Roll Call: Tuesday, June 30th

[jezzie]

My learning project for today is wild horses (these obviously are not)

Good Morning .....

Return to Freedom .....is a great organization that operates
The American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, CA, a wonderful refuge
for horses and burros.

Ear worm for today will be - Born free, as free as the wind blows.
Now I'm off to start a pot of coffee and put the laundry to wash. BBL.

[Verleen]

Good morning. Jezzie, I have always loved horses and owned one for awhile when I was a young adult. A magnificent 5-gaited gelding. I found that when you have a horse, friends crawl out of the woodwork......lol. Everyone loves horses. However, not one friend would get on him. I would bring him out to saddle up and he was spirited to begin with. The thought of going out for a ride really excited him. So there he was stomping around, spinning around the hitch post. Everyone decided not to get on him. So I would saddle up a friend's mild mannered quarter horse for them which is what I planned to do from the beginning. He was quite intelligent too. He learned how to open his stall and had to have a special clasp to keep him contained. Mostly he was out in the pasture, but when I called him, he would come racing to me at full speed. You had to just trust that he wouldn't run you down. My friends and now ex-husband ran like hell. One time, while I was washing him, I had a near emergency. My fault. I left too long of a lead between him and the post. He got one leg tangled up in it in a high position and started to panic and could have broken a leg. I grabbed his halter and held him close while I quietly talked to him. I told him it would be alright and to hold still and I would fix it. He froze, but his eyes showed lots of white ----he was scared. But he held still and let me untangle his leg which was strung up past his chest. He let me pull his head down close to his leg which gave me just a little loose rope so I could pull the loops off his leg. Once done, he had rope burns on his leg and the rope removed his hair there. I walked him around for awhile until he calmed down. When he started pushing me with his head, I knew he was back to normal. He was jealous too if I would pet or give another horse in the barn a carrot. When I did that, he would kick the stall with both back legs at once and whinny up a storm.

This morning, I too, am doing some laundry. A never ending chore, but not a difficult one. I also finally got one coat of paint on the door to the stairwell this morning. This afternoon or evening, I'll put the second coat on. I'm picking up a friend and we're going to Saratoga Springs, using backroads and side streets to avoid the race track crowd. We're going shopping and having lunch. If I see a hooded jacket that I like and fits me, I'll get it for my upcoming trip. They said to dress for all 4 seasons, which can all occur in one day. When we were in Yellowstone, one day started out in the 80's and by night time, there was a blizzard which closed the road. That was the evening that we went on a wagon train ride into the wilderness and had a chuck wagon dinner. I had a great time, but Rich froze to death. First it rained and we got soaked, and then the temperatures plummeted. I just read the conditions update on the Glacier National Park site and they are still plowing some roads. No chuck wagon experience is planned this time.

[weezie]

Good morning Jezzie and Verleen and folks who chime in later.

Those horses are beautiful and the sanctuary is a great idea. I vaguely recall seeing a documentary about it on PBS (?)

Verleen, how lucky you were to have a horse. My sister and I were not allowed riding lessons because our mother was thrown as a young girl and never got over her fear. I did ride my cousin's pony a couple of times but that's it. There is a stable not too far from here. Maybe I'll screw up my courage and take a lesson.

Today is laundry day for me too, along with going after the dog hair. Our older dog sheds constantly and one of my area rugs has to be brushed before the vacuum will pull it out.

Once the chores are done I'm trying to decide which 'play' activity I'll do. I have several patterns and some fabric for summer clothes I'm itching to get started on. One piece is a funky tunic I'm going to make in a periwinkle blue handkerchief linen. That will go with a slightly darker blue linen pant. Three guesses what my favorite color is???

okay, the chores are calling.

have a lovely day!

-Louise

[puginabug]

Morning all!

Jezzie, as usual, a beautiful picture. Such gorgeous creatures, horses.

Verleen, thank you for the story about your horse. What a wonderful relationship you and he must have had!

Ahh, Louise, you have no idea of dog hair until you own a pug, LOL!!! I swear, over the years we accumulated enough pug hair to make a dozen more dogs!

We finally had some rain here last evening. Not nearly enough, but I guess we take what we can get. It's getting hot again already.

Off to figure out what the heck to wear to work.

Have a great day everyone!

