42. Sights, sounds and cabinets.

 Looking out our new big kitchen window we are watching a pair of quail eating on the freshly mowed  upper meadow.  The quail love it when Bob cuts the weeds.  It must stir up seeds or at least make them more accessible. We have California Quail in our canyon.  They are so sweet to watch when they pair off.  Their little topknots bounce as they dash to the next shelter.  Soon we will be seeing them followed by ten to twelve little puff balls.  With luck one or two will survive.  The members of the coveys try hard to protect each other.  Usually one male will place himself on a bush or something higher than the group as the lookout.  They do not mate for life like the dove.  Their coveys are communal and females can have more than one clutch of eggs and not necessarily the same father.  Little hussies!  But everyone pitches in to help raise all the babies.  When they are startled their quick short flight sounds like an animal noise, a muffled roar.  It can startle you if you're walking and don't see them, especially if it is getting toward evening.  Bud and Preston high-tailed it home one evening when they heard it thinking it was a bobcat or some other unwelcome animal.

Mike installed the kitchen cabinets yesterday and Pat filled all the nail holes in the door jams. We probably won't have the doors for a while, but that's OK, we can still put the kitchen back in order.  I won't have to play archaeologist/mountain climber to find things.  It is just amazing how much larger the kitchen and living room look now.  The rooms will certainly be easier to keep clean, especially with double paned windows.  With so many more cabinets I should be able to keep the clutter to a minimum.  No unrealistic promises, just hopeful thinking.  The breakfast bar will certainly be nice, especially when we have company.  I love to talk to people while I cook and this will be perfect.  I spotted great bar stools for $70. on overstock.com .  The shipping is only $2.99 no matter what you order.  That's not a special deal, that's all the time.  It's usually the shipping that keeps me from ordering things on line or by catalog.  Those infomercials really charge hideous amounts for shipping (sometimes as much as $15 and they make you pay S/H for your "free" item.  That keeps me from ever ordering from them.  Besides, they have those "As seen on T.V." stores now.  So, Pssstttthhh to them.

I'm hoping that Mike tiles the cabinet that has the sink in it today.  That way he can install the sink tomorrow.  Bob's been doing the dishes in the bathroom.  It's OK, I'm just anxious and excited. He's anxious to be done, I'm sure.  The floor in the kitchen and new dining room will be Pergo wood flooring.  We had wood floors in the last house we lived in and they were wonderful.  We still have to pinch ourselves at our good fortune.  I won't say that I've never won anything again.  I feel like have been crowned Queen For A Day!

We are headed for town again today.  I have my dermatologist appointment this morning and Bob goes to physical therapy again. He said that they really gave him a workout yesterday.  I have a lovely new perm.  We both just love the little gal who is my stylist.  She makes you feel good all over just to spend time with her.  There are always big kisses and hugs for both of us.  True disappointment clouds her face when Bob doesn't at least show up to take me home.  Kila is reed thin and the perfect recipient for extra candy from Switzerland.  I always tip but not as much as I would like, so the candy make me feel better.

I hear voices in the living room, so unless Bob is talking to himself and answering, too, our work force has arrived.  I must go greet them and then I need put on a little makeup so I don't frighten little children when we go to town.

41. The Hub-bub About Wasp Spray!

Well, I woke up at 5:00 again thinking about the wasp spray.  I have been reading several things about the use of the product for anything but insects.  This is all very interesting.  I'll post my findings and you can read all the details for yourself, if you are interested.  Keeping in mind that animals aren't usually going to obtain an attorney, I  have decided to opt for pepper spray that has a range of 8 to 20 feet.  (I had no idea there was such a product.)  It came under the heading of Bear Spray.  It is interesting to me that pepper spray is legal in most states.

It turns out that the wasp spray probably would only surprise the animal (which was kind of my idea.) I've sprayed an errant burst of hair spay in my eyes and that certainly surprised me.  I've never been in a situation with a human that required self-defense and I'm very thankful for that.  Although, I must admit after taking a short police self-defense class years ago in Pomona, I carry my keys between my fingers of my right hand and I wouldn't hesitate to try to put somebody's eye out with them.  I'm sure I'll get a response from that, so I'm not recommending that it's something you should do.  That's just me.  I'm willing to take my chances on that one.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp
 

I should have checked my recommendations a little closer, which I will do in the future.  I'm kind of a "by the seat of the pants person" but that is no excuse.  So, Anonymous, I have removed the line from the blog. In some states it is illegal to use wasp spray for anything but wasps. I guess it says that in the fine print on the can.  (I keep a magnifying glass in each room because the fine print on LOTS of things is way too fine for me)  Now we know.  Other links are listed below and there are certainly more links than I have listed.  It's so cool to me that you can type in "wasp spray as a deterrent" and get a list of links. 

