Weblog 199
November 29, 2009~ 12:00am
Just LOOK at that sky! That was taken from Holly's back porch on Thanksgiving. What drama! I just love a theatrical sky.
Of course.....indoors, the mood was much calmer. Much more mellow and cozy. Here's Kay.....
That's the pilgrim hat and laminated placemat she made in preschool, and man, was she ever proud. (As well she should have been. That's an accomplishment for a 4 year old!) This week's entry is mostly pictures, because it was truly a wonderful holiday- and I want to keep it right here on the net to revisit whenever I choose.
The whole crew was present. Here they are, the grandkids, one by one....and we'll start with the oldest, Isaac (sporting a decidedly "Beatle" hairdo at 10 years old.)
Next comes Eli. Photogenic as a young James Dean.
What a heartbreaker he's gonna be someday. And here's my son Matt, curled up cozy-style with youngest son, Gabe. (Gabe is the hugger. I can always count on him to throw his arms around my neck and give a good hard squeeze!)
Bringing up the rear, little Shiloh, a beauty too. (I told Matt she reminds me of a baby Tuesday Weld.)
There she is...finger on the nose, being hugged by her very pregnant mom. (Nicky is due the end of January.) LOL!!! Grandchild number seven.......coming up!
Holly's dogs, John Bananas and Greg Brady, are two pony-sized standard poodles who are as gentle as lambs. Unfortunately, their coloring doesn't allow me to snap very clear pictures of them, but here's Matt and my daughter Holly, relaxing with Greg on the floor in front of the fish tank..
I can't believe, looking at those two ADULTS, that these are my own wee bairns of what seems not too long ago- excellent parents, both of them.
Let's see....who did I forget? Oh yes! The boy who just lost his TWO FRONT TEETH....BILL. MR. BILL. (Who confided to me today that he was 'having some trouble' with his bowels.) LOL!!!
He was heard talking to cousin Gabe, who's only two weeks older than Bill (they're veritable bookends)- "Gabe, do you know what bowels are?" Gabe said 'no'. Bill said, "Well, I'm having trouble with mine." God, that kid makes me howl.
And...the host himself....the sweetest son-in-law in the whole world....GARY!
Here he is, sitting in front of a quilt as colorful and comfortable as 'his nibs' himself. Holly's turkey was, in a word, 'succulent'...perfect. Absolutely perfect. I stood around like a beggar during the carving, and kept grabbing those wonderful little pieces that fall off in pan, shoving them into my mouth. (Thank God someone in the family can COOK.) It ain't me, that's for sure. Here's what it looked like a mere 15 minutes out of the oven
Does my heart good, it does, to see such a fine specimen so picked clean by the vultures - (well, this vulture for sure!) The dinner itself was downstairs on two long tables Gary found on Craig's List. Like extended bingo tables, there was plenty of room for all 15 of us. Here's a shot of Isaac, Kay, Bill and Eli, looking over the serving bowls, ready to fill up and dig in....
...and what a great dinner it was...what a lovely day. (Here's one more shot of that magnificent sky--just because I love them)
A day to remember. And Saturday too! Holly and Matt and I drove over to see Mum at her new digs. We laughed and kidded-- she gave me a bag of old family photos that my sister Kathy had sorted through and divided up. I left them with the kids so they could take what they wanted. God, how time flies. Me as a bride, the two of them as babies no bigger than their own, all of us on a trip to Assisted Living to get caught up with a grandmother who fixed them Sunday dinner every other weekend after my divorce and now using a walker...showing off the chapel, the rec room, the upright piano where two visitors were teaming up on a rendition of 'Heart and Soul'.....and you know what? It's all good. Each piece of it. Every little bit a reason to give thanks, and I do. Boy, do I ever...you betcha. "God bless ye merry gentlemen, let nothing ye dismay" as the seasonal song goes.
Family is where it's at. The center. The solid. The core.