[way2fluffy]

My DD took horseback riding lessons for a few years. She loved it. I was obsessed with horses when I was young. My sister and I would play for hours with our beloved plastic ones. I am allergic to hay and horses though. I remember as a kid, my uncle had a couple of ponies and my sister and I would ride them until my eyes were almost swollen shut,,,,,I would come into gramma's house and take a couple of slugs of my liquid (then prescription) benadryl put a washcloth over my eyes, fall asleep....and then get up and do it all over again. Ha! I wanted so badly to be a vet when I grew up....but I'm allergic to hay, weeds, cats, dogs, horses..well you get the picture.
I've desensitized myself to our two dogs and three cats....other people's animals make my allergies go nuts...especially horses. But they are such magnificent animals! I so enjoyed watching my DD ride.
I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, pan gravy, biscuits and peas for my DD's birthday dinner last nite. It was so very very good! Ha! I did go off plan for this one meal. It was the first 'off' in 6 months so I'm not feeling guilty at all. We had this wonderful coconut cake that was so sweet I couldn't even finish my small piece...but it was great.
Now it's back on plan.
I'm going to start (finally) lifting weights with my DD. I'm so out of shape, sigh.....
Beautiful day here...my near avalanche of laundry awaits...and dog hair (newfoundland and german shepard) plus cat hair from the 3 cats....at least the tortoise doesn't shed...
Have a great one everybody.

[Chef]

Hi all,

Busy day yesterday sorry I missed you.

Hi Way2fluffy,

I worked at Skidmore when I first came to NY It is a great college very safe. See the Tang Center if you come. I had lived in NH about 4 hours away. My aunt a retired 2nd cook from Skidmore said I should come to Saratoga there were alot of nice girls there. So I packed up my big Ford Station Wagon and moved in with my aunt in Saratoga Springs. After a couple of days I went to Skidmore College and the first woman I met at HR was to become my wife what a love story. My wife still works there I went on to become a chef and manager at many fine restaurants in the area. Good luck with the college search.

Hi Verleen,

I am at the corner of Court St and Union Ave. If you see a silver truck with Chef on the plate then you have found me. Stop in for coffee if you are in town.

Cheers

Jim

[Norfolk Mermaid]

I'll be baaack.
Need the coffee with my protein shake and then will start my wash as it is too hot to resume the garage work though I might later this afternoon and of course I will line dry the clothes.
bbl
lany

[mykneesareback]

howdy, be back later.


Doris

[birdlady]

Got a little more of the grass cut,guess I can do a little at a time,better than nothing.
Trying to clean the nursery some also,those babies are messy.I never plan just do what is in my face.The fridge is begging also.
I love all animals, that has been my downfall.We have 5 horses at this time but not trained to ride, just to eat us out of house and home.
I'm to sweaty to think.
In the little paper USAweek-end(comes in the Sunday paper) I saw this.The designer of the wedding dress in Marley& Me was Carolina Boulton from Coral Gables, Fl
Could that be our Carol?
bbl

[Loretta V]

Gladys that was not Carol's last name, it began with an S, if I remember right.

Got to let my arm rest a while and I'll bb.

[Norfolk Mermaid]

Hi Loretta, did I miss the post about your arm or is my memory waving bye, bye along with everything else I really need to have working?
The wash is drying so fast I cannot believe it- I take my time but even so the first I hang out is dry by the time I finish the last. There is a very low humidity 29% and breathing is a beautiful thing for a change.
bbl

[Loretta V]

Thanks Lainey, it is just some arthritis that gets worse when I am on the computer. It really does not keep me awake or cause a lot of pain otherwise. Just the compute use seems to really make it hurt.

[mykneesareback]

Loretta, could you possibly have carpal tunnel syndrome? I hope not, but many folks our age do get that kind of thing. I used to be a tech typist back in the "old" days, and I have problems in my left hand with it.

Been busy today, just trying to get stuff done around here, and had to go get a prescription in our little town, got some more groceries in the local store. There is a rodea in the other tinier town this weekend, so the stores are stocking up on plenty of junk to sell for the campers and fisher people who come through. There is an old fashioned country dance after the rodeo at the Grange Hall on Saturday night too. The local police, what is left of them, make a point to hang around outside of those events because of the over indulging, and I don't mean of barbeque either.

See you tomorrow.



Doris

[Verleen]

Hi gang. I had a nice day. We got caught in a fierce storm coming home. Now its in the low 50's.

Louise, its never too late to learn to ride, not that I was ever an accomplished equestrian. We like to see pictures of things our friends here make. I could never master the sewing machine or a sewing needle for that matter.

