I'm not going to give an accounting of the past year for me, but will say that a year ago I would never have dreamed I would be sitting where I am today. Life unfolds, and a person had better be prepared to meet it, embrace it, and go with the flow.
I am so grateful for the abundance in my life and know it will continue to be in my life during the coming year, 2012. At the top of my list of heroes are the two donors that enable me to be hopeful of having good vision again. Whether I do or I don't, I can live with it, and still be grateful to these two unknowns.
I wish all my family, friends, and readers a very good year to come.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Continuation, Germany 1992
I think I have solved the problem of quality with the scanned photos, so I will try a short post and include more pictures. I can only remember (and reognize) a few of the places we went, and the first is Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig's castle. I believe the castle at Disneyland was modeled after the one in Germany. It is difficult to get a full-on photo of it, and these are scenes from the area. I may have some better castle pictures from my first trip, and if so, I will post them eventually.
Somewhere in Bavaria:
We visited Oberammergau, which is famous for the Passion Play that is presented every year in the weeks before Easter. Since there was nothing going on while we were there, we just walked through the building and looked into all the little rooms where costumes and equipment are stored - Roman centurions, Pontius Pilate, etc.
Nuremburg is my favorite city in all Germany. There is a charm about it that I love, and in the times I've been there I found the people to be super friendly. The bakeries were superior to any I've ever known, and when Joe kept asking me to go back into one of the bakeries to get a pastry or whatever it was he especially liked, I told him how to ask for it in German and then made him go get it himself. He was pretty proud of himself when he came out holding his purhase.
Of all the sites I've visited in the entire country, in all the cities, towns and villages I've been in, the place that impressed me most in the Church of San Lorenz in Nuremburg. At the times I've been there it was still in the process of reconstruction, having been leveled during WW II. Pictures and exhibits show all the stages of rebuilding. The one that impressed me the most is a photo of women, young and old, picking up stones and bricks from the ruins of the church. They were the ones who made it possible for the builders, stone masons, etc., to complete the reconstruction of this venerable old church. Most of the reconstruction used the original materials which were salvaged from the piles of rubble.
More to come for Gypsy and Joe on the road again, in Germany.
A bit later I tried to scan some more photos but very few of them were usable. I'm not sure why all the wavy colored lines all over the pictures, but I may end up buying a new inexpensive flatbed scanner in the near future. I don't want anything fancy though, so that limits my options to just a couple of models.
Somewhere in Bavaria:
We visited Oberammergau, which is famous for the Passion Play that is presented every year in the weeks before Easter. Since there was nothing going on while we were there, we just walked through the building and looked into all the little rooms where costumes and equipment are stored - Roman centurions, Pontius Pilate, etc.
Nuremburg is my favorite city in all Germany. There is a charm about it that I love, and in the times I've been there I found the people to be super friendly. The bakeries were superior to any I've ever known, and when Joe kept asking me to go back into one of the bakeries to get a pastry or whatever it was he especially liked, I told him how to ask for it in German and then made him go get it himself. He was pretty proud of himself when he came out holding his purhase.
Of all the sites I've visited in the entire country, in all the cities, towns and villages I've been in, the place that impressed me most in the Church of San Lorenz in Nuremburg. At the times I've been there it was still in the process of reconstruction, having been leveled during WW II. Pictures and exhibits show all the stages of rebuilding. The one that impressed me the most is a photo of women, young and old, picking up stones and bricks from the ruins of the church. They were the ones who made it possible for the builders, stone masons, etc., to complete the reconstruction of this venerable old church. Most of the reconstruction used the original materials which were salvaged from the piles of rubble.
More to come for Gypsy and Joe on the road again, in Germany.
A bit later I tried to scan some more photos but very few of them were usable. I'm not sure why all the wavy colored lines all over the pictures, but I may end up buying a new inexpensive flatbed scanner in the near future. I don't want anything fancy though, so that limits my options to just a couple of models.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Size of pictures
I notice that the pictures I scanned that were originally taken in the early 1990's, are roughly from 300-500 KB, while the pictures from my digital camera are more like 1.4 MB. That is a big difference which probably explains the great disparity in quality. Can someone tell me if there is a way to save the early pictures at a higher quality? I don't remember there being an option, but I think there is if I knew how to do it.
My g'daughter Ara came over this morning and we spent the day together. I love having lunch at La Bou restaurant, and for the 2nd time since she has been back for the holidays we went there to eat and talk. We gabbed all afternoon and she helped me hang the large needlepoint picture that is over my couch. I just love having her around and discussing the things that make us so alike although we are so many years apart in age. Our general perspective of the world is so similar, our political views are so alike, and most everything in between. I am grateful for her and the energy she exudes. It takes me back to my 20's.
I had set a loaf of bread to finish baking about the time she would be arriving this morning, and we enjoyed bread slathered with butter along with our coffee. My coffee maker is definitely not working right, and I'm not really happy with the backup machine I have on hand, so tomorrow I will start using the Melitta system until I buy a new Mr. Coffee. I think the Melitta brewed coffee is the best I've ever tasted, but the only way you can keep it warm is to transfer it to a thermos.
I wonder if others have noticed they receive considerably more spam comments in the past month or so. I get them quite often, mostly just a few words plus a link, and today I received one that had quite a long message plus the link. The language was such poor English that I'm sure it came from the Balkans, which is where a lot of this stuff is coming from lately, according to what I've heard. At least Blogger catches it so it doesn't get published.
Well, that's been my day. Ara has offered to help me get back to painting, so I think I will do the prep work on the closet doors so she can start applying the primer. I'd like to get all those little tasks that I've left undone, before I start on the kitchen or the remainder of the living room. Little by little it's coming together, and while I'd like to have everything completed yesterday, I think I can maintain my patience with it.
