats me!  We always made up our own costumes, snatches of this and that from here and there.  It was nothing like today, or when I was sewing for my DDs. 
16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? 
No, not a single one.  Sorry.
17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? 
I'm an American so am happy to sound like one.  I have a Midwestern accent, actually, because of my mother, aunts, and grandparents being the ones who instilled language in me. 
18. Did your mother go to college? 
Mother went to secretarial college when she came to California to live with relatives.
19. Are your grandparents still married? 
 No.  No one in Heaven, or Hell for that matter, is married. 
20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? 
No, but that doesn't mean I'm defenseless. 
21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
 Yes, and it's true.  It isn't easy being green.
22. What was the first amusement park you’ve been to? 
Knott's Berry Farm.  My auntie came out to California to visit and took all the kids there.
23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in? 
 That would be languages.
24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
 I spell it both ways.  Depends on how I feel.
25. Is your father bald?  
 I have no idea.  If he is, it's because his mother rose up out of her grave and snatched him bald.

Five Minute Friday, Tree

Write as much as you can about the topic word, in five minutes.  Click on the graphic to join in.  It's fun!

Actually, I have little thought about the word Tree.   But the things themselves, well, trees are very alive to me, and I hate when they are cut down, and cut up and hauled away because they are always the biggest ones and leave a big hole in the sky when they are gone.  That let's the ugliness of the world intrude upon the eyes.  Things like big telephone poles and all their wires become more visible.  The birds that called the trees home are dispersed and sometimes they have nested there for five years.  But now they are all gone off to find other suitable places to have homes.

Trees, English Elm - the offspring of my mother's trees -  kept the walls of my house cool in the summer for 15 years before the two of them, gifts from my mother (and planted in coffee cans)  made their way to me one time that she made the trip to our house.  It was what mother had to give. 

Over the years we cut them back twice, one time putting out the bathroom window with a limb that I was supposed to hold in place - with a rope wrapped around my butt- and clear from the front yard.  The limb, when it fell, propelled me 7 feet to the north as it "got out of hand" in the back yard.

Mother's elms lived through being poisoned by an uphill neighbor who was trying to kill his own neighbor's trees.  But, since all the soil in any urban place is all connected, and we were down stream, so to speak, and he got the Elms.  They became so brittle that eventually the limbs started to crack.  But we saved them by flooding the soil with twice as much water that summer, flushing out the Round up.  This is why I wished we lived on such a big property that we could have trees that would never be at risk because someone was mad at someone else.

The trees brought every manner of bird into the yard.  They shaded all my Cymbidium orchids, and even fed them when their leaves dropped.

Thankful Thursday.. Project Wildlife

A couple of weeks ago, this Cooper's Hawk was on the top of the telephone pole.  It flew over our heads to the other side of the house.  Mr. Z said that he thought it was the same one that has been hanging around the area for several weeks.  It's probably the juvenile that hangs on the fence, ever on the watch for a bird at the birdbath.  Mr. Z said that this bird had even landed on top of the jeep, on the carrier.  I think that it's the same bird that carried off a dove earlier in the year.  

Today, after Junior Cooper had a run in, probably with a window on a house a block over, or maybe a windscreen of a parked car, he got to go to Project Wildlife for rehab.   DH, who was out walking Wolfie, called me to ask what we should do.   I went as fast as I could with a - believe it or not - small fleece blanket from Audubon, to drop over the bird and scoop him up against my body to carry him home.    We rapidly called Project Wildlife, and the person answering the phone made sure that there would be someone at the facility so that we could transfer Jr. to them there.  Bless their hearts there were still staff ready to receive animals.  They were able to put Jr. Cooper on the road to recovery from his sad, addled state.  I hope he can have a better place to catch his meals, like the big park to the North or something.

This is one of my large yarn baskets cum hawk carrier, at the Project Wildlife facility.  
The belt is DH's old Docker's belt, stretched to it's limit. 
Now we know that come what may, we can transport a pretty big bird.

