I miss you Sam!!

I miss you Sam!!
I miss you Sam!!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Pet Pride!


Hey, guys, two more birthdays to celebrate this week, so get up off your uh --- your tail and lets head over to Bozo's! Get your human to click on Bozo's picture and sign you up to play!

Mojo had another bad week because her Dad was out of town -- again!!! So, I told her she could talk about it on our blog today -- that always seems to make her feel better!



Sam has really been nice to me these past few weeks, I'm actually getting to like him a lot! But it was a bad week -- Dad gone and it rained and was cold. When a little sun came out I ran to grab a patch on the kitchen floor!



The night before Dad got home I jumped up on Sam's bed -- well, it's actually his Mom's bed, but he thinks it's his, just like I think Dad's bed is mine. But when he's gone I move downstairs! And I laid around and thought about the fun Izzy and I had last summer when there was sunshine!





But now Mojo's Dad's home and I'm having fun this week!

Kreative Blogger





Thanks so much to Carol and to Janie who gave me these awards! As most of you know, while I'm very honored to receive awards and do express my gratitude, I don't usually participate. But I'm making an exception today. I'm supposed to make a list of seven things about me to share with readers. Of course with my big mouth, there's very, very little that you don't already know about me. But just in case you missed something, here goes.

1. I was born in Texas, graduated from the University of North Texas in Denton. I have always been stubborn, hard headed and determined to make my life as wonderful and as exciting as I could. I was 76 this past August.
2. While I was married to an officer in US Air Force, we lived in Spain and Germany. We traveled to Italy, Switzerland, France, Austria, Portugal and Greece.
3. I have four children, two girls, two boys scattered over the country. And they are the light of my life and my greatest joy! I live with my youngest son -- primarily because he felt I needed a keeper, but mostly because he's not married, travels a great deal and has a dog who gets very lonesome.
4. I finally retired at 67-- and then only because the company I worked for had gotten caught up in the Japanese financial crisis of the 1990s and had to shut down it's brand new, unfinished plant in Oregon.
5. Unable to find anyone willing to hire a 67 year old broad, I moved to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico where I lived for a year, traveling, learning the language and generally having a terrific time.
6. Returned to the states in the spring of 2000 spent a year in Dallas, Texas, revisiting old haunts, spending time with my oldest son.
7. Returned to the northwest in 2002 and after moving from Portland to Seattle in 2006, I got into blogging and have no idea how I ever existed without it! It's been the most fun ever. Then as part of blogging I got into photography although I had never used anything but a disposable camera before. That opened a whole new door. So, I'm very happy, busy and life has never been so good!

And that's me!

Shadow Shot Sunday!

Time to slip in and out of the light and the dark, searching for shadows to share on Shadow Shot Sunday! This fun Meme is hosted by Tracy at Hey Harriet. Click on the icon sign up and join the fun!

I've had to really look hard this week and try to get creative with very little sunlight and a whole lot of gloom! There were the usual ones from downstairs, that move around, change size as the sun moves around at different angles during the fall!





And there was the Christmas Cactus celebrating early as usual, can't wait for December and it was really trying to find a tidbit of sun!



And a brilliant reason to love fall!



Another plant basking in the one sunny day!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan



A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. ~Author Unknown



The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin



There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith



We should have a great fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves. ~John Locke



English is a funny language; that explains why we park our car on the driveway and drive our car on the parkway. ~Author Unknown



I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain. ~Jane Wagner

For all Employees Who Work with Rude Customers

An award should go to the Westjet gate attendant in Kelowna , British Columbia some 12 months ago for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted
with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.

A crowded flight was canceled after Westjet's 767s had been withdrawn
from service. A single attendant was re-booking a long line of
inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way
to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I
HAVE to be on this flight and it HAS to be FIRST CLASS".

The attendant replied, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help
you, but I've got to help these people first, and I'm sure we'll be
able to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers
behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?"

Without hesitating, the attendant smiled and grabbed her public address
microphone: "May I have your attention please; may I have your
attention please, " she began - her voice heard clearly throughout the
terminal. "We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE
IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared
at the attendant, gritted his teeth and said, "F...You!"

