Visitors....

We have had a visitor for a while... It was kind of funny as I was putting in fake flowers

about 3 weeks ago in some baskets I have that hang on the back porch. About a week later

I saw that the flowers I had in one, was on the deck. I went to place them back and saw

that in the basket now was a nest. So I put the flowers around the basket. And we have

seen a nervous robin, hovering around the basket. Going from garage roof to the porch.

Why she chose the basket next to the door where all the traffic was, I don't know.

But this week I am going to have some remodeling done at the back door which

is in the area of the basket. So after great thought, I moved the smaller two first.

Then I put the big one with the nest in it.. next to them.. Hoping Momma would

notice. What I had was a worrysome robin mom... So moved the basket near where

it was, but away from the hammering area...

When I moved the basket, I looked in (there wasn't anything there weeks ago.

And lo and behold.... there was two mouths open and the biggest eyes I ever saw.

The babies had fur feathers..and there was another blue egg... so these guys had

to be born this am or yesterday...(Saturday)

I was concern as I didn't know if the mom would accept the new place where I put

the basket.. but after an hour, I looked out the door and there she was ....in the basket..

Whew... relief...

I can't even imagine....

I have watched the news over the years about tornado alley. Which
is part of the country that is slammed with tornados each year at this
time of the year.. I don’t know if they have a certain season, like
Hurricane’s or not. Being I was raised in Hurricane area, I can under
stand some of how they feel. As Hurricanes over the years have done
their damage to the New England area… but not as much or as bad
as the south. The last really bad Hurricane in New England was Carol
In the 1950’s.I was there for that. Others came after but they didn’t do as
much damage as Carol. But even that one, wasn’t as bad as the 1938 hurricane.
Which was before they had names, and also before Providence built their
huge gates to prevent Providence from flooding.. Florida to North Caroline
seem to get the worse of them.

But I can’t imagine sleeping in my bed, and suddenly if possible a siren
goes off, (because sometimes they don’t get a warning) and then in a
few minutes of hell, I don’t have a house… if I am lucky I have my family.
then later walking thru my town, I see the company I work for, the building
Is gone. No house, no job, all my possessions and food are gone.
How do you start over?

I can remember my mother talking about living in St. Louis and heading home after school... she was driving her car and was speeding 70mph to get away from a tornado that she could see in her rearview mirror, and then coming to a Y in the road, she took to the right and the tornado took the left side...with her less than a mile ahead of it, and the wind that was so horrible she could barely keep the car on the road.She moved to Newport to be with her grandfather and finished high school there, it scared her so much.

I just can’t imagine… Hurricanes were horrible enough…

Lost in the 50's...2011 parade

Everyone loves a woody... no matter how old...


This year... even Wilma brought her car....

This one was a hard to get in its real style, as it went sideways, as well as front ways...

The 1940's were a fine year for cars... followed by the 50's.. but I am sure there will be those who disagree...

Then there are the 30's lower roof style...

My girlfriend, who became my sister in law...had a Plymouth just like this.. same color..

1940's Crosley... I was 4 when my dad put me behind the wheel in a field in a yellow convertible Crosly just like this... he had the wheel tied so it only went in circles... but I thought I had the world by the tail.

Rods are always crowd pleasers......

Then there are the pickups that we all love too....



We have one of these... I would love to tell you it looks just like this...but I can't...

for 9 years now.. the frame is outside the garage.. the cab is wrapped inside the garage,

and fenders are on one side, the box is upstairs in the eve of the garage... motor is hanging

from the beam... and SOMEDAY... SOMEDAY... well, I have waited 9 years so far... lol

we didn't go downtown for the Saturady view as the guys had fishing on their minds and us gals, had yard sales on ours...

Server, site or forgot

So I forgot to blog today… well, not quite forgot…
I don’t know if it was the server or the blog site, but
one of them was keeping me from posting a blog.
So I got busy after two different tries…and I forgot.
Oh, well there wasn’t much to day anyway…

Update:
It is almost 9pm and I finally getting on my blog
post site…(tried at 3pm, and 6pm) too late for anything…
tomorrow will be
pictures of lost in the 50’s ..