On that note, our friends, Polly and Phil, have a  1957 Buick Caballero Estate Wagon ( it is sooo sweet and memory filled) and after registering it for all of these years, (they bought it just before they got married and took it on their honeymoon) the D.M.V. decided that their vin number was incorrect.  Now, keep in mind the vin number could be in lots of places on the chassis and a 1957 Buick is really big.  So Polly went to the "search" box and requested "location of vin number/1957 Buick."  Back came the exact location! As obscure as the question might be, someone has posted an answer!

 http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/crime/a/wasp_spray.htm
http://www.survivaltopics.com/forums/self-defense/5992-wasp-spray-5.html

So, students, class is dismissed.  I hope we have all learned a valuable lesson or two or three.  I have learned that you can learn something new everyday, all you have to do is remember to pay attention.  As Bob would, say "Oh, Dear God."

Someone left a comment not to use wasp spray that it doesn't work in the way I described.  Well, there you go, you can't believe everything you hear.  Duly noted.  It sounded better than a whistle or  stick.  Maybe I'll never have to find out.  Thank you, Anonymous.

40. To Brownie or Not to Brownie!

I'm making a huge vat of Weight Watcher's vegetable soup today.  I'm still battling the last 1/2 pound to 25 pounds.  I'm having substance abuse issues, but my substance is food.  I have given up my glass of wine before dinner, I have given up milk except when I fix tacos (there are laws on the books about that) and I'm even choosy what samples I eat at Costco. I still take them but they go to Bob (who doesn't need them either, heavy sigh) or take them out to Maggie.  But dang it I love telling myself, "It just isn't fair!"  I've never been good at "Paying the Piper."  At any rate, I put the twist board in the middle of the bedroom so as not to miss it.  We'll see how that works.  I do realize that just staring at it brings no results.

Bob's knee is still swollen too much to walk and I don't like to walk alone even with Maggie.  We do have mountain lions on occasion and I'm out of wasp spray.  Thanks to the internet, I have learned that wasp spray, which I actually use for wasps, is also good for other predators.  If you have never used wasp spray, you only give it one or two shakes and then point and press.  The stream goes out probably 15 feet.  That's so you can spray the wasp nest from a distance...a really good thing!  Nothing is happy with a face full of wasp spray. 

I shouldn't be so sure, though.  There was a small business owner whose business was in a really bad area of a large metropolitan city.  He was constantly being robbed by thieves who crawled in through the ceiling via the roof and attic crawl space.  After several months of the same thing, he lined the opening with electric fence wire and plugged in that baby.  The next robber touched the hot wire, lost his footing and fell breaking his back and a leg.  He sued the store owner and won his case.  The law may represent  justice but it is not MORAL.  If you think it is, don't bother hiring a lawyer.

It's still blustery and surprisingly cold.  Weather like this brings a lethargy with desires of afghans and brownies.  Saturday really brought about desires of all things warm and snuggley.  I did manage to fore go the brownies ( I should have just made some and eaten one, because I kept eating "healthy" things to salve the feeling and would have been better off calorie wise just to eat the darned thing) and watched "The Hunch Back of Notre Dame."  I hadn't watched it in a hundred years.  Golly, it was sad!  I watched the 1939 version with Charles Laughton, (he garnered an Oscar for his brilliant performance.)  The 1830 book by Victor Hugo was pivotal in the restoration of the cathedral.  It was in horrible disrepair and used to house cattle and other farm animals.  People had lost all care or concern for the amazing structure.  The story brought about Gothic changes in the architecture of Paris.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hunchback/study.html#explanation1

If you have never been to Paris, I recommend saving your pennies and making it happen.  Put it to the top of your "Bucket List!"  Unfortunately,  you can no longer reach out and touch the gargoyles because of the hideous wire fencing they have erected to stop people from committing suicide by jumping from the top.  (we were just approaching the cathedral one fateful visit when a young man jumped and impaled him self on the fence below, but that's another story.)  My theory is when someone wants to end it all, they will.  One way

or another.  We needn't spend the money and spoil the view.  Sad but true.  We are a complicated lot.  I can guarantee that if people ate more brownies and curled up with something snuggley  more often the world would be a better place!

Now let me see...it says to set the oven at 350 degrees, oil and dust an 8 x 8 inch pan with flour, then...

