IN LIFE AS IN THE DANCE : GRACE GLIDES

ON BLISTERED FEET.
---Alice Abrams

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - What???



What were they thinking?????


Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sunday Blessings - Cambria



I love the beach. I don't think there's any other place I'd rather be. Other than a lake. Or a stream. Or a river. Okay - the point is - I love the water! Cambria reminds me of Big Sur, on a lesser scale. It's south of Monterey, where we spent some of our honeymoon, back in '78. This is the kind of place I'd love to pitch my tent - take that, Gadaffy!

Seriously, I'd love to have a quaint little shop, with lots of greenery, art, handmade jewelry and artifacts from the sea. And of course, art. Big pieces, little pieces, on canvas, on tin, on wood; in oils or acrylics; art glass, twinkling lights, stained glass - a whole cacophony of art! And music....soft dulcimers, pounding pianos, smooth guitar riffs, and jazz. Candles... lots and lots of candles. Silks and satins, soft cottons and velvets, in which to walk along the sandy beach; warm cups of tea and coffee served in bone china cups....delectable.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Philippians 4:8 "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable --- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy --- think about such things...And the God of peace will be with you."

Friday, September 25, 2009

Looking at the Sky on Friday




I guess this is cheating - there's more surf than sky! It's San Simeon which used to be a whaling village many moons ago. The infamous Hearst Castle is situated on top of a hill, directly to the left. I took a shot but with my cheap camera, it didn't turn out well. One of my favorite spots on the coast is Cambria. The view from the pier is looking back that way...

Have a terrific Friday - and please drop in and say
"hi" to Tish at Crazy Working Mom

Thursday, September 24, 2009

NBC Sucks


I wanted to say something else in the title but I can't bring myself to do it.

NBC has been promoting a new series, "Mercy," which debuted last night. I was excited to watch it because I really like medical dramas. Half the way through I realized it would be the last time I ever watched it.

True to it's propaganda programming, this series hit a new low, at least for me. One of the story lines was that of an older woman (think - me) who was facing surgery for cancer. It was intimated that she was only going through with the surgery because of her adult children's insistence.

As the wise nurse listens to the poor, dumb, doctor dispense the protocol for the patient's treatment, she adamantly disagrees with him and scorns his idea of subjecting the woman to surgery. She and the doc go a round or two, then they succumb to one another's charms in an examining room. Well, almost. Seems they knew each other while they served in Iraq, and, oh yeah, the nurse has decided to no longer cheat on her poor, dufus spouse, whom she cuckolded while in Iraq.

So, the climax of this wonderful drama is when the nurse attends to the needs of the older patient during the p.m. hours, it's quiet and just the two of them, and she's had time to consider the surgery. She asks the nurse if SHE thinks she should go along with the surgery or.... Can you guess what advice our former Iraq warrior gives her?

You got it! SHE doesn't think the surgery will do any good and she should just wait out her days until the grim reaper comes calling. Well, she's not quite that subtle. (My bad, but I'm great at sarcasm.) She puts it a little nicer and suggests that she forgo any further tests, surgery or treatment options, and tell her children what she's decided.

So, back to NBC, whose parent corp is GE, who has strong bonds to the Obama administration - and - let's not forget - just this week agreed to not send any more crap to Iran to help them with their weaponry.... okay, I digress.

Maybe I'm seeing boogey men in every shadow nowadays, what with all the health care drama, but I viewed this as propaganda, pure and simple. The message is: Let's not waste any medical treatment for someone of advanced age.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions. I just ask that everyone think about the ways we're bombarded with this type of mental massaging. Oh, "Mercy?" Dontcha just love the title?

Thanks for listening...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Seaweed and More


Except for my beat-up Roxy's that is ALL seaweed!
CLICK TO ENLARGE+++

Check out more WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Photo Hunters - Upside Down


Okay, I fell for it. I bought a "Topsy Turvy" tomato planter. The idea is to let the plants grow toward the ground instead of upward, thus eliminating the need for staking the plants. I planted Early Girl, Best Boy, and Brandywine. I followed the instructions to a tee. I think we got a total of twenty malformed tomatoes.

