Day to dust and think...the important things from time to time

I'm sort of taking a day off today to get caught up on some chores that have been being put off for a while. We've been keeping the tv on watching the news coverage of Gustav and hoping it won't be as bad as Katrina. Cleaning some too in case my kids need shelter from the storm. Some live on the Gulf coast and may be impacted. The weather news said it may come all the way up here in the DFW area, but not as a hurricane. We have had tropical storms make it up here before, but it has been a very long time. I was in the 9th grade when one came over and it rained so much the water went over the overflow at one of the lakes. That was one of two times that has ever happened.

Knitting is progressing well. I'm starting to notice ads where there is something knitted and wondering what they used to knit. There is one that I think it is silk cord and it is in stockinette stitch done on large needles. I love it. I bought some fake fur stuff today to make my girls some fun scarves. I'm thinking the knitting is calling to me and the call of the dusting is fading into the distance. Yep...I'm pretty sure the lure of the knitting needles is winning this one. Just wait until I take that class in October and get the circular needles figured out.

See you guys tomorrow. If you are in the Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama area or anywhere on the gulf coast... God be with you and you will be in my prayers.





On a very much less serious note this just cracked me totally up or maybe we have been sort of nervous the past few days thinking about the hurricane. Hope you think this is funny, too.

Last day of Bridging the Gap

Alice at Born2cree8 is hosting this challenge
It runs this week 8/24 - 8/30.
If you want to play, sign her linky! and if you can figure
out how to sign up on the linky let me know

Inside the chapel in the forest looking up-bridging heaven and earth

Stone bridge outside the church that links the bridal party room to the church

More of my favorite bridge in Arkansas


Hubby in the Japanese Maple garden standing on a small bridge

Bridging the Gap

Alice at Born2cree8 is hosting this challenge
It runs this week 8/24 - 8/30.
If you want to play, sign her linky!

Last fall my grandson and I "bridged the gap" by hunting pecans together. He has a tackle box to keep them in and he not only likes pecans...he loves them and cracks them with a rock. I love them, too and crack them with a pecan cracker.

He wanted me to cross over the green bridge from the main room of the tree house to the stairs, but he didn't realize I was too heavy to make that crawl. It was right after this picture was taken that I decided working was nothing compared to spending time with family. It was a real privilege to be allowed into his tree house.

What?

more animals

So how I feel when I read "Eat This - Not That"

Ninety years ...

Feeling much better today thank goodness and sugar free candy and LOTS of water worked. I called my dentist's office and they, the receptionist, had never heard or seen anything like it. Right before I left to run by his office I used the waterpick and I think it knocked the thing loose. The candy caused the parotid glad to swell at the dentist's office, but it didn't stay ballooned up like before. There was some disappointment, but my dentist checked for stones or any growths and told me to continue the sugarless candy/lots of water regimine....he had tickets to a Bob Dylan concert in Oklahoma and needed to get to the airport. He cracks me up.

Today is my mil's 90th birthday and I made an appointment to get her hair done this afternoon. She is excited to go. She doesn't get out much these days. We are going to get something to eat afterward. Kids are coming to their house to celebrate her birthday after they get off work. Hubby and I went out yesterday and picked up some new duds for her. She really wants to go to Houston to see the oldest grand daughter's house, so she will have some comfortable things to wear when we go. Today will be sort of a test to see if she can manage. She will have to get out of the car and walk a bit every hour or so while we are driving. She had a blood clot in her leg this past spring and her doc said it would be about 6 months before it resolves. That's why we will be walking her around so much...be good for us, too. She is extremely strong willed so we will see how far we get with the walking. Her hip joint is worn out and it is painful, but the walking around will be the price of passage.

Have a wonderful day and after my son's birthday on September 6th it will be smooth sailing for a while.

Full Moon Day

Due to a totally unexpected attack of Parotitis that makes me look like a gerbil on one side I will not be blogging or visiting much today/tomorrow. Apparently I've not been drinking enough water and have a little plug in the gland. At least that is what it has been in the past. It is only painful when I eat so maybe some weight loss will occur. It really was a doozy when I had a little snack after taking the stuff to lower triglycerides just a while ago.

Today was totally so busy I was nearly foundered by the time I got to the sofa for some tv. I had errands to run and people to meet and get out of one contract with a realtor who has been leasing my rental property for ages, but seems unable to attract a tenant in the past four months after my tenant bought a new house from my realtor. That was not pleasant and hopefully there will not be fall out from it all. Otherwise I will put a FOR RENT/LEASE sign out myself and probably do as well. They usually wind up calling me anyway. Onward and upward.

