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[Morning on Calm And Peaceful Waters At... War...

I awaken to yet another day...
I wonder if to-day, Perhaps ...
The pain I feel might just..
"Go away"?..

Why do I choose to watch T.V.?..
I know it will bring anguish to me..
I choose to push it all ...
"Aside".!..
Perhaps get on my horse and take a ride..
Then I remember how many died..

I want them back!..
But thats not to be...

Or at least allow them burial..With dignity..
A gentle breeze from in the trees..
Comes through the window..
And caresses me..
At this moment its all right to grieve..

I gaze out on calm waters of the Lake..
And wonder..How long will it take?
The Song Birds sing..
The mail goes by..
I sit and rock..And softly cry...

Ladybird 

   Sunshine

When I woke up this morning
I found a ray of light
Shining through my window
To chase away the night...

I tried to wrap it up to send
The warmth and light to you...
But boxes don't hold sunshine
So this wish will have to do:

May the sun shine on your morning
And brighten every day,
May warmth and sunshine fill your life
And chase your cares away!
Brenda (SeniorsNet),  September 2001

   
The Sleeper in the Valley

  It is a green hollow where a stream gurgles
crazily catching silver rags of itself on the grass;
where the sun shines from the proud mountain:
it is a little valley bubbling over with light.
 
A young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-head,
his neck bathed in cool blue cress,
sleeps; he is stretched out on the grass, under the sky,
pale on his green bed where the light falls like rain.
 
His feet in the gladiolis, he sleeps. Smiling as
a sick child might smile, he has a nap:
cradle him warmly, Nature: he is cold.
 
No scent makes his nostril quiver;
he sleeps in the sun, his hand on his breast,
at peace. There are two red holes on his right side.
 
Arthur Rimbaud
October 1870

well I am going to try and Make another post and post it. I said good night and sweet dreams and Shirley I suggested you get a pair on needle nose players and a needle and carefully clean the hole in the orifices out. and good night and sweet dreams. time to go give my self my shot and take my pills and go to bed. Hope to see you all tomorrow.

Lloyd

Oops, you swooped in with a new home for us, Bubble. My, such thought provoking sayings. Isn't it sad the world can't quit fighting. Always one more "war to end all wars".... Thank you for all your work, Bubble, we wouldn't survive without you.

Thanks, Rick, I'll give that a try first. When I put it away last time I really was not too happy with it, working only once! I had put up with that kitchen carpet for so long I decided to get the best cleaner they made (for home use). We never know what is ahead in less than 6 months! My life made a big change in 2013 & a roller coaster ever since, still going fairly good, struggle with the newer electronics.  I still say all girls should learn how to fix things around the house and boys should learn how to cook & take care of what is usually called "women's work" so all can do whatever is necessary. Maybe in our next life.

Cats don't believe it's going to rain/storm so patting the door to go out. I hope to get some sleep tonight so will close them in the opposite end of the house from my bedroom. It has been winter cold with rain for several days & nights so they were tickled to wake up warm this morning. Was in the upper 80s today. Remember when old Arthur Godfrey used to remind us to drink our saffarass tea? If I remember right, had to dig young roots to boil. Thinned the blood, wonder what we are using now, Plavix? 

Sweet dreams. Who was it talking about wild & crazy dreams since the quarantine? I've had my share, too.   

Good morning everyone.

I tolerated the robin singing for rain at 5.05 am, then the hammering woodpecker on the hydro pole.. Then a flock of geese decided to fly that close that I thought I should open the bedroom window for them it was time to get up. One way or another critters will get you up!

Today is take the garbage away , make a delivery and if it doesn't rain set up both trugs.  Would like to finish the one quilt and get onto another project.

Bubble, thank you for the new start page!! I agree with Shirley, sad that the world has to be at war..

Gloria, yes it did have a meringue on it and it WAS delicious!


Better get a long ..

Enjoy your day and stay safe!

Good morning everyone, rained last night but today supposed to be sunny and 70, I can take that.

SHIRLEY  goodness you do more in one day than  I do in a year these days. I cannot keep my 3 rooms clean the way I want so a good thing I have Yvette to help me. There are things the CNA's cannot do, like moving furniture. I used to move it every week to clean behind and under, wonder how dusty it is behind them now.

BUBBLE  thanks for the new book  to fill up. Your second graphic is so sad but too true. I thank God all my family members survived the wars with only one being wounded. Good stories and the last one so sad, too. Brought tears to my eyes.

