Manic Monday - Bird

Most everyone who has read my blog knows I have a couple of birds: A small parrot, Spanky,(Nanday Conure) and a Cockatiel, Spike. So the word for Manic Monday, BIRD, was fit for me.
I thought I throw in a surprise - and a link to one of the most celebrated basketball games ever.
"LARRY MEETS MAGIC"

"SPIKE"
Hatchdate, June 1992
He's lived with us since he was a toddler...

"SPANKY"
Hatchdate: Sometime in 1991
He's lived with us since 1992.


Please stop by our host, Morgen and say "howdy!"
MANIC MONDAY

Photo Hunt - Hands

This is the real deal...no potions, no lotions, just unpampered hands.
I worked in the yard a bit today and my scratched up hands and
raggedy cuticles really show it!

Please drop in for a visit with TN Chick and
see what other hands you might find
at Photo Hunters.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I FOUND THE LOCH NESS MONSTER!

Enjoy other "Friday Skies"
at Crazy Working Mom!

Wordless Wednesday

Painting by Rob Gonsalves

It's Wednesday again - time to visit
Wordless Wednesday

Stupid, Rotten, Horrible Day...Pity Party

(This is what the place looked like when we bought it - not our furniture
and the drapes are what I'm referencing. They're horrible.)

A year ago, I ordered blinds to replace the ghastly funeral parlor curtains in this place. Hubman never found time to hang them (plus he hates doing that), so we found out that my daughter's fiance's brother is a general contractor and does handyman stuff as well as remodeling. So, with our paltry tax returns, I convinced hubman to get the blinds hung at long last!

Mr. Handyman came yesterday and put up two ceiling fans and blinds on one window (three sections) in the den. Today, he started the sliding door blinds and they were 24 inches short. Uh huh, I goofed in ordering them. So he started in the living room. Guess what. they were all wrong! I have three huge windows - 97" each and they each have three sections. I was so far off in my measurements it was either laugh or cry. So I had to re-order them but they're all custom. That more than doubled the original blinds.

Then, my son showed up - broke. Does it ever end? No, I know the answer to that...
Oh, I had a migraine all day and yesterday.

Manic Monday - Wet

Before we found shelter at the end of the pier, we looked a little bit like the angry, wet kitty!
You can see, it doesn't bother the surfers at all!

In Kaua'i, it rains frequently - which I adore! The north shore of the island gets some of the most rainfall of anywhere in the world. In contrast, the south end of the island actually has cactus! It's such a small island it's hard to believe there are so many micro-climates.

Please visit Morgen at Manic Monday!

Sunday Scenery

This would have been a good photo if the sky hadn't been so hazy. It's looking west at the Kern River last Friday. The river is really low this year. For all of you who are sick and tired of rain, please send it our way!

Please take a trip over to see Lee, at Tarheel Ramblings

Photo Hunt - Yellow

No, this isn't the local super market! It's a marvelous home-grown produce farm on Hwy. 58, between Bakersfield and Mojave. It's only about a 20 minute drive for us and the tomatoes, oranges, grapes and nuts (plus homemade fudge and other goodies!) are SO fresh, it's well worth the drive. Love those fried green, well, yellow tomatoes!

PHOTO HUNT - TN CHICK

Photo Meme

1. Age at next birthday ****************************************

2. Place I'd like to visit (British Colombia)

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3. Favorite Food
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4. My Favorite Place
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5. My Nickname (and don't ask for an explanation!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6. My Favorite Color!
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7. College Major
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8. Name of My Love

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I love to garden - one of last summer's roses

I love photography - I'm using a 10 pixel cheapie and

am hoping for a humongous Canon!

I love to paint!

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10. Bad Habit

I get angry too quickly and worry too much!
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I saw this on Sandee's (Comedy Plus)and
Sanni's (Sanni - Licious) Blogs!
Go see what they posted~
If you'd like to join in, please do.
Just link back to me so I can visit you~!

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I took this at the cemetery a couple of weeks ago, when the trees were just beginning to bud. This spot is up on a hill overlooking a valley. This is my very favorite time of year - it's nice during the day but still cool at night! Love it!!!

Please give our hostess a great big shout-out!
Crazy Working Mom

Stick a fork in it, will ya???

"Must-plug-hole-in-skull-with-finger-brain-is-leaking-out..."

Will someone tell this botoxed broad to shut up??? I can't
take it any more!!! Leave your captions~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wordless Wednesday

OH MY!

Please stop by Wordless Wednesday

Stop this outrage - NOW!

WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."

The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

Contact: Craig Roberts of The American Legion, +1-202-263-2982 Office, +1-202-406-0887 Cell

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The earliest of the national "rattlesnake flags", this one flew over the Navy's first ship, the ALFRED, in January, 1776.

The "First Navy Jack" has been ordered to be flown on Navy ships for the duration of the war on terrorism by Secretary of the Navy.

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This post speaks for itself. If we, as citizens of the U.S., allow this abomination to occur, shame on us!!! Let your voice be heard - loud and clear!

Atlas Shrug

This is a slogan for every American is who is tired of working their butt off just to have their hard earned rewards redistributed. It's time for Atlas to Shrug. Time for the looters to figure out how to run the country without the producers.

I'm going to go back and re-read Ayn Rand's books, Atlas Shrugged and Anthem. I was too young when I read them to really grasp the far-reaching effects.

Oh no.

I spent three hours today out driving around looking for wildflowers. And now, as I'm thinking about what I wanted to post about my journey, I'm getting a blasted headache. I have three posts to do, plus my wildflower tales and photos. Hopefully, I'll be up to it tomorrow.
Blessings...