How can I complain? HOW DARE WE COMPLAIN!!

Here we go again, back to the cooler weather and wind
and rain. It seems like there is more wind this year than we
can remember……yet……

How can we complain? The temperatures in the 50’s and low 60’s
After having some 70’s over the weekend. The rain started again
Sunday afternoon and evening.. Our gardens are starting so very’
slow and we complain. It is only May, we don’t get good garden
weather until mid June. After all, we got married June 5th and it
was like winter. Our pictures show everyone still in winter coats.
Yet, how dare I complain? So what it is rainy, so what it is cool
To cold… so what……how dare I complain…..

After all, we sit here dry in our warm house… watching the television.
And what do we see? The rain, the hail, the wind…. We have a warm
dry house, they don’t even have houses, heck some of them don’t
even have towns left. All of their belongings, blown to kingdom come.
Their lives torn literally apart. Jobs? Their companies are blown to the
winds.. How can you go on, if you have lost your love one,or your home,
or your job or even all of them.… yet you see brave faces with tears,
as they walk thru rubble that was once their lives, just a day ago.
Not just one town, but towns from Louisana, to Iowa or more.
Flooded towns, tornados… and we complain about our uncomfort?
HOW….DARE… WE… COMPLAIN !!!

3 to 8 weeks out....

3 to 8 weeks out seems to be my theme song lately.

I remember when you went into a store and saw
what you wanted to purchase. And you paid for it,
AND took it home.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case much any more.
We bought a couch, we lucked out sort of. It was either
a wait and they would deliver (for a cost, of course.) or,
this is where we lucked out… we could go back to the
Valley (Spokane Valley) to their warehouse and pick it
up. Which is what we chose. The 4 other stores that we
looked at, even one who professes to ‘GOING OUT OF
BUSINESS, EVERYTHING IS TO GO, the wait was …
Drum roll… 8 weeks out… (I thought everything in the store
was going…oh, well, nothing there I liked anyway)

But we put new carpet in the living room and hall.. 3
to 6 week wait.. lucky for us it was 3 and half.
Bought a new dishwasher to put in the kitchen when we
remodeled.. yep… 4 week wait. Got a 4 wheeler, ended up
2 weeks (parts we wanted were backed ordered)…
Ordered a recliner for me… 8 weeks wait. Order
French doors to be installed in back… 6 week wait.

And now Spring heading towards summer? It looks like a
8 week wait..

And waiting is not my best virtue…

Would you get on the bus?

I was watching the PBS show last night called Freedom Riders.
It was where a bus left Washington, D.C. and Nashville, Tennessee
in what I believe was 1961.

The riders were white as well as black. It showed the hardships,
Which included beatings and death. Cars following, threatening
riders and drivers, tires flattening, bus burnings.

As I watched this piece of history, I had to ask myself and wondered
about others… Would you have signed the paper and got on the bus?
The paper that was signed, was your understanding that you were
riding a bus, in a protest of civil rights and the consequences of that
ride. I don’t think death was one of them, but it had to be an unwritten
thought, when getting on that bus. After all they would be riding thru
the deepest of the Southern states. Where the KKK was still alive
and well, and more lively than it is now. Not to say they aren’t still
alive and well. Would you believe in civil rights so much, with so
much passion, knowing you could be beaten, and in your subconscious
know you could die? Would you sign the paper and get on the bus.
If the times today were as bad as they were then?

I got to say, to be honest, that I wouldn’t. I might stand up and say
that the black deserve the same rights as I have, I might go to a
protest in the safety of my own town, but ride a bus thru the
Deep south…no way… Sure it is easy now, you can Twitter, you
can Facebook, write a blog about it, that is the easy way.

So what do you think? Would you have? For those of you in your
late 60’s or 70’s, or early 80’s. Did you think when you were in
your 20’s/30’s, that you wish you lived close enough to go?
If you didn’t have a family who depended on you, would you have
gone?

The Next Reality show...