Then tonight one of the neighborhood association members called and asked for all the money in the bank so he could show our appreciation to the members who have been negotiating on our behalf with the oil and gas people. I was sort of flabbergasted and so was he when I told him no.
Oh well...onward and upward.

But now it out of here and to the bed so I can take them on again tomorrow. There is a low place in front of my rental property and I called the city who told me there was no money to fix it. I'm calling my councilman tomorrow to tell him it is a health hazard and something needs to be done even if it is only that they come out and put a "dunk" for mosquitos in the water. Dang! There is West Nile Fever around these parts.

And to top the whole weird evening off there was a collect call from an inmate at the Tarrant County Jail. I hung up. It wasn't one of my kids and they scam the elderly by asking for money to get the elderly person's grandson out of jail, too. It is so time to sleep.

And I so need to check the moon...it must be full and red or something.

Bridging the Gap

Alice at Born2cree8 is hosting this one to fill in between
Quilly's Reflections and Melli's Dragon Hunt and the earlier Project Black.
It runs this week 8/24 - 8/30.
If you want to play, sign her linky!

This bridge is in Arkansas and I fell in love with it while we were there last fall. I does not have the grandeur of other bridges, but I think it is very beautiful.

Quilly's Punny Monday

Oh my gosh...I got it right! Over at Quilly's Pacific Paradise she has a Punny Monday each week where she posts a picture and you try to guess the pun. I try every week, but have never gotten it right and been first before! So, my little weird blog is featured this week on her sidebar.

Thank you, Quilly! Drop by her place next Monday and give it a whirl or just drop by her place and visit.

Ruby Tuesday in Grand Cayman, but not right now..

We went on a cruise a couple of years ago and it was great fun. Maribeth is going on one soon, but not where we went. Hope you have a blast, my friend. As you can see I had "holding the ship to the dock" duty this day in Cozumel. That was after we went to below.

This was taken on Grand Cayman....they didn't let me see all the money stashed away there...just hell. And while we were in Hell I was going to buy some small trinket so I could have the change to go in my foreign money collection. Coins in a plate is all it is. Anyway, just as I was handing my money to the cashier my hubby jumps in and gives her exact change. So, no extra coins for me and it was time to go again on the mini bus from, where else, hell.

We decided not to go into Margaritaville there. Can you see how many people were on the balconies? It was scary it was so crowded. Just down the way were the jewelry shops and they were air conditioned and just ever so nice.


Our Ruby Tuesday host is Mary, the Teach. On Tuesdays you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED. Your photo can contain lots of RED or a little bit of RED

Back to semi normal today

more animals

The last of the kids left today after a wonderful weekend of shopping and eating and having a good time. I'm sure I bored them to death with useless trivia like the above I find on the internet. They were good sports about it all, though.

This Thursday is my mother in law's 90th birthday and I made an appointment for her with my hairdresser for a day of girl stuff. Haircut, and maybe some color that we can keep up with at home and who knows...maybe go all out and get manicures. I told my husband he has to take his dad somewhere while we are there, because it is just not cool for the guys to be in the salon. It is truly a girly thing and we are going to make the most of it. Then they can take us out for dinner.
That is a guy thing.

My guy truly truly loves me more than most anything and I told him so today. For my birthday he and my daughter got me cases to put my knitting needles in, but she got a tote, too. So, we took the one he got me back to Hobby Lobby today and while he waited in the ONE line for returns I looked around at yarn and stuff. When I came back up to the front of the store he was still waiting and not so patiently at that point in time. That is when I told him that was truly an act of love.

The weekend before last I signed up for knitting classes as continuing education at T.C.U. HA!
There are four classes of two hours each for a total of 8 hours and ninety hours of looking for a parking place. I told my one true love he might be taking me and picking me up from class. It really is a nightmare finding a parking place, but they did send the parking permit so I won't get a ticket for being on campus. I looked at the new Vogue knitting magazines today and it was ever so cool. It was the fall knitting one and they had the hugest mittens on the cover. I might could make them. Who knows. There were many very fetching little sweaters and coats in the magazine, too.

I saw on "Crazy Aunt Purl's" blog the other night that one of the high end designers, DKNY, had put hand warmers on the cover model. She was freakishly built so one didn't really notice the wicked cool hand warmers. I got all excited about that, mainly because it did not involve the whole thumb thing that mittens entail. I figured leg warmers aka hand warmers would be a piece of cake compared to that whole mitten thing. Crazy Aunt Purl had a tutorial on making mittens this summer. The fact that she lives in LA had nothing to do with wanting to knit them. For some reason I totally understand that.

