"When I tell you something is dangerous, I mean it. And, I never forget the Victims"
T.J. Hooker
"Everyone can master a Grief but he who has it”
William Shakespeare
”I had given him a life not worth living, but I had also given him an iron will to live. This was a common combination on the planet Earth”
Kurt Vonnegut about his character, Kilgore Trout.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Thursday 13. Bits and Pieces Gathered in one place...

Some short and some very short tales.

1.  We have two baby torts that we haven't let hibernate at all until this year.  They were born in 2008. so that makes them 9 years old.  Originally there were four, but Mosquito and Button both died about four years ago.  The vet, who examined their parents during a Turtle and Tortoise Society pre-hibernation get together, said that since they were mixed breeds, they might not be as hardy.
Poko Ono is from the Sonoran race and Churchie is from the Mojavean race.  Poko's green eyes were passed down to one offspring, Lucky.  And all the rest have Brown Mojavean eyes like their Papa.

Being so small, they can be allowed to take a long winter's nap.  We therefore decided to keep them awake sometimes, and to let them go into torpor sometimes, as per all the pages on desert torts that we've read, (a literal TON of them!).

Yesterday, I wanted to wake these two fellas up for the first time since New Years.  (That's when the kids were here, and they took the babies outside in the sunshine and fed them a feast!)

Back to now:  Since one of them is a food hog he has to be fed separately.  Thus, Milagro was put on the outside of the box, while eating, and Dusty stayed on the inside, so that he would get to eat!  30 minutes, I reckoned, was enough to give him time to do so.
Several hours later (yes, now is the time to cue the cartoon of a woman whistling away, happily putting her iron into the top freezer of the refrigerator, and you will have the picture) I went back and couldn't find Milagro anywhere!  Yes, indeed, no Duh!  They are slow but the Aesop's Hare found out the hard way what I found out yesterday.
This morning, intending to organize a massive indoor search, I saw him, parked like a tiny SUV, under the Buffet.
Yes, we have lots of rocks sitting about.  I use them.
I reaaaally need to move those sewing machines.
Here is their bitty baby picture, with their sib, Mosquito.  Mosquito died,sadly, long ago.  They, along with Button who hadn't been found yet when the picture was taken, were born in the spring of 2008.  This picture was taken at Christmas in 2008 by Gee, ever the photographer!  Thank you, Gee! Your camera time stamped it!

Milagro with an M on her,his shell, in front
Dusty top left
Mosquito, top right.
Back to the story: I had thought M may have gone under the bed, and was busily eating the dust rhinos.  Milagro is now enjoying the warmth of the heat lamp and the grow light with his quite small brother.
Note: If the sex changes constantly in my Tortoise Tails, it's because right now they look like males but anything can and sometimes does, happen as they march toward Maturity at age 20.  With 11 years to go until that happens, I'm kind of sure that I'm not going to be around to see it.

2.  Story of our twins at the WTO protests in Los Angeles, and why I think the police have already got too much power...
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

 The Article Source is in the link just above...

And the now Ex-Seattle Chief of Police decries this turn of events as well.  He was chief at the time of the so called "Battle in Seattle".  It makes me very sad for Americans.

This story starts with a helicopter video of a van in the Los Angeles WTO protests, which was taken apart by the L.A. police and just trashed.  The twins were there to cover the protests for Gee's radio show in Santa Cruz.
We saw the van on television and immediately recognized it.  I called the Los Angeles Police Department to find out what happened to the girls!  The chief actually talked to me for about an hour, trying to allay my fears.  He must have known that they were at fault for targeting the girl's van, and later, after talking to the girls, I understood why.  I wasn't hysterical but was truly concerned for my daughters!
The police had stopped the van as it was exiting the parking lot behind the radio station in L.A..  They tore it all down and threw all the twins' equipment and belonging all over the place.  The REAL reason this happened was so that a local news van would be trapped in the parking lot while the police search was ongoing.    They knew that in trapping the local station's van, that the crew wouldn't be able to cover the marches.  I still believe it was an abuse of power, and the chief knew  it was.

To add to the insult, the girls had to painstakingly put back all the panels ripped out by the police and then put all their equipage back, tossing as fast as possible.  The added forty-five minutes kept the Local News van from covering the beginning of marches.  Additionally, in the abuse of power train, my daughter saw an indi reporter knocked to the ground and beaten and saw officers confiscating her cameras.  This also was witnessed by people at the nearby restaurant.  We do not need, for the sake of both "We, The People", and the many wonderful and decent Peace Officers, an even more militarized Police across the country.  BAD news.  Very bad!

3.  Knitting the Peace Cowl:  At first it was fiddly, so not so peaceful to knit, but now, it's flowing right along.  This is a very nice pattern.  I'm doing it on 253, or so, stitches as I like cowls not so big and loopy.  After casting on, I knit one round, to give it a nice edge.  The only thing I hate is transferring  the stitch markers, but that's always been true.  I cut them down to a bare minimum.


4. Decorating the computer room for Valentine's day:
I had decorated Mr. Z. computer station with this heart strand, and a big poofy garland, as well as hanging a sparkly heart, the twin of the one in the header, on his steel case hutch thinga.  He also received a card on line with a matching game to play.  He returned the favor by wrapping the string of hearts around my lamp.  I'd say this day was a success, on the way to our recovery.