My g'daughter Ara came over this morning and we spent the day together. I love having lunch at La Bou restaurant, and for the 2nd time since she has been back for the holidays we went there to eat and talk. We gabbed all afternoon and she helped me hang the large needlepoint picture that is over my couch. I just love having her around and discussing the things that make us so alike although we are so many years apart in age. Our general perspective of the world is so similar, our political views are so alike, and most everything in between. I am grateful for her and the energy she exudes. It takes me back to my 20's.
I had set a loaf of bread to finish baking about the time she would be arriving this morning, and we enjoyed bread slathered with butter along with our coffee. My coffee maker is definitely not working right, and I'm not really happy with the backup machine I have on hand, so tomorrow I will start using the Melitta system until I buy a new Mr. Coffee. I think the Melitta brewed coffee is the best I've ever tasted, but the only way you can keep it warm is to transfer it to a thermos.
I wonder if others have noticed they receive considerably more spam comments in the past month or so. I get them quite often, mostly just a few words plus a link, and today I received one that had quite a long message plus the link. The language was such poor English that I'm sure it came from the Balkans, which is where a lot of this stuff is coming from lately, according to what I've heard. At least Blogger catches it so it doesn't get published.
Well, that's been my day. Ara has offered to help me get back to painting, so I think I will do the prep work on the closet doors so she can start applying the primer. I'd like to get all those little tasks that I've left undone, before I start on the kitchen or the remainder of the living room. Little by little it's coming together, and while I'd like to have everything completed yesterday, I think I can maintain my patience with it.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Stove is hooked up
I had a wonderful Christmas day with family, and this morning before going back to Monterey my son Steve & family came by so he could switch out the electric range for the gas one. Joe also dropped by with one of his daughters and helped carry out the old one.
The stove: The yellow cast must be from the lights. It is just perfect for me - dials for 4 burners and the oven, and lights for each to indicate whether they are turned on. I might need that little reminder. No digital clocks or anything hi tech - just the stove I wanted.
Steve and apprentice:
The little helper:
Liam got a 46 piece Black and Decker tool set for Christmas, plus the tool belt. Ya gotta start them out young!
I also received a range hood for Christmas plus a couple of Home Depot gift cards which will enable me to get the dishwasher soon. My car was loaded down with presents when I returned home.
The stove: The yellow cast must be from the lights. It is just perfect for me - dials for 4 burners and the oven, and lights for each to indicate whether they are turned on. I might need that little reminder. No digital clocks or anything hi tech - just the stove I wanted.
Steve and apprentice:
The little helper:
Liam got a 46 piece Black and Decker tool set for Christmas, plus the tool belt. Ya gotta start them out young!
I also received a range hood for Christmas plus a couple of Home Depot gift cards which will enable me to get the dishwasher soon. My car was loaded down with presents when I returned home.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Trip to Iceland
In approximately February 1992 I took my 13 yr old son, Joe, with me to Germany to visit my s-i-l and niece; my brother had been deployed to the Gulf War and was in Iraq at that time. Here is a picture of Joe on the plane - doesn't he look studious? I think that was probably the only time he ever opened a book in the entire 2-3 wk. period.
We flew from Baltimore on Icelandic Air, and touched down in Reykjavik, Iceland early in the morning. I had arranged that we would stay overnight and tour the city, and leave for Luxembourg the next morning. I booked a package deal that included the hotel plus a guided tour of the city, dinner, breakfast the following morning and transportation to the airport. Here are some scenes from the guided tour. The very modern structure is a museum dedicated to the artist-designer of the building:
Here is the house where Reagan and Gorbachov met:
Iceland is volcanic and the hot water is geothermal. Here is a picture of one of the many swimming pools in Reykjavik and you can see the steam rising from the pool, although you fortunately can't notice the sulphuric aroma. The shower at the hotel was blazingly hot as well.
Our hotel room was sparse and very plain looking, but also very comfortable. Both Joe and I agreed the down comforters were worth their weight in gold. The next day I looked at several shops to buy one, but the cost was too much for a humble single mom!
(Don't I look like a poodle with my curly perm!)
We had breakfast the next morning and went to wait for our shuttle to the airport. We were informed that the plane was cancelled, and we would be booked on the evening flight. Well that was a bummer, but I decided we would explore the city on foot. The temperature was around 30F which wouldn't be so bad, except it is too close to the sea to be comfortable and felt much colder. We trod around through snowy streets, stopped to look at interesting things, Joe grumbled a bit as the day wore on, and we finally found a mall - not anything like a big American mall, but a mall nonetheless. In it was a Pizza Hut, and I think it cost me $18 for a big slab of pizza which I gave to Joe. (I would have choked on an $18 slice of pizza back in 1992). A 13 yr old boy is impossible to fill up!
Here are some city scenes in Reykjavik:
It was finally time to go to the airport and board our flight to Luxembourg. The problem was that we missed the train connection to Mannheim, Germany, as well as the following connection to Karlsruhe. Iceland Air arranged for us to be shuttled in a van to Mannheim, and we caught a bus to Karlsruhe, arriving very late in the evening. We were left at the banhof - the train station. In halting German I asked the only other person in the station how I could get to the US Army post. She turned away and wouldn't even talk to me. Lucky for us there were several taxis outside, and God bless taxi drivers everywhere, they understood my German and then began speaking to me in excellent English. One of them offered to take us to the Army post, but left us at the guard station. I'm not sure how we managed it, but my s-i-l was expecting us and was out walking around hoping to spot us or find news from the guards.