The last chore for the day was a meeting of the neighborhood association's board to see if we wanted to ratify a contract that is 11 pages single spaced in the smallest type face I've ever seen. They need an answer by Wednesday. I gave it to hubby when I came
in to interpret. He is good with that stuff and I am not so much.

I've missed blogging and setting up stuff to post on the timer has ruined me as far as knowing what I'll be blogging about from day to day. We will see what the morrow brings. Ha! I even set up a Ruby Tuesday one to post...you know...just in case I didn't make it back.

Reading Meme

Melli had this meme on her blog a while back. I've been saving it for day when there wasn't time to blog.

1. Do you remember how you developed a love of reading?I think it was when I came back from summer vacation between first and second grades and I thought I'd forgotten how to read. I was so freaked out about that I started reading in earnest.

2. What are some books you loved as a child. As a little girl there was The Little Train that Could, for some reason I remember my grandmother reading that one to me a lot. Time passed and as I was able to read to myself I fell in love with "Nancy Drew" books, The Black Stallion books, and then I discovered the bookmobile especially in the summer. I'm sure you are aware by now how hot it is here in the summer and that was in a time when we didn't have a/c like we do now. We had what was referred to as a "swamp coooler". It had a squirrel cage and mats on the outside over which ran water to cool the air. Those kind work really well in the desert where the humidity is not so much, but here where we get the gulf moisture...well, it was better than nothing. But there wasn't much better than coming home from swimming in the morning, showering, and lunch of pimento cheese on cheese bread. Then getting on my bed with the cool sheets and a new book. It was the bookmobile that introduced me to travel books when I was older and learned I could go anywhere....in my mind. I especially remember one about a trip down through South America to the tip. The guy called his jeep, Tortuga.

3. Do you have a favorite genre? These days I like crime stories, and crime thrillers. Evanovich is one of my favorites, Tess Geritson is, too, but what she writes is very dark...and scary.Lisa Gardener is a good one. I love Lisa Scottoline's books and especially favorite is Jan Karon's "Mitford" Series books. I got the Mitford Cookbook as my birthday present to myself today.

4. Do you have a favorite novel?The Lord of The Rings was one of my favorites, but Dune was one that just grabbed me when it came out. I loved those books.

5. Where do you usually read? Usually I read before going to sleep. Rarely do I get so involved with a book that I stay up all night, but when I started The Exorcist...well, it was dawn when I put that one down! cover to cover in one terrified night. That was one of the scariest books I've ever read...like I think Jaws is the scariest movie ever.

6. When do you usually read? Mostly at night ... but sometimes I go back to bed if I'm tired or not feeling well and read.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Usually only one at a time is all I read. I like to give the book my total attention.

8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? yes. I don't much care for non fiction books. That means I'm having to learn something and so not so enjoyable. The knitting books I've been reading are read in the TV room on the sofa.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out at the library?
I buy a lot of books at 1/2 Price books. I sell some books at 1/2 Price books. I buy some books at the bookstore on the markdown table...and well, Amazon keeps me busy.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? I loan books and get testy when I don't get them back right away...or at least in a a lot of them, until my tastes change then a lot gets sold and someone at 1/2 Price gets a real bargain.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? The Black Stallion Series, Dune (they were older), The Lord of The Rings, but they didn't like those much. My oldest daughter still buys any Dune book that comes out. The youngest is the one who got me interested in the crime/thriller genre.

12. What are you reading now?"Hide" by Lisa Gardner

13. Do you keep a To Be Read list? Not a list....just check to see if my favorite authors have written any new ones lately. Or I have a stack of books next to the bed. After having to read so many books while at university, I no longer want to see a list of books to read. On my other computer I have a list of thriller authors that I'd like to try reading sometime.

14. What’s next? Evanovich...Fearless 14...I think it is.

15. What books would you like to reread?Why...I've read them. However, during one super stressy time last year when I was still working I read a book and didn't realize I'd read it until I was nearly finished. That is so unlike me. Usually when I read the first few sentences I know if I've read the book. After getting to the end of this I see that all of William Faulkner's works would be really good read again.

16. Who are your favorite authors? Actually, Rick Bragg has my attention right now, and William Faulkner has had it for a long time. I fell in love with his writing when I wrote my first research paper in high school. The paper was terrible, but it kindled a lifelong love of his work. Those are books I probably would read again.