December 2, 2009~ 7:30pm
Despite the rain, despite the yucky weather, I came home tired and in a good mood. I put on my fleece long robe with the snowmen on it, propped my feet on the Dr. Scholl's Heated Foot Massager -(from the late 70's I'd bought for mum and dad and just 'inherited back' when mum's apartment was cleared...lol) -and vibrated my tootsies to heaven.
I began to browse the net and found THIS wonderful item!
Do you recognize it? It's the TREE MAN from the Hieronymous Bosch painting, "The Garden of Earthly Delights". Man o man....I love his artwork! Here's the real thing... just that small segment.
If you are as intrigued by the Bosch work as I am, here's a great place to see some of it, as well as other wonderful painters of the 'fantastic'- go to The Roots Of Fantasy Gallery What a terrific site. I've been browsing....(my feet buzzing...lol) for some time now. The little Bosch statue btw, is from the eMuseum store site online. That's another site I've been traipsing around in this evening....I'm crazy for it. Truly....my favorite store. We used to have one here in Pittsburgh at a local mall, but the thing closed. For years it was at the top of my list for Christmas shopping.
Although it was bleary and wet and cold out early this evening, last night when I got out of the car after getting back from visiting my mother, the moon was so BIG and FULL-- hung low in the sky as it was rising at 5:30 pm, that I literally gasped. I ran inside and got my camera, and here's the result. (My camera is not very good for taking pictures when the light is low, and I'm not much of a photographer, lord knows) --but I got some interesting results nonetheless.
And this one, with a bit more of a zoomed-in look....
Oh yes! I'm a LUNATIC alright. The moon's my buddy. Always has been. Just look at that glowing corona!
My buddy, alright. He's a good guy. Plump and perfect.
December 3, 2009~ 9:00pm
Well, it's been two days now...and still neither of my poetry boards are up and running. The server went down in Cutecast yesterday morning sometime.
I HATE not having a place available to post, so I've created an 'interim board'- at Network54 (I hope) and let me tell you.....it's pretty sparce right now. LOL!!! This one will be a complete "All Skate"...meaning anyone can post and no one has to join unless they want to. Even allows 'anonymous posts'. I'll see how this works out- (or how long it'll be before the annoying ads and pop-ups and the spam starts up.) There's always a 'honeymoon' period with these places when they appear to be ad free. We'll see how the chips fall this time. Right now it's pretty pleasant. My one bitch is that they show every time something is edited, and I'm a tweaker, so there'll be a long line of tweaks and edits listed after every damn post, and that's annoying- Cutecast didn't do that, and I've been spoiled by their cleaner-looking format.
(*Note: SCRATCH THE LOCATION OF THIS BOARD. I DELETED IT. LOL!!! ADS....HORRIBLE ONES... AFTER ONLY 4 DAYS.) Way to go, you greedy MORONS at "Network 54". See next week's blog for new address.) God- when will I ever learn to back up stuff I've written? Save it somewhere else, for Pete's sake?? If the old 'Cave Paintings' site doesn't come back, I've lost nearly 300 poems- everything since June. Luckily, I'd saved all the older ones from the old 'Off The Boards'-- but never got around to saving the new ones. Sheesh! Oh well, live (and hopefully) learn.
At least I've picked up some good habits from when I lost everything on my hard drive in February of this year. I learned the inexpensive, delightful way to save-- on a flash drive. I keep nuthin' I've written, and not one image on my hard drive anymore- it's all on a USB that looks like a little panda bear, and I love it! Removable, safe- and roomy.
The really good news is that mum was in fine fettle this evening. She looked really pretty sitting in her Lazy Boy and decked out in a white, cable knit sweater to match her hair. Very 'patrician'...but soft. (And guess what? She went to BINGO.....TWICE! Aaaaaand......she went to DRUM CIRCLE!!!! lol! Both, in her words, were 'dumb'....but she went, and I could tell by the little smile and the twinkle in her eye; they weren't nearly as dumb as she pretended.) I think the old girl had herself some fun and that makes me very happy indeed. All on her own, she's developing interests again. Glory Halleluiah!
