Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
IT WAS SUBLIME....
At the early dawn we headed to the woods…
As we entered the dirt road, it was daylight.
And we drove for miles up a winding road…
Just as we had been doing since last Friday.
After meeting a few hunters along the way,
we saw a sloping field… and like so many
other times, we thought we sure don’t want
ro see a moose there, as it was so far down..
And then, there he was.. I actually saw him first.
Which is weird as the King always sees them, and
had to point them out at great difficulty to the blind
lady… me…
But there he was, I grabbed the King’s arm as
he was looking out his window, and said LOOK!
Are those horns… he lifted up his binoculars.
Yes, but the moose was on the move… and
the King said there is a road below, maybe we
can get there before he does… so down and
around the hairpin turn. Stopped, the King
jumped out of the truck… up on the bank he
went to a large tree about 60 feet in. And BANG!….
I GOT HIM, I GOT HIM…
We went down to where the moose was.
The moose had fallen just 25 feet short of the
road. Thankfully Ken had built a boom with
electric winch… we were able to bring the
moose out to where we could work on it…
And work we did. Off with the head and antlers.
41” spread…. Then gutting to make it lighter.
Up on the boom, oops… still more moose on
ground… Back down and cut in half… and
after much ado… the whole moose was in the
truck… and heading for home…
The moose has been check in at the station, cut
skinned, and hanging…
AND THE KING IS HYPED… a hunter story for
a live time…What a day, it was a blast. It was wonderful
to see him so happy. We worked hard, side by side and I
wouldn’t have missed it for the world…
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
One Woman can make a Difference
I was watching a show called Independent Lens… I don’t know the name of
the subject for that day..but it was about Africa… very interesting….
I don’t know a lot about Africa, just a few things of the books and media. Like
how we got our slaves from there in the 1700’s and also how some of the rebels
in the past years have stolen male children to make them in to druggy, fighting
machines.. Making those particular Africans scum in my eyes. It is bad enough
when men fight wars. But to take children and have them do the work for them is disgusting in itself, but to make them in to druggy terrorist by beating and drugging
them is a new low in warfare.
The story on Independent Lens was about the trees of African near Kenya and in Kenya. It started out about how in the early years of the 1880’s the British decided to settle in a small area. There were 40 different Tribes at that time. In order to do this, they had to find a way to get rid of the natives. Or at least control them. That way they could remove the trees, and also enjoy the hunting. They decided to take over the natives with guns in hand… Caitlin guns. The natives had spears. In many areas they were told to kill all but the children. They couldn’t figure out how to take them over, even though they had a weapon power as there were far more natives than the few men with guns… so they decided they would destroy their culture. Starting with the Medicine men and elders of great powers. They sent in the Catholic Priest to convince the natives that Jesus was the only way, and the Elders and such, were the devil that they preached about in the bible. In time the natives turn against their Elders. (Kind of reminds me of the war against the Indians in the 1800)
In 1952, the Mau Mau from the Land Free African decided to rebel against this. So the British burnt the huts of the natives in the area, as they said they were hiding the rebels. Then they would take over the land of the burnt houses. They also burnt the forest in sections because they knew the rebels hid in the forest. They sent the natives to the British schools so they could learn how to be more civilized. Most Catholic schools. Kind of like Americans did to the Indian children. The British killed about 100,000 of these people.
In 1963, the British gave the Natives their freedom by having a Prime Minister, with the backing of the British. And he ruled for 15 years…
The women decided to get their trees back, so they started to plant trees in great numbers.
There was a woman called Professor Wangari Maathal, who was put in the Catholic Church as a child. Her mother use to talk about how the river ran thru their area, and the trees and how wonderful life was when she was a child. Wangari decided that she would take advantage of her education and put in for a University in America and she was accepted. She graduated with a PhD. She was the first African woman to do so. She came back to Africa and got married. Had 3 children. But ended up divorced. Losing her privileges and money because women didn’t have rights without their husbands.
But she didn’t give up. She had a dream of planting trees and bring back their green forest. She gathered women as she went. And all with this she brought in human rights.
The women started to plant trees, everywhere…. The government was starting to feel threaten by this group of women, who also talked about their rights.