39. Even if You Don't Ask, You Receive.

 This morning when Bob and I were in the hot tub soaking out the kinks at 5:30 this morning, (thank you very little college kid who slammed on his brakes in front of us in October) we were surprised to hear the wood pecker pounding on the telephone pole across the driveway.  We haven't heard him in quite a while.    Woodpeckers find tall poles to use as sounding boards to mark their territory.  I don't know what they used before telephone and electric poles.  Maybe dead trees.  We could watch his silhouette against the sky as he pounded out his message and then raised his head above the pole looking in both directions.  You can hear it loud and clear against the quiet of the early morning.

It makes me wonder about their poor little brains.  Bob tells me that their brains are protected by a special cushioning.  By the magic of the internet, let's us curious people check Wikipedia and see what the great minds have to say on the subject.  Other than Bob's, I mean.  He's usually right and I don't need convincing, but not everyone is familiar with his track record.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picinae
Several adaptations combine to protect the woodpecker's brain from the substantial pounding that the pecking behavior causes: it has a relatively thick skull with relatively spongy bone to cushion the brain; there is very little cerebrospinal fluid in its small subarachnoid space; the bird contracts mandibular muscles just before impact, thus transmitting the impact past the brain and allowing its whole body to help absorb the shock; its relatively small brain is less prone to concussion than other animals'. ^[1]


The muscle control to contract the mandibular muscle with each peck must be amazing as their rat-a-tat-tat is like a jack-hammer in speed.  All that and a relatively small brain, must be autonomic.

After looking at the Wikipedia site and finding it general information, I went to the living room and got our Golden field guide.  We keep it and our binoculars on the window ledge.  On page 199 are illustrations of the most common woodpeckers.  We know our variety has a red head with black and white markings much like the Red Headed Woodpecker, but that particular bird is not common in the Western states.  On closer examination I find the Acorn Woodpecker.  A likely candidate because of the abundance of oak trees in our canyon.  It says in our book that it's call is a series of raucous laughs. Yup!  That's it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Woodpecker

Last summer one hapless fellow chose one of our bird feeders in which to save his stash of acorns.  Upon further reading, it turns out they like to create graineries.  He worked hard making a quarter sized hole in the side wall of the little wooden building.  Then he spent days poking acorns inside the beautiful hole.  I'm sure with each additional nut he chuckled with delight at having found such a wonderful storage place.   Soon he decided he had saved enough and went on to other tasks.  In the fall, however, he found retrieving his treasure a much more puzzling task.  We finally had to take pity on him and remove the roof for a much easier access.

We are hopeful that the Universe will return the favor.  We have every confidence it will, maybe not the Acorn Woodpecker, but sometime, somewhere we will need a hand and someone will be forthcoming.  I know because one time I was juggling my wallet and two hot dogs trying to fill two soda cups at Costco,  (God forbid I put something down.)  A gentleman came forward and said, "I'm going to help you, but I must admit it has been entertaining watching you try to go it alone."  See?  I told you.

38. There is More to Life Than Money! Thank Goodness!!

Our weather can't decide whether it wants to be summer or the tail end of what we call winter.  This morning as I look out the window it is overcast and a little blustery.  When Maggie came in her coat was cold.  Well, a little chilly.  People on the east coast love it when we talk about our bad weather.  "Helicopter cams are recording pile ups on the roadways because of a heavy drizzle in the L.A. area.  Drive cautious out there, folks, the roadways are really dangerous this morning!  Stay tuned with your Doppler report keeping you informed up to the minute."  Like we need Doppler reports.  Unless they report earthquakes, we're good with an unobstructed window.  And I say, "Three cheers to that!"  Living here wasn't an accident, folks.  We planned this.  It was about the only thing we planned.  We certainly didn't plan well enough for our retirement. (deep throated chuckle.)

Bob and I have been mostly just blissfully happy meeting basic needs.  We have always called it the "contented cow syndrome."  We've just happily munched our way through life.  Financial planning?  Not so much.  It never really mattered until...the economy tanked and people stopped buying as much art as they used to.  We always thought hard work would get us there.  And it has...to the orthopedic doctor, the chiropractor...poor Bob, he has paid with his body for a life of work in construction. I did read the other day that your blood pressure drops 5 points just from holding hands.  Well, we've got that going for us!  Ah, such is life.  As long as we can go to Costco for lunch or $1 Taco Tuesday occasionally, throw in an occasional movie that we deem "big screen worthy" and we're OK.

