The cold that acts like flu, no I'm not thankful for that.

We were vaccinated for all the proper things and at the proper times, but Mr. Z was waylaid by a virus that also took down his two sisters.  It is extremely fast moving and it is nasty.

I've taken over all duties, and my only wish is that I wish people would stay home when they are sick. The three kids took care of their mother for two weeks in a hospital teeming with some pretty nasty stuff, but this came in from the direction of "law enforcement".  Gah!  Her children were there for every meal and fed her until she could eat on her own.

I am thankful that she is better and back where she needs to be, and.....I'm thankful that it's a short virus but beware: it can turn nasty so a word of warning in your shell like ears...

Please If you get this, and a lot of people are, do not ignore getting enough rest.  If it goes into your chest, don't let it stay there too long without seeing a doctor, unless you are getting gradually better day by day.  We don't want anyone dying an untimely death due to sneaky pneumonia, the likes of which killed the Muppet King, Jim Henson.

That's all she wrote!  See you asap.

Tuesday Tails, last minute post: Pangolins, and End Bobcat Trapping in California

End Bobcat Trapping in California

Every time I see Bobcat fur lining a collar of a jacket or coat, I have to cringe.  There is no reason that every animal has to suffer numbers too small to replicate themselves with healthy offspring because someone thinks it looks cool on their coat, or because Chinese Medicine "requires"one of their body parts to crank up a gonad.  There, I said it.

People who like to eat endangered species?  You are on my list for extinction.  Stop it already!  Baby Pangolins are not a delicacy!  They are an endangered species.  If you love dogs and cats so much, love the Pangolins!  Please!

http://savepangolins.org/what-is-a-pangolin/

Music Monday- Let's go to the Jungle! MoZuluArt, "Imbube"- "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

I've never heard this rendition.  Gorgeous!  It's more like performance art with audience participation.  I love this!  

Everything you never wanted to know, and then some. Sunday Stealing

I'm going to catch p with everything tomorrow M'friends!

January 24, 2015
Easy A-Z
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 try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.
Cheers to all of us thieves!!!

Easy A-Z Meme

Stolen from: FYeah Surveys

A. What are your favorite smells? Pine trees, ocean waves breaking, cookies baking, a baby just bathed and powdered.

B. Can you go a whole day without caffeine? Yes, actually I drink very little coffee now.

C. Who knows more about you than anyone else?  My husband.

D. What song did you last listen to?  
This one. it's been an ear worm for a few days...


E. Do you wear socks to bed? Only when its 20 degrees outside and we are in the  RV.  

F. Can you change a car tire?  Yes.

G. If you could choose one color to wear for a whole year, what color would you choose? Blue, but that means "every shade of", right?

H. Do you cook often? Not anymore but I've been cooking more in the last couple of weeks.  Fried rice, my favorite Chinese food.

I. What’s your least favorite season?  I love "The Wet", from approximately October through to mid April.

J. Can you sew?  I earned money as a seamstress for several years, so yes.

K. What is your favorite fruit?  Mangos

L. Are you health conscious? Very.  I feel that it is up to me to stay healthy because one never knows what's just around the bend.

M. Do you think you’re very conscious of the feelings of others or more self oriented?  I am very diligent about keeping in tune with others as without them life would be colorless and dull indeed.

N. Do you curse a lot? I really do not.  Its a personal preference. What I like about it is that it actually can keep things from escalating or getting blown way out of proportion, causing unforeseen consequences.
O. Do you remember lyrics easily? Very easily.  I also remember tunes easily.  Its a curse. I can and have written lyrics - on the fly - to music, Lord is that ever fun.

P. Can you roll your tongue?  Can't everyone?

Q. Is there a certain food you often crave for no reason?  If I crave it for no reason that would be very weird.  I can't imagine what it would be.

R. What was the last book you purchased?  

S. Where was your last vacation?  We took off for the hills and Birding in Monterey county last year,  Being retired has it's perks.

T. Last movie you watched? Did you enjoy it?  "Le Chef", and yes it's a really crazy French Comedy that we loved.

U. Think of your oldest friend. If you met them now do you think you would still become friends?  Oh yes.  We have keep in touch since high school.

V. Paris, London and New York… which one would you live in, which would you visit for a day, which would you visit for a fortnight?  I'd live in Paris, Visit New York for a fortnight, and stay one day in London.

W. Do you usually sleep with your closet door open or closed? Closed.  The heater works better that way.

X. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, how did it happen? I broke some vertebrae being thrown off a bucking horse, broke a wrist falling out of a raised flowerbed.

Y. How do you like your eggs? I like them in fried rice with lots of green onions, or in a quiche with cheese and spinach.

Z. What was your last argument about and who with?  I don't argue anymore.  

Saturday Komeekz- Health Care, the NNT site, and Passive Aggressive Funnie from Bizarro

Wheren't we just talking about this?  But of course this is irony and not so funny.  We are none of us happy about what's been going on around here with a family member.  I hope the BDG (Bad Doctors Group) just gives us a break, already!

Today I went to get a blood test, and ended up reading about a site called the  NNT  written by the Director of Clinical Research of Mt. Sinai's School of Medicine.  He helped to developed the site so that anyone can look at a drug to see the rate of success in treatment, the NNT, is for it.  I'm going to be studying this site to get an idea about the many things I take.  Here is a Guided Tour, and explanation of what NNT stands for.

Leave it to Bizarro!  

Have a great Sunday y'all!

Saturday9,

First .... Saturday 9, YAY!

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: The Best Thing About Me Is You (2010)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) What would you say is your best quality?  I forgive, and eventually forget.

2) In this song, Ricky sings that he's "allergic to tragedy." Do you suffer from any allergies?  Yes

3) Benadryl, the popular allergy medication, is sometimes used to treat insomnia. What do you do when you can't sleep?  I take Benadryl because it is like a Twofer for me.

4) The lyrics to this week's song encourage us, "Don't wait until mañana." Are you a procrastinator?  Not really, but I do put things off because other things loom so suddenly on the horizon.  For instance, I haven't been able to get to the Nursery to buy any plants.  Pretty soon, I'll have to buy five gallon size and dig BIG HOLES!