LLOYD  hope you slpt good last night.

SHIRLEY  I would rarther drink sassafras tea than take another pill. If I dream I am glad I do not remember any.

AMY  been a long time since I made a lemon meringue pie. As a kid I did not like the meringue but now love it.

Have a good day and stay safe.

Thanks for the new place, Bubble, and for the poetry.  Like it very much.

Roller coaster weather here....from cold to hot, from heat pump droning to air conditioner whirring.  It must be Spring in North Carolina.

I'm taking it pretty easy.  We had a "fly over" down low over the house last evening and that was sort of exciting. They were honoring the hospital workers so flew over 7 hospitals in the Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, and Durham area.  Our house is about half-way between a couple of the hospitals so they came right over us.  Low and loud.

Take care, All. 

Good afternoon everyone, it is a fine sunny day here in Aberdeenshire.  I filled up the fat ball feeder and the fat slab feeder at 7.30am this morning and by 11am they had both been stripped - I am going to start rationing those crows. Luckily the home-made outer cage I created for the other fat ball feeder seems to be working, so the little birds are still getting something. And I saw a starling using my new bird bath.

Amy - the birds start up very early here too, and we have to have the bedroom windows open a bit now as otherwise it is just too hot. It's lovely to hear them but yes, it is EARLY. I remember when we lived out in the country with a field in front of the house in which sheep were often kept. As the mornings got lighter and lighter they would start up earlier and earlier, and they were so loud it used to drive me nuts. Once they had completed their dawn bleating they went silent again for hours, I could never work out why they did it really.

Shirley, you are so right - my father died very suddenly when I was 8 years old, my mother is quite practical but my father had standard 1950's ideas about men's and women's roles, so she had no experience of household repairs. The first time she had to change a plug (in the days when they didn't come as the sealed units they do now) she pushed it into the wall and we both ran away. (It was fine.)

Being widowed so young she just had to learn how to do it all, and she also had to find a job as she had no money - but she also had little education and no qualifications. She found work in the accounts department of an engineering firm in central London and stayed there for over 20 years Only since I had my own children can I appreciate how hard that must have been, rushing in on the train as soon as I was at school, rushing back, worrying about me being in the house by myself (I had no such worries, I loved it...). But on the other hand I think she benefited from being out in the world, working with a wide range of people of all ages - she became a lot more open-minded than some of my school friends' mothers who did not work. She had always wanted a proper education, and was frustrated at home - although the job didn't give her any certificates or exam passes, it did stimulate her mind much more than domesticity would have - that just was not right for her, any more than work outside the home was right for everyone.

Even after that experience, I am ashamed to say I still let my husband do most of the DIY around here. This is at least partly because he is such a perfectionist and if I did it, he'd probably do it again. My daughters take no notice - if, for example, he has not built their flatpack furniture after a few days they just get the electric screwdriver out and do it themselves. Madeleine has built bookshelves, a desk, etc for me/herself, and Anna once put together a whole set of IKEA bedroom furniture.

Last night we watched the second episode of The Real Marigold Hotel - it is a programme in which a group of older celebrities are taken to India for a few weeks, ostensibly to see if they would like to retire there (as the people do in the original film). Every series has different people in it - at the moment they include Henry Blofield (aged 80), a well-know cricket commentator, who is absolutely lovely, Barbara Dickson (aged 72 - Scottish singer) and Zandra Rhodes (aged 79 -very flamboyant fashion designer who actually turned out to be surprisingly normal and sensible), who are both great - but also Britt Ekland, who is awful, I never saw such an attention seeker, it is all me, me, me. They stay with a family, and do things like try traditional healers, attend yoga classes, go to Indian festivals, attend a cricket match (this was particularly touching, as all the elderly Indian men there had listened to Henry all their lives on the radio and TV and were as thrilled to meet him as he was to meet them), learn about Indian cookery, and generally experience life. It is surprising how well most of them fit in and adapt - I can't imagine finding it that easy myself, and it would be far too hot for me. I am such a home bird really, always glad to get back from holidays no matter how nice they were.

Today I am going to try to get some more seeds planted. This is a photo from my walk along the Dee - not sure if it will work, but fingers crossed:



I hope everyone has a good day,

Rosemary

Good Morning everyone. it is 61º and cloudy calling for 71º and cloudy today all day. we had 1/2" of rain over night. Gloria thanks I had a good 7.5 hours of sleep. but I am still tired feeling. I do not draw good breath easy anymore. but life goes on. hope you all have a good day just as you like it.