I have a idea for a new reality show... it will be like American Idol and the rest.. except you don't dance or sing... they will judge you on charisma..

If you have enough charisma to win, then you get YOUR OWN reality show...
They won't have to pay big stars million dollar a show contracts so that will save the producers money.
You have to provide your own apt. and car, and living expense, so no expense there either, for the show.
The producers just have a crew come and set up the camera’s… and have one
follow you around to see what your life is like.

For most of us this would be boring for the audience, but if this person wins the
Reality Show Reality Show… (no that isn’t a repeat) they have to have the
charisma to be interesting..

And all those auditions, all over the country… nah.. all you have to do is
put it on U-tube, and millions can vote that way. And the weekly show
will show the top 10. Then the person puts up another U-tube entry and
the millions vote off the one that they don’t like… until they get down to
the last 3 contestants. All of this can be showed on the television for those
who don’t have computers and are not online. They get to vote off the one
they don’t like by phone.

Then the winner, gets their own show mention above. Maybe not as good
as a million dollar deal, but other reality shows go for less. And you get to
be famous.

Prom Gowns

It is prom time, a wonderful time for the young seniors
in high school’s all over the nation.

It was 54 years ago that I went to the Prom. I was a nerd,
type, just wasn’t the smart kind of nerd. I went, I had an ok
time. I was home by 1am… and the boy’s mother called our
house at 4am.. wanting to know if I was home.. so I guess
he went out and had a great time. Lol….We had gone to a
dinner after, I think… and Alice would have to remind me, but
I think she and I decided to walk in the water at the beach in
our gowns…

I remember my gown.. I was a country girl. Mine wasn’t the satin
type that most girls had. And my mother made my dress for the prom
and it was made ……out of feed sacks…. In those days they
had feed sacks with designs on them.. flowerly, checks and etc.

My dress was bleached out white from the waist down. And the top
was red and white check. And I wore it proudly… I wish I had kept
a picture of it.. I thought I still had one but I guess it got lost some
where. My hair was put up on my head in a bun. I had almost waist long
pony tail at that time. And I had black ballerina shoes…

Summer where are thou?

I know I saw it yesterday, I felt it when my jeans and
shoes were getting heavier… I went back in about noon
and changed to shorts… Yes, shorts… that is the sign of
Summer for me.. Now the King he changes to shorts as
soon as the sun is out for more than 4 hours and the temps
are up above 50. And he is one of the last ones out of shorts
in the fall.

I have been working out in the yard for the past two days. I
now know where several of my muscles are. Ones I haven’t
evidently used since last year. I gave up bending in half to do
work, which you aren’t suppose to do anyway. I bend the knees,
and I have the senior citizen cart. It is a little Rubber
Maid (I think) cart with four wheels and has a department to put
tools and you can sit on it… which works in some areas and not
others. Like rocky areas. While I have gotten a lot done in the two
two days, I have more to do. And here we are back to cold and
Spring again.

Ah, what a tease Summer is… a few 60’s here and there, some sun
and then back to rain and wind. I know, I know in two months I would
be glad to see that, as we hit 90’s. But I sure wish the ratio was a little
more even.. 2 sunshine and 60’s (yesterday was 73) and then 4 to 5
days of rain and wind, and over cast (predicting 50’s for the weekend
and rain) … 3 sunshine to 2 rain would be better..

On another subject:
I am glad Obama chose not to show the pictures… It isn’t that OLB
deserves better… it is we, who deserve better.. Why some Americans
have a love affair with gory pictures is beyond me.. And as far as the concern
that some think maybe he isn’t dead… well, I can bet money that if
it wasn’t true… He would have been on television and brag how the
USA messed up again… and he got away… and laugh… In fact I am
surprised his people haven’t gotten a look a like to do such a thing. After
all, those dictators have had look alikes for years, Iraqi’s and 6 of them.

How many servers have you had?