I'm not tagging anyone, but... you know..Id like to hear what you've got to say!

My Birthday

Out of all the pictures that are archived this is the one I chose for my birthday picture.

This picture is from last year on the 4th of July when we watched the fireworks in Roswell with
the Lutheran Church congregation and they invited us into their midst and to eat with them, too. It had rained earlier and I looked up and saw this cloud and thought is so lovely.

At home we usually go up to the church on the corner to watch fireworks and the rest of the neighborhood does too. However, none of the congregation shows up. We thought it would be the same at this church in Roswell, New Mexico, but it wasn't. They were most gracious and hospitable and embraced us into their community while we were among them. They really were surprised to find us in their parking lot when they came for their pot luck and evening of watching fireworks. However, when you live in Roswell I guess strange happenings are sort of normal. Things like this happen to me all the time. I take up with strangers and just fit them into my life and love it.

Today is my birthday and I'll be celebrating with my husband and kids....I'm setting this on up to post while I'm not around to do it. I want to spend every minute I have with them. The ones from Houston are coming up Saturday afternoon and the ones that are on vacation in Florida, right in the path of Fay, should be home and the youngest that lives here will be here with her boyfriend who lives in Houston, but is working a job in Maryland. Wave to him when you see him, Melli. He works in quality control for some large business. I think he really loves my daughter and I know she loves him. Kids will leave on Monday and I have to do something or be somewhere that day so it will be Tuesday before I'm back.

Reflections Saturday

The mirror tiles on this candle reflect onto the tile and the light reflects on the candle holder to the left of the blue one.

Reflect This is being hosted by QuillyIt runs for one week. If you want to play along, drop by her place and sign up on Mr. Linky and put up your reflections.

Reflections Day 7

Light reflecting onto and off of a drawing by Bill Rabbit, a Cherokee artist. I bought this back in 1990 at a fair somewhere around here. It doesn't feel like we were in New Mexico when I bought it. I do remember that it was a very good time in my life and the drawing made me happy. The name of the drawing is "The Price of Peppers", I think or I just made that up or something. He has several on the web page that are similar, but with different themes. The artist signed it for me and his signature is a rabbit with an artist palette. I think the link goes to his website...if not there is someone who draws very much like him.

The pot in the lower left corner of the drawing is a Santa Clara style of Indian pottery that I like very much. This one he has drawn has a rabbit carved into the pot. You can't really see it from this angle, and maybe I'll brush up on my pottery knowledge and take a better picture of it. I have a couple of pieces. My husband nearly fainted when he saw the price on the bottom of the one he just now looked at. I'd left it on the piece. There is a little Minnie Pearl in me, too. And the photo on the shelf is of my in laws.

My computer room is very eccletic and I see no problem with bear totems, Celtic crosses, regular crosses, Madonnas, rosaries and Mexican candles all together. It is all part of my spirit. I'll take a picture of it when I get it cleaned up some. Right now it has gotten into a mess again.

Reflect This is being hosted by Quilly It runs for one week. If you want to play along, drop by her place and sign up on Mr. Linky and put up your reflections.

My friend Judy, over at Living On the Other Side of The Hill has a playlist on her blogsite and it gets me thinking about songs I've heard in the past. Just before I quit working the radio station I listened to most started playing a REALLY old song by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner called "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man", I really liked it a lot. This You Tube shows them and the film is probably older than most of my readers. Porter Wagoner passed away last year in October, bless his gaudy ole soul. Dolly just keeps on keeping on, thank goodness.

Reflections day 6

This reflective ball is out by the pool on a pedestal that can't be
seen from this angle. But the trees and the grass are reflected in the mirror tiles.
I love the soft blues and purples in the tiles on this ball. It isn't like the gazing balls I remember when I was a kid, but I like this one very much. The stand it perches on is really pretty, too. I can't imagine how I got this picture without catching part of it.


Reflect This is being hosted by QuillyIt runs for one week. If you want to play along, drop by her place and sign up on Mr. Linky and put up your reflections.

Reflections-Day 5

Reflective Rabbit

Reflect This is being hosted by QuillyIt runs for one week. If you want to play along, drop by her place and sign up on Mr. Linky and put up your reflections.