And I've never seen so many tomato worms in my life! Those buggars are ugly, too. And they have horns that can poke you. When you stomp on them they splatter, full of green goo. The ones that were big like my fingers, I had hubman remove, but he made so much fun of me (since I'm not a girly-girl) that I managed to be the worm serial killer. (I don't like using chemicals)

I think I'll go back to oak barrels next year!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Iris...

This is back in the spring - because Blogger was acting up yesterday I didn't get my LATSOF post in on time. This loaded so I'm posting in place of my sky stuff. Bad blogger........

Thursday, September 17, 2009

LATSOF

Stupid blogger won't upload any photos! I'll try later, Tish!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wordless Wednesday



We have to drive through this to get....


to this!!!

Please visit our host at WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Friday, September 11, 2009

N-E-V-E-R - AGAIN

REMEMBERING...
09/11/01

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Looking at the Sky on Friday



Here's just a peek at the sky through the crape myrtle. It was a beautiful, and you could actually see the blue in the sky. Our air quality here is almost as bad as L.A., so it's always a good thing when we have a glimpse of blue.
And just a 30-40 minute drive, here's what the sky should look like! Tehachapi is a mountain community off Hwy 58, between Bakersfield and Mojave. It's known for the infamous "Loop," and wonderful apples in the fall. We've often thought of moving up here because of the clear air where you can actually breath!

For those of you who wonder about the loop, here's some info from Wikipedia...
(Link for LATSOF follows.....)

The Tehachapi Loop is a .73 miles (1.17 km) long 'spiral', or helix, on the railroad main line through Tehachapi Pass, in south central California. The loop derives its name from the circuitous route it takes, in which the track passes over itself, a design which lessens the angle of the grade. A train more than 4,000 feet (1.2 km) long (about 85 boxcars) will thus pass over itself going around the loop. In 1998 it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The railroad line connects Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley to Mojave in the Antelope Valley. Hailed as one of the greatest engineering feats of its day (ca. 1876) as well as being the world's busiest single-track main, the line was built by Southern Pacific Railroad. Arthur De Wint Foote worked on it along with chief engineer William Hood.[1]

Please stop by Crazy Working Mom
Looking at the Sky on Friday

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Look Out, Here She Comes! Linda's B-Day!



My friend Linda, from "Are We There Yet?,"
is having a BIRTHDAY!
If you haven't read Linda's blog, you are really missing out, and that's the truth. Not only is she a hard working (and I mean it) dispatcher for EMT's, she's the mother of two teen-aged girls! Yikes!
In her
spare time (giggles inserted here), she's becoming one heck of a photographer. Not only does she supply the photos, she fully engages you with delightful posts of historical nature, so you really do feel as though you been somewhere unusual or unique. Whether you're interested in lighthouses, old cemeteries, downtown Baltimore, Central Park, or the birth place of Edgar Alan Poe, she will always deliver a first rate commentary, with gorgeous photos. And you know what? She one of the nicest bloggers there is! And that's a fact, Jack.
Please stop by her blog and give yourself a present - a dose of her prize-winning photography. One day you can say, "I knew her when..."

Monday, September 07, 2009

Take a Guess.....Answer

Circa 1964-65
Can you guess which one is me?
This was at my grandparents 50th Wedding celebration.

Most of you were right!
From the left: My mother, dad, me, grandfather, grandmother, little bro in front;
unmentionable, best friend and cousin Lynne, her bro (my cuz, too!), aunt by marriage, uncle.
This was taken at the front of my family home, in which my bro still lives with his family.
Out of the eleven photographed, surprisingly, six of us are still amongst the living; but those gone before are missed deeply....