In my many travels I have learned to be flexible and to just take things as they come - they always work out in the end. I will continue another time with what I can remember of that trip, plus some more pictures from my first trip to Germany when I went to Prague.
The photos being from 1992 and scanned on an old model scanner, haven't turned out very well and I apologize for the quality. However, I think you can get an idea of what I am trying to convey.
We flew from Baltimore on Icelandic Air, and touched down in Reykjavik, Iceland early in the morning. I had arranged that we would stay overnight and tour the city, and leave for Luxembourg the next morning. I booked a package deal that included the hotel plus a guided tour of the city, dinner, breakfast the following morning and transportation to the airport. Here are some scenes from the guided tour. The very modern structure is a museum dedicated to the artist-designer of the building:
Here is the house where Reagan and Gorbachov met:
Iceland is volcanic and the hot water is geothermal. Here is a picture of one of the many swimming pools in Reykjavik and you can see the steam rising from the pool, although you fortunately can't notice the sulphuric aroma. The shower at the hotel was blazingly hot as well.
Our hotel room was sparse and very plain looking, but also very comfortable. Both Joe and I agreed the down comforters were worth their weight in gold. The next day I looked at several shops to buy one, but the cost was too much for a humble single mom!
(Don't I look like a poodle with my curly perm!)
We had breakfast the next morning and went to wait for our shuttle to the airport. We were informed that the plane was cancelled, and we would be booked on the evening flight. Well that was a bummer, but I decided we would explore the city on foot. The temperature was around 30F which wouldn't be so bad, except it is too close to the sea to be comfortable and felt much colder. We trod around through snowy streets, stopped to look at interesting things, Joe grumbled a bit as the day wore on, and we finally found a mall - not anything like a big American mall, but a mall nonetheless. In it was a Pizza Hut, and I think it cost me $18 for a big slab of pizza which I gave to Joe. (I would have choked on an $18 slice of pizza back in 1992). A 13 yr old boy is impossible to fill up!
Here are some city scenes in Reykjavik:
It was finally time to go to the airport and board our flight to Luxembourg. The problem was that we missed the train connection to Mannheim, Germany, as well as the following connection to Karlsruhe. Iceland Air arranged for us to be shuttled in a van to Mannheim, and we caught a bus to Karlsruhe, arriving very late in the evening. We were left at the banhof - the train station. In halting German I asked the only other person in the station how I could get to the US Army post. She turned away and wouldn't even talk to me. Lucky for us there were several taxis outside, and God bless taxi drivers everywhere, they understood my German and then began speaking to me in excellent English. One of them offered to take us to the Army post, but left us at the guard station. I'm not sure how we managed it, but my s-i-l was expecting us and was out walking around hoping to spot us or find news from the guards.
In my many travels I have learned to be flexible and to just take things as they come - they always work out in the end. I will continue another time with what I can remember of that trip, plus some more pictures from my first trip to Germany when I went to Prague.
The photos being from 1992 and scanned on an old model scanner, haven't turned out very well and I apologize for the quality. However, I think you can get an idea of what I am trying to convey.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
End of my patience
Gmail has finally forced its users to switch to the new look. I can't find my contact list and the new look version has about 8 names in the address category. So I've decided to use my aol account. My prime email address will now be: mgypsy97 at aol dot com.
I tried to change the email address that appears at the top of my blog, but Google won't let me replace the primary address which is the gmail one. I don't understand this since many users of Blogger have alternative email programs. I'm truly about ready to give up on Google and all its tentacle programs.
I tried to change the email address that appears at the top of my blog, but Google won't let me replace the primary address which is the gmail one. I don't understand this since many users of Blogger have alternative email programs. I'm truly about ready to give up on Google and all its tentacle programs.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
A trip to Czechoslovakia
In June of 1990 I made my first trip to Germany and visited my brother who was in the military, his wife and their daughter. My sister-in-law (Taffy) drove me to Prague which was in the midst of the Velvet Revolution at the time. We had to go through a Soviet border checkpoint, but once we were in Czechoslovakia we had no problem driving straight to Prague, a beautiful old medieval city. There was the hope of democracy everywhere, and it was an exciting time to be there. In the evenings people would gather to discuss political issues, and a crowd outside our open hotel window became quite loud. The sound of breaking glass ended the discussion and the people must have fled.
The hotel we stayed in was very old but comfortable - certainly nothing fancy. They took our passports on check-in, which bothered me tremendously. I didn't know at the time that it was once a common occurrence in many countries of the world, and they are returned on checking out. This is one photo I couldn't get into the blog in the correct rotation. Although it shows ok on my screen it uploads sideways. Sorry about that.
I had some of my pictures scanned, but instead of giving me my flash drive back with each individual picture in jpeg format, the photos were all contained in a pdf file. I had to do a screen shot on each picture I wanted to insert into my blog, and save it in the documents folder. I don't think the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them, but you can try and please let me know how it goes.
Statue of King Wenceslas, in Wenceslas Square. This is the area where the Soviet tanks mowed down the unarmed demonstrators.
This is a memorial circle which is made up of candle wax from all the memorial candles burned since the uprising. There are still lit candles there.
Here are some pictures of street scenes:
On our way out of Prague. This could be the town of Pilsen.
When we left Prague the following afternoon everything was fine until we were within about a mile of the border crossing, and signs informed us that the crossing was closed! That required us to locate another crossing further south, and it was already late afternoon. I was pretty frantic (though I tried not to show it), but wondered what would happen if we couldn't get out of the country! I was a US government employee and Taffy the wife of a US Army Lt. Colonel, and all sorts of bizarre things went through my head. We made it to the border and were transitioned back to Germany with no problems. Germany looked absolutely beautiful to us, with the painted houses and every window box filled with red geraniums and white petunias.