In 1989 the Green Belt Movement was founded by Professor Maathal, who had started with the planting of the trees and went on to protest the Times Tower in her country. Taking the fight to the British. Telling how the tower would replace trees that were growing and also how they wanted to protect the trees and the vegetables and other vegetation in that area. The government was furious that she and the women had taken it out of the local area. And tried to put down the women… the women went on a hunger strike as the government had arrested their sons. They sat and sang in the Freedom Park area. And men had joined them. After 3 days the government were fed up with this so they sent their army to beat the women. It looked like the government was going to win, until one of the women yelled to the rest for them to stripe. And one of the men said to the army, that beating the women was like beating their own mothers. And the beating stopped.
The near by Catholic Church offered them protection by putting them up at the church.
More and more people started to join them. Until there were thousands of them.
The Prime Minister Moi let the sons free.
In 1998 the Government had sold the forest and told the women if they entered they would be killed. They protested again, and after Moi was defeated. Another Prime Minister and the Army General sympathized with the women and allowed them to plant trees, in fact they join the women in their planting and over a million trees were planted that year. In all total, there were over 35 million trees were planted. And now the people have a government by the people. Not perfect but a lot better.
And no I don’t see any level with Professor Maathal and Sarah Palin…not even close.
And you can Google Professor Maathal and her Green Belt Movement and read better stories than what I wrote… She is an amazing woman.
I have told my daughter thru the years, you can be anything you want to be, the only thing stopping you, is yourself…. I recently told one of my son’s who was complaining about the government, that why doesn’t he do something about it…. Start local…
I asked him the question … Do you go to your council meetings? As I do… What have you done for your city?
Friday, September 24, 2010
What was that NOISE???
And fast seconds went by as I heard a rumble,
then a small blast at the same time the dog
jumped off of her chair and the smoke alarms went
off… and I was thinking WHAT THE HELL…oh,
oh.no. It was the furnace coming on for the first time since May…
Thursday, September 23, 2010
What was the last Religion we hated?
But not to be confused with Atheist. It was Communist. The late 40’s, early to mid 60’s. The Russians mainly and Chinese somewhat. But fear crept into our souls when we heard a Russian accent. The witch hunts of the McCarthyism of the 50’s, Russian villains of the movies we watched.
The Communism movement brought the what was thought to be, in the beginning, the Workers Organization. So Americans were considering it an option. Not so much as a anti Christ movement, but as an anti government movement. A government of the People. Started quietly in the 20’s in back rooms. Whispered about during the depression times. Gathering in the 30’s. Postpone by the war, yet still underlining in back rooms to raise up again in the late 40’s and bellowing in the 50’s of small groups. Kind of sounds more like the tea party of non-Christians.
So every Russian was of suspicion. The Russian Mafia didn’t help. And yet we survived it all. And we aren’t speaking Russian as those who feared thought we would.
It all goes back further, with each generation. We have had so many… from the witches of New England’s in the 1800 to Nazi’s and Germans who lived here… We seem to like throwing out the baby with the bath water.
I wonder… what religion and fear of people of their country, will be feared next?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
To Kindle or not to Kindle
some time. The prices were over $280
so I knew there was not going to be a
Kindle in my future any time soon…
But of late, I see the temptations of
lower prices… even as low as $139.
Which is still out of my price line but
a little closer to it. But something I
could afford, say in a year or so…
But the other thing is I love books.. the
real deal. But of late, I look at my book
case and see the books that I have chose
to keep over the years, after culling thru
them several times.
I had a 8 foot bookcase by 7 feet that my
late husband built for me. But when I sold
our place out in Vay 20 years ago, I left
the book case. As it was too big for my
apartment I rented. So I went thru the
many, many, many books I had and gave
away to friends, book stores and second
hand stores. Going from 4 shelves of
cook books down to about 1 shelf now
on a small 4 foot by 3 foot bookcase.
Even now I have one shelf of cookbooks,
and 1 shelf of health books, half a shelf
of different types of bibles and several
shelves of novels of all ages and subjects.
The others are dvds, these are on my two
small bookcases.
And I think about the Kindle and how I could
get rid of half of those, but will I? Would I
read as much as I use to? I cut my reading
by at least 2/3rds when I went to work 24
years ago. Found myself falling asleep by the
first half page. Unless it is a book that really
grabs my interest… Use to read all the time.
I use to hold a book in one hand and cook with
the other. Be up until 2am sometimes so I could
finish a good that was so good I wanted to know the
ending… Had a book in the car, so I could read if I
got stuck in traffic, or a doctor’s appt. or anywhere
else I would have to wait. Now I can’t stay awake.
The other question of course is, am I smart enough
To know how to download books on it, and do I have
to have fast speed server to do so. As my dial up
is so slow I can’t even watch a 3 minute U-tube show.