How many times have you changed servers over the years? I have
been on the computer since 1993 or 4… and I have had 8 or 9. All
dial up except for a short 8 months I could afford fast speed with my
cable company. Then we downsized when the King retired, to dial up
again… I did find one that may be affordable, BUT when I did the research
for it, the complains were a few and the main one was that the company
said they have 5.? as normal use and all those said it is more like 9.? And
a few of them had bills of over $100. So decided not to go with the phone
company. I wondered why they had a limit as most have unlimited use.

So here I sit with dial up, and get frustrated with it… I have even toyed
with the idea of getting a Verizon (for lack of a better word) tooth that I
can use wireless thru..but it would get pretty spendy. I thought about it
because they I could even read emails while on the road with the King
driving, and anywhere I wanted to go..but again the expense.

Thought about giving up my home phone and get one but …. My home
phone number is one I have had for over 30 years. And it is like giving
up the imbilicial cord.

So how many years have you been on line and how many different
servers have you had?

Fun from the dumps

One person’s junk is another person’s treasure

One of the fun things I got to do as a kid with my Dad, was
go to the dump. Go to the dump? A favorite thing? Yes,
to us it was an adventure… we would empty out the truck,
and then walk around and see what others had thrown away.
My mother hated it.. because some times we almost bring back
as much as we took. There would be wheels, some kind of
item that my Dad could fix and sell, or use. It was always cool.
There toys that we would see, new things with tags, not wanted
anymore.. Yes it was quite an adventure.

And many years later the kids and I would do the same. My boys
especially had the best made bikes and wagons, that they built out
of spare parts from the dump. No wonder each one is a mechanic
either in their occupation, or as a side job. Saving great money on
their own family vehicles over the years and their friends.

There were funny stories about some of the things brought home.
There was the cool ice cube maker of feet, or so my son thought it
was… until I turn it over and it was the upper torse of a woman’s
body that the ice cubes made. And I had a red face 11 year old son.
There is the cart they made of spare parts and with a car steer wheel.
The oldest always being the driver until badgered into letting the next
in line to be able to drive.
#2 son being about 9 and 3 years junior of the oldest.. And on the way
down it was bumpy and the oldest behind (as that was the agreement
of letting the younger one drive. Not the best decision) With #1 Son
complaining on the way down, the #2 son got fed up and raised the
steering wheel, which was not bolted to the shaft, and handed it
back to the older one. Of which time the cart became slighty airborne
and turning on its own, and rolled the rest of the way down the hill on
its side. #1 son is a logger and does mechanic work on the side. #2
son has his own restoration of old vehicles shop.

Then there came the replacement of the dump…transfer stations. I
had an elderly friend who ran the local on in Roslyn. He would stop
by after work and drop off things that could be used. And I would find
homes for them. A lot of them were children clothes.. still with the tags
on them from local stores. I knew a lot of single mom’s or families
without jobs, who could use the clothing for their kids. Or house hold items.
At the transfer station he would put the items to the side and if anyone
had an interest In them, he would give them away…(kind of like the
Colburn Mall) and what wasn’t gone by the end of the day, he would load
up and see if I knew anyone who could use them.

But now… you go to what is known again as the dump, and see many
things you could use and the gals are hard as a rock NOTHING LEAVES
THE DUMP…… unless it is in the Colburn/Dufort Mall area… I love to get
wood, boards and such I can build with, those are never in the Mall area.

We thought we were recycling back then…
Nope, going to the dump isn’t as much fun anymore

Throwing away your stuff...

Don’t be afraid to throw your things away…

Yea, right… but I did do pretty well, considering.
this past week, have been emptying the totes that
I packed up 3 weeks ago, to empty my living room, so
the carpet layers would be able to just walk in and start
laying mats and carpet. 14 flaming totes, plus furniture.
where does all this stuff come from?

So back it goes, BUT, downsized as we got rid of two end
tables, which meant we had to figure out what to do with all
the stuff we had crammed in there. Like games, cards, albums
and God only knows what else… Gone is a chair, bench, lamps.

We gave away furniture, between the neighbor and Goodwill.
We threw a garbage bag in a box full, out, and we boxed up some
keeps to be stored as we werent ready to get rid of it yet. Maybe
next time around.