Then there is the wonder of NETFLIX!  If you haven't been introduced, allow me!
www.netflix.com

You can have anything you want delivered to your mailbox.  I do mean anything!  From old movies to all things British, PBS specials, television shows, music concerts of all kinds, if someone has put it on CD they have it.  You don't even have to think.  They pop up suggestions based on what you have watched before. You can type in a star's name and up pops everything they have ever been in.  They have single-handedly changed the way we rent  entertainment.  We have the full deal for under $20 a month.  They come 3 at any given time by return mail.  It blows me away that they can get them back to us so fast!  We live so far out that renting in the traditional way was just not feasible.  But, Woo Hoo to Netflix!  I've almost quit buying movies because if I get a hankering to watch a movie again I just go on line and add it to the top of my que.  No late fees so I can keep one for a couple of weeks if I want.  Get this, they actually reduced the monthly fee one time.  Dropped it $1.50 a month.  Ever heard of that?  Right now we are watching the whole series of Ally McBeal.  It is just as good now as it was then.  I'm about ready to watch Bette Davis in "Now Voyager" again.  

 At the end of the movie they stare out the window at the night, Paul Henreid, in that very sexy movie way, lights two cigarettes and gives one to her.(cough)  She looks into his eyes and says, "Let's not ask for the moon, Darling, when we already have the stars."

Very heavy sigh!

37. All About the Crust.

I have had a love affair with cookbooks for as long as I can remember.   I've read them like most women read novels. While I was still at home, my mom loved for me to cook.  Watching me made her very nervous so she usually left the house.  All I had to do was tell her what I wanted to fix and she would see to it that the ingredients were there, just not her.  Funny, huh.  She did manage to teach me how to make a great pie crust.  For that I am forever grateful.  If my waist line would co-operate, I would wrap everything in pie crust!  

Several years ago we lived in Houston, Texas, where some of Bob's relatives lived, while Bob was going to welding school there. That Thanksgiving I volunteered to make the pecan pies for the family dinner. I got all the ingredients and set to the task at hand.  I use the recipe on the molasses bottle.  It's always really good and easy.  Down below the filling recipe was a recipe for "The best possible crust for your pecan pie."  I thought, hmmm.  What the heck, let's try it.  Rule number one:  Never try a new recipe when you are serving company.  Rule number two: Never try a new recipe when you are serving company.  And so on!  The only good part of this story is that even after all these years (1975) we still laugh about it.  As I kneaded the dough, I thought...hmmm...this feels a little tough.  But, on ward ever on ward.  The pies were picture perfect when I took them from the oven.  Another stunning pie crust achievement!  I was so proud! 

We arrived at Bob's cousin's house, pies in hand.  The dinner was wonderful.  We even played some Mexican dominoes.  Texan's love dominoes.  After the last game everyone said, "Let's cut the pies!"  Blushing with pride, I went to the kitchen.  Bob came to help.  I made the first cut. That is, I tried to make the first cut.  When I got to the beautifully fluted edge of the crust, I was completely unable to force the knife through that beautiful flute!  What I initially thought was the glass pan turned out to be the crust!  We snickered, we giggled and then we howled!  Bob helped me chisel out one piece and I proudly carried the first piece into the living room without a plate, holding it with my thumb and fore finger by the point of the slice.  In all my pie making days, I have never seen a tougher crust.  Amid howls of laughter and tears running down our faces, we all attacked the pies with spoons.  Who needs crust among friends.   

This last Thanksgiving I made myself a pumpkin pie without the crust.  Sad, but true, it has come to this.  I love the filling so I was OK with it, but I have to admit there is not much on this earth that tastes as good as my mother's pie crust.   Except maybe her chocolate cake or her homemade noodles or her rice pudding or...

36. Branch Out, Try the Waffle Iron!

I can't believe that it is weigh in day again.  Time goes by so fast that is disconcerting.  One more reminder that life is truly fleeting.

We weren't expecting the amount of rain that we got yesterday and last night.  Bob was glad that he had picked up his tools yesterday that were scattered over his outside work bench.  The work on the house is all going to be so nice, but it is so hard to find things.  Both out buildings and the canvas garage are full.  I had to have help crawling over things to find the box that had the kitchen spices in it.  I tried to keep a minimum in the house, but didn't think to include the chili powder.  Naturally, the box was clear in the back of the shop on a table behind the freezer.  But, I couldn't finish the chili without chili powder and we are too far from town to just run to the market.  That's about the only disadvantage with the drive.  The chili was really good and worth the climb.  

