News

or Not

My blogging has been waxing and waning over the last couple of years--mostly waning. I'm going to make an attempt to change that if for not other reason than I like to say waxing. Also, I'm going to make a conscious effort to not have anything of substance on this blog. I will leave others to comment about the tragedies of the world, both natural and man-made, even though they effect me deeply. I will also let someone else talk about the news and how it is not really news, but just noise that tells us how upset we should be about something.  In other words, I'm going to emulate the  Seinfeld Show which very proudly advertised that it was a show was about nothing.

I'm not sure that will make my blog any different than it was before. We will see. But I hope this is a place you can visit and not be reminded of the difficulties in your life and the world. Or at least I hope that is what it does for me.

Here is my non-news item for today.

A sunflower is one of many flowers that have a center with intersecting spirals that can be defined by a Fibonacci sequence.  This sunflower was planted by a bird with seed from our bird feeders.

Until next time...

Check in

It's been a while since I checked in here, so it is time for an update.

The days have been busy and the nights have been long. I'm still struggling with my trigeminal neuralgia and balancing the pain relief from the meds and the side effects from them. I have not reached a good balance yet. I am with moving forward and carefully considering other options which involve doctors' visits and tests. Depending on the day, my thoughts go from do nothing to extreme intervention and everything in between. The very good news is this is not a threat to my overall health. The bad news is this is not a threat to my overall health and so there are no clear decisions to be made.

But otherwise, it's just been this and that around here. Nothing major. Below are a few of the things I've been up to.

I continue to work in the yard. We have very rocky soil and I've started a rock pile from the rocks I find while working.  Maybe it's the geologist in me, but I get a certain satisfaction from my rock pile.

I'm not sure who set them all off, but we saw five different sets of fireworks from our back deck around the Fourth of July. The best ones came, however, from our backyard neighbor. They were slow, but that gave Ward and I time to chat between bursts.

I marched with the library in our annual town parade. This year I carried a selfie poster promoting the summer reading theme, A Universe of Stories.

Our elderly cats are slowly failing, but presently they are still champs at howling for laps to sit in and food to eat. I seem to spend a lot of time with a cat in my lap.

Uncle Billy's blueberries are ripening and I spent a morning picking them. I am guessing there will be more for me to pick in the future.

Ward spent 10 days on the west coast backpacking on the Pacific Crest Trail with a little sightseeing thrown in. This is outside the visitor's center at Mt. Saint Helens.

Ward and I spent a pleasant morning finding a couple more quilts on the barn quilt tour we have been doing.  (Carolina Lily pattern show here.)

Last week, we had extreme heat like most of the country that ended with severe weather. As a cold front came through, we were in the basement during an imminent tornado warning and lost electricity for a while. However, we didn't have much damage--just a few small branches down and lots of pears. This is the first year that we have more than a few pears from either tree. All of these should have stayed on the tree longer, but I'm going to see what I can do about getting at least some of them to ripen.

Thankful Sunday, July 21, 2019

I am thankful to be
another year older.

Yesterday was my birthday. Another year older and that's great because you know what they say, "Consider the alternative." In some ways, I don't feel any older than I did many years ago except for an occasional creaky knee.  In other ways, I feel my age--mostly in the insights that have come from years of experience. Sometimes when I hear what a younger person has said or done, I am surprised and judgmental until I remember what I thought and knew at their age. That puts it in perspective and I realize that experience has been the way that I have gained wisdom. And I've only gotten that through living year after year.

So for my past birthdays and the ones to come, I am thankful.

Thankful Sunday, July 14, 2019

I am thankful for my grandmother.

My grandmother and some of her grandkids.
There were 6 more born after this.

Today is my paternal grandmother's birthday. Yvette would have been 116 years old. She was born in 1903 in rural West Virginia and got married 20 years later. After a couple of years, she and my grandfather settled on a farm that is still in the family today.

She grew the food, churned the butter, and kept the books on the things they sold as well as the weather. But the most important thing she did was to raise 8 kids. And it was not easy. After a childhood accident, my Aunt Ellen was disabled for the rest of her life and bedridden for many years of it. Also, my grandmother lost another child soon after his first birthday.

However, one of the hardest parts of Yvette's life were the difficulties that my grandfather had after several unfortunate things happened to him. He used alcohol to deal with his pain and it was not good. Because of this, there was every reason for my father and his siblings to grow into dysfunctional adults, but they didn't. They were good parents and spouses, worked hard, and contributed to their communities. And that is because of my grandmother. Her calm steadiness was able to give them the stability they needed to rise above the problems in the family.

So for my grandmother, who was able to raise her children into responsible, happy adults, I am very thankful. Happy Birthday, Grandma Yvette.

Thankful Sunday, July 7, 2019

I am thankful for the sun 

and the life and beauty it brings.