Ruby Tuesday-4

During one of my more insane periods my daughter asked me to take her cat to visit Santa at PetsMart....and to please put the little reindeer antlers on her so it would look cute. I did it! Also, it was one of those days where everybody and their dog came to visit Santa, too...literally. The cat did not like the dogs, nor did she like Mrs. Claus jacking with her and her antlers. Mrs. Claus got herself clawed pretty good, too. If you look closely you will see that Santa is not sitting very closely...he didn't want to meet the same fate as did Mrs. Claus. I didn't realize it at the time, but some Angel or something caused me to keep my sunglasses on my face. It was probably lack of food or something that caused me to go along with this insane plan. I was a size 8 back then. Not so much anymore since I quit smoking 17 months ago.

Our Ruby Tuesday host is Mary, the Teach. On Tuesdays you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED. Your photo can contain lots of RED or a little bit of RED

Refletions-Day 3

more cat pictures

To ponder is also to reflect on a thought.

transitive verb 1 : to weigh in the mind : appraise <pondered their chances of success> 2 : to think about : reflect on <pondered the events of the day> intransitive verb : to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply


Reflect This is being hosted by QuillyIt runs for one week. If you want to play along, drop by her place and sign up on Mr. Linky and put up your reflections.

Reflections-Day 2

We get really excited about rain toward the end of July when it has been so hot
for so long. Actually I took this picture for the rain drops, but you can see
our trees and utility lined reflected in the pool.
I had not noticed the lines until just now.

Reflect This is being hosted by QuillyIt runs for one week. If you want to play along, drop by her place and sign up on Mr. Linky and put up your reflections.

Reflections-Day 1

This was a picture that was used in Project Black, but I'll
get the camera out today and get more
reflections.

My microwave is reflecting me taking the picture
and the backyard, the pool out back and some of the fridge are reflected too.

Reflect This is being hosted by QuillyIt runs 8/17 - 8/23If you want to play along, pop over and see her!

Crafts and such

more cat pictures

Olympic Gold

Nastia Liukin has won the gold for the US and her performance was so strong. Shawn Johnson from Iowa won the silver and her performance was very strong, too. Of special significance to me is that Nastia lives in Parker, Tx. Right down the road from us. Shawn a little farther away. However, we have a good friend from Iowa.

We are surrounded by greatness these days! Joshua from SYTYCD was on the early morning show and will make an appearance at a high school just down the road from where we live on Saturday morning. I'm pretty old, but I just might have to go down there.

This is the day we are taking our grandson to the movies. Fortunately Star Wars-The Clone Wars starts tomorrow and we will get in somewhere to see it. He was so tickled about going to see that. Actually we went to see The Mummy-3 on Wednesday and I was sort of relieved we didn't take him. It was a little more violent than he should see at this tender age of just turning 7. Nine or ten, yes, but we don't think he is ready to see it yet and especially not on the really big screen. So, I'll return to posting in a day or so, or maybe tomorrow night.

Oh yes...while waiting for the medals to me awarded I found a place to get knitting lessons. It isn't too far and they have one on one lessons. Click here to see it, but be prepared to go crazy about the yarn they have. They even have lessons about knitting socks. I don't think I'm going there. I had, well, my husband the TCU alumni got a magazine about continuing education in the mail yesterday. They have classes for $75 for four sessions and the intermediates make a shawl.
My daughter and I wouldn't be in the same class...so I don't know. I do know learning to knit better is a goal I'd like to attain. Not gold medal knitting, but just better.

See ya laterz alligators. I'm off to a galaxy far far away. And HALLELUJAH it rained this evening and it is supposed to rain for the next five days. Thank You, God! It may finally stay under 100 degrees for a while.

The herb garden

We are waiting for the cable guy today so have to stay close to home....they have called three or four times with an automated thing today and still not here. Anyway, I was in the kitchen where I keep the herbs to dry. I started a little herb garden after the new driveway was put in. The sage I had brought in to dry was finally and that generated a great deal of excitement around here.

I got out hubby's grandmother's molcajete (mortar and pestle) and put some of the crumbled dried leaves in it. I've had that molcajete for ages and ages and didn't have an herb garden before now. I'm keeping it busy from now on. After grinding the dried leaves the aroma was very bright and sagey and it is very sage green. Not that many leaves made a respectable amount. I've been out to the herb garden cutting more and hanging it to dry on the stairway.
I've been drying the oregano on a paper plate and just crumbling it and putting it into a baggy. I labeled it today lest anyone think it was something illegal. It is so nice having fresh herbs around the house.

I brought in some basil to have with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes for lunch. It is very tasty that way on some toasted french bread.