We hope our lovely local boy makes a full recovery.  One thing we learned is that Cooper's Hawks may not be the size of Red Tails, but they sure have lots of spunk!  I don't have so much as a feather in the basket to show, and for this I am glad.  Feathers would have meant that there were worse injuries. 

Wordless Wednesday

Music Monday... Money, Lisa Minnelli and Joel Grey

heeheehee...


Thank you Pina!

Celebrate!

Happy Birthday G and J!    I hope the cards got there!  Wish I could have baked you a cake.  This will have to do. 

 

Photo from HERE
The Top Ten Worst Birthday Songs Ever.  According to the site. lol

Sunday Stealing

  Come join in!


The What's What Meme
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.
Let's go!!!

From KristieLOL

The What's What Meme

What is on your bed right now?  (Had to go look.)  There is a box of tissue, an ad for JoAnne's, and there is a long, thick sock that is used to wrap up the camera.  I hit upon this safety wrappage while on vacation.

What’s your favorite word or phrase?  Something my big brother J used to say.  "Holy Criminy!" Me?  I'd say something else.

What is the best ice cream flavor?   My favorite is Butter Pecan which, sadly, I can no longer eat ice cream.

Did you wake up smiling this morning?
  Yes, because of a dream that I was, in real life, a character from a game who was throwing up some sort of white substance.  I blame "Fringe" for that. 

Is there something in your life you used to have, and now miss?  I  had a used Motobacane bike that I loved.   This was back when the frames were aluminum.  Also, I didn't have Rams, I had Straights (handle bars). 

I had it for nearly 40 years, ten years after I was no longer able to ride. 

What major company would you like to work for?   Honestly, none that I can think of.  I'd like to be a school marm, thank you very much.  Special Ed.  That's where I was headed when the news came that I was preggers again.  It just wasn't meant to be but life turned out pretty darn OK by me.

What time do you wake up on a typical morning?  I go to sleep very late so I wake up anywhere from 6:30 to 9 am.  There, that's about a 2 and a half hour window.  When I get OUT of bed depends on what we have to do that day.

What holiday makes you sad?   I'm pragmatic.  I don't let the holidays get me down.  They are only one day of the year.  This didn't used to be so, but it is now.  I decorate even though no one else is going to see it, unless I plaster it on the blog.  Blogging saves the day!

Where does a good night’s sleep rank on your priorities?  It is the single most important predictor of what the next day will be like.  I'd say it's a top priority.  I spent so many years not sleeping more than 5 hours, and lots of the time less, that I don't want to ever do that again.

One song that makes you cry?   "Landslide".  It is the saddest song I know.  

 How old was your mom when she had you?   Mom was 21.

When is the last time you went to the beach?  Last Night.  We were there for dinner.  

The fog came in and gave us a really nice show.  Wanna see?  This was taken at the Peace Park end of the Island, looking across the water at the berths across the harbor.

What is the most random object around you?   A can of Avon "Wishing" perfumed talc.  It was from when I was sorting some things and researching the web.

 What is your favorite sushi?  Vegan California Rolls recipe.    I love these things - both kinds!  Inside out or like the one below. 

Picture is From Vegannews.com

What food do you find disgusting?  I could not force myself to knowingly eat an insect, alive or dead, nor any other creature that might be still alive.

If you could have any type of dog in the world, what would it be?  It would be "Small".  Any small dog will do, any breed or mix of small.  At 16 pounds W is pushing the limits but we love him anyway.   I like poodle mixes because of their curly hairiness.

Yes, you are, yet again, forced to see him.

 

What was the last meal that you made for yourself?  I usually make my own lunch which is fruit and some sort of grain filled thing (bread, cracker, chip)

Is the hard drive on your computer full or getting close to being full?  Nope.

Are there any songs that you prefer the acoustic version over the regular version?  Are you speaking of, say, "Live versus recordings"?    I prefer live music for any instrument/band/orchestra/quintet, etc, etc,  but it's not very practical. 

Friends in the Philippines ...

Let me say this:  My heart goes out to you all...   I can't get my head around a storm this terrible or this size.  I'm so sorry.  I pray for you and your families, and your country.   