I'm not sure when the border crossings were all closed, but it wasn't too long after we were there. The country eventually split into the Czech Republic with Vaclav Havel at its head, and Slovakia.
The little sweetie on a couple of the photos is my niece Jessica (Jessie) who is now a gorgeous young woman and planning to be married this coming March. My brother Phil has finally retired from the Army, and they live part of the year in Florida and part in a villa they purchased in Italy.
I went to Germany at this time to be present at the change of command ceremony, where Phil took command of the Black Lions Engr. group, which eventually was deployed to Iraq in the first Gulf War. I returned to Germany during the time of his deployment, accompanied by my youngest son (Joe) who was very happy to get an unexpected holiday from school in February. That trip was full of a few surprises, and I might cover it next if I can gather my photos and figure out how to scan them so as to get them imported into iPhoto.
I also attended the change of command ceremony at Ft. Carson, Colorado, when as a full bird Colonel Phil took command of an engineer brigade. That story and pictures are also for another time.
Again, I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. The originals are excellent, but in the scanning process plus the necessity to take screen shots and save them in yet another format, make them less than I hoped.
The hotel we stayed in was very old but comfortable - certainly nothing fancy. They took our passports on check-in, which bothered me tremendously. I didn't know at the time that it was once a common occurrence in many countries of the world, and they are returned on checking out. This is one photo I couldn't get into the blog in the correct rotation. Although it shows ok on my screen it uploads sideways. Sorry about that.
I had some of my pictures scanned, but instead of giving me my flash drive back with each individual picture in jpeg format, the photos were all contained in a pdf file. I had to do a screen shot on each picture I wanted to insert into my blog, and save it in the documents folder. I don't think the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them, but you can try and please let me know how it goes.
Statue of King Wenceslas, in Wenceslas Square. This is the area where the Soviet tanks mowed down the unarmed demonstrators.
This is a memorial circle which is made up of candle wax from all the memorial candles burned since the uprising. There are still lit candles there.
Here are some pictures of street scenes:
On our way out of Prague. This could be the town of Pilsen.
When we left Prague the following afternoon everything was fine until we were within about a mile of the border crossing, and signs informed us that the crossing was closed! That required us to locate another crossing further south, and it was already late afternoon. I was pretty frantic (though I tried not to show it), but wondered what would happen if we couldn't get out of the country! I was a US government employee and Taffy the wife of a US Army Lt. Colonel, and all sorts of bizarre things went through my head. We made it to the border and were transitioned back to Germany with no problems. Germany looked absolutely beautiful to us, with the painted houses and every window box filled with red geraniums and white petunias.
I'm not sure when the border crossings were all closed, but it wasn't too long after we were there. The country eventually split into the Czech Republic with Vaclav Havel at its head, and Slovakia.
The little sweetie on a couple of the photos is my niece Jessica (Jessie) who is now a gorgeous young woman and planning to be married this coming March. My brother Phil has finally retired from the Army, and they live part of the year in Florida and part in a villa they purchased in Italy.
I went to Germany at this time to be present at the change of command ceremony, where Phil took command of the Black Lions Engr. group, which eventually was deployed to Iraq in the first Gulf War. I returned to Germany during the time of his deployment, accompanied by my youngest son (Joe) who was very happy to get an unexpected holiday from school in February. That trip was full of a few surprises, and I might cover it next if I can gather my photos and figure out how to scan them so as to get them imported into iPhoto.
I also attended the change of command ceremony at Ft. Carson, Colorado, when as a full bird Colonel Phil took command of an engineer brigade. That story and pictures are also for another time.
Again, I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. The originals are excellent, but in the scanning process plus the necessity to take screen shots and save them in yet another format, make them less than I hoped.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Resting up
I don't know why but one day I can accomplish things or go out, and the next day I just like to vegetate. So today, after the party, I am vegetating. I have errands to run and should get to them before the last minute Christmas rush, but I just couldn't get going this morning. Tomorrow will be a better day anyway. I've always felt like Tuesday is the very best day to shop, travel, or do anything, maybe because I prefer the least crowded and least traveled days. So Tuesday it is, and I will get everything done tomorrow.
There was some misunderstanding over who is the cake baker in the family. Joe, the redhead, is my youngest son. Donald who is the chef and baker in the family is my son-in-law and father of the birthday girl. I looked for some recent pictures other than the ones of Joe & Don working on my floor, and neither is a head-on shot. I found this one taken a few St. Patrick's days ago, Donald on the left and Joe on the right.
This is Joe's wife, Sarah, and I'm holding their daughter, Alyssa. Alyssa is going to be 4 yrs old on New Year's Day (I'm sure Donald will make that cake as well), and Ally has a little 2 yr old sister, Keira, aka Kiki.
Rounding off my family is my middle son, Steve, his wife Megan, and their son Liam, who now live near Monterey Bay and who will be with us on Christmas Day. My oldest son, Mike, his wife, Sandy, and their two boys Joshua & Justin live in New York. I hope to visit them this spring and spend some time in NY. I've showed lots of pictures of my daughter, Jeannie (Donald's wife) and their oldest daughter, Ara, whose college graduation I'll be attending in May. I won't go into my 7 siblings, their spouses, and my many nieces and nephews. It is fun being from a large family, although it's probably insane by today's standards. Who could afford to raise and educate so many children? I'm glad I came from a large family though, and being the oldest I learned one of the best lessons in life: Don't get too attached to material things - they can be broken in a moment by mischievous younger brothers, or a younger sister can pour out your bottle of expensive make-up in a heartbeat. People are more important than things.