Lloyd

I was setting here reading and trying to retain so I could try to make reasonable post, and bang a loud crash a little bird hit the door glass. It is laying on it's side breathing hard. I went over and set it up right and genitally petted it on the head and back. it sat still like with surprise. it finely moved on it's feet. i watched it for a few min. then I went back over and it went airborne and flew away. I hope it is alright. see you all later.

Lloyd

Good Morning Everyfriend!  We had a little rain overnight but right now the sun is shining and the temp is up to 70º heading for high of 80.  I think it might have been Spring in the middle of the night!

Mickie got me up very early this morning!  When she gets up that early I know there's a reason and she really did have to go out.  She made deposits from both end.  I think she ate something off the ground yesterday that didn't sit well in her stomach but she doesn't seem to be sick today.

I'm still working on putting things back together after the workers are gone.  I think it might take me the rest of my life!  I'm good for 1 - 2 hours at a time and then I give up!  I get 2, maybe 3 sessions a day depending on what else is hollering at me and what I find in the boxes. 
And I have a whole room to empty out when I get the regular stuff sorted, cleaned and back in place.  But at least I have a bed for Frankie when the restrictions are lifted and we feel safe getting together. 

Cathy's decided that she needs to make a trip to the Amish Store so I need to adjust my list and get it to her tonight.  She's going to try to be there when they open at 8.  She figures that's the best time for stocking and for a well cleaned store.

I almost lost this just now so I'm going to post and then maybe think of other things and come back.

I'm taking a chance and making a comment on your picture, ROSEMARY.  I loved it and I wish I'd been walking with you!

BUBBLE, I also enjoyed your offerings for our new hangout for the rest of the month!  They are all so true and so thought provoking!

I wish you all a lovely day!
Make it your own in every way!

And don't forget to share!

Good morning on this pretty sunny day

It is supposed to be up near 80 degrees today,  And, then another cool spell all next week.

I don't think that summer will ever get here. 

Our Governor has lifted quite a few restrictions to happen today at 5 p.m.  Sure hope that doesn't bring more sickness to our area.  They are allowing a lot of stores and shops to open and the hotels at the beach can start taking reservations.   That is going to let a lot of people who are chomping at the bit to get to the ocean. 

I have no plans to go anywhere and I have enough  food for a while, also.  I am just staying put and have a lot of new books to read.  I might go down and sit outside later today.  Right now, I am still in my night clothes.  If I do decide to sit out, then I will have to get dressed. Maybe after lunch. 

Hope everyone is keeping well and getting along ok. 

Joy

Good Morning,

I woke up just at sunrise this morning and decided to open the blinds and watch for "early birds" at the feeders. I did not expect to see a coyote loping across the back of the yard.   

We've had at least one coyote in the area around the pond and creek along the west side of the complex for a couple of years but I had never seen one around the houses. It looked as if it was heading "home" after a "night out" - not nosing around.

I went to Braum's yesterday and was the only one wearing a mask - including the clerks.  Not too sure how I feel about that but am noticing fewer people wearing them in the smaller stores.

Like Joy,  I have plenty of food and supplies so don't need to go around town for anything.

Wishing Everyfriend Everywhere an Enjoyable Day.

Good Afternoon Everyone !

It is still Chilly here on the rocky
coast of Maine, but certainly not Winter
Chilly. more like Spring Chilly.

It is too bad that not everyone
is wearing face masks.    Here in
Portland Maine,  you must
be wearing face masks to ride the
buses or go into  the few store that
are open,  like drug  and
grocery stores. 
 

I have been preparing to make some
face masks..  I have been doing  a lot
or research on YouTube and will let
my daughter Kelly critique them ,  before
starting to make a lot of them. 

Mine will be plain and made out of 100% Cotton
Sheets..  Lot's of material to make lots
of Facemasks. 

From what they are predicting we are in
for a very long haul of fighting
the Covid_19 Virus...
 
So I hope to  spend most of my time
sewing these masks to keep myself from going
completely bored and crazed out of my mind.

It is about all I can do to be of help
during this terrible time.

My family is very supportive of my
doing this... It is a big project for
me and right now I am getting my
apartment set up to start working
on it when all of my supplies
come in. 