I made my usual cornbread in the waffle iron, but the first two kind of exploded in the iron.  Not actually exploded but split apart with half on the top and half on the bottom when I opened it.  I can't be sure what happened to them.  I might have put too much water in the mix.  I added an egg and the next ones were just fine.  It's chemistry and obviously I missed something.  But all is well that ends well and it did.  I'll give you the recipe anyway because this was the first time it didn't meet up to expectations.  I love it because it gets really crispy and warms up quick in the toaster oven the next day.  It was my dear father-in-law, Cotton's, favorite way to have cornbread.  Maybe because in Texas the summer was so hot that cornbread was out of the question unless it was in the waffle iron.  The oven just made the house too hot.  What ever the reason, I have to agree with him.  It beats the cake like version hands down.  It takes a little more tending to, but yummy!

Hot Water Corn Bread

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal   I like the coarser cornmeal
1/2 teasp. salt
1 T. baking powder
2 T. packed brown sugar - I usually add a little more
1 1/2 cups of boiling water mixed with 2 T. oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and add the liquids.  If you want to bake the mixture
you can oil a 8 x 8 pan (even better in a hot, oiled  iron skillet-hot enough that the

mix sizzles when you pour it in)  Then bake at 375 until it is nicely browned.  The cast iron

skillet makes the bottom and sides crispy.

The tricky part is that sometimes you have to add more water to the batter for the waffle iron.
That could be where I goofed up yesterday.  I could have been heavy handed with the hot
water.  I should only add about a1/2 cup of hot water at a time over and above the initial
1 1/2 cups.

Please feel free to try your own favorite recipe in the waffle iron.  You may have to practice
with the liquids in your recipe, too.  Maybe it's just a southern thing, maybe just good memories,
but satisfying all the same.  I like this recipe for another reason.  You'll notice that it doesn't have

milk or eggs.  I almost always have the ingredients on hand.  White sugar can be substituted for

brown sugar, too.  The brown sugar just gives it a caramel flavor. 

I'm pretty sure that I will crest twenty-five pounds today.  It has taken forever, but I feel like I have made life long changes.  For me, that's what it will take for me to keep it off.  Besides the fact that I have given Weight Watchers a small fortune for the pleasure of weighing me.  The meetings are really informative and inspirational.  One young couple has lost 80 pounds between them.  A.J.'s boyfriend, Todd, is usually the only male face in the crowd.  It's heart-warming to watch them.  He loves the W.W. website and uses the free app that you can download on your phone.  It's cute to watch them together with their whole lives ahead of them.  I wish them well.  

Bob just came in from sitting in the hot tub.  He is sooo happy to be able to soak again.  It really helps his bones.  Now a days that's the ticket, keeping those bones from hurting.  He has a physical therapy appointment on Thursday, but I don't think he will need much.  He is already really gotten back most of his range of motion.  Only because he hates physical therapy and the crack of my whip.

35. A Butt Load of Money

Bob and I love to find the sources of phrases that we use today.  There are books that have been published that chronicle many of them, but somehow we find it more satisfying to come across them in the books we read.  We are currently reading a series by Dudley Pope about a British naval commander, Lord Ramage.  They are set in the time of Lord Nelson and involve naval history of the eighteenth century.  Ramage is a fictional character, but Pope brings him to life.  Pope was in the British Merchant Navy and a well respected naval historian.  If you have ever read stories like "Billy Budd"  or "TwoYears Before the Mast,"  you come away with a feeling of horror for life on a sailing ship with a captain without a heart.  Dudley Pope has Ramage walk the tight rope of a captain with a heart and a sense of fair play governed by the rigid rules of the British Navy during war against Napoleon in the late1700's.

We particularly enjoy his ability to weave into his stories the facts of life aboard a Man-of-War under sail.  He gives the every day details of that life, what they ate, what they wore and what was involved just in getting out of bed each morning. We love the nomenclature.  So far in this series alone, we have discovered the beginnings of four common words or phrases:  a butt load of money, tompion, sloppy and scuttlebutt.  I'm sure most of us have heard someone say that "They made a butt load of money."  A butt was a word used for bucket or barrel, which by most standards would be a lot of money.  Tompion was a wooden plug on a muzzle loading cannon that prevented anything from entering the barrel when it wasn't in use.  It has become the word Tampon. Not exactly the same use, but you get the idea.  Sloppy comes from a sailor's "slops."  If a sailor couldn't sew he was forced to buy ill fitting uniform clothes from the ship's purser.  They came in two sizes: too big, or too small and were referred to as "slops," hence, the word sloppy.  Scuttlebutt refers to the water barrel on board the ship where the men gathered to drink and exchange information and rumors. This is how we learn the latest "scuttlebutt."