Photo Hunt - Four

Four Generations
Child, Mother, Grandmother, Great-grandmother
~~~Blessings, indeed~~~

Please visit TN Chick and check out Photo Hunt

Looking at the Sky on Friday

This was taken last August. I need to get out my cloud book and
find out what type of clouds these are - cirrius? I can't
remember any more. It's unusual having a blue sky like this
during the summers here. Our atmosphere is usually brown!

Please visit "Crazy Working Mom" for more.
Some folks have gorgeous sky shots for you
to enjoy. And Tish would love for you to
drop by and say "hi!" She's done so much
for this "Friday Sky" and it's taking off like
crazy! (No pun intended...)

Wordless Wednesday - Look-a-likes

And the "Best of Show" is....

Please Stop by Wordless Wednesday

Manic Monday - Full

I'll be truthful: This one had me stumped. The first thing I thought of was full as in stomach. Since I had bariatric surgery, it doesn't take much to become full. And the funny thing is, when my body says "enough!" I start sneezing. It's such a strange phenomenon and only happens to a very few.

Then I thought about being full of love, which is kinda sappy-sounding, but having just spend a couple of days with my kids, grand kids, and great-grand kids, my heart is very full!
The next thought I had was full as in "full of it." This is a term I would apply to the majority of politicians in Washington! I won't elaborate but you get my drift, I'm sure.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Manic Monday - Please drop by and
see what Mo's got cooking today!

Sunday Scenery

This is a favorite spot for locals to go, sit back, relax and enjoy the ducks and various birds
It's always changing, depending on the time of year and the weather. We caught this on a beautiful, crisp, cool fall day.

Please visit Tarheel Rambling for more
Sunday Scenery!

Camera Critters - Mr. Cranky Pants

Here's the orneriest Road Runner ever! I dubbed him "Mr. Cranky Pants." If he could've figured out a way to get through that glass and get a hold of hubman's fingers, he would've been one happy bird! He flew into the glass, ran around his area and came back and had a go at the glass again! He was truly funny.

We are just a couple of miles away from C.A.L.M., California Living Museum, where all the animals, birds and greenery are native. It's a great place to visit, even the cranky birds.

Camera Critters is a great place to visit!

Photo Hunt - Space

This is the space behind us. It is subdivided for modular homes. When this development happened, we were totally flummoxed, as it totally took away our view. You see, in order
to see the space behind us, I am standing on the retaining way, approximately 6' off the ground, and I still can't see over the fence! I took the picture by holding my camera over my head. I'm 5'6".



Otherwise, this is what we see! I've gussied it up with some shrubbery but I'd much rather be able to see the hills and the clouds. (For those of you who have heard me gripe about this, sorry for the repeat!)

Be sure and peek in on Photo Hunt and TN Chick!

Family - It's Truly a Blessing!

We got to see our darling great-granddaughter and great-grandson today! Will post photos later - but they are so adorable. Am I gushing just a little?
Tomorrow, my oldest and her husband and our Marine will join us. Our Marine leaves for Iraq in a couple of weeks. He's been in Okinawa training and learning all the stuff they need to know to keep us safe. I can hardly wait to see him...
I'll post photos of the tribe when I can!

~~~Blessings~~~

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I took this from the car as my daughter was driving through the Oklahoma countryside. It was hot and the clouds were banked up in the sky.

Please drop in and visit Crazy Working Mom!

Thursday Nonsense

Gary Brookins, Virginia -- The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Is anyone else sick and tired of the crap going on in Washington with our elected officials? I'm beginning to wonder if my migraines haven't been brought on by the idiocy taking place, such as signing a gazillion dollar stimulus/spending bill that couldn't be read in time for the signing?

I heard a terrific line today: "The last time I was in a hurry I wound up with 4 cases of ShamWow." (Penn, of Penn & Teller fame, talking about the spending package) I think we've just been handed a whole wad of ShamWow...

Wordless Wednesday - Blazing Roses

Some of last summer's roses...

Run over to Wordless Wednesday, please?

The Chicken Pie That Bit Me!

Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating a mincemeat pie.
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"

The day started off on a rough note. I needed to reheat my coffee in the microwave and in so doing, I bumped my cup and spilled the whole cup inside the mic! Cleaned up that mess...
Made another cup of coffee - spilled the cup all over the counter top. I would've quit at that point, but darn, did I need that coffee! Coffee quest completed.

For dinner, I threw a Marie Calendar's chicken pie in the microwave. (I fixed hubman burritos but my stomach wasn't up to that). When the buzzer went off, I opened the door and reached for the box (you leave the pie in the box), it slipped, I grabbed the box, only to have the chicken pie slide out of the box! I grabbed it without thinking, and my pinkie finger went smack-dab into the boiling hot pie! OUCH!!! I stuck it under cold water immediately and then kept ice on it. I still have huge blisters on my finger.

I bet when Little Jack Horner stuck his thumb in the pie and pulled out a plum, it hadn't been in a bloomin' microwave!

I'm so much fun...

Why on Earth???

Lee Redmond shows off her fingernails, which are about 30 inches long, in Salt Lake City, Aug. 8, 2006. Redmonds fingernails were broken off in a traffic accident Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. Her injuries were serious but not life threatening, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office. (AP Photo/

First of all, this chick's about 80 years old and trying to look like a, what , teenager? And what about the obvious - personal hygiene! Things like this gross me out.

Manic Monday - Waffle

1: equivocate , vacillate <waffled on the important issues> ; also : yo-yo , flip-flop
2: to talk or write foolishly : blather waffle…tiresomely off the point

Sadly, Burris is just one of many that I could have chosen - both sides of the political fence. If people could just learn to tell the truth... But our politicians have become such "wafflers" that we can no longer believe them.

Please visit our host Mo, of Manic Monday fame.
He doesn't ever waffle!!!