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
Just LOOK at that sky! That was taken from Holly's back porch on Thanksgiving. What drama! I just love a theatrical sky.
Of course.....indoors, the mood was much calmer. Much more mellow and cozy. Here's Kay.....
That's the pilgrim hat and laminated placemat she made in preschool, and man, was she ever proud. (As well she should have been. That's an accomplishment for a 4 year old!) This week's entry is mostly pictures, because it was truly a wonderful holiday- and I want to keep it right here on the net to revisit whenever I choose.
The whole crew was present. Here they are, the grandkids, one by one....and we'll start with the oldest, Isaac (sporting a decidedly "Beatle" hairdo at 10 years old.)
Next comes Eli. Photogenic as a young James Dean.
What a heartbreaker he's gonna be someday. And here's my son Matt, curled up cozy-style with youngest son, Gabe. (Gabe is the hugger. I can always count on him to throw his arms around my neck and give a good hard squeeze!)
Bringing up the rear, little Shiloh, a beauty too. (I told Matt she reminds me of a baby Tuesday Weld.)
There she is...finger on the nose, being hugged by her very pregnant mom. (Nicky is due the end of January.) LOL!!! Grandchild number seven.......coming up!
Holly's dogs, John Bananas and Greg Brady, are two pony-sized standard poodles who are as gentle as lambs. Unfortunately, their coloring doesn't allow me to snap very clear pictures of them, but here's Matt and my daughter Holly, relaxing with Greg on the floor in front of the fish tank..
I can't believe, looking at those two ADULTS, that these are my own wee bairns of what seems not too long ago- excellent parents, both of them.
Let's see....who did I forget? Oh yes! The boy who just lost his TWO FRONT TEETH....BILL. MR. BILL. (Who confided to me today that he was 'having some trouble' with his bowels.) LOL!!!
He was heard talking to cousin Gabe, who's only two weeks older than Bill (they're veritable bookends)- "Gabe, do you know what bowels are?" Gabe said 'no'. Bill said, "Well, I'm having trouble with mine." God, that kid makes me howl.
And...the host himself....the sweetest son-in-law in the whole world....GARY!
Here he is, sitting in front of a quilt as colorful and comfortable as 'his nibs' himself. Holly's turkey was, in a word, 'succulent'...perfect. Absolutely perfect. I stood around like a beggar during the carving, and kept grabbing those wonderful little pieces that fall off in pan, shoving them into my mouth. (Thank God someone in the family can COOK.) It ain't me, that's for sure. Here's what it looked like a mere 15 minutes out of the oven
Does my heart good, it does, to see such a fine specimen so picked clean by the vultures - (well, this vulture for sure!) The dinner itself was downstairs on two long tables Gary found on Craig's List. Like extended bingo tables, there was plenty of room for all 15 of us. Here's a shot of Isaac, Kay, Bill and Eli, looking over the serving bowls, ready to fill up and dig in....
...and what a great dinner it was...what a lovely day. (Here's one more shot of that magnificent sky--just because I love them)
A day to remember. And Saturday too! Holly and Matt and I drove over to see Mum at her new digs. We laughed and kidded-- she gave me a bag of old family photos that my sister Kathy had sorted through and divided up. I left them with the kids so they could take what they wanted. God, how time flies. Me as a bride, the two of them as babies no bigger than their own, all of us on a trip to Assisted Living to get caught up with a grandmother who fixed them Sunday dinner every other weekend after my divorce and now using a walker...showing off the chapel, the rec room, the upright piano where two visitors were teaming up on a rendition of 'Heart and Soul'.....and you know what? It's all good. Each piece of it. Every little bit a reason to give thanks, and I do. Boy, do I ever...you betcha. "God bless ye merry gentlemen, let nothing ye dismay" as the seasonal song goes.
Family is where it's at. The center. The solid. The core.