There are eighteen, count them, eighteen books in the series, so you are pretty sure that Ramage lives through the escapades but the stories still make you wonder and care.  His love for the Navy and his beloved crew keep you on the edge of your seat and Pope makes you feel like you are there hiding behind the binnacle right in the mix of things. A great escape.  We get most all of our books from the local library.  We have a few books that we have re-read, so owning them is worth while, but the library is such a treasure trove that I find that a better option.  It has saved us a "butt load of money!"

34. It's a Fine Life!

It's weed abatement time in the canyon.  With the rains, everything has been growing like mad.  Bob mowed everything before he had surgery, but, wow, the growth in the lower meadow was so tall (some 4 to 5 feet) that he had to weed whack most of the meadow before he could mow other wise the weeds just bend and pop right back up.  Bud came out Wednesday and whacked all the banks and helped mow and rake.  (what's the point of having a dwarf if he doesn't do chores-Henry Fonda-On Golden Pond)  Bud certainly isn't a dwarf, but I love that line.  It was a good movie, too.  Loved Katherine Hepburn, as well.  She lived on the east coast and loved to chop wood and swim all year round in the waters there, even with snow on the ground. A director once said about her, " Katherine has absolutely NO sense of humor."  One wouldn't think that to be true, but I guess the roles they play don't necessarily show their own personality.  I suppose it is just a job like all the others, but it makes everyday folks into something different.  I'll bet it's one of those, be careful what you wish for things.  You love the money and the notoriety but hate the constant invasion of privacy.  

I'm happy trying to bloom where I'm planted.  The house is really coming together.  The laundry room is lovely with a big window looking out to the south.  Six cupboards and three drawers topped with a beautiful oatmeal colored ceramic tile counter.  The floor has ceramic tile that resembles a quail's egg in color and mottle. We will be able to press all the orders for kitchen towels and aprons in there.  The natural light is perfect.  The bathroom is finished with a new tub enclosure with the same tile on the upper wall and ceiling.  There is a wall of cabinets and drawers so that my bunk mate and I each have our own.  Woo Hoo! The same floor tile as the laundry room.

This morning they brought in an eight foot bank of cabinets for one side of the kitchen where there used to be five feet..  Not wanting to waste anything, I requested the old cabinet for a remodel of my out building.  It will be perfect after Bob hangs drywall.  I can't wait to watch the color drain from his face when I reveal those plans to him! 

Maggie is still having a hay day with all the comings and goings.  We find her sitting at the place where the old kitchen door used to be.  We need to get the screen door re-hung so she can knock when she wants in.  She  learned to pull on the bar Bob installed just for her at the bottom of the beautiful wooden screened door he made.  In the middle of the night, I still head for the place where the old bedroom door used to access the living room, which is now another double closet.  I guess eventually we will both get used to the changes.  Change can be difficult sometimes, but these are good changes and we are all so very thankful for such an all around wonderful place to call home.  Fresh air, fine view and very few neighbors and landlords we call friends. It is a fine life.

33. Dervish, You Say?

Oh, to rise from sleep like our little dog, Maggie.  Two big stretches and she is off and running, twirling and whirling like a Dervish!  They do whirl, the Dervish.  Bob won tickets from a radio contest to see the Whirling Dervish. We never dreamed we would ever get to see them.  Good grief you say?  Well, I'm here to tell you that the event was sold out.  What an amazing evening.  It is actually a religious service.  It is a part of the Sufi tradition of Islam practiced mostly in Turkey.  I would encourage you to go the link and read about them.  I couldn't do them justice with my explanation.  I wouldn't buy the cd, but the music was mesmerizing.  The intricate patterns of twirling like gyroscopes and all with their eyes closed.  All men, despite the long camel hair skirts.   Who knows, their whirling may just be the glue that keeps the Universe spinning.  I don't count anything out.  To each his own.  As long as their twirling arms don't hit me in the nose, I try to be open minded. It was spellbinding, that evening.

http://www.whirlingdervishes.org/whirlingdervishes.htm

I've been up since 4:30.  My poor old bones just hurt sometimes.  Most of the time I can get up and take a Doan's and go back to sleep.  Not this morning, so I've been reading

magazines that have stacked up.  I've found more recipes than I could possibly make, each one sounding better than the last, pages earmarked (like I'll remember why.)  Family Circle had twenty five salads spotlighted and they all sounded great!  Makes you tired and hungry at the same time just thinking about them.  But summer is coming and the days can be really

                                                                        hot in this gorgeous canyon, so I need to warm up the copier and start copying.  Trisha says no one wants to read a castoff magazine with pages missing.  I guess she's right. I donate them to waiting rooms because I hate to throw them away.  So I copy the recipes and articles that I want to keep.  I put them in a folder and put them on the recipe shelf and then in a couple of years I find them and wonder why I kept them and toss them.  Sounds like a make work project...you know I need more of those! 