So the question … to Kindle or not to Kindle…
$139 is a lot to lose if I forget it some place, or
it gets stolen, compared to a $24. book
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tea Party and such
in their attempts to redo the Congress, I wonder,
somewhere, were it is about us?
I see them riding Sarah coattails down the road,
as she runs around the country spreading her
approval of each of the candidates.
I don’t see any substance. Running on the
“throw the bums out” platform. Telling how
the good old boys need to go. But what I want
to know is what do they plan on doing for the country.
There isn’t anything said about that… except maybe
turning different laws and policies around and getting
rid of everything. But they don’t seem to tell us, what
exactly do they have, to replace anything. Or what new
plan do they have.
The scary part is that many of them might get in there.
Look at all those who came to the Beck bash in D.C.
For everyone of them, there are two who couldn’t afford
to go, or didn’t want to travel that far…
And when that Tea Party person gets in there, then what?
Are the good old boys as they call the senior congress
persons, going to let them do anything. And what committees
will they be on? They might find themselves like most freshman
Congress person, pretty much toothless… So how will they
explain that to the people who voted them in? Will they be
voted out as fast as they went in?
And Sarah? Well, she reminds me of the saying going around
about Liberace in the 1950’s… When people were making
fun of him, and they say yes, but he would be laughing allthe way to the bank… Sarah is pretty much the same..
Monday, September 20, 2010
Lazy Monday
I made 18 jars of Jalapeno jelly, I made
stuff cabbage for dinner on Sat. and baked
chicken on Sunday...
Oh, yea.. finally gave in to my wanting a
funnel cake. Didn't get one at the fairs,
didn't make one over the summer. I knew
I shouldn't have it...but Friday night before
I went to bed, I falter and gave in to temptation.
I made funnel cake.. I ate one. (the recipe made 4)
and left the rest for the King for breakfast.
The King spent the last 3 days climbing up and down
hills, riding up and down roads in the hunt of the moose.
He was one of the lucky ones in the drawing, and he is
so hyped about getting the tag. AND he has seen bull
moose in the summer ever since he got his tag...
The season open last Wed. And not a bull moose to
be seen. Cows, calf, yes, but no bull moose. I told him
they had hunting calendars too...
So today as we get more rain... I am curling up on the
couch, with magazines in hand, and coffee cup on the
side table... with glances out the window to see the rain
come down... and read and who knows puppy and I might
nod off to sleep....
Thursday, September 16, 2010
In Between Season
Winter yet, and you figure you have a month or so.
So too early to put away the hoses, and cover the
faucets.
But too early to pull up the plants in the garden.
You see so many green tomatoes, that you want
to hold out as long as you can… Otherwise it is
wrapping time… at least that is how my mother
did it… she would wrap the tomatoes in newspaper.
And she would have ripe tomatoes up to December.
So here I am in the in-between season… so much to
do, but not yet!! And we know that the first week of
October is Indian Summer so it will be warm…
So what to do, what to do?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
We Americans have an obsession with Death
As we, as a nation observe the 9-11 date, there
it is every where… Television, Facebook, Blogs,
Newspapers, magazines… it is every where.
I am probably the only one in the USA who is
overwhelmed with it. I just don’t understand.
Yes, it was horrible. Yes, the family are still
mourning in their own way… but we seem to be
a nation that dwells on the last tragedy.
What do I mean? Well, what about the Oklahoma tragedy?
Don’t see anyone making a big deal of that? Where is the
big programs, Facebooks, magazines, Newspapers? Why,
because it was our own nutcase who did the damage? But
doesn’t the parents of those children/babies who died, grieve
as much?
Pearl Harbor is mention less and less as time goes away…
And of course in the what, 1890’s or early 1900’s.. there was
the call of “Remember the Maine”. All is forgotten.
I don’t mean we shouldn’t observe it happen. I don’t say forget it,
But could they tone it down a bit.
But the media treats it like it happen yesterday or even last year.
It was 9 years ago… can imagine what next year will be like with
it being 10 years.
There was a woman who was still crying over her daughter, that
was interviewed. The daughter died in the towers. I know it is
horrible. But so are the ones who died at Pearl Harbor, who died
in Oklahoma, and for that matter for each love one who was killed
by a drunken driver and the rest of the horrible ways that we lose
someone suddenly. A horrific car accident or murder is just as horrible
to the parent as the parents or wives/husbands who lost those in New York.