5) Ricky Martin is a judge on The Voice ... Mexico, aired on Mexican television. When you watch competition shows like The Voice, Dancing with the Stars or American Idol, do you usually agree with the judges? Or do you think you could do a better job?  Sorry, I just don't watch commercial TV so not those shows either.  I found about Susan Boyle on YouTube. 

6) Ricky tells interviewers that when he was very young, he'd sing in the family kitchen, pretending a wooden spoon was his microphone. Crazy Sam admits to lip synching into a black Magic Marker. When you gave imaginary concerts, what did you use as a microphone?   Because I learned to project my voice, like in a Choir, I never used a mike.  I sing acapella an awful lot. I should say, "sang".  Now I've had to lower my voice so much to be heard by my Dearest Heart, I've lost the top notes.  But that's life....  you adjust and keep the joy of knowing that once upon a time....  

7) Ricky began working at the tender age of 9, performing in commercials. How old were you when you received your first paycheck?  I was paid for piece work, as a carpenter.  He started one year before I did!  lol!  At age 10, I started with clean-up and - a kid's job- putting in the 1x1 board that makes a gap for the flooring- after dry-walling, it's removed. When I was 12 both my younger Bro and I moved to layouts, framing, building roofs, installing roofing, building doors and windows because they used to be framed in, at the finished carpentry work level.  I was nailing on new roofing on my birthday in 1978.  That's the last time I did that much work. lol  Reading all this, I think that's why I'm so crook now. hehe

 And Oh yes, it's like being sent to hell to do remodelling for me. 

8) Ricky does yoga to stay in shape. Have you ever tried yoga?

After I broke my back when I was 26, Yoga is what saved me.  I never got treated at all, well, it was tough then.  But "Lilias Yoga and You" came into my life, and I faithfully did yoga with her for years.

9) Ricky is of primarily Spanish descent, with a little French mixed in. When you think of French cuisine, what comes to mind?  That could be my dad's family, without the Native American.  Oh, my, french cooking is Julia Child!  I have her book and watched every show she had on KPBS. Cooking is a passion I cannot do anymore.  But oh when I was young I cooked and baked everything.. everything.  It was so much fun to cook!

Have a great Weekend all you Niners!

Friday 5 for the 23rd: Inflation

Friday 5 for January 23: Inflation

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

Sorry I’m late. Hectic week.

What are your thoughts on balloons?

Balloons are great, as long as they don't cause problems for birds,motorists or airplanes.   Balloon payments truly SUCK though.  They are predatory lending vehicles.

What has anyone said recently to inflate your ego? 
My ego never gets inflated anymore by what someone has said.  They just don't even try but it is nice to get a compliment now and again.

What’s something that recently let the wind out of your sails?
It was another medical thing.  But, I must say, it helped put everything in perspective, and the waters calmed.   I am just enjoying that no end.

What inflatable items do you have in your home?  Not a single thing in my home inflates.

Besides gasoline (because we’re all pleasantly surprised by that), what’s something whose price has been a surprise?  I was shocked by the price of lettuce, but then, there's a drought going, and almost half of the farm fields are farrow.

Thanks for participating, and have a breezy weekend!

Friday5, I didn't know this was back up: Organizing and

I'm really happy that this is up and running.  *Dances in the Kitchen*

However, I picked up "something" along with the meme, in it's code, when I did a "copy and paste" and that something changed the font of my blog, so I just went back and did it a different way and all was well.

I want to put the button back up in the side bar, so I'm going to say this right up front.  Copy the questions into WordPad, Word Perfect, or something similar, first.

Just sayin' ......

This is from last week.  The one for this week is below it.

The Wee Blurb:

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5. Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. What is your approach to dealing with (or preventing) clutter? 
I keep all the living areas neat and tidy and as clean as possible, everyday, all day.  For other things, I've quite literally quit buying anything that would make things worse.  I will not look at most ads for my favorite craft stores, and I will not shop online for craft materials.

For Sanity's sake,  A line had to be drawn!  Meanwhile, IF I should have a fit of insanity about needing to go look at fabric, thread, close-out fleece (etc,etc,etc!) I just go into the SR and start weeding until my brain cools off.  I'm going slowly through the things in the SR to sort out items that are not for garments, quilts, scrapbooks, or card making.  Anything that doesn't have those little ear-tags is going out the door to a new home.

Clothing is going- I hang on to things for years and literally wear them out or, the obverse, I never wear them again after the event!  But there they do hang!   I'm going to be brutal and send the good stuff to new homes,as well as the recyclable things to the Goodwill - marked for recycled cotton yarns and making new park benches.

2. What kinds of (tangible) things do you seem to have an unreasonable time letting go of?
I have trouble getting rid of crafting materials, no matter what kind they are.  Re-using many paper products takes storage.  Also, being a quilter, it makes me see too many purposes in a scrap no mater how small.  I have to let go of such things.  Or get better storage for what I keep- or a little of both, toss and shelve.

3. If you could start completely over with your existing living space (and money were only a slight limitation), how would you make it more suited to you and your lifestyle?  
"Completely over" would be to remove the remodel.  I think that sounds good to me.  I'd just get rid of that and sell everything in it!  Not exactly back to nature but it would be less nerve wracking!   I want to be free of the overburden of fabric and antiquated jewelry tools!


4. How many standalone small kitchen appliances do you own, and how many do you use regularly?  Four, and though three of them get used only occasionally, what a nice thing it is to have them at hand.  The fourth is the coffee maker.  It's reaaaly handy!

5. What does your current living space really need more of?  Shelving on all the walls of the SR and the walls of the beading space in the great room. With shelving I could house everything I need to keep.  I wanted an active crafting life in retirement, and even though there have been some big hurdles, three big surgeries for one thing, it's something I still want.  If I have to stay here, in this house, shelving is what I want.  I have to make it happen.  I am not happy when I'm not creating things.

Friday5 for the 23rd.  Has not turned up by 11:00 PM, so I'm not sure that January 22 is coming very soon.  So I'll let this one post and look for the other tomorrow.  