32. May Isn't Only for Flowers!

May is "Skin Cancer Awareness" month.  Bob and I took advantage of the local hospital's free screening.  He didn't have any suspicious spots, but I have one on my chest.  I think it's just a sun spot but I'll go and have it checked again.  The person doing the exam was a dermatologist, but they only spend about ten minutes with you and then refer you to the list of local doctors. 

Sam Champion, the weather guy on Good Morning America, had a basal cell removed  this morning on television.  It was interesting how they tested the tissue samples to be sure they had removed all the offending cells.

My sister had a very ugly Melanoma removed about ten years ago.  It appeared to be only on the surface and didn't have a blood source, or so the surgeon said.  She was extremely lucky.  It was big and looked like those hideous black things pictured on the posters on the dermatologists walls.  Ugh!  But, so far...knock on wood...she has been fine.  Another reason to...I know, I know...live life to the fullest each and every day!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_cancer   Wikipedia to the rescue!

Please do have a quick and painless mole check every year.  Also, I'm issuing another warning!  I expect each and every one of you to have a colonoscopy!  It doesn't hurt.  The liquid you drink isn't horrid.  The only down side and I do mean down, is a good case of the "Missouri Quick Steps!"  But then, that's the point, isn't it?  Clean out the tract so they can get a clear view.  We live seventeen miles out of town, so the ride to the medical center was done with trepidation.  Lady Luck was with me and everything came out just fine in the end.  I need another one done in ten years.  Bob had a polyp removed, so he has to have one done in five years.  You can't catch everything, but by golly we can try.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonoscopy      


This is your mother signing off with great expectations that you will MIND otherwise...Someone will be taking a NAP!

31. All This Time. Who Knew?

 I've avoided the scales for two weeks, Weight Watcher's scales that is.  I weigh at home most every morning.  I guess you aren't supposed to, once a week is recommended.  I'm too curious and sort of plan the food day depending on the scale.  On the day I go to have them weigh me, I weigh my self in the clothes I'm going to wear so there aren't any big surprises.  That's another thing...Never wear heavy clothes...No heavy denim...Heavy sweaters can be worn, but with a  light blouse or T under so said sweater can be removed...These rules must be carefully followed in order to achieve the lowest weight possible (with strangers watching.)  Now no one ever berates you or says anything, it's between you and the receptionist.  I just don't want any surprises.  All of this sounds so silly, especially to Bob.  Why, he doesn't even take off his shoes when he goes to the doctor and has to be weighed.  If I chewed gum, I'd spit it out and I never wear heavy jewelry to a weigh in either.  Five minutes after Bob has been weighed he can't even remember how much he weighed.  I wish I thought it was a lie he was telling me, but you know what?  It's true.  Ah, to live in oblivion. 

After all this torture, I finally found the simple answer to the morning ritual of the weigh in.  It came in an email.  Leave it to the internet to solve all problems big and small.  A click of the mouse and the answer is there.  It's so very simple, as most problems usually are.  

Wish me luck.  I'm bound to get some resistance from their staff!

30. A Breeze, Some Sunshine and the Gipsies

Mother's Day was lovely.  Bud brought roses when we met in the village of Arroyo Grande at a burger place.  He writes the sweetest cards. Bud said they have won the "Best Burger" award several years standing.  I believe it.  Bob and I haven't had a great big juicy restaurant bacon cheese burger in a really long time.  We savored every morsel with each bite better than the last.  We savored the company, as well.  Time seems to pass way too fast, the moments far too fleeting.  The older we get the faster time seems to go.  It doesn't do much good to dwell on it, except to remind ourselves to enjoy each day.  Isn't it interesting that we have to remind ourselves of that?  By this time in our lives one would think it would finally come naturally, already be ingrained in our personalities.  Hold on!  That's a lot to expect from people who spend far too much time looking for car keys and things that we had in our hands not two minutes ago.  How can we be expected to remember to be thankful when we are continually annoyed and aware of our frailties.

Bob is much more organized than I am.  I freely admit to that.  However, when I let him help me organize things I have to remember to write myself a note and put it in the old spot where the taxes or whatever the item had been, to tell me the new location because invariably I go to the not so organized place the item has been for so long.  How sad it that?