That is my story and I am sticking
to it!  LOL!

So far all is well here.. lonely
but well. 

Sandy
 

I seem to remember that in one of these forums, someone posted how you take the skin and bones from a rotisserie chicken, and cook them slowly to make stock.  I
knew if I didn't print it out then, I would forget it.  Well, someone tell me how much water, how long to simmer it.  I have the bones and skin all separated, ready to start.  Someone help please.   Part of the story:  My Kroger had a special 2/$10.00 on the chickens, so I bought two, and took the other one to my neighbor who lives alone and does not (IMHO) eat very much, other than soups.  Anyway, she was going to make a chicken salad for supper, and I would like to provide her with the instructions for making the broth/stock with the remnants.

We did get one trug set up with peat moss and dirt and the other one, the bigger one just has the peat moss in it. Rain decided that we  should head indoors..and we did:) Finished of the quilt and just need to bag it up to go. This one has Micky Mouse on it and a fun quilt to do.

Tomereader, I don't measure, just cover the bones with water and let simmer..strain and put broth in fridge to let the fat separate and take it off in the morning.

Sandy, have fun doing the masks. My machine wasn't too happy with the pleats but we did get it done. Some folks prefer the masks with ties, others with elastic and some just around the ears others around the head.

Will go check on the smaller trug and see how far the dirt is down due to the rain.

Good afternoon everyone. I have been setting out on the deck watching the humming birds. and a bird I have never seen one like it before that i reamber
 it had a light orange breast and was a little larger than a sparrow. it was robbing a meal out of the humming feeder. the humming birds are not afraid of us they come eat with you setting just a few feet away.the other bird with the orange  breast fley into the glass in the door and knocked its self out.was laying on its side breathing hard. I went out and set it on its stomach and stroked it genital on its head and back it seamed to like that for a bit but in short order it got up on it's feet and made a few hopes and then went airborne. the humming birds are just like children just jump on and dive bomb each other. Have a good rest of the day.

Lloyd

Nancy and I put a chicken in the crock pot and cook it off of the bones. then we make  home made egg noodles. role out and cut the dough. cut it about 3/4 inch wide and 6" long . we strain the the broth off,and put the noodles and the meet in it and cook well done. you can also do same thing with a chicken and the broth and spoon drop dumpling's in it. make mashed patois and spoon the over it. have a rest of the day good.

Lloyd

I'm heading off to bed a bit early tonight.  I'm so tired I can't see straight!  And I still have lots of stuff to put away or get rid of.  Oh well!  Tomorrow's another day! 

I wish you all a peaceful night's sleep and a happy, healthy tomorrow.  And may God bless us, every one!

Good morning everyone..

They say we are to have a nice sunny day..no rain. We need to pop into town for a bit then home to finish off the large trug.....just hope we have enough bags of soil to fill it.

Should do some baking today...hmm..

Jane , the beauty of all your hard work will so for a long time. Just think ,you can set back and enjoy summer!

Lloyd,glad you got to the bird before a cat!

Joy, too many folks are chomping at the bit here and I sure hope it doesn't set them back.

Rosemary, we live between two lakes and at times the birds fly so low you can hear the wind in their wings!

Better get ready to go out...

Enjoy your day everyone and stay safe.

Good Morning Everyfriend!  This will be a short one because the boinger already went and Mickie is being good about waiting for breakfast.

I just had a text from Cathy telling me to stay available in case she has any questions about my list when she gets to the Amish Store.  Isn't technology great!  I used to run to the store down the street for my mother and she never knew what an 8-year old might bring back even when she told me EXACTLY what she wanted.  Sometimes I think she also called Clyde and told him to watch what I got.

I'm also in a fly path for the ducks and geese with the river on one side and a pond suitable for spending the night and surrounded by farms good for feeding on the other side.  Lots of geese right now.

I guess I better go feed Mickie so we can get a walk in before the groceries come.  Enjoy your day and don't forget to share.

Good Morning everyone.well I think the humming birds must eat around the clock.
I went out to check there feeder and it was bone dry. I got it and brought it in and filled it. did not take them but just a minute to hit it. and some other intruders also.there was a bird about the size of a sparrow with a light orange head and breast was on it. but one of the humming birds Sean it and dive boomed it and it left in a hurry. they sure pay there way in pleasure. a sparrow stopped by also did not take the humming bird long to show it's way by either.
see you all later,Nancy called morning is ready ( yummy Pancakes with blue berry sauce on them.