Have a Great Weekend!

Five Minute Friday: Share

Kate's blog is on the Five Minute Friday Button in the side bar.  When you get to her blog, click the home tab,and you will see the latest prompt word.  Today, of course it is ,"share".

The rules are simple.  Write, flat out for five minutes, not worrying too much about structure, punctuation or spelling.  Just write about what ever comes to your mind in the theme of the prompt word for five minutes.

Then go to the link up at Kate's, and leave your link.  Then be sure to leave some encouragement for your neighbor FMFer.  This very fun to do.

"Share"
When I was a baby girl i had to share a room with my cousin who was 7 months older than I was.  We were like little sisters growing up at our Grandparents farm.  Boy could we ever get into trouble!
When i was older i had to share with my brothers, and then a little sister.  We shared terror and sometimes a lot of joy, especially when we were able to ride our bikes up by the dam or down to the big river and play in the willow trees.  My brother and sister and I also shared a bedroom because the tiny house we lived in was built from an old chicken coop and only had two tiny bedrooms.  There were four of us at the time because our brother Andre was still alive. I distinctly remember two women coming to check up on us when mother went to to work one day.  They were asking us a lot of questions, but I was old enough to know who they were.  They were from child welfare, but I had cleaned the house, and we were playing in the yard when they came by.   I didn't share with them.

We shared the chores of feeding the rabbits and chickens but oddly my brother never had to do the dishes which I thought was terribly unfair.  but we also shared a big bag  of fruit and sugared cereal when we went to the movies about every other Saturday.  We worked for quarters to be able to have a candy bar we could split that, too.  My brother sister and i are still really close, and we all share the same sort of ironic sense of humor.  It's been lovely to have siblings to share life with.  that's it. all the time!

this was written by hunt and peck method on the net book, and I hope you can read and enjoy what I've shared about my family life with my brother and sister.
Have a happy weekend and  remember to keep in touch, if you are able, with your family, and the cousins, too.

Thankful Thursday: Rock "Candy" and Memories from the Dusty Past

I'm grateful for my teachers.  From my very first one, my mother, to all the others that came after her.  Mother, in her quiet way, taught me to be kind to all the animals and to appreciate and respect their lives, as long as they weren't eating her garden vegetables, she lived in Peaceful harmony with them.

She taught me that having friends who were more like sisters was one of the greatest joys of being a woman.  She treasured her friends and many of them were her friends for life.  I'm grateful for friendships that have lasted so long.  Not that we have constant contact but you know that someone out there loves you like proper FAMILY.  The tie is strong and lasts decades.  My Aunts by Decree where just as devastated by mother's sudden untimely death as where her blood sisters.  She helped so many people in her volunteering, as a councilor at All Anon, and other places.  Mother taught me to give without holding back.  She taught me that we were ALL family.

There are a lot of memories in this plate

I'm truly thankful for all the years we were able to share this interesting and fulfilling Rockhounding hobby with friends.  One of our club's Rock Hound faceting masters taught me how to facet gem materials, and many others taught us the best way to make cabochons and even free forms.

We learned a lot from all of them, including taking a master's course in Gemology from FGAs in  The Gemological Society of San Diego, which probably doesn't exist anymore, or perhaps it re-merged with San Diego Mineral and Gem.

I'm grateful for all the people who helped me to learn the craft of Ceramics, from pouring molds, to firing a kiln, and knowing about clay bodies, and the proper things to look for when combining glazes.

I'm grateful for my teachers - so very grateful.  What they taught me helped me in Life and in running a business, and kept me from making egregious errors about materials and semi precious beads!

This little bitty teapot has fond memories for me.  It's the one that my mother made syrup in every Saturday morning when she made us pancakes.  Brown sugar, water and flavorings would boil in it until we had a delicious tasting syrup for our pancakes.  Fresh every Saturday, and no preservatives!

I found it when clearing out things in the kitchen this morning.  It prompted this Thankful post.  It made me remember my mother's thrifty and wonderful ways, her generosity with friends and strangers, and her kindness.

"The Heart hath its own memory, like the mind,
And in it are enshrined
The precious keepsakes,
Into which is wrought the giver's loving thought."
~♥~Henry Wadsworth  Longfellow~♥~
And....
A Poem For My FriendDid I hear your whispered confession, in the center of my heart?
Those softly spoken sorrows forced through the tattered remnant of your soul,
That night they nearly killed you with their weapons of control?

Was it you that I heard? Where are you now?
What cast you down so close to me in that dreamland of astonishment we both inhabited?
That place where I felt your wretched anguish at having been left behind
Without me?

To Steve, who taught me how artistic and sensitive a Gear Head could be.  Thank you Buddy.

Tomato plants still growing.

on the 19th I went out into the garden to fill the bird baths - it hasn't rained in awhile.  And I found these:

New Blossoms on a nearly dead plant. They were all over the plant

This tomato and another one hiding inside the dead leaves.
I thought these were dead when we came home in November.

The Wordless Wednesday Picture was taken on the way up through Los Angeles.  It was blurred but there was something about the photo that looked almost painterly.  So, that's why it was posted.

It looked like a new sort of Art to me, but the colors were so muted that I needed to punch it up a little.  Anyway, that's what I was thinking, to make it sort of  Urban Art.  Sometimes ordinary things are sort of pretty and artistic when they are blurred and skewed, don't you think?

Wordless Wednesday: North Hollywood, Out of Focus, Ortished, pumped and plump!

Tuesday Tails... A small biopic on Wolfie and a dog surfing video... California Dogs go Surfing!

Wolfie is missing his papa.  In the morning or afternoon Mr. Z disappears out the front door without him and Wolfie gets depressed.  He sits on Mr. Z's big chair, with his little head hanging over the arm and eyes wistfully looking toward the front door, waiting, waiting.

Wolfie, with his Far Away, "Where's Papa?" Look

Nothing I do can cheer him up, even when he gets his treat from me he's always subdued, quiet, and listening.  "What is going on", he seems to be thinking.