Cookie, it seems this year, the weather is either too much or too little of something every where in the country.

Way2, your dinner sounds so good. OMG, dog hair from a Newfie and a GSD. And I thought I had alot with a half mastiff here.

Jim, thanks for sharing your story about how you met your wife. So I can find you behind Congress Park on Union? That is a really nice area of Saratoga. It must be crazy for you re parking during racing season which is soon to come, unless you have a private drive. I drink only decaf. My nephew is a chef and graduate of the CIA in Hyde Park. He worked mostly in Manhattan, did a stint in Rio and now is in Erie, PA.

Gladys, did you get your lawn mowed? Do you have a riding mower? I hope so.

Lainey, that low humidity is wonderful when drying clothes, isn't it?

Loretta, I'm sorry your arm is still bothering you. How much time a day do you spend on the computer?

Doris, it must be hard when all those tourists come into your area. It would drive me nuts. Actually, it does drive me nuts as we get lots of tourists around here too.

I'm off to bed. I really enjoy walking into my bedroom. The windows are open and the room is cool and smells so fresh. One of the perks of living in the mountains, or in my case, in the foothills, is having cool nights. Even if the temps get up into the 90's, the nights are still cool and in the 60's. Tonight might be too cold. See you all tomorrow, which is Jezzie's 'date', right? Or do I have it screwed up?

[mykneesareback]

Chef, that is an interesting story of how you met your wife, sort of accidentally.

Verleen, this county is almost dying due to very little logging being allowed anymore, the environmentalists prefer the forests to burn down, while they live in their homes made of wood products and whine. In a city far away from any forest, heaven forbid they miss a chance to go to Trader Joe's........
But the river next to the hiway's draw the motorcyclists and fisher people and camping folks. It is not as crowded as the larger counties in the mountains that have National Forests in them. We do have several nice lakes up here.

Louise, I'm glad to hear that someone likes to sew, cause it ain't me Babe!!!

Puggie, I didn't know that Pug's shedded so much, our Bulldog didn't shed too much, but more than I had thought she would. But it was white hair mostly, so not as noticable as the other dogs we had. Our Collie was the worst though, she had that undercoat that had to be hand combed out, and I used to do paper bags worth of that stuff.

Gladys, I too hope you have a riding mower. dh didn't want to get one several years ago, insisting that walking behind the mower was good exercise, but his hip was failing and he kept falling down, hence we bought a riding mower after all. How is your hubby's eating going these days?? Is his mouth still sore and healing?

Lainey, keep your fans going girl!!!

Jezzie, lovely picture today. I wish you a nice lunch with Wayne tomorrow also. Who get's the check?

I had ordered some printer ink from Staples, and the color one seems to be dry already, so had to email a complaint. They are sending a new one tomorrow and gave me credit for the price too. Thank goodness.

Let's all have a good day tomorrow!!


Doris

[Norfolk Mermaid]

Just did laundry today (tons of stuff from the garage to be packed away- towels and linens, etc.) and watered my plants of many, many pots of herbs and veggies, grapes (are in the ground) and like that. I will water the veggies that are in the ground tomorrow and go at the garage again. I may go to my mental health group as I have not gone in ages but I will wait and see how hot it is. I need to go to Sam's for cat food but hope to make it to the farmers market in the morning (they close at noon).
I am very tired tonight.
Is anyone else sick of Michael Jackson? Summer news is always just crummy but they are taking him beyond bad taste. Rest in peace for G*d's sake.

bbt
Night, night
Elaine

[mykneesareback]

Unfortunately Lainey, what passes for the News Media in the Western World will never leave any stone unturned when it comes to celebs, but otherwise the state of the world at large can go to h e l l in a handbasket.
Good Night Chet and Good Night David




Doris

[birdlady]

Yes we have a riding mower.We got it all done later today when it got cooler.I started cutting on a bush,it's overgrown and the inside is bare.Hoping if I give it a really hard cut it will sprout leaves,if not to bad.After the fig tree finishes I will give it a big cut also.tomorrow I will finish the babies room.I have to groom the baby grey and send it home.It's all weaned, eating well and it breast is nice and full.I have two others that we got out of the nest last week.I may have to start going to bird fairs this summer.I have several babies that need to be sold.
Well good night friends.

[Verleen]

On the subject of celebrity worship.....the following article was on the editorial page of our newspaper yesterday.