Back to the cake, the very top of it was the cake part and Donald took it off to cut it. I'm not sure what the tree trunk is, but I imagine the bottom part was made of Rice Krispie treat, and he often uses that for bulk. Fondant covers the whole thing, I believe, and it is this that is the base for decoration. I have watched him work painstakingly at creating small parts to be added to a big cake. He also does strawberries dipped in chocolate and decorated, and are almost too beautiful to bite into, but it never stops me from taking that bite!
I just took Lady for her afternoon walk, and noticed my next door neighbor taking down Christmas lights from his porch railing and the tree in front of his house. He told me the wires had been cut on two different strands so he was just taking the whole thing down. I feel so bad for him - he thinks it's because there is a $100 prize to be given to the best-decorated house, but I can't imagine anyone being that petty over a lousy $100!
I've already noted that just like RV parks, half the people are very friendly and half will look you straight in the eye when you greet them and just walk past you giving no response whatsoever. And so much for Christian peace and good will during the holiday season.
There was some misunderstanding over who is the cake baker in the family. Joe, the redhead, is my youngest son. Donald who is the chef and baker in the family is my son-in-law and father of the birthday girl. I looked for some recent pictures other than the ones of Joe & Don working on my floor, and neither is a head-on shot. I found this one taken a few St. Patrick's days ago, Donald on the left and Joe on the right.
This is Joe's wife, Sarah, and I'm holding their daughter, Alyssa. Alyssa is going to be 4 yrs old on New Year's Day (I'm sure Donald will make that cake as well), and Ally has a little 2 yr old sister, Keira, aka Kiki.
Rounding off my family is my middle son, Steve, his wife Megan, and their son Liam, who now live near Monterey Bay and who will be with us on Christmas Day. My oldest son, Mike, his wife, Sandy, and their two boys Joshua & Justin live in New York. I hope to visit them this spring and spend some time in NY. I've showed lots of pictures of my daughter, Jeannie (Donald's wife) and their oldest daughter, Ara, whose college graduation I'll be attending in May. I won't go into my 7 siblings, their spouses, and my many nieces and nephews. It is fun being from a large family, although it's probably insane by today's standards. Who could afford to raise and educate so many children? I'm glad I came from a large family though, and being the oldest I learned one of the best lessons in life: Don't get too attached to material things - they can be broken in a moment by mischievous younger brothers, or a younger sister can pour out your bottle of expensive make-up in a heartbeat. People are more important than things.
Back to the cake, the very top of it was the cake part and Donald took it off to cut it. I'm not sure what the tree trunk is, but I imagine the bottom part was made of Rice Krispie treat, and he often uses that for bulk. Fondant covers the whole thing, I believe, and it is this that is the base for decoration. I have watched him work painstakingly at creating small parts to be added to a big cake. He also does strawberries dipped in chocolate and decorated, and are almost too beautiful to bite into, but it never stops me from taking that bite!
I just took Lady for her afternoon walk, and noticed my next door neighbor taking down Christmas lights from his porch railing and the tree in front of his house. He told me the wires had been cut on two different strands so he was just taking the whole thing down. I feel so bad for him - he thinks it's because there is a $100 prize to be given to the best-decorated house, but I can't imagine anyone being that petty over a lousy $100!
I've already noted that just like RV parks, half the people are very friendly and half will look you straight in the eye when you greet them and just walk past you giving no response whatsoever. And so much for Christian peace and good will during the holiday season.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Birthday Party
Today my granddaughter, Autumn, is 5 yrs old, and I went to the party. Here is Autumn and her little sister, Arianna:
And of course, Donald did an excellent job on the cake. He said he asked her a week ago what theme she wanted, but she could never make up her mind. Yesterday, with one day to go, she told him she decided on Rapunzel (as she pronounces it, Ree-punzel).
If you have granddaughters and have had to chance to see the movie, you will recognize the cake, and it was certainly elaborate:
Here is a close up of Ree-punzel and her long hair:
And the last picture I took, speaking of long hair, is of my son, Joe, and me. Joe has always had beautiful red hair. For the past number of years he has kept it cut close, nearly shaved, so the color was only barely noticeable in the sun. He has let it grow the past couple of months, and at 34 he has not a gray hair on his head yet. The picture won't show the true glory of the red hair, and it would be much more obvious in the sunlight, but I wanted a souvenir as he is going to cut it before school starts in January.
Finally, a shot of the western sky that was on my camera when I imported the pictures to my computer. I think it was taken a week or so ago - each sunset is more beautiful than the last in this area - and I know I've shown similar views since I've lived in this house.
And of course, Donald did an excellent job on the cake. He said he asked her a week ago what theme she wanted, but she could never make up her mind. Yesterday, with one day to go, she told him she decided on Rapunzel (as she pronounces it, Ree-punzel).
If you have granddaughters and have had to chance to see the movie, you will recognize the cake, and it was certainly elaborate:
Here is a close up of Ree-punzel and her long hair:
And the last picture I took, speaking of long hair, is of my son, Joe, and me. Joe has always had beautiful red hair. For the past number of years he has kept it cut close, nearly shaved, so the color was only barely noticeable in the sun. He has let it grow the past couple of months, and at 34 he has not a gray hair on his head yet. The picture won't show the true glory of the red hair, and it would be much more obvious in the sunlight, but I wanted a souvenir as he is going to cut it before school starts in January.
Finally, a shot of the western sky that was on my camera when I imported the pictures to my computer. I think it was taken a week or so ago - each sunset is more beautiful than the last in this area - and I know I've shown similar views since I've lived in this house.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Will I ever learn?
I am forever misplacing my glasses. I need them for reading, but I find myself forgetting to take them off when I walk about, and when I realize I am still wearing them, I set them in the nearest suitable place.