Soon all will be well again in Wolfie's world, but right now some serious stuff is happening, and I'm sure that the little guy is trying to figure out if he is OK with the pack order, so I am extra gentle with him.

The pack order can be disturbed in ways that a human never even thinks about.  For instance, Wolfie is not in the "hunt" pack.  He's in the "Guard the Den" pack, and he's a very fierce little guardian, and all.  But, like me, that is not anywhere near the Alpha level in the most important pack of all.   He loves me, and guards me like a little Dragon...

But, he's always had eyes for Mr. Z.


Maybe if anyone had taught him to play when he was a little puppy, or even as a young dog, he would be happier.  He does not play with toys or even sticks, ever!

Except at the beach he bounces around and goes aerial.  At the beach he is just insanely happy!  We want to take him there but at 6am it's a little hard to do.  Poor little fellow.  We think he might have been a beach bum at his first home.  Surfer Dog even!  (sorry the first video was not compatible)  New One of San  Diego Surfing Dogs!



Have a great Week, and remember to think Spring!

Music Monday- "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" And Alive Inside" Documentary

This lovely song has been a little Ear worm for several days, so I'm infecting all of you with it! ;-) "Tis a lovely thing on the whole.

Happy Martin Luther King Day, and I think this Man of Peace should always be remembered for his dedication to Peace, Equality, and Universal Love.

The original.. co-songwriter/singer Jackie DeShannon

Jackie wrote this, with her brother, in the late 60's.

One simple act, putting a little love in your heart, that could change the balance in a murderous world.  We can't be reminded often enough that we are, all of us, one big family.

About "Alive Inside"

This film is a thing of Beauty, straight from the Heart, and is a very powerful testament to the power of our brain to preserve personality, even when it's only avenue is the part of the brain that keeps musical memories alive, and which has been denied expression in some cases for ten years.  Musical memory is like a "backdoor" into a person's personality, and it has shown amazing promise for enriching lives, if activated.

It was originally released in October of 2010, and eventually went viral in January 2011.  It is a documentary about just how powerfully humans react to music, why that is, the universality of this, and how it has transformed people who have been institutionalized with Alzheimer's and other dementia for years.

You can find "Alive Inside" on Netflix and probably other places as well.  Another plus about music therapy is that in listening to Music, dementia patients come alive and responsive, and that certainly is an improvement to them being constantly medicated!  Also, they can stay home longer with their own families.

Please feel free to take the links and re-post them in order to spread the circle as widely as possible.
I'm doing it as a way to honor my sister's bravery in facing her disease.

What if I don't want to tell you? Sunday Stealing

January 17, 2015

Favorites 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 try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.  
Cheers to all of us thieves!!!  

Favorites Meme 

Stolen from: FYeah Surveys

Name your favorite:

1.Place - Central Coast near Santa Cruz

2.Person - there is no circumstance under which I will name a singular being here.

3. Color - The dark Teal blue of the sea.

4. Food -  What would I run across a crowded rush hour street for?  That would be tacos. 

5. Smell - Conifers

6. Book - Ouch! Just one?   A Suitable Boy

7. Movie -  "Milagro Beanfield War"

8. Music artist - Beverly Sills.  Dear, dear Beverly.  I hope to meet you in Heaven and take Diva lessons. 

9. Thing to do when bored - Answer memes?  Basically I am never bored.  That's why I suffer from Atomic Angst!  But, there's a pill for that.  Just ask the local clinic!

10. Genre of literature - History and Mythology.  That's two. Sorry!  Shall we have them duke it out?  Thor and Odin would win.  Historians are wimps.

11. Magazine - National Geographic for articles that usually include BIG teeth or maybe some new deadly super-virus.  Wait, that's "Frontline" and not a magazine all.  Oh wait, it is!  

12. Texture - What is that?  Can someone actually have a favorite texture?  Toads.  Well, sometimes horned lizards.  I like to hold them because their skin is rough feeling.  Oh, btw, toads aren't slimy.  That would be the bullfrogs.  I certainly hope this wasn't meant as a texture in foods.

13. Time of day - sunrise, then I go back to bed and sleep two more hours.  

14.Day of the week - Friday.  that's the day that my three day chocolate spree begins.

15. Thing to learn about - Cultural Anthropology and the development of language.  I want to know how people spread out all over the earth and then got snooty and thought themselves better than others.  You know, that old Consciousness of Kind theory.  

16. Thing about yourself - I don't hold grudges, but only if you don't hurt a kid; you're going to regret doing that if you do.

17. Lifehack (a time saving, efficiency technique for life) I'm not sure what this means. I will say that "wasted time" is in the eye of the beholder, anyway.  Not a lot of people think their favorite things are a waste of time but they can point out everyone else's as being so.  If you really want to save time figure out how to stay up 24 hours a day keeping busy; is that time saving?  I'd probably like it until I sewed my fingers together a couple of times. 

That's all.  
My brain chemistry has definitely shifted to the dark side.  Have a nice Sunday, stealing more memes!

Heart Zingers..Saturday9

Saturday 9: Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (1939)  _ You can find this meme button in the side bar...

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about love at first sight. Do you believe that immediate attraction lasts?  Oh yes, it happens.  Wish it always happened so the world could be a better place for little kids, and yes, dogs and cats, too.

2) The lyrics mention "a breath of spring" and robins singing. Now that we're deep into winter, what do you miss about spring?  Rain.  We used to get rain all the way to April, and I miss it.

3) Though the world knew her as Judy Garland, this week's featured artist was born Frances Gumm and her family called her "Baby." Does your family have any pet names for you?  Yes. I was LinneMae to maternal grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins, and my brother calls my sister Cessie Poo and me Linnie Poo.

4) Because she was petite -- just 4'11 -- it was obvious when Garland gained even a few pounds and consequently she battled her weight her whole life. Now that we're in the new year, have you made any resolutions about your own diet?  Both my grandmothers were shorter than that.  I've vowed to eat more protein for my hair and muscles, and lose those pesky five pounds for the good of the team!  Go Team Godfrey!