Without flinching, she smiled and said, (I love this bit) "I'm sorry,
sir, but you'll have to get in line for that too."

Kids Are Quick

These have been around before, but they always make me laugh! And you do know what laughter is, don't you? LAUGHTER IS THE SOUL'S MEDICINE!!

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America.
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria.

TEACHER: John , why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it. (I Love this kid)

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago?
WINNIE: Me!

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sky Watch Friday!

Over 350 people from all over the world have shared their skies here on Sky Watch! Sky Watch is hosted each Friday by Klaus and the Sky Watch Team, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and myself. Click on the icon and sign up to share yours with us! Please do read and follow the instructions that are listed on the Sky Watch home page.




I usually post skies that I can see from our deck, which faces west. There are no power lines to intrude, just beautiful, colorful afternoons and sunsets. But lately, with the arrival of fall, frequently by the end of the day it's just mostly gray. So, I tried catching a sunrise from the front porch. If you click to embiggen you can see what I mean about the intrusion of modern technology! Still the colors were lovely and it is a realistic look at nature in the city. I just don't always want to be too realistic, which I'm sure surprises no one!

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! ~John Muir



Then a neighbor, who has a second floor deck, heard me whining about the eastward view and took these next shots for me. Now, how about that for a good friend?



Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



The poetry of the earth is never dead. ~John Keats



Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~Kahlil Gibran

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



After God created the world, He made man and woman. Then, to keep the whole thing from collapsing, He invented humor. ~Bill Kelly, "Mordillo"



Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting. ~Edmund Burke



Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. ~Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun



No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head. ~Terry Josephson



Every survival kit should include a sense of humor. ~Author Unknown



Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious. ~Peter Ustinov

Veteran's Day - Memorial Day - Remembrance Day - Holocaust Remembrance



That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end.
Lise Hand

Holocaust Remembrance


May we never forget!
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
Joseph Campbell

Remembrance Day



Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
Mark Twain

The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage.
Thucydides

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours." ~Robert Byrne



I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood. ~Bill Watterson



Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. ~Ambrose Bierce



You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it. ~Author Unknown



You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. ~Mark Twain



Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life. ~Simone Weil

ABC Wednesday - Q!



Attention! It's ABC Wednesday! How much can you show us about the ABCs? ABC Wednesday is hosted each week by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt, click on the icon, sign up and let us see what you found for the letter the letter of the day -- Q!

My first Q word is Quail, because I love birds of all kinds!



Q is for Quiche! One of my favorite dishes and I do make a great one!



And Q is for Quotation!

Quotations can be a comedy or a drama, tell of the whole world or just a small portion of it. ~Daisey Verlaef

Monday, November 9, 2009

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant. ~Ursula K. Le Guin, The Language of the Night



Arms upraised
she stands
eyes to the skies
as some
family branches
gather about her;

As a child
soft and green
amidst many friends
in the wild garden
at the foothill,
she'd watch
the children play
as the older ones
climbed on others.

Now,
Surrounded by
older and taller
kith and kin
she looks beyond
far away
at another lady in the sea;

Like her,
she calls them all;
"Come to me,
the weary, the travelled,
rest at my feet
and lean on me;
Spring water and
Cool minds in my shade
and
then carry on
meandering
as you wonder,
how much greener
your life can really be !
Posted by Ugich Konitari to Sylvia From Over The Hill at November 9, 2009 11:25 PM

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. ~Philip K. Dick



Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun. ~George Scialabba



Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. ~Albert Einstein



Most passport pictures are good likenesses, and it is time we faced it. ~Katharine Brush



It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see. ~Henry David Thoreau

What Can I Say?

What Can I Say?
I'm interested in almost everything. Use to like to travel, but it's too expensive now. I take Tai Chi classes, swim, volunteer in a Jump-start program for pre-schoolers. I'm an avid reader and like nearly everyone these days I follow politics avidly. I'm a former teacher and Special Projects Coordinator for a Telecommunications company, Assistant to the President of a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company. Am now enjoying retirement -- most of the time. I have two daughters, one son-in-law and two sons scattered all over the country. No grandchildren.

Portland Time