5. Yarn pics with the code on the label:  I don't add many apps to my phone.  It's too difficult to read or play anything on a device that you need a magnifying glass to do so.
But this one looks intriguing.  And, it's the first time,ever, that I've seen something I am interested in as a Prize!  Free Pattern?  I'm so THERE!


6.  Puzzle sites and pics:  A few years ago, right after I'd gotten the kindle and iPad, I downloaded a couple of jigsaw puzzle apps to them.  The first picture is of Jigsaw Bug, and the second is Kristanex.  I like Kristanex a little better because it lets you upload your own picture and make a puzzle.  It also lets you save the pictures of their puzzles and they go right into your own pictures app.

It's also easier to play, but only a little bit.  Both are fun, have great features, gorgeous puzzle packs, and no dusty boxes!  Like CountryDew, I am allergic to molds and dust.  These let me play without paying the price in headaches and sneezing.  I wait for sales on the puzzle pacs.

JigsawBug

Kristanix

7. Neck pillow:  This is just a decorative pillow that was on close-out at the local Target many moons ago.  At first I used it to prop up the clipboard while doing cross words.  Now, it's the best side sleeper neck pillow going.  I tuck it into the bump of my shoulder and it supports my head perfectly.  When it gets too old, I will make one to replace it.  It's one of the happiest of little "impulse buys" in my adult life.



8.  I am tingling with delight to have found the hat needles.  FINALLY!
And yes, I really am reading Pollyanna, and am liking it very much.  This book must have come from Ohio with me and my mother, because one of my cousins was reading it in 1943.  She signed it on the fly leaf.  The MadTosh yarn?  What's not to love.  It will become a hat.


 After the cowl is done, I'll make some bed socks for a friend, and keep plugging along on the Manly Beastly.  My problem is that, after knitting the whole body in the round, I cannot fathom how to knit back and forth from a chart!  It's crazy making!

9.  A bird share photo album from Cornell Ornithology.  And they have a nifty spiffioso Coloring book, too, which I think I'll order.  It's Gorgeous!  It will be the first coloring book for me.  I think it's a great stress buster, and satisfies that artist in everyone.  Not being able to wave my left arm around much lately, I think it's  time to make the plunge.  I did love Life Drawing classes, and wanted to keep it up, but you have to wave your arm around a lot.

10. This was supposed to be where the Hershey pie recipe was scheduled to go but, alas, it could not  yet be found.  But I've found two things in the "Lost List" in the last couple of days.  Tomorrow I'm looking for the tiny speakers for the tiny Nano.

11.One of the greatest joys of life is to read.  Teaching little children that art/skill is one of the most rewarding things a teacher can do.  Elle taught her own sister, one year behind her, to read.  I have never seen Elle's eyes shine more than when we mentioned it from time to time.  And so, after finishing Pollyanna, I'll read this book, which Laura recommended to me.



12.  Our rose, Apricot Nectar is an old lady and is probably dying...  I love this beautiful Rose.  It is not even being grown anymore as a variety.  It's about 43 years old.  Some roses live to be hundreds of years.  I hope we can save it.



13. I had a good visit with my sister.  Having stopped by Starry Lane Bakery, we brought cookies for dessert!  Then we all talked and ate our lunches together.  She was feeling better than she has in weeks.  We discussed Health Insurance or lack of it, and her little cat, Middie, turns 13  19 tomorrow.

So we talked about Milo, my last and final cat.  He was almost human, that cat.  He was a friend to everyone but not savvy about roads.  I'll never have another cat.  Trying to keep a cat indoors 7/24 is not in my skill set.  I give in to their persistence about wanting to be let out, and that something you can never do.  There be Monsters out  there!  I mourned him for so long.

To Play along, and see the other players offerings, go HERE 

4 comments:

  1. Can you take a cutting from the rose and give it a start in fresh ground? Yeah, I know - easier said than done.

    I totally agree about the police. The US is becoming scarier and scarier by he minute.

    It's almost as if the turtle wanted to hibernate right there under the buffet.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Alice Audrey. Thanks for your comment. And, I really wish I could do that. Apricot Nectar is a hybrid, and it's patented, and it's still in effect. My mother did cuttings from her roses, but they were not patented. It's not hard just takes cleanliness and lots and lots of patience to graft.

      I fear that getting caught in the crossfire may be part of our future, because I think some of these law enforcement people are power mad, like some of the Generals are.

      Spot on about Milagro, who was "heading into the burrow there. She was trying to find a "safe" place from the Monsters (US) to spend the night.

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  2. I can't imagine tortoises walking around. Cute pillow. Awful story about the police. I don
    t know the story of Pollyanna, but what the name implies.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Colleen. I wish I'd raised farmers but then they are two of them farmers, really. Earth Goddesses maybe?

      Pollyanna, so far, seems to be a healing angel, as well as a little girl who takes a bad situation and finds some way to be glad about something related to it. Sweet Book, though a little trying, it's something that could cure a lot of ills in people. Think of her as a 19th Century "Happiness" guru.

      In California a lot of people take in Tortoises. Well, there are more of them here and the winter over well here. My neighbor had tortoises when we moved here with ours!

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I’m going through some stuff but I will peek in now and then and will be back when it’s over..