5) The year this song came out, 1939, was the year Garland's most famous movie, The Wizard of Oz, was released. Which of her three traveling companions is your favorite: Scarecrow, Tin Man or Cowardly Lion?  Actually I secretly liked Glenda since she was so magical and gorgeous and kind.

6) Barry Manilow enjoyed Judy's performance of this song so much he did a "dream duet" with her and included it in his recent CD. What performer who is no longer with us do you wish you could have seen in concert?  Joe Cocker.  I'd like to have heard him sing, "You are so Beautiful" in live concert.  I love the song and the studio performance better than the concert versions thouh.  Here's the best one I could find:



7) Judy had a terrible problem with tardiness. Are you usually prompt? Yes.  I really try to be on time, always.  I think it's sort of rude to be late.

8) During World War II, Judy worked tirelessly to entertain the troops. Tell us about a cause that's near and dear to your heart.  The end to all Wars.  Economic, whatever.  All of them.  Just STOP IT will you?!!

 9) The American Film Institute lists Garland as the 8th greatest movie star of all time. Who is your all time favorite actor or actress?  I'll tell it like it is  It's a toss up between Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, and Sandra Bullock.

Guys, well, there have been so many but really, it's George Clooney,  if I add up all his titles in my favorites list.
 Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Five Minute Friday:Send

When I think of the word send, being that it is a vowel, I think of all the ways that we send things, or have in the past, because we needed to communicate with others as far away as the next house or even village.   At first, we would send a little child to borrow something, or take something ourselves to a neighbor in distress.  Sometimes we would send an older child to take back an answer to a note from a neighbor, neighbor being anyone within walking distance, or within the distance of a horse ride in a day.

We sent armies into battle if we were rulers.  We send messages on the wing, once we tamed pigeons, but most of what is sent or that we send is or was portable.  Then came the wagon loads of goods sent from one town to another, or the fields to the towns or from ships docked to the inland towns.  When I watch movies that are about historical times I'm always amazed at how hard it was to get good from one place to another and how much labor was involved in doing it.  What if this system breaks down?  We are going to have to remember those old methods again, aren't we?

Then there is the admonition from the Lord.  "Go where I send thee."  I'm content in knowing that, too.  I am willing, and always have been to Go where I send thee".  As to the modern "Bloom where you are planted", no matter that I might grumble a bit about the last part, I'd rather bloom where there is a lot more water, please.  That's about it!

I fear this was too misleading about what I considered scripture, so I edited to make sure the second saying was not included in the first sentence but set aside.  

Thankful Thursday....

I am thankful for the Memories of Tiny Joys!

The incredibly small fiddler crab that crawled under the arch of my foot to hide from me, one day in the surf.  Adorable little charmer!

Source is Rebecca's lovely blog

All the teensy belly flowers!

DH holding some flowers, seeds and the plant
called Blue Eyed Grass.  After a few years these amazing, tiny plants had disappeared from the lawns at the rec center.
I think it was an herbicide that is sometimes used on vast lawns.

HERE is a link to Wildflower conservation page with more tiny flowering plants.  It's a lovely page.

Holding 3oz baby Holland Lop rabbit kits in my hands just after they were born.

More and more and more tiny rabbits!

The two month old tortoise baby eating dandelions.   They were even smaller when they were hatched -think half a Walnut shell - tiny.

More and more and MORE tiny torts, and a few horse toys for some reason!

The tiny Toad babies we found, in their hundreds, on a walk near the banks of the Klamath river one spring.

Newly hatched, very tiny, and just banded Snowy Plover chicks in Central Coast.

Brand new baby African Violet growing on Mother Leaf.

Teensy BUGZZZZ!

Have fun remembering your favorites, and in finding new tiny joys!

Wordless Wednesday- link goes to page....;-)

Shhhhhh

Baby, It's cold outside by the Great Lakes.....

Terrible Beauty
Source

Wendy, you can appreciate this, I am sure.  Brrrr!

Everyone:  I apologize for being so slow to return visit your blogs.  I've just finished knitting a hat that I now hate, and it's because it doesn't look right to me.  My hands are complaining about it all, telling me how ungrateful I am that they did all this work and now I don't like it.

Here it is..

This is what it looks like on my head..

Somehow, I think the villain is that models, in the fullness of youth, have SO much hair that they can expand a hat to twice it's normal size.  My dreads have long since been thinned and humbled, so they no longer have what it takes to "full" a hat.

What was it, eh? Sunday Stealing...

January 10, 2015

2014/2015 Meme, part two
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 try to credit the blog that we stole it from.
We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.

Cheers to all of us thieves!!!

2014/2015 Meme, part two

Stolen from: German Language Rocks


26.What experience would you love to do all over again?
Going to see our Kid graduate only this time I would be well enough to party!  I could barely walk upright.

27.What was the best gift you received?
I quit eating wheat and the bad cholesterol plummeted to the best numbers in recent history.  See, something they don't know - "our wheat is become death, Horatio!"

28.How did your overall outlook on life evolve?
I have really developed, well, a certain, je ne sais quoi, maybe an ethereal sort of Patience in my outlook.  I think it's related to the phrase, "I just couldn't care less", but a kinder form of it.  This in response to someone claiming responsibility for some horrific event.  I'll just see what falls out of the tree when all the Officials finally finishing shaking out the hidden strange bedfellows in it - to mix a metaphor.

29.What was the biggest problem you solved?
I think I've solved how to make compost without my husband's knowledge.  He is a purest, and I've made it just fine for 45 years.  I'm too impatient to wait anymore as the banana peels and other lovely garden waste rots in the trash.  They don't call it black gold for nothing!  I might grow worms, too!  It will give me something to do other than feel resentful that all that good stuff is going to waste.

30.What was the funniest moment of your year, one that still makes it hard not to burst out laughing when you think about it? 
This year has not been amusing.  I'm glad the rotten thing is over.  The trips to see the daughters and Christmas Eve.  Those are rather stellar.  Christmas Eve was very fun!

31.What purchase turned out to be the best decision ever?
The Kindle!  It took me awhile to accept the idea of reading books that way but my hands were a lot happier, and they have awarded me by letting me knit more than ten minutes a day!