I've got some pineapple sage out in the garden that I haven't tried drying yet. I read the other day that it is very good in cream cheese on a bagel. Off to the garden now to get some.

more crafting stuff

When I was buying embroidery floss for my many craft projects this hot summer, I picked up this tote bag while checking out. The thought was to put some very fancy schmancy embroidery on it and then I'd be so very cool when shopping. Well, the canvas was too stiff to get the embroidery hoops around and everything came to a halt. Then when looking around for some other stuff I found this...it is called jean-e-ology and you iron on the embroidery!

So what was a very plain bag turned out like this...sort of fancy schmancy...well... sort of.

Anyway, the other day when I went to have lunch with my friend who is moving to St. Francis Village and she wanted to show me some of the items she had bought for her new front porch and back deck. We went to Pier 1 and she showed me and then bought some new barstools to go with the pub table she already had. She and the cashier asked me if there was anything I'd found that I wanted and there it was...big as life.

The pillow of my embroidery dreams for $8.98 marked down from $30. I'd probably spent $20 on floss and needles and here it is and with a zipper in the back to boot! God sure gets a kick out of us, doesn't He. I can still get started on my other projects...like making an embroidered pillow...very similar to this one...or not so much.

I've still got the makings for something pretty

Funnies

more cat pictures

Dragon days and This and That

This is our one and only "dragon" that lives at our house. The Mascot for T.C.U. is the horned toad.

Our son and daughter in law gave this one to my husband. He is the TCU alumni, not me. Anyway this little horned toad is a bobble head. He lives in the window over my sink and watches out for us. Sometimes he looks outside and sometimes he is looking inside.


Sometimes he just has his eye on you, especially when he is outside on the picnic table that needs to be redone so badly. We finally figured out the power washer so maybe that will get done soon.

I haven't even seen many geckos this year, either. It has been so hot in the evenings that we have been staying inside in the air conditioning.


In other news, our cat, Puddy was sleeping peacefully on a beach towel on the patio the other day when I so rudely woke her. Here is the series of pictures of that event.



Here she is sleeping ever so soundly in her own little kitty dreams of catching mice and her next meal of Fancy Feast. When all of a sudden there was some racket.

"Hark...who goes there." she thinks as she awakens. She lifts her head to look for whatever is coming.

She sees it is only me with the camera...again and jumps up on the swing and looks at me like "What now? I need to get back to my nap."

Ruby Tuesday #3

These are store bought tomatoes after they lifted the ban. It has been so hot that our plants have dried up. I guess they just played out, because we replanted at the first of July and those tomato plants are growing quite well. Hopefully we will have a nice fall crop. From what I understand a fall garden is actually better than the spring one. Hopefully we will see ours make lovely red tomatoes.

Our Ruby Tuesday host is Mary, the Teach. On Tuesdays you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED. Your photo can contain lots of RED or a little bit of RED.

A fine time was had by all

It was a fun day at the in laws and the little family early birthday party for our grandson. Our son had cooked a brisket and beans and had dinner almost ready when we got over there today. We didn't have to do anything to help. That was truly lovely. Our grandson acted like a gentleman today with only a couple of slips. We are going to try to take him to the IMAX before they leave to go on vacation before school starts. However, he liked "The Mummy" with Brendan Fraser when he was over not so long ago that we may take him to see "The Mummy-Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" . Anyone seen it? I'll have to talk to hubby in the morning to see if what is showing at the IMAX is something a 7 year old would like. I thought that movie was showing there, but it wasn't listed. I love going to the IMAX and it has been a very long time since we have gone. It would be fun.

BTW-the big fish was a biggo hit with him! He really liked it. He liked a lot of other stuff, but the fish was something he loved. I'm starting to worry a bit about his infatuation with all things Star Wars and he won't even consider any other hero type stuff. He won't watch Spiderman, or Batman or anything unless it is Star Wars related. This might be something my son needs to really take a look at.

It will be a day or so before the pictures get downloaded to the computer, and I made a little knitted hat to go with one of the scarves after I got home. It is nearly midnight and here I sit typing. Also, I am really tired tonight...and thinking sleeping in late tomorrow morning would be nice.

Had a visitor to the blog today who used to live near where I do who has retired and moved to the Pacific Northwest where it is cool and lovely and the have petunia baskets on the streetlight posts in August. I'm so envious it isn't moral. That is just more lovely weather than one part of the country ought to get. We are hoping for some rain to break our heat. It was 104 today and that is just HOT.