Blogger's Blast for Peace Globe Day, November 7th, 2013, Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that the peaceful people have started to reaaally organize!  

Blogger's around the Globe are posting the Peace Globes they have created, or maybe borrowed, on this day, November 7th,  in support of the Worldwide Movement to promote World Peace.  

Here's Mine

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom started in 1915.  HERE is their page. 

Music Monday-- "Carry on My Wayward Son", Live performance from ..... Kansas

Rock on, Kansas!



There is nothing more thrilling that actually being at a concert with this amazing band.  I regret not going when I could have.   This song is one of my favorite rock songs, ever,  from these not so heavy Metal boys I truly love. 

Try this, too.

Dust in The Wind

Enjoy!

Sunday Stealing Time Keeps on Slippin'...

Time Keeps On Slippin'
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.
Let's go!!!


This comes from No-boba-Please!

Good Gad!  It's that time again!

1) Do you think Daylight Saving Time is still necessary?  For the sake of families with kiddies playing soccer, yes.  But for the rest of the world, I wish they'd leave it alone.  Midwestern kids being safer is another argument for it.  Well, maybe, but I'd rather it was left DST ALL the time.  No Switching!

2) How long does it take you to adjust to the time change? About four days,  This is because we move the dog's feeding time up or back by 15 minutes at mornings and evening. 

3) What's the hardest part of the time change?  Messing up my body's clock!  It was really tough when the kids were in school.

4) How many clocks are in your house?  We have nine clocks- actual clocks.  The appliance ones are extras..

5) Are you generally early, late, or on time? Generally we are on time. 


6) If an invitation to an event listed the time as 8-11pm, what time would you arrive? We'd be there as close to eight as possible.  It's polite, I think.

7) Do you wear a watch? Most of the time.  I don't like having to look around for a clock anywhere when I'm out.  Now that I have cell phone I don't wear a watch as much.

8) Have you ever glanced at the time and had to glance again because you didn't pay attention the first time?  No.  The only time I glance twice at a time piece is because I didn't believe it the first time!

9) Are most of your clocks digital or dial?  I have three analog watches and one digital. Most of the clocks are analog except the ones on appliances.

10) What does your alarm clock sound like? My own alarm has a teeny bleat that repeats until I shut it off.  DH's has such a loud buzz that I'd like to drown it in the ..ahem ... fixture.


11) Do you use the snooze feature on your alarm clock? Once mine goes off, I don't go back to sleep.  Well, I take that back.  I do use "snooze" when I'm on vacation and am worried I might miss out on something by going back to sleep.


12) Does clock ticking drive you nuts? At night, yes, it would.  Also, anything ticking would annoy me if it was loud.  However,  my bedside clock is one of the quietest little clocks I've ever had.  It ticks every two seconds.  It's old and I love it.  I've had it for 40 years at least. 

 

Saturday Komeekz - So long to the Mouse virus in CFS_ME, and Accidental Art # 40? - 27?- 32?

San Diego's Cowles Mountain, for those who live near Henry Cowles State Park
This mountain is bedrock, from a mountain range that was in the 30,000 foot range. 
It's the highest point within the city of San Diego.  I love Cowles Mountain!

 After a few days of watching the puffy clouds blowing about, I was reminded of the News angst that wasn't even on the radar, or maybe it was used as a distraction by the media as they built their Faux News War on the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Anyway, I thought this news from the "Other Coast" was very appropriate for the times.   Imagine!  What if that comet - some months ago - had hit the earth.  I guess the chatter would have been silenced for maybe a century?  It certainly would have made whole armies of people sit up and take notice as it came even closer.   The survivors, if there were any, would be pretty hard pressed to make any sense of their lives after such a large message from the Heavens.  We are after all, a "Tiny ball of rotting rock", according to Robert Frost, and Astronomers.

Aren't his sandals cute?

Let me know if you like this icy looking Accidental Art.  There is so little Accidental Art coming my way now but every once in awhile it arrives!  It's what is left of a box of tea lights that melted in an overhead storage during the two incredibly hot parts of two summers.  It's like a tiny glass sculpture but very hard to photograph.  Hope you like it.