32.What one thing would you do differently and why?
It's all Medical, and I would tell a doctor, "NO!,G'Dt, NO!" It was the wrong time, and the wrong illness, to be be lead by the nose through.  GP and a Specialist made me sick enough to die, and then someone else had to  perform major surgery to fix it?

33.What do you deserve a pat on the back for?
Staying alive, and I'm not kidding.  I feel like I won some major prize in the lotto!

34.What activities made you lose track of time?
I lost track of time by staring out a window.  But that'a not an activity is it?  But it works for me. Well,  knitting works well, too.

35.What did you think about more than anything else?
If you've been reading this, You know where most of the focus of the year has been.  Now it's about how to get even for being robbed of my body part; little though it was, it was taking hostages, and it felt it had no choice.  So, I thought about it a lot.  Lil Gall was  happy as a clam, just coasting along, and then some random drug came out of nowhere and knocked it off it's little skateboard.

36.What topics did you most enjoy learning about?
I enjoyed learning about maleficence by elected officials.  It helps answer the question, "What's this Country coming too!!?" and that being one of my favorite questions, and all.

37.What new habits did you cultivate?
Mostly bad ones, like eating more butter than I'm supposed to, and snarfing down more chocolate.

38.What advice would you give your early-2014 self if you could?
Get a new Clinic, and do it fast before they kill you!

39.Did any parts of your self or your life do a complete 180?
I've lost the positive attitude that, with more fitness training, I could maintain my 60 year old body strength for the rest of my life if I'd  only try harder at the gym.

40.What or who had the biggest positive impact on your life this year?
My daughter getting ahead and graduating with honors from a Uni she never thought she could make it a year in,  and another daughter quitting a  job that was literally killing all her joy in life.  If they are happy, I am happy.  I feel an obligation to these kids I brought into this sometimes Dog eat Dog rat race--there I go, another mixed metaphor!

41.What do you want the overarching theme for your 2015 to be?
I must learn to Learn to Breathe.  I hold my breath a lot.  I want to BE the Peace that I want for this world.
42.What do you want to see, discover, explore?
More Flowers, and I would like to see the remote parts of Yosemite's back country.

43.Who do you want to spend more time with in 2015?
My family, I want to spend months up in their area and pursue some of the long trips Bee suggested we take to see Mt. Shasta.
44.What skills do you want to learn, improve or master?
I want to Garden more again,  and I want to learn the art of vermiculture.

45.Which personal quality do you want to develop or strengthen?
My Devil may care attitude.  I want to be jovial and a bit rakish.

46.What do you want your everyday life to be like?
Calm, peaceful and full of good work and fun.  I know, these last two things clash, but maybe I AM Bipolar after all.

47.Which habits do you want to change, cultivate or get rid of?
Keeping things because they are going to come in handy.  I've just about got that one conquered.

48.What do you want to achieve career-wise?
I'd like to be a clear thinker, like in Denmark.  I'd like to get paid for it.

49.How do you want to remember the year 2015 when you look back on it 10/20/50 years from now?  Everyone became and stayed Healthy starting on that year!

50.What is your number one goal for 2015?
Get better, get my strength back, and go on walks with my family and the little doggy.

Saturday Nine and Saturday Matinee bit's of knitting blah blah.

Dancing with Myself

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to
 our readers is that we will post 9 questions every

Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!



Saturday 9: Dancing with Myself (1980)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.


1) This song is one of Billy Idol's biggest hits. Can you name another?  "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding"  They all sound amazingly the same to me now.  I've had enough of Billy Idol's "music".

2) When is the last time you danced around your home?  Just a couple of days ago.  I used to dance around with tiny 6 pound Jazzie all the time but, at 17 pounds, Wolfie is just too heavy.

3) In this song, Billy says he dances with his own reflection. Is there a mirror in the room you're in right now? Not in this room.

4) "Dancing with Myself" is also the name of Billy Idol's 2014 autobiography. Let's say you're going to write your life story. What do you title it?  Following the Rough Road to Enlightenment

5) This month, Billy resumes his 2014-15 concert tour in New Orleans. Have you ever been to Louisiana?  No, never, though I've wanted to see the swamps, and have a chance to search for a
the probably extinct Ivory billed woodpecker.

6) In 1980, when "Dancing with Myself" was first popular, VHS players were all the rage. Do you still have yours?  Yes.  We have a lot of tapes still.

7) In 1980, The Love Boat was getting good ratings. Have you ever taken a cruise?  No.  I've water skied on Lake Mead though.  More fun!

8) Sally Field won her first Oscar in 1980 for the movie Norma Rae. Five years later she won a second Oscar for Places in the Heart and delivered one of the most quoted acceptance speeches in Academy history. Do you remember what she said?  I remember that she was awe struck and said, "You like me!  You really like me!".  She's just an adorable little gal.  Of course we liked her.

9) In 1980, People magazine named Stephen King one of the most intriguing people of the year because he had two big paperback bestsellers -- The Dead Zone and The Shining. Do you have a favorite Stephen King book?  I liked his short story, "Lawn mower man".. Everything else was just too strange for me.  Middle Earth Meets Psycho.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!


Saturday Matinee

Anyone looking for an alternative to run of the mill Christmas movies might want to check out this one.  It's an adaptation of a stage play, and called, "We're No Angels"

Little kids won't get it, and it's not from Disney, but it's set up like a stage play and it hilarious. Guess what's in the little box in the middle.

We watched tonight after trotting off to the vet with Wolfie to have his peeper checked.

Wolfie report: All is well. He has a severely dry eye and we have to watch it.. and hold him down for a drop in it twice a day.  We have been feeding him a little too much so he has a bound to drop.  More maniac runs on the beach would surely help but San Diego's beaches are off limits to dogs a lot of the time.  It's fine to take them at the crack of dawn though!  I love Santa Cruz for yet another reason!