When I was a young girl I worked in an office with three unmarried middle-aged women. They were wonderful to me, and were like beloved aunts. Each wore a chain around her neck which held her reading glasses, so when she took the glasses off she wouldn't lose or misplace them. It was a symbol of old age to me then, and to this day I don't like the thought of buying one of those chains. I am way past middle age, however, and I really need one, so I wonder if I could wear a chain to hold my glasses, and quickly take it off when someone comes to the door. It would be particularly helpful when grocery shopping as I now have to carry them around and am constantly putting them on to see what is on the shelves and to read labels, but taking them off to walk to the next item on my list. But what if someone I know sees me? What a dilemma!
Several people have suggested that I call Goodwill or some other such organization to pick up my old stove. Although it is over 20 years old, all four burners and the oven work just fine. But pride would demand that I clean it up really well if I expected to donate it. I have the top and front fairly clean and at least it is not sticky, but when Steve was here and pulled it out a bit to check the connections, I found the sides are covered with baked on animal fat that has dripped down. The sides of the stove are sticky beyond belief, and it will embarrass me to even pay someone to take it away, much less to expect someone to use it. I know I could spend a day cleaning it and it would still not be decent, and I don't intend to spend a day trying to clean something I won't ever use myself.
I'm out of bread again so it's time for me to get out the ingredients and measuring cups and spoons. I didn't mention it but the model of machine I am using is Toastmaster Bread and Butter Maker. Yes I could actually make my own butter in it, the paddle churning the cream, without the heating element of course. Can you imagine how many calories I would consume a day if I had fresh home-made bread AND butter? I use nothing but real butter as it is, but if I made it from scratch I'm sure I would use a lot more per slice. I ought to try it out as a small crock of flavored butter would make a nice gift. I like my butter just plain old salted organic, but I know others enjoy garlic flavored or other spices and flavors.
I have been noticing small problems with my laptop once in a while, and am afraid one of these days it isn't going to power up. I still have another year on my extended warranty, but would hate to do without a computer for the week or so it would probably take to fix it. And what if it isn't worth fixing? I sure can't afford a new Mac laptop right now.
My driveway looks halfway decent now as I loaded all the remnants of flooring and a couple of small pieces of carpet into the dumpster that arrived at 8:00 am. The wooden pallet, bagged leaves, Yvonne's satellite dish and a lot of other junk are tossed. Soon I will begin the junk collection again, as I will have the big cardboard box holding the electric range. The stove came double boxed, and Donald took the outer box home for the girls to play in and make a fort. Remember those days, when a refrigerator or other appliance carton was better than any toy?
When I was a young girl I worked in an office with three unmarried middle-aged women. They were wonderful to me, and were like beloved aunts. Each wore a chain around her neck which held her reading glasses, so when she took the glasses off she wouldn't lose or misplace them. It was a symbol of old age to me then, and to this day I don't like the thought of buying one of those chains. I am way past middle age, however, and I really need one, so I wonder if I could wear a chain to hold my glasses, and quickly take it off when someone comes to the door. It would be particularly helpful when grocery shopping as I now have to carry them around and am constantly putting them on to see what is on the shelves and to read labels, but taking them off to walk to the next item on my list. But what if someone I know sees me? What a dilemma!
Several people have suggested that I call Goodwill or some other such organization to pick up my old stove. Although it is over 20 years old, all four burners and the oven work just fine. But pride would demand that I clean it up really well if I expected to donate it. I have the top and front fairly clean and at least it is not sticky, but when Steve was here and pulled it out a bit to check the connections, I found the sides are covered with baked on animal fat that has dripped down. The sides of the stove are sticky beyond belief, and it will embarrass me to even pay someone to take it away, much less to expect someone to use it. I know I could spend a day cleaning it and it would still not be decent, and I don't intend to spend a day trying to clean something I won't ever use myself.
I'm out of bread again so it's time for me to get out the ingredients and measuring cups and spoons. I didn't mention it but the model of machine I am using is Toastmaster Bread and Butter Maker. Yes I could actually make my own butter in it, the paddle churning the cream, without the heating element of course. Can you imagine how many calories I would consume a day if I had fresh home-made bread AND butter? I use nothing but real butter as it is, but if I made it from scratch I'm sure I would use a lot more per slice. I ought to try it out as a small crock of flavored butter would make a nice gift. I like my butter just plain old salted organic, but I know others enjoy garlic flavored or other spices and flavors.
I have been noticing small problems with my laptop once in a while, and am afraid one of these days it isn't going to power up. I still have another year on my extended warranty, but would hate to do without a computer for the week or so it would probably take to fix it. And what if it isn't worth fixing? I sure can't afford a new Mac laptop right now.
My driveway looks halfway decent now as I loaded all the remnants of flooring and a couple of small pieces of carpet into the dumpster that arrived at 8:00 am. The wooden pallet, bagged leaves, Yvonne's satellite dish and a lot of other junk are tossed. Soon I will begin the junk collection again, as I will have the big cardboard box holding the electric range. The stove came double boxed, and Donald took the outer box home for the girls to play in and make a fort. Remember those days, when a refrigerator or other appliance carton was better than any toy?
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
I'm still here
Just nothing to write about. After spending Sunday walking around the stores I mostly rested on Monday and even today. Tomorrow I'll have a small dumpster in my driveway so I can get rid of a lot of junk from the house - scraps of flooring, cardboard, a rod for vertical blinds (from the smoking room so it isn't worth even trying to clean up), and even a couple of bags of leaves that I raked up.
I checked at the office today and it looks like I'll have to get someone to come out and pick up my old gas range. That means it will cost me, but it's worth it when it comes time to get rid of it.