I know I will be thought of as a hard hearted person. That I don’t know
What it is like to lose someone suddenly. But the answer to that is yes,
I do know what it is like. But I went on…with life, with great memories
of them. Maybe because I believe that God rules our lives, and some
people are meant to be with us thru the duration and some are not.
And to appreciate them when they are with you… and keep the memories,
When they are taken from you suddenly. But don’t dwell on them like it was yesterday…
I have compassion, but I guess I look at life more logical. Don’t know if that is good or bad.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
What did that book say???
feel the need to do so. But I have read other’s take on it and the parts they have
taken out of it. And I wonder… do they pick out what they want to pick out to
make their case? This actually can be done with books of all kinds…
But just for the heck of it, read these “outtakes”….
He, who sacrifices to any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
1
If your brother, son or daughter or wife says to you…. Let us go and serve other gods (whom neither you nor your fathers have know…. (many more words) ….but you shall surely kill him, your hand shall be first against him to put him to death and afterwards the hand of all the people. So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (it goes on to tell you if you hear, to go out and seek to see if it is true.) And if it is true…you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city and with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it. (going on to tell you) then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 2
You are to go out and see if a man or a woman did this deed and if it is true you are
To bring them to your gates, that is the man or woman and she shall stone them to death…On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death”.3
We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
4
Not exactly love your neighbor type of words…And if you are wondering what book I did these outtakes from…. It is our very own bible… here is where you can find them… (and these are just a sample of what is in our bible)
1 Exodus 22:20
2 Deuteronomy 13 13: 6 to 16
3 Deuteronomy 17: 2 to 7
4 1st John 5: 19
I was just saying the other day, something about this to my daughter, and
then in yesterday’s letters to the editor some one wrote it (probably a lot better than I just did), something similar…. But he did the research… so thank you Stephen Augustine of Sandpoint.…
So those who are Christians and condemn the Muslins… I have to ask are we any better than tha? well, I would say the answer is kind of yes… as we have gone on with our Bible, we have not taken it word for word anymore… thank God. (no pun intended) and I think 90% of the Muslins in the USA probably have done the same with Quran. But it is the 10% and the ones who are still in the old country that I would say take their Quran word for word… and that is our problem we have to deal with daily.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Worthless Holiday
of recognition. . What ever…
I think Grandparents day is one of the useless
holidays. Think about it…how do you become a
grandparent? You first have to be a mother or a father.
Which we already have a big todo over those two days.
The guilt trips that are not only put on the children to give
Gifts, call, take out to dinner…but also lay it on to the
Husband/wife as well… So why, should you get another
Day and call it Grandparent Day?
Now if they really want to do something …how about.
Sibling Day. It is too long to call it Brother/Sister day.
But think of it… You can be a Sister and not be a mother.
You can be a Brother and not be a father. After all, maybe
you didn’t get married, ever… or if you do, maybe you chose
not to have children… So where is your holiday or day of
Recognition.?
You could have cards of “wow, we both made it thru our parents
raising, together.” Or, You know I don’t tell you very often, but I
appreciate all that you did when we were growing up.” And of course
all the funny cards of “ Hi, Funny Face, just wanted to let you know
I love having you for a Sister” and etc…
Now Happy Sibling Day I could get into… who knows, maybe it
would be a good enough excuse to open the door to old hurts and
resolved them…
And yes, I am a grandmother, and I don’t need my grandchildren feeling
guilty because the day went by and they didn’t say HAPPY GRANDPARENT
DAY… heck I didn’t even know it was, until my Pastor brought it up..
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Never Ending Mail
What do these have in common?
If you are a member of their club you will
get the never ending mail…
Seems they think you want insurance. Not only
life insurance but health insurance, car insurance,
cancer, nursing home, and what ever insurance they can think of…
If I wanted other insurance, I would contact them and ask them.
But with out answering you get every 2 months or more… more
and more ads or letters of such…
Where is my spam button for regular mail?
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
What is it about food directions on the bottom of boxes
meals… The directions are on the bottom.
Now you don’t want to turn the box upside down,
because you know what is going to happen to
the food inside.
Pies are the same. Especially pumpkin. Do you
remember what the directions where from last time?
Heck no. Was it cook high for 15 minutes and then
dropped a lower temp? And what was that temp?
So you hold the box above your head, trying to
read the directions which is in small print.
Or is my eyesight going?
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
How many books do I need?
zoomed up our driveway on a Sego, swung his arm to put
a bag on our porch and off he went… Yes, on Labor Day.
Althought he looked like he was having more fun than work.