I've almost knit the hat.  I might run out of yarn but it would be very fitting for a hat that - apparently- didn't really want to be knit in the first place, as it's fought me every inch of the way!  I'm off tomorrow on a quest to find left over Christmas cards-we waited rather late on this- and a pair of the fattest double points I'll have ever seen,  - 13mm's.  Pictures tomorrow.  They're on the camera but I forgot to upload them!  It has been a busy day with some snags of chrismas junk from Tuesday Morning.  DH said no to the tin lanterns, DAM!

Ok. good night!  I'm nearly blind at this time of night on a tiny
screen,  typos are not uncommon on these two memes, eh?
Love you all!  It's the meds by ow but the sentiment is always there....hehehe

Welcome

This is our place for the Friday writer's Flash Mob.  If you would like to join-up, go to Kate's blog for all the particulars, and meet the others in the group through their Linkies.  This is very fun, and makes you write a lot more "in the moment" than you night first imagine because your muse just cannot keep up!  Stream of consciousness writing comes the closest to this method of smoothing out the kinks in creative writing.  Have a go?  Look for Kate's button in the sidebar.

Prompt word is the very wonderful Word:  Welcome.

The first sign of welcome, to me is a smile.  That smile says "I feel safe with you here, and you may stop and talk to me, here I'll make a space for you on the grass/bench, whatever.  Yes it's a little crowded today, but sit down and I'll move my things so that we can share this space properly.  What is your name?  These are my kids and we just got some cookies from the bakery, here have one.  Did you have a good day?  We come to the park every once in awhile, its a very good place in Spring and Summer.   Oh, I see that we are taking classes at the same college but you are new here perhaps?

 Welcome means meeting the humanity of someone else and making them feel safe with your own.  You may not spend a lot of time but you really meet them, you welcome them into your space, and make them feel wanted and at home without really overwhelming them at the same time.    You know that you've met a brother or a sister.  You feel it in your heart.  Being welcomed in this way opens up doors inside of a person that they not have known they even had inside.  It takes a lot of the pain of living out of human encounters, and makes the world a much happier place.

stop

Post Operative rant caused by inflammation of the Credulity Glands. YES ITS A RANT

This email was sent to me by a reader of my blog:

"Prominent Michigan Cancer Doctor Pleads Guilty: ‘I Knew That It Was Medically Unnecessary’

http://www.inquisitr.com/1485160/prominent-michigan-cancer-doctor-pleads-guilty-i-knew-that-it-was-medically-unnecessary/

Dr. Farid Fata, a prominent cancer doctor in Michigan, admitted in court to intentionally and wrongfully diagnosing healthy people with cancer. Fata also admitted to giving them chemotherapy drugs for the purpose of making a profit. The cancer doctor’s guilty plea shocked many in the courtroom, according to The Detroit Free Press. Fata owned Michigan Hematology Oncology, which had multiple offices throughout Detroit’s suburbs. Fata’s reach included offices in Clarkston, Bloomfield Hills, Lapeer, Sterling Heights, Troy, and Oak Park, Michigan. The doctor stated his plea in the absence of a plea deal and with tearful eyes, according to CBS News.

“It is my choice,” Fata said on Tuesday of his guilty plea.

In the Detroit courtroom, the cancer doctor named numerous, dangerous drugs that he prescribed to his patients. With each admittance he stated, “I knew that it was medically unnecessary.”

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade will seek life in prison for what she called “the most egregious” health care fraud case she has ever seen."

This was my reply- with a few little extra Rants.  Yes, it's a RANT, and I don't care what anyone thinks because there are so many mistakes made in hospitals and by doctors.  I have no idea why but this is my experience and I'm sharing it.

Holy Cow! I wonder how many more are out there?

The mistake that put me into the hospital with a massive liver and gall bladder inflammation that spread to my pancreas, was made by a doctor.
I'm positive that it was just oversight on their part, as well as not checking this stuff out totally. And, probably not knowing the stuff could cause pancreatitis in the presence of other drugs, and had once been removed from the market because of that. Somehow, probably because the drug company complained bitterly about it and/or the FDA caved to pressure, it was re-instated.
I feel almost as bad as a lab rat, in fact, if an autopsy was ordered, I would have been just like a lab rat! Poor little things... Gott in Himmel!

It's a good thing that I know my body so well. The hospital then proceeded to give me a medicine that I had already shown allergy to- if they had checked the records. I was too gagga from illness to notice! I was so ill by that time that just about all I could do was try to not die by staying as calm as possible.

So, then, back at the clinic after the surgery, which was done by an excellent team by the way- my cardiologist just kept giving XX (that's the standard designation for poison) to me because he didn't bother to check his own records!

It was His Nurse -God Bless the Nurses!- who found the first report of sensitivity (noted in the record from months before) when I called to ask about why my voice was disappearing or getting really high, and why my legs were covered with flat round red dots.

I already had LOOKED on the WebMd website and they reported that it was allergy to the channel blocker the hospital had prescribed me while there. No one there, apparently, thought to check the doctor's records!

And, when I saw him, the Cardiologist, afterwards, he re-prescribed it to me without referring to his own records.

I was still recovering from Surgery, and I was gagga from the starvation, no sleep for four days and surgery drugs, all of which are now designed to make it so you never remember anything about the surgery, at all! They quite frankly make you stupid for weeks on end! I missed the allergic reaction for awhile myself until I knew something was very, very wrong!

I feel like you pay them a lot of money to take care of you and even some of the best can't do that little bit of reading a chart or the records?!!???

I'm blogging all of this, without your name or anything ... this really pisses me off!

Thankful Thursday- Honor Killings a Human Rights Violation of the worst kind; Trash Backwards Site; knitting blah blah, new David Austin rose

I'm VERY thankful not to be subject to Honor Killings, those terrible aberrations that are not only despicable, they are becoming more wide spread.  I watched a documentary, Link HERE, about groups who are trying to stop this Byzantine behavior amongst humans.  Actually, It goes back to before the Romans who also practiced it!  But I digress.

These women featured risk their lives to help others.  So, if any of you who work against this despicable Human Rights Abuse should see this, I am thankful for you to have been born and for the work you are doing!  This hurts women and their children and I feel that it has nothing to do with religion.  After all, why did the Romans do this, too?