Lloyd

Good morning everyone, we did not get the bad storm the weather guessers said we would get last night, thunder and a chance of tornado. We did get some heavy rain though and fell asleep with it hitting the windows.  Two mornings in a row I woke at a reasonable time, 6:30, much better than 3 or 4 am.

PHYLLIS  they have been having those flyovers around the country, even here in "Little Rhody" the nick name for this state.

ROSEMARY  lovely picture, I would love to walk along there.

LLOYD  the rain last night did not cool it off here, already 59. I will be going outside today I hope. I was afraid after that rain it would be cold again.

JANE  we do gather things around us when we live in one place for years. If you had to move you would really find out what you want to keep. Might be a good thing there is not much storage place here.

JOY  I hope it does not get too hot here too soon. I need to get a new AC and it will not be another portable one.  The manager told me when I moved here that was what I had to get. So that was what I got and it never really kept it cool enough for me. I have not been away from here since New Year's day and I would love to get away for a few hours. Need a change of view.

CALLIE  I have a full freezer but  with my lack of appetite nothing tempts me.

SANDY  good luck making the masks. If I had a sewing machine I would try making some, too.

AMY  my oldest granddaughter made me a mask but it goes around my head and that bothers me so do not use it, I rather have it around my ears. I have seen some ads for them and I am thiniing of sending for some, cloth ones that can be washed, not the disposable ones.

LLOYD  we had humming bird feeders onn the fron porch and we all enjoyed watching them but the witch of a manager made tha one who put it up take it down. Said it made a mess. We were enjoying them too much for her.

JANE  go slow sorting what you have. It will be waiting fo you when you are more rested.

PHYLLIS  hope you are feeling well.

Have a good day and stay safe.

Hello everyone

It is a mixed sort of day here - cloudy one minute and sunny the next. My husband wants to paint the balcony (again..) and can't decide whether to or not, so I am waiting till he's decided before I pot up the seeds I hope to keep in the mini greenhouse. It feels very humid and close, I think a downpour might clear the air.

Last night we watched an interesting programme about the photographer Lee Miller. Some years ago now, I went to a talk by her son Anthony Penrose, who these days spends his life curating the collection of her work at Farley Farm in Sussex, where she and Roland Penrose lived after the war. He is a very good speaker, and quite honest about his childhood, during which Miller was largely absent or drunk (he was brought up by a nanny.) She never spoke about her war experiences, or the fact that she had been raped at the age of 7, so it was only after her death that he began to understand why she had ended up the way she did. She was the first photographer, with David Scherman, to enter Dachau when it was liberated, and they later went to Hitler's old apartment, where she famously took a bath and slept in his bed. Penrose believes she suffered PTDS for the rest of her life as a result of what she saw and experienced in the war, and especially at the concentration camp.

The crows are still stripping the feeders as fast as I fill them, so I am thinking of trying to construct another cage round the second feeder. I had bought a ground feeding tray for the blackbirds, but our neighbour is getting into such a tizzy about the visiting rat (which has never entered her garden) that I don't feel I can put anything at ground level just now. I do long for the day when we can move to somewhere with no near neighbours! In the meantime this neighbour's mother was round again this morning, breaking lockdown rules to visit her grand-baby. Hey ho, we must live and let live I suppose

We walked by the river again last evening, it was beautiful, and not too many people around at all. Gloria, I wish I could magic you here so you could walk with me. We saw a female mallard duck swimming around, and I was just wondering why she was alone when out from some reeds appeared her six little ducklings, and they all sailed off along the water - they were so sweet. The heron was also standing in the shallows, waiting patiently.

When I cam upstairs just now David said 'SO what are you going to do now?'- I do not have his work ethic, but I suppose I'd better achieve something before dinner time....so far all I have done is make (and eat) date and walnut scones, clean the bathrooms and feed the birds.

Have a good day all,

Rosemary

 

ROSEMARY, my feelings are hurt.  You want GLORIA to walk with you but you haven't asked me and I said I loved your walk, too.  BooHoo!

I have been watching several short clips about making, sour doe biscuits and roles and bread. Makes my mouth water. I was going to send it to my self and print it out. and this computer is on a stubborn streak again. do any you girls have a starter and do any or all of the above?

Lloyd