I wanted to mention that I'm still dissatisfied with the options for email. It seems that many of the programs such as mail.com, Thunderbird, and many others, merely collect your email from other accounts such as gmail. What I was looking for was a completely new email program and address. I know they are out there, but some of them don't have very good organization. Right now I'm just plodding along with gmail and the "old" screen. Maybe they will let me keep that screen for a while; I can always go back to using AOL if I need to.
It looks like a slow boring TV night, so I'll probably listen to music for a while and then turn in early. Catch ya later.
I checked at the office today and it looks like I'll have to get someone to come out and pick up my old gas range. That means it will cost me, but it's worth it when it comes time to get rid of it.
I wanted to mention that I'm still dissatisfied with the options for email. It seems that many of the programs such as mail.com, Thunderbird, and many others, merely collect your email from other accounts such as gmail. What I was looking for was a completely new email program and address. I know they are out there, but some of them don't have very good organization. Right now I'm just plodding along with gmail and the "old" screen. Maybe they will let me keep that screen for a while; I can always go back to using AOL if I need to.
It looks like a slow boring TV night, so I'll probably listen to music for a while and then turn in early. Catch ya later.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Shopping trip
My daughter called me a little after 9:00 am to ask if I wanted to go shopping with her. The clincher was that she was going alone, no kids along. I love the kids dearly, but remembering having to shop with four little ones of my own I must say one of the joys of aging is that you no longer have to deal with taking kids into stores. It was a good day for me because she drove, and is willing to drive to places I wouldn't go near especially on a weekend. I didn't buy much, but I did get one of the most important gifts on my list. The best part though is spending time with my daughter. We don't have the opportunity very often, so I couldn't pass up the chance.
I am totally worn out this evening and will just sit in my recliner after a supper of sandwich and a beer.
Thanks to those who left me positive comments on my Ireland and Appalachian Trail blogs. I need to go over them myself and do some editing and fixing, as well as to add pictures. I have tons of photographs taken on my extensive travels, and as soon as I get a scanner working I will start posting them plus writing descriptions to go along with them. I have quite a few wonderful memories of Korea, Tokyo, El Salvador, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, etc., plus many photos taken on various trips in the US.
Someone asked why I would want to quit blogging, and the answer is that while I really love comments on what I write, I don't like criticism and ridicule. When the Mr. Angry Anonymous decides to leave a nasty or jerky comment, I just feel like throwing it all away, which is probably the exact reaction he wants. But I don't like to play games, and I would rather get out of the arena than to deal with the aggravation it causes me. He always waits until he figures I have become complacent and then BAM! I don't know how others feel about it, but I don't think I'm alone - maybe my skin is just a bit thinner. Once in a while I read a blog that I don't agree with, but I hope I never leave a comment that is hurtful or insulting.
I bought the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, and will have a cookie baking session when Ara is home for Christmas holiday. I'm thinking of including the 5 yr old and nearly-4 yr old, although I can't imagine working in my kitchen in a group of 2 adults and 2 little girls. I wish I had a dishwasher, and I sure wish my new electric range hooked up. It's too bad (or maybe it's a blessing in disguise) that I am not set up for sleep-overs or we could really make it a fun celebration. I do hope to have Ara spend a night sometime, as I finally found Piper Heidseck champagne, which I think is the perfect tasting champagne, and I want to share it with someone. I really wanted to have some champagne to celebrate my moving into my home but I don't drink that stuff alone. Some things are just too social and need company for complete enjoyment (good coffee almost fits that description as well). But I can't let her drive home, so she will have to spend the night.
I mentioned previously that I was looking for an alternative to gmail, and I have tried two programs so far. Neither of them is any easier to use than gmail, and in fact, are a bit more complicated, or possibly less intuitive. I will keep searching. I will only try a program that lets me keep my gypsy97 name, which leaves out Yahoo. I tried to create a Yahoo account years ago and must have messed up the first try, so I will never be able to use it again there. I use Yahoo groups, but email isn't an option, and Hotmail is a windows program (I believe).
This morning when Jeannie got here she wanted to look at the ads in my Sunday paper while I was drying my hair. All of the sudden all of the electric went out, all through the house. I didn't know what to do or whether this was an outage throughout the park, or what. I went outside to see if I could see any lights anywhere, and stopped a gentleman out for a walk. I asked him if he had seen any lights or Christmas lights on and explained that I had no electricity. He said he was a retired electrician (am I lucky, or what!) and came over to check it out. I had no clue where the electric panel is, and it turned out to definitely not be outside. He said it is usually indoors and asked if he could come in and look for it. We found it in my bedroom closet, and he reset it so I had electric. When I take a shower I set my little electric heater on the bathroom sink and aim it toward the shower, but I turn it off before I turn on the hairdryer. This morning I set the little heater back in the living room and aimed it at Jeannie while I was drying my hair. I found out the heater and hairdryer can't be on at the same time, just as it was in my RV. So I learned to stop and think twice before I turn the hairdryer on, as well as to appreciate Frank, the retired electrician. It seems there are a lot of folks in this park who offer help to those who need it. Not everyone, but a lot of them.
I am totally worn out this evening and will just sit in my recliner after a supper of sandwich and a beer.
Thanks to those who left me positive comments on my Ireland and Appalachian Trail blogs. I need to go over them myself and do some editing and fixing, as well as to add pictures. I have tons of photographs taken on my extensive travels, and as soon as I get a scanner working I will start posting them plus writing descriptions to go along with them. I have quite a few wonderful memories of Korea, Tokyo, El Salvador, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, etc., plus many photos taken on various trips in the US.