May God Bless you and all who you help.  May the ones who do this see that it is not supposed to be this way.  May you remember the Fatima, how her father defended her:

"'The Holy Prophet said: 'Whoever injures (bodily or otherwise) Fatima, he injures me; and whoever injures me injures Allah; and whoever injures Allah practices unbelief. O Fatima! If your wrath is incurred, it incurs the wrath of Allah; and if you are pleased, it makes Allah pleased, too.' "

Ok, now for something completely different:

I'm thankful for Recycling bloggers!  This one is called "Trash Backwards" and you can see it HERE.   Originally I was looking for what to do with the mylar that CLIF Builder's Bars are wrapped in.  I did find some creative things to do with mylar, including chip bags - cleaned and reversed for wrapping up stuff to gift. Mylar does not make very good snowflakes.  *sigh*

I am thankful for the internet, but this has already been said like THREE- Yawwwwwn- times.  So, some actual web sites will be  tucked in, and maybe a few will migrate to the side bar in my long list of favorite haunts.  For fun things as well as other "Wake up we need you to know this is going on!" sorts of things, I am thankful for the INTERNET!!

Isn't that nifty? HERE'S the link to this part.

Within that last link is another link to the hilarious facebook page about Sun Chip bags that were so noisy that no one could hear conversations over them while noshing.  It's called, "SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SUN CHIP BAG!"  If you are on Facebook you will be able to log in and see it.

Anyway, keep on the sunny side of life!  It's where the best stuff is, though we do learn lessons from everything both our own trials and tribulations as well as those of others, it's a darn sight more happy when those are over!  Let's change things and THEN relax a  bit!



This music video is a little bit muzzy but all of the Carter Gals, and the Cash family are in it.  Lovely...

Wonky Woman report:  This is a new week, with some good news from the MRI, my ears are, indeed, in straight.  But I get to visit with some quite benign Physiotherapists, and other more SCARY doctors - neurologists- to get the all clear.  We, the Audiologist and I, think it's good news though, on the whole.  I'd be glad to be rid of balance problems and the wicked, sick headaches.

Knitted hat report:  Earlier last night I cast on yet again, fellow knitters, I'm going back at it on the hat.  I made every single mistake a knitter could make on the first attempt.  I had to cast on three (THREE!) separate times, then got the pattern dead wrong in trying to make TWELVE stitch wide cables instead of the called for SIX stitch ones... please don't laugh...

and that was that, said the woman to the hat.  As to spaced out knitting, maybe I'm distracted or maybe I'm past it, but I'm willing to set my troubled little paws back onto the needles because I LOVE THIS HAT too much to give up on it.

And today, the Knit Picks catalog came, so I'm off to drool over it!  And there is a new Sunset Magazine, and there is a new rose from David Austen.  It's called, "The Lady Gardener" ; it's an apricot colored rose with a gorgeous scent.  I am going to do my best to lay hands on it!  It sounds like just the right medicine for me!

My own lovely Apricot Nectar,

Overblown and....
desperately trying for a David Austen photo Op.
heehee

And the Torts, 

will have a new BBF!

As a new  Best Food Forever

The new superstar......

The Lady Gardener Rose: Picture from HERE

Knitting, and gardening, and reading Jane Austen Novels on the Kindle is a very peaceful life for which I thank God.  I wish that every woman in the world could have this sort of Peace.

Well, to be honest, I wish this for the guys, too, but they'd probably rather work on Motorbikes, cars, boats, or wooden things, or maybe plant fruit trees or build decks, and I'm sure they'd rather read Woodworker's Magazine or maybe Sports Illustrated.  Ok, I wish them THAT sort of Peace.  ;-)

Wordless Wednesday... San Francisco Arboretum.. Sunflower

Tuesday Tails...

Tuesday Tails... Many Questions....

Late last night I was watching a show called "Animal House"  We watch a few episodes every night.  And, I saw what was potentially one of the sweetest dogs I've ever seen having to be put down.  The kind people who had to do this didn't want to.  But, he was a pit bull.  No one had claimed him in the days he was there.  He couldn't be, or was too dangerous, maybe, to be, socialized; or perhaps there just weren't enough resources for him in the system?

The year we adopted Wolfie, there was a little Pit puppy, about ten weeks old,  who had one black ring around his eye, and was the perfect image of a pitbull from the early "Our Gang" films. He was adorable.  My only comfort was that he was in the Humane Society, and would not be killed.  I wanted that puppy so badly.  It was like..... HERE. IS. MY. DOG!

But we couldn't get him.  Another little life had called us there.  I only regret that we couldn't really afford to get both of them.

First day Home, from the Pound- October 2009
Wolfie was very ill but oh so willing to please

July, 2010- and fully feathered!  He's listening for his Pappa.

2012- Wolfie's "Can I have a Cookie" Face!
Could you resist that little face?

Beauty Pageant snap

It breaks my heart that any dog or cat has to be born that will not be loved and cared for, and socialized, as they are very specialized earthlings.  Humans bred them all for our species to use, as pets or as working animals.  Any little pet cat or dog that will not be made to know the joy of just being played with tugs at my heart.  Wolfie, for instance, never learned to play. It seems very cruel. All pet cats and dogs were bred to work for us, and to be our companions.  It's also the closest inter-species bond there is.

I also can't imagine having to be the one to make the decisions about who lives and who must die. This horrible decision, made a hundred times a day, is done in order to make room for the thousands more incoming pets - per year - that get lost or are abandoned.

Please:  Spay, Neuter, Adopt from a shelter... for the sake of your own heart. While you're at it, get two if they're small!

And remember this.  It's not just dogs and cats. This is happening to humans, too, every year, every minute, every second. Would that all lives were precious enough to be made special by the kindness that dwells in every heart!

 It's there, that kindness, even when not perceived!  It is something we are born with.  Just watch little tiny humans as they cry in sympathy.  And, incidentally, so do dogs and cats.  They do, if you watch them carefully enough.  They try to comfort you when you cry.

Question for the Ages:  As humans we've wasted a lot of time,lives, and resources picking on each other. Are we not capable of learning that we don't actually HAVE to have things this way?