It looks like a tiny Frosted Glass art sculpture, to be honest.

Morning light shining through.  I just can't do this justice .. 
  It's beautiful

Sideways look into the structure. 

I hope this next article stays up as a permalink: 

This is the story of Jennifer Brea, who is trying to make a documentary on CFS-ME, which she now has a diagnosis of, and which is VERY REAL but not caused, apparently by a mouse virus.   I crossed out CFS because it's just another name for  myalgic encephalomyelitis, and a derogatory one at that.

God, apparently, is the only Being in the entire Universe who knows what DOES cause it.  It's certainly NO fun at all for those of us with it!

And, just for reading this far,  here is one of the last roses of Fall from my sister's complex:

This might be Bride's Delight. 
I found the names for them Once Upon a Time.

Five Minute Friday - Grace

 
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...

Here we go!

 When I was researching Grace, according to the Gospel, I cam3 across something that really set my feet onto a new trail.  HERE is the Gospel According to Paul.  I intend to read it all, very soon, but as you can see it's very long, and I haven't researched the author of the HTML page yet, anyway.  It is just food for thought right now.  But very Interesting food for thought.  That used up a whole minute, Gad!

Grace in my life has consisted of being forgiven and loved anyway.  Years ago, at the tender age of 27, this was brought home to me with great clarity in a vision quest I sort of had given to me by the Grace of God.  It wasn't vision quest as the Native Americans do it, but it was one nonetheless.  Not everyone has such a gift given them and I really wish it were so!  I wish that each and every human who is troubled would have such an experience.  Normally I won't even mention it but seeking it may just be the way to have someone, The Great Spirit or one of his angels, turn around for another look at you, critter, and do this for you.  I hope with all my heart that you will have your own personal vision quest given you by Grace.  If you are reading this, I want you to know I love you. 

Ravelry bars for your blog. Here's how. More of the Trip photos, too.

Thanks to a daring and wonderful blogger who posted this fix in Ravelry, I can now get my bars to progress as I knit more on the projects that are up at Ravelry.  You will have to look way WAY down the side bar for them, if you are interested. 

Here's how it's done:

Go HERE.

Take both bits of code... copy them BOTH into a widget sidebar thing.... the same widget thinga, one right after the other, not two separate ones, and  Voila!  Bingo!  Hallalujah!  There they are.

Now you'll have to go update all of your projects at Rav, but that's the easy part.   Since I'm not knitting anymore for awhile, mine won't move at all. 

The Trip goes on:

Tiny heart shaped stone.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It really is tiny - about 3/4th of an inch across and really does look like a heart. 

I stepped out of the Bounder, and there it was, between my feet. 
I prettied up the snap by removing some neon crocs from it, but isn't it lovely?

This was at the middle camp, before we had to move out onto the streets for a few nights.  If you ever see campers parked on your street overnight, you can blame state park regulations that push people out of parks after seven days.
Gone are the days when your family could glory in three whole weeks somewhere, tent camping and having a grand old time, hiking, fishing, eating, after which they would arrive back home sunburnt and fairly well rested, hair streaked with  blond highlights, etc., etc..  They don't do this in Tuscany!  But, I digress...

Little Tents, all set up and ready to test out some new equipage.
DD's had bought new sleeping bags and inflatable mats

We sat by the fire (and I fought off hypothermia) until nearly 10 pm.  They stayed out there another hour.  The dog and I retreated to snuggle under  two comforters and five fleeces that comprised our indoor sleeping arrangements.   Traveling in style, even with an ice chest, is the only way I can "get out there" anymore.  DH and the DDs hiked the next day while I read this:

Not the Leaf, though it is pretty, but the book.

I also bagged my first ever Townsend's Warbler (sighting).  Yay me!

Here are some tiny beauties to encourage you to look at rocks when you are out and about.  These are from a small collection that remind me to put my head down and look at the ground from time to time.

All these beauties reside in flower pots of succulents somewhere in Santa Cruz.  In the middle, see that little agate under the Red Jasper?

Packing up the next day:

Yep, all that stuff went into little bitty bags.  Modern tents are so cool!