December 2, 2009~ 7:30pm
Despite the rain, despite the yucky weather, I came home tired and in a good mood. I put on my fleece long robe with the snowmen on it, propped my feet on the Dr. Scholl's Heated Foot Massager -(from the late 70's I'd bought for mum and dad and just 'inherited back' when mum's apartment was cleared...lol) -and vibrated my tootsies to heaven.
I began to browse the net and found THIS wonderful item!
Do you recognize it? It's the TREE MAN from the Hieronymous Bosch painting, "The Garden of Earthly Delights". Man o man....I love his artwork! Here's the real thing... just that small segment.
If you are as intrigued by the Bosch work as I am, here's a great place to see some of it, as well as other wonderful painters of the 'fantastic'- go to The Roots Of Fantasy Gallery What a terrific site. I've been browsing....(my feet buzzing...lol) for some time now. The little Bosch statue btw, is from the eMuseum store site online. That's another site I've been traipsing around in this evening....I'm crazy for it. Truly....my favorite store. We used to have one here in Pittsburgh at a local mall, but the thing closed. For years it was at the top of my list for Christmas shopping.
Although it was bleary and wet and cold out early this evening, last night when I got out of the car after getting back from visiting my mother, the moon was so BIG and FULL-- hung low in the sky as it was rising at 5:30 pm, that I literally gasped. I ran inside and got my camera, and here's the result. (My camera is not very good for taking pictures when the light is low, and I'm not much of a photographer, lord knows) --but I got some interesting results nonetheless.
And this one, with a bit more of a zoomed-in look....
Oh yes! I'm a LUNATIC alright. The moon's my buddy. Always has been. Just look at that glowing corona!
My buddy, alright. He's a good guy. Plump and perfect.
December 3, 2009~ 9:00pm
Well, it's been two days now...and still neither of my poetry boards are up and running. The server went down in Cutecast yesterday morning sometime.
I HATE not having a place available to post, so I've created an 'interim board'- at Network54 (I hope) and let me tell you.....it's pretty sparce right now. LOL!!! This one will be a complete "All Skate"...meaning anyone can post and no one has to join unless they want to. Even allows 'anonymous posts'. I'll see how this works out- (or how long it'll be before the annoying ads and pop-ups and the spam starts up.) There's always a 'honeymoon' period with these places when they appear to be ad free. We'll see how the chips fall this time. Right now it's pretty pleasant. My one bitch is that they show every time something is edited, and I'm a tweaker, so there'll be a long line of tweaks and edits listed after every damn post, and that's annoying- Cutecast didn't do that, and I've been spoiled by their cleaner-looking format.
(*Note: SCRATCH THE LOCATION OF THIS BOARD. I DELETED IT. LOL!!! ADS....HORRIBLE ONES... AFTER ONLY 4 DAYS.) Way to go, you greedy MORONS at "Network 54". See next week's blog for new address.) God- when will I ever learn to back up stuff I've written? Save it somewhere else, for Pete's sake?? If the old 'Cave Paintings' site doesn't come back, I've lost nearly 300 poems- everything since June. Luckily, I'd saved all the older ones from the old 'Off The Boards'-- but never got around to saving the new ones. Sheesh! Oh well, live (and hopefully) learn.
At least I've picked up some good habits from when I lost everything on my hard drive in February of this year. I learned the inexpensive, delightful way to save-- on a flash drive. I keep nuthin' I've written, and not one image on my hard drive anymore- it's all on a USB that looks like a little panda bear, and I love it! Removable, safe- and roomy.
The really good news is that mum was in fine fettle this evening. She looked really pretty sitting in her Lazy Boy and decked out in a white, cable knit sweater to match her hair. Very 'patrician'...but soft. (And guess what? She went to BINGO.....TWICE! Aaaaaand......she went to DRUM CIRCLE!!!! lol! Both, in her words, were 'dumb'....but she went, and I could tell by the little smile and the twinkle in her eye; they weren't nearly as dumb as she pretended.) I think the old girl had herself some fun and that makes me very happy indeed. All on her own, she's developing interests again. Glory Halleluiah!
(Return To Weekly Archives)
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