See you all when I get around to the next post. Have a wonderful Monday.

more on the Olympics...joys and tradgedies

I was sort of surprised by the responses generated by my going on about the Olympics, but everyone is welcome to their say. I'm glad someone is reading it, and I am happy for you to say what is on your mind. I think the surface to air missiles are to protect the participants, not to wage war. We live in an uncertain world these days. However, war has broken out in the country of Georgia, with Russia. They didn't tell the team from there before the opening ceremonies yesterday. A former Olympic volleyball player's father was sightseeing in the city today/yesterday with his family and was killed by a beserker who stabbed him and injured his wife and tour guide, the girl was uninjured. The attacker jumped 130 feet off a balcony and did not survive the fall. Link to yahoo news about this story. Even with tremendous security there can be so much trouble. The article said that attacks on foreigners is very rare in China which makes the attack even more shocking.

I love the Olympics to be able to see excellence in the athlete's fields. I really don't care which country it is. Excellence speaks for itself. We were in and out all day today and this evening I fell asleep on the sofa while watching the games. Woke in time to see the women's relay swim. The Netherlands won that one, but the US took silver and the anchor on the team is a 41 year old woman who has been to 4 Olympic games. Her coach was diagnosed with aplastic anemia before the games and was not able to be with her in Beijing. She may have set a record, even with the team taking the silver. That takes a lot of heart to be able to carry on without the backup she has had for years and still perform admirably. The Chinese men's gymnasts were very good in the preliminaries. Got to tell you...I didn't see too much of anything today, but I held this sofa down like a true Olympic couch potato tonight.

The scheduling for the events is unbelievable. I just looked at the website and oh man! Take a look at this schedule! They deserve a medal just keeping up with what will be going on when and where and with which team! I hope to see some of the sailing (wonder what they did with that huge algae bloom just before the games were to open), and the equestrian competition, too. They have devoted three of the hd channels on my provider's coverage and I don't think that will be near enough.

We are going over to my husband's parent's home tomorrow to have an early celebration of my grandson's birthday. He will be 7 on Tuesday. It really doesn't seem that long on one hand and on the other SEVEN YEARS! That is a long time!

More competition...One World One Dream

The Olympic Opening ceremonies in Beijing, China were televised tonight. We have a huge screen tv, you know, because I love tv and watch a lot of it. It provides 62" of crystal clear images espcially when the show is broadcast in hi def as all the Olympic coverage will be.

The ceremonies were so magnificent it was not to be believed, except it was happening right before my eyes in High Def no less! Here is a link to the Opening Ceremonies and it doesn't have any spoiler info on this page. The Official Website does have spoilers, because they have already completed some of the events. One reason was there were just so many people and events they had to start before the opening ceremony, and another is they are 12 hours ahead of the US.

Yao Ming, a professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets in the states, carried the Chinese flag, his home country in the entry. He is 7' 6" and at his side was one of the little boys who survived the tragic earthquake in Sichuan province last month. They 9 year old boy was able to free himself of the rubble at his school and then went back into it to save two of his classmates. When he was asked why he went back in, he replied that it was his duty to take care of the other kids and that he was a hall monitor, so it was what he had to do. They were very much the pair. To see a picture of them walking the route click here. It is a link to Getty Images. There are also pictures of the unbelievable fireworks display at the bottom of that page. Oh my gosh they were so beautiful. And Dirk Nowitzki of Germany will be playing for his home country of Germany and was their flag bearer, too.

We watch the Olympics every time it comes around, because we love seeing the greatness that can come out in the athletes. There have been some unforgettable moments over the years. Like Bella Karoli carrying our gymnast, Kerri Strug, after she hurt her ankle so badly, and who could forget Nadia, if you aren't too young. And conversely there was Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan in the winter Olympics. There have been many moments of greatness and some really poor sportsmanship over the years we have been able to view the Olympics on television. Something that didn't happen before sometime in the 50s or 60s. The games were televised live in 1936, but there were very few television sets as you might imagine during the depression and the beginning of World War II. Special viewing rooms were set up in Berlin and Potsdam. By 1940 WWII had started and the games were canceled. The summer games didn't resume until 1948 and were held in London and the winter games in St. Moritz, Switzerland the same year.

There are issues about human rights and the Chinese government, but hopefully the games will not be ruined by either side. It is a time for which the Olympians have trained for four years or more. However, it was shocking to see ground to air missiles covered in camo just outside the birds nest, Beijing National stadium, on the news the other evening. It has been said by analysts on the BBC news site that this is the most politicized Olympic games since the Cold War.

Joshua Won!!

My favorite dancer on So You Think You Can Dance won tonight. Half a million, and a role in the Step Up 3 movie that is going to be in 3D....guess who will be going to see it! The really wild part is I knew he was from Fort Worth, but he is from an area just a few miles from where I live.