So I retrieved the bag and sure enough it was what I thought it
was… kind of… I thought it was the BLACK BOOK. But instead
it was the VERIZON book. For those who do not live in our area,
The BLACK BOOK is a phone book from Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho
(45 miles south of us) put out by the Hagadone Publishing Co.
Hagadone being a big company over many small companies.
This is not to be confused with YELLOW BOOK that is put out
by someone from Coeur d’ Alene, I don’t know whom.
Which is yellow outside of the book, with yellow pages first and
White pages last. Which covers 18 towns.
So here I sit with THE BLACK BOOK, THE YELLOW BOOK, and then
there is now, the VERIZON BOOK, (which our phone company isn’t
Verizon, or we are told, was sold to Frontier) and THE LOCAL BOOK.
THE LOCAL BOOK covers 16 tiny towns and areas. VERIZON BOOK only
covers 8 towns.
Just how many books do I need? And if a company is not listed in the
New Verizon book does that mean it isn’t in business anymore… or are
they just as confused as I am, to which book do you use?
Oh, well, at least this time I didn’t find the book in the ditch, which is par
for the course around this time.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Labor of pictures
Our cat Rokon from time to time thinks she is human... and sit as such..
I liked this one because the grass shadows on to Misty... with dandelions in the background
with her head held high, she looks regal.
I loved the color of this one...
The purple and white seemed so perfect in rhythm.
I love the turning of the leaves... and this was one that I came across last fall...
Winter scenes.... the bleakness of the branches in the cold winter..
The fir tree with snow on it, and the street orange like light highlighting the picture
Here the birds were seeking shelter is the bush...
The fall colors... I saw this tree on the way to the post office last year....
Misty sits like a vulture, as she scouts out what the King is eating... and in hopes
So hope you are enjoying the last holiday of the summer.... it always seems so short.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
My A.D.D. Day...
It started out kind of wobbly… I set my alarm
for 6:30am like usual, but when I got up it was
gloom and doom like weather and cold had crept
in past the AC unit. The dog was under the covers,
and I thought… I am 70 and can do what I want.
And I wanted to be warm… so I joined her.
I was up at 8, coffee cup in hand and getting the newspaper.
Turn on my computer…yes, I was suppose to be doing my
exercise by that time…but figured what the heck. See I don’t
turn on my computer until I have done my exercises.
Well, the next few hours went kind of like this… answer an email,
or two… and then got another cup of coffee, and read the paper a
little. And it dawn on me that I should be doing the laundry as it is
done on Thursday and Sunday. And I didn’t do it on Sunday with
guest here. So off I went to get the laundry, but as I went by the
bedroom, I saw I had not made the bed… which reminded me I was
going to change sheets today. So stripped it out and threw them in
the living room. Off back to the bathroom to get the wash, when I
saw the garbage can, which reminded me that Thursday is garbage
day and we put it out the night before (I put it out in the afternoon
before) as he can arrive at 7am. So took out the garbage, which meant
gathering the rest of it Back to the bathroom to get the wash… opps,
haven’t remade the bed… so got a sheet out that I got from a yard sale.
No it isn’t Queen like she said..it is Full. Get another out, and made the bed,
and the door bell rings, ….. as I started to open it, I look down at my legs
and it dawns on me… I have my pj’s still on… So there was my friend Marianne, dropping something off for me…and it is at least 10 am, and I am in my p.j.s….
Too late to run to change. You just go for it, it is what it is…
See I usually dress right away in the summer (I am more lax in the winter) so
never gave it any thought in my running here and there…
Well, the rest of the day, even after I did put my clothes on, didn’t get any
better….
I decided it is no wonder I am brain dead…. After all, look at what I have given
up. Spelling…spell check. Phone numbers….quick dial, License plate numbers, no one ask for them anymore… no wonder my retention skills are broke…
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
OUTLAWS
My Outlaws that double for our friends… They came
an extra 8 hours from their original destination to see us.
I felt honored that they made the trip. As they are from
San Diego.
Outlaws are people who you use to be related to by
marriage. I was divorced once and widowed the second
time.
And I have been lucky as all of my Outlaws,
I am still friends with. And most I still have a regular
contact . Some, who I have recently thru Facebook,
have come to know again. They are the children of
brother/sister in laws. It is neat to see how they have
grown and their lives now. And it is wonderful to see
that they have the sense of humor of their parents.
So we had a wonderful weekend with the Outlaws, took them
to Birds Museum and out on our boat on the lake. Really enjoyed
reminiscing with them about past times.
Are you still friends with your outlaws?