After lunch we drove out to Avila Beach for a concert by the Gipsy Kings.  Trisha bought our tickets for our Mother's Day and Father's Day.  The weather cooperated, not too hot, not too windy.  What a glorious day!  The group has been a favorite of ours for a long time.  I never imagined we would get to see them, let alone so close to home and in such a fabulous venue.  We decided that if you were there and didn't at least tap your toes, you must not have a pulse.  They played for an hour and a half, not the longest of concerts, but one of the most exhausting we have ever attended.  The grass was writhing with rumba and flamenco enthusiasts.  Bob called them happy spastics.  Our senses were still   tingling long after we left the parking area.

If you are not familiar with the Gipsy Kings you can go to You Tube and watch, listen and be amazed!  Volare and Bombaleo are two of our favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNgSeJzLJFc
 

Today Bob has all of his staples removed.  I wasn't sure if we should go yesterday, but he did fine.  No one had the seat in front of us so he was able to prop his up foot.  I'm glad we went, the whole day was wonderful and it was so nice to sit in the sun and be entertained. 

A dear friend of a lifetime passed away on Mother's Day several years ago.  She was the first of our tight group of friends from high school to leave.  We miss her terribly and the day never comes that we don't think of her and how she is missed.  We laughed, loved and grew up together, our children were born together, all three on the same years. So many things remind us of her and the grand times we all had together learning how to grow up.  It makes me think of the old Brownie saying, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold."  I hope death is only energy transference and you are out there listening Joanie!

29. A Very Simple Pleasure

 This morning when our dear landlady, Pat, was painting our new dining room, I was teasing her and telling her the room was beautimous.  We laughed at how silly the made up word was.  It's kind of fun to make up words.  It reminded me of a word that I had heard on CNN when Bob was in surgery.  A newscaster referred to people and their "religiosity."  Now, I have to admit that rationally I was pretty sure it must be a word, but my skeptical side was saying that maybe she was like me and liked to sneak in a silly word now and then.  More to see if anyone is really paying attention.  I live with a television remote that pretends to be my husband and I have reason to wonder if he is paying attention.

Pat hadn't heard that word either, so I went to the office and grabbed our fabulous faux leather bound L-Z, 3 column per page, comprehensive World Book Dictionary that we purchased for a mere $7 at our fabulous library book store and set about looking up the word "religiosity."  I opened in the middle of the "r's" and out floated a beautiful dried red rose petal.  Lo and behold, on that page was the definition for the word "rose."

Some sentimental person had pressed the red rose petal in the dictionary on that very page.  I wonder who?  Of course, we will never know.  It is a little sad, really.  I'm sorry that they weren't here to enjoy hearing the small gasp that I uttered, know the pleasure I felt as it drifted to the floor.  There should have been a little note with the petal saying, "Are you surprised?"  But I guess they knew in advance that I would be.

That is the way life should be lived, never knowing when the next unexpected pleasure will come our way.  We have to pay attention though.  We can't let ourselves get so wrapped up in the hectic way that life can become that we miss tiny little things like a dried rose petal falling unexpectedly from between the pages  of a 25 year old dictionary.  It had laid there in wait for someone to open just the right page.  I'm so glad that someone was me.

P.S.  religiosity:1. the quality of being religious, especially of being extremely or excessively religious. 
                       2. an affectation of this.

28. Kindergarten was a Good Year.

I'm happy to say that Bob is resting comfortably.  The physical therapist was here this morning and seems to think that Wednesday will be his last session.  A week out from surgery tomorrow and he his walking and bending it just fine.  He wears out easy, that's to be expected, but really doing well.  He will have the staples taken out on the 10th.  Staples, isn't that just amazing?  Real honest to goodness staples, and no pain to speak of.  He has only taken 6 pain relievers.  

Our friend, Nelda, commented on how remarkable medicine is now and it will only get better.  She speculated on how many Civil War soldiers had amputations that would be unnecessary now.  We watched a special on a man who had lost both hands and arms up to the elbows and he had just had transplants on both.  Someone in a car accident was a match and the arms and hands were the right size.  After a few months of rehabilitation, he was moving the hands and fingers as though they were his. All of the nerves, muscles and skin taken from one person and attached to another.  Simply incredible!  He was excited to be able to play ball with his children and hold hands with his wife.  Such simple things.  Things most of us take for granted.

We are so fortunate to live in such a time.  So many things around us to be thankful for and many more on the horizon.  If we could just all work together for the good of mankind, wouldn't it be grand?  Just think, if we could all play nice and accomplish things instead of arguing and fighting.  I guess we really did learn all we needed to know in Kindergarten.  It's really pretty simple and straight forward.  Sometimes it seem that most of us have forgotten so much of it.  Now if we could just remember all of the things...wash your hands...share...don't fight...don't interrupt...hmmm...let me think...