I'm very happy for him and think all the finalists will go far. They were all wonderful dancers.

They did have the dance off with the poppers and Robert Muraine won that. He has such a wonderful way of controlling his body and he loves his dance style so much. He is just amazing.
Another thing I liked about this season's show is the judges. It is so incongrous to see a woman who is not in her 20s by a while talk about how hard it was to find someone to teach her how to Pop dance. All the judges and the correographers are so bright eyed, and smart, and so understand their craft. I can't wait for next season already.

Dancing with the Stars is ok, but they don't have the experience of the dancers on SYTYCD. I'm in the mood to get out my Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly DVDs and watch them. I thought Donald O'Conner was just the best when I was a kid. I loved it when he and Gene Kelly danced together. I guess my love of dance has been a life long thing. They really were that good!

You Are...

My nephew's wife had this on her blog and it struck me as being so true I wanted to share it with you. Especially with all the beautiful baby pictures from the people who work at Blogger are there when we sign in to our blogs. They are so cute.

You Are

I am your parent, you are my child.

I am your quiet place, you are my wild.

I am your calm face, you are my giggle.

I am your wait, you are my wiggle.

I am your finish line, you are my race.

I am your praying hands, you are my saving grace.

I am your lullaby, you are my peekaboo.

I am your good-night kiss, you are my I love you.

Author Unknown

SYTYCD and a Bollywood Extravaganza all on one page

Taking a break from the dizzying world of knitting*, I would once again like to talk about my favorite show this summer...well, other than "The Closer" and "Saving Grace" and that would be "So You Think You Can Dance". Tonight is the first of the finals and my favorite dancer, Joshua will be dancing. He is from my home town and he is absolutely the best male dancer on the show and maybe the best dancer overall. He is very strong and seems to learn the most complex dance moves with little difficulty. I think he is awesome and so hope he wins this competition. He is 19 years old and when he talks you can see the teenage boy, but when he dances he is on a whole other level. He has had almost no professional training, and was street dancing here...somewhere. Lord knows where that could be around Fort Worth.

His page on the SYTYCD website is here. If you even remotely like dancing watch the show tonight. It comes on at 7 central on Fox. http://www.fox.com/dance/

In other dance/singing news**, Snoop Dog is in a movie called "Singh Is King", and apparently helped correograph it, too. It is a Bollywood, Indian, production filmed in Australia. I just love the song, and here is the You Tube of "Singh is Kinng". I'm hopeless...I've got to see this movie sometime....probably after it comes to dvd. It looks so fun and if the songs are all as good as this or even more Punjabi, I'll love it. I wanted to put the picture of the lead guy on this, but that just didn't work out. He looks a lot like the guy in "The Mummy"...the good guy.

My daughter says Snoop is into world domination. Have you noticed he is everywhere and in the news almost everyday. His tour bus was stopped here in Texas the other day. Snoop was asleep, but one or two of his guys were arrested. They posted bond and were later released. Snoop Dog was not arrested...he was asleep. Here is the complete story and even Snoop's real name. The Star Telegram is so in depth on this shocking story that rappers had 2 ounces of marijuana. Read all about it here.

On a more serious note, I've been thinking about writing something about forensics*** and shockingly how many men have been cleared of rape and murder charges recently by DNA after spending 25 or more years in prison . More later...the thoughts are trying to gel on how to write this. My mind is working overtime this morning.

*disclaimer....I am not a knitting teacher!
** disclaimer 2-I know little to nothing about the entertainment world.
*** disclaimer 3-I am not a CSI, but I do have a minor in biology

Scarves

Melli,

Here are a couple more I made. They are in garter stitch and the dark blue one is heavy yarn and I cast on 8 stitches onto size 11 needles. It is about 3" wide. I wanted it to be narrow and long. The one below was on 15" needles and very soft yarn, and there were 15 stitches cast on. It is 9" wide. It is sort of loopy, but I like it. Hope that gives you a idea for how many cast on and size of needles and weight of yarn factors in. Thought it might help if you could see what the garter stitch looks like and if you think you are doing it right or not. I see there are still some fringe thingys I need to trim on the purple one. This link to a learn to knit page might be helpful, too. Just remember...."It is just yarn, ya'll". I read that at Crazy Aunt Purl's the other night and it is sort of liberating to know that is all it is...yarn. She has some really cool scarves on her blog now. I might have to hurry and finish the one I'm working on now so I can get to that one.