Someone asked why I would want to quit blogging, and the answer is that while I really love comments on what I write, I don't like criticism and ridicule. When the Mr. Angry Anonymous decides to leave a nasty or jerky comment, I just feel like throwing it all away, which is probably the exact reaction he wants. But I don't like to play games, and I would rather get out of the arena than to deal with the aggravation it causes me. He always waits until he figures I have become complacent and then BAM! I don't know how others feel about it, but I don't think I'm alone - maybe my skin is just a bit thinner. Once in a while I read a blog that I don't agree with, but I hope I never leave a comment that is hurtful or insulting.
I bought the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, and will have a cookie baking session when Ara is home for Christmas holiday. I'm thinking of including the 5 yr old and nearly-4 yr old, although I can't imagine working in my kitchen in a group of 2 adults and 2 little girls. I wish I had a dishwasher, and I sure wish my new electric range hooked up. It's too bad (or maybe it's a blessing in disguise) that I am not set up for sleep-overs or we could really make it a fun celebration. I do hope to have Ara spend a night sometime, as I finally found Piper Heidseck champagne, which I think is the perfect tasting champagne, and I want to share it with someone. I really wanted to have some champagne to celebrate my moving into my home but I don't drink that stuff alone. Some things are just too social and need company for complete enjoyment (good coffee almost fits that description as well). But I can't let her drive home, so she will have to spend the night.
I mentioned previously that I was looking for an alternative to gmail, and I have tried two programs so far. Neither of them is any easier to use than gmail, and in fact, are a bit more complicated, or possibly less intuitive. I will keep searching. I will only try a program that lets me keep my gypsy97 name, which leaves out Yahoo. I tried to create a Yahoo account years ago and must have messed up the first try, so I will never be able to use it again there. I use Yahoo groups, but email isn't an option, and Hotmail is a windows program (I believe).
This morning when Jeannie got here she wanted to look at the ads in my Sunday paper while I was drying my hair. All of the sudden all of the electric went out, all through the house. I didn't know what to do or whether this was an outage throughout the park, or what. I went outside to see if I could see any lights anywhere, and stopped a gentleman out for a walk. I asked him if he had seen any lights or Christmas lights on and explained that I had no electricity. He said he was a retired electrician (am I lucky, or what!) and came over to check it out. I had no clue where the electric panel is, and it turned out to definitely not be outside. He said it is usually indoors and asked if he could come in and look for it. We found it in my bedroom closet, and he reset it so I had electric. When I take a shower I set my little electric heater on the bathroom sink and aim it toward the shower, but I turn it off before I turn on the hairdryer. This morning I set the little heater back in the living room and aimed it at Jeannie while I was drying my hair. I found out the heater and hairdryer can't be on at the same time, just as it was in my RV. So I learned to stop and think twice before I turn the hairdryer on, as well as to appreciate Frank, the retired electrician. It seems there are a lot of folks in this park who offer help to those who need it. Not everyone, but a lot of them.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
A couple of additions
In response to Carolyn's inquiry about my Ireland blog, I have added links to both my journals written while I was in Ireland (2000-2003) and my backpack journey of the Appalachian Trail (1997). The Ireland blog consists of only a few entries, but one of these contains daily journal entries. The blog was taken from letters written to my mother while I was in Ireland, and there are noticeable gaps plus the entries she didn't save from the last year I was there. I think it may have been because a man was living with me (horrors and shame!!!) and she just didn't approve.
I used a different program for the Appalachian Trail blog so it isn't quite like what you may be accustomed to in Blogger.
I removed these links a while back when I was seriously considering tossing the whole blog thing into the can. I still have days like that once in a while, when I wonder why I even keep this up.
I decided it was time for a new header photo, and this one depicts one of my favorite sites - Mt. Shasta. It is seen from a great distance in every direction, and when it first comes in sight you can't help but feel your heart jump in amazement at the beautiful sight of it. I make no claims to be a good photographer, and I normally don't enhance or do anything to my photos. This is mainly because I'm too lazy to sit down and really learn how to do it. I also realized many years ago that you can't capture the beauty of nature on film or on a canvas. You can come close, but some sights just have to be held in memory. I guess the photos or drawings help to trigger the memory, and I hope my poor attempts at picture taking trigger the memories of those who have been fortunate enough to see Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta.
This was taken during my visit with Judy and Emma back in August of this year:
These pictures were from my stop at Crater Lake in Oregon as well as the views of Shasta:
Since these photos are from the CD of film developed at Costco, they don't act the same as photos imported from my digital camera. For this reason, you may not be able to enlarge them to the same degree.
I used a different program for the Appalachian Trail blog so it isn't quite like what you may be accustomed to in Blogger.
I removed these links a while back when I was seriously considering tossing the whole blog thing into the can. I still have days like that once in a while, when I wonder why I even keep this up.
I decided it was time for a new header photo, and this one depicts one of my favorite sites - Mt. Shasta. It is seen from a great distance in every direction, and when it first comes in sight you can't help but feel your heart jump in amazement at the beautiful sight of it. I make no claims to be a good photographer, and I normally don't enhance or do anything to my photos. This is mainly because I'm too lazy to sit down and really learn how to do it. I also realized many years ago that you can't capture the beauty of nature on film or on a canvas. You can come close, but some sights just have to be held in memory. I guess the photos or drawings help to trigger the memory, and I hope my poor attempts at picture taking trigger the memories of those who have been fortunate enough to see Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta.
This was taken during my visit with Judy and Emma back in August of this year:
These pictures were from my stop at Crater Lake in Oregon as well as the views of Shasta:
Since these photos are from the CD of film developed at Costco, they don't act the same as photos imported from my digital camera. For this reason, you may not be able to enlarge them to the same degree.
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