Fame: I’m (not) Gonna Live Forever
on June 29, 2009 8:54:29

By Cal Thomas



“How fevered is the man who cannot look

Upon his mortal days with temperate blood,

Who vexes all the leaves of his life’s book,

And robs his fair name of its maidenhood…”;

So wrote English poet John Keats in “On Fame.”

It’s worth re-reading as we overindulge in the recent deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Ed McMahon’s death the same week received somewhat less coverage because he was neither beautiful, nor weird, though he qualified as a celebrity. At least McMahon served in two wars as a Marine, which was a real accomplishment.

What is it about celebrity that so fascinates us? And it is celebrity, not fame. As the now defunct New Times magazine editorialized 30 years ago, “There are almost no famous people anymore; only celebrities.” That’s because, the editorial writer said, fame is too suggestive of steady achievement. Almost anyone can be a celebrity.

Listening to the Michael Jackson tributes would make one think he had created something of lasting value. Some said his music will “live forever.” No it won’t. No one today hums Stephen Foster songs or ditties from World War I, or the Great Depression, which were better songs and understandable. Can anyone quote the lyrics from Gus Kahn’s greatest hits? Somehow “Butterflies all flutter up and kiss each little buttercup at dawnin’”) doesn’t seem to have the ring it had in 1922.

Tony Bennett is a singer. His songs have a better chance of longevity than Jackson’s because they are about love and relationships, which are common to every generation. Bennett and his contemporaries, including Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald, are in a league far above the “pop” culture headed at one time by Jackson, whose biggest hit “Thriller” came before the younger generation was born.

Our culture celebrates and promotes beauty, which fades. Farrah Fawcett attempted to remind people she was still around after her initial splash in the ’70s by having plastic surgery, among other things, and appearing nude in Playboy. Michael Jackson, who had numerous plastic surgeries and other “treatments” to his skin and body, was rehearsing for a “comeback” when he died of an apparent prescription drug overdose. Jackson, the self-proclaimed “king of pop,” got more coverage in newspapers and on the networks, especially cable TV, than Elvis Presley, the “king of rock and roll,” received when he died of a drug overdose in 1977.

Diana, Princess of Wales trumped Mother Teresa in TV coverage of their deaths, but who made the greater contribution?

A culture that fixates on the likes of the Osbournes and those dreadful reality TV celebrities, Kate and Jon, is a culture that is cannibalizing itself. Embracing the base while rejecting the noble will produce more of one and less of the other.

“Why then should man, teasing the world for grace,

Spoil his salvation for a fierce miscreed?”

Keats asked a good question. So did the writers Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green when they wrote “Make Someone Happy” (reprised by the late Jimmy Durante in the film “Sleepless in Seattle”): “Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute. Where’s the real stuff in life to cling to?”

The list of celebrities whose lives turned into a train wreck is long and lengthening. Why would so many want to follow these people and their broken and lousy relationships, drug use, and plastic surgeries, especially when we see where it leads for so many of them?

Last Thursday night, more people watched a Farrah Fawcett special on ABC than a Michael Jackson special on CBS, suggesting that beauty beats weirdness. Far fewer watched ABC’s health care special with President Obama. By almost anyone’s standards, health care is far more important than dead celebrities. That ratings disparity is a commentary on our shallowness and the refusal of so many to cling to the “real stuff” in life.

(Direct all MAIL for Cal Thomas to: Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207. Readers may also e-mail Cal Thomas at tmseditors@tribune.com.

[Verleen]

Lainey, my goodness, you unpacked linens and towels, washed them and then repacked them to store again. How many times have you repeated this? Yes, I did that too, until I freed myself from it all. I got rid of things so I wouldn't repeat the cycle. I'm still working on getting rid of more. I was saving some stuff for my kids, who really didn't want any of it. It was my history and memories, not theirs. I know what would really help me get rid of the rest of it. Move. I sure wouldn't want to pack and move any more stuff than I need to. I figure its better to do it now when I'm more able bodied than later when I may have to deal with it and can't. And I don't want to saddle my daughter with it.

Gladys, I have a few bushes like yours. If they don't look better next year, out they come. I pruned them this year and they got one year to improve. How lucky you are to have fig trees in the ground. Do you get many figs off of them? I had a big fig in the greenhouse but it took up too much room and needed more attention than I could give it. I gave it away last year, I think it was. It was time to let someone else enjoy it.

[weezie]

Verleen-

Thank you for the excellent editorial. Very well written and, alas, all too true!

-Louise