Throwing away, is not easy for me… I always envision weeks,
months, and even years later having a need for things, so I hate
to throw it away. But I was brave and threw things away. If it was
of use to others, it went in the Goodwill box. Other wise it was
in the garbage box… I was amazed at how much I got rid of..

Now I am trying my best not to bring in new stuff… as after all,
it is all just stuff…lol… but what I have left pleases me…

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
to the mothers who had formula spill down the back of their best blouse.
to the mother who sat with their child as they threw up and wish it was themselves instead.
to the mother who ran home from work in time to see their child make a run to base in baseball game
to the mother's who survived the teen years,
to the mother's who sit waiting as their child goes to the prom, and hopes they had a good time
and are safe.
to the mother who sits and watches as their child made it across the stage to get their diploma
when there were times she wonder if that child would.
to the mother who see's their child get their first job and celebrate with them.
to the mother who cries as they watch, as their child gets marriage and then the grandchildren that come after.
to the mother who swells with pride as their see their child become adults and sucess...
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU, MOM..... EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU...

Whoa, not so fast...

Whoa, not so fast, hate to rain on your parade but... bin-Laden was only the bogeyman face of the terrorist. The war isn't over. We still have a long way to go. What now? retaliation? or will some decide to stand up, thinking he was the only threat? This is still an open book.. Don't get me wrong, I am glad he is gone. But he hasn't been really in charge for quite some time, They only showed his face to shake up the USA and others, with the fear factor. We would run around once again. No cost to them. no guns, no bombs but watch us run like chickens without heads. Send in a couple of fools, to be caught with

something of harm…bombs in the heel of a shoe, bombs in underpants, (who

writes this stuff? And a bomb in a car in downtown New York? Just small

stuff when you consider New York baseball stadium or football stadium,

with hundreds of thousands.

No, while it is nice their bogeyman is gone, it is far from over. This was

just a feel good, mood changer, and as we know from the past, as short

term rally together deal.

Facebook isn't a good fit for me...

I have decided that maybe, no not maybe, that Facebook isn’t
a good fit for me. It has had its downside as much or more than
the upside of it.

I got started with it, because I have dial up server, and pictures
are hard to download for me.. some lasting 15 minutes or more
depending on how big they are sent to me. Yet, I could go to my
kid’s Facebook and see their pictures easily. Of course I had to
join to do so. So I did. My page sat pretty empty for about a year
.
Then as more and more of my family and then friends joined, the
more active I was. I learn real fast not to get involved with a lot of
the games. Only did the fairyland garden for a winter ..but the rest
turn out to be a headache because of my dial up or they wanted
more information than I was willing to give. But did follow a “If you
lived in Aquickneck you know” and it was for a while addictive. As
I was born and raised there.

But now I have endured a family break up, and some heavy
disagreements. Two times breaking my rule, of saying something
about it. I didn’t learn enough the first time around. Even though both
fubar were slight.. still it was a rule I lived by for 50 years. And I got
sucked in. My fault, no one else’s. I knew better.

I live 6 to 8 hour drive away from 7 of my children and 12 miles away
from my local child.… it is a good distance most of the time as they
get to live their lives without having Mom looking over their shoulder
so to speak. And the general consensus as far as my view… is what
I don’t know, doesn’t hurt me. And finding out about it weeks or months
later, works out quite well. Facebook removes that.

I even considered wiping out my Facebook and go back the old way.
Emails and phone calls. But then I lose the picture access. I thought
about hiding the family members, then I don’t get to see what they write.
And only see it when I go to their page. And maybe that is the way to
go. And then I can only see my friends and the likes I have there.
Have to give that some thought. If not, I will stick to my blogging. Less
hassle.

In the meantime, I am skipping the next day or two of blogging as we are having carpet laid in the living room. We have been living with bare floors, and
little to no furniture. And all the usual stuff that one has in their living room is in totes and piled in the garage, back bedroom, dining room and etc. So it will
be a process to get everything back to normal (my niece told me that is a
setting on her washer) so won’t be around the computer for a day or two.