WAY BACK WHEN

I clicked on a link at Facebook and boy was I happy to see this site. It takes us all back to the the 60's when things were so much more simple and relaxed. As I read the content, boy I had to agree with just about everything on it. I remembered my mother using that coke bottle with a stopper on it and sprinkling laundry to iron them.

 I used to love the smell of freshly ironed clothes. Mom had the same wooden ironing board until we had to sell the contents of the house and the board never sold. It remained in the house for the next owner. We had a big old wooden radio in the kitchen that sat on the counter for years. It still worked, but was replaced with a microwave oven. Not sure where the radio went, but wish I still had it now..it would be worth more than it was then. 

So many new conveniences that make our lives easier, or do they? I can remember it taking all day for mom to make a big pot of soup and her tending to it ..made the house smell so wonderful. Now the crock-pot does that in no time and it tastes similar but not really the same. Did your family ever use Green Stamps? We got them at the local A&P store for groceries we bought. I knew we had to go out of town just to redeem them. Mom bought an iron and many other items we needed at home. I can still taste that nasty glue they had on them. Mom made us kids do the licking of the stamps.


Everything is fast now.. the faster the better, some say. I am one to think that slow is better to enjoy every minute of life. Nice to look back on things that really help us see how far we have come along.


HOPE YOUR WEEKEND IS A GREAT ONE!!

MAY CHANGES..

Still getting used to the new format here at Blogger and finding that, at Chrome, it is a whole lot easier to deal with the changes.. I have to admit I don't have time to fuss with it much so easier is better. I have to keep up though..not going to give in to the establishment. Changes this month could happen quickly and I will try to keep you all posted as soon as I know what is going on. I have ventured back south in Michigan again and not sure if the north is the place for me or not. I sure do miss my little buddy a lot. He was a real cute change in my life for awhile. He does love Rachael Ray..must be her personality or her FOOD!! He kept us moving constantly and at least he slept some of the time. Tell me WHY babies choose to sleep like this..he does it a lot. Knees up, hiney in the air!! LOL




 May 1st..??? HAPPY MAY DAY!!  Wow the warm weather we had in April made it feel like it should be JUNE already. Mom and Dad's birthday's are coming up and it will be sad time for my Sister and I both this year. Mom loved flowers so we are putting flowers out at their grave site today. RED..mom's favorite..no matter what time of year..it had to be RED. Could be roses, carnations, tulips..didn't matter..she just wanted RED. The weather is beautiful here and warm today so that is a plus and we will be able to get out and enjoy the day. I heard the doves this morning and thought of all the mornings I heard them at our old house and knew that spring had truly come with them calling to each other. Nothing much else happening here..hope your MAY DAY is a great one!! 

WHAT'S NEW???

So how's your Spring been so far?What's new in your neighborhood?? I feel pretty out of touch these days computer-wise.  We've been very lucky here in the Mitten state, so far no dangerous tornadoes etc. I've been away for awhile and this has kept me very very

busy.It had been quite awhile since I have done childcare. I had forgotten some things and remembered a lot. My age now seems to have caught up with me and boy I sure can't do what I used to do. This little guy is on the go night and day it seems and there is little time for anything else. He isn't quite walking yet but give him another few weeks and off he will go. Then the fun begins for us all. Look out CATS..the two his family have will, no doubt, have to find new places to escape to. He is fascinated with their tails and how they jump on things. I guess they will give him many ideas for playtime.
Well nothing else new here..hope you all are enjoying your Spring-time. 
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

HAPPY EASTER

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A JOYFUL AND BLESSED EASTER.

NEW BLOGGER CHANGES

Well now, change has come again.I saw the statement that Blogger was changing in April and clicked it.. whoa...... did I get a surprise. Maybe I am a slow one to get on the bandwagon I don't know, but whether good or bad for us bloggers we must go with it . My IE browser is not supported by BLOGGER any more so I can ONLY use CHROME when entering a new post. What a hassle. I don't want to even think about trying to change my background yet. I just touched something and lost a whole paragraph so beware this new blogger set up is very tricky if you haven't changed yours over yet. Will take some time to get used to where everything is. I guess all old things must leave us and we must move with new technology. I will let you know when I find everything and how they work out. Getting to your dashboard is no easy task and so letting them know in the feedback area at the right bottom is a good idea.  

Spring left us and winter is  trying to say hello again. The furnace clicked back on and the frost was heavy this morning. Orchards are very afraid of losing their entire crops. They are going to extreme lengths to keep the trees from freezing up. Something new this year is burning those large rolls of hay along side the orchard rows to keep smoke over the top of the crop. They say that smoke might help keep it warmer. Time will tell I guess. I don't think our nights of cold are over yet. It will be a very tricky Spring here. Getting ready for spring cleaning here and organizing my closets and drawers,something about the warmer weather always makes me want to pick up and throw out the old winter things. Having the windows open last week sure was nice. I look forward to more of that soon.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE GOOD LUCK WITH THIS NEW BLOGGER SET UP..

AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD.

SPRING OR SUMMER??

Well it is hot enough to feel like summer out there. It has been more summer-like than I can ever remember in March. The animals are all making nests and scampering around. I think I am just wondering how long this will last. Well no matter, soon the sound of lawn mowers will be filling the air. The grass is already coming back up. Gas prices continue to be almost $4 or more and so I doubt we will be mowing it as often as we used to though. Many people have been complaining about the prices of gas and groceries and I suspect that there will be more gardeners than ever this summer. I cannot wait to get some tomato plants growing in pots. They aren’t too safe around here in a garden, as the woods have so many critters to eat them before they even get 6 inches high. Having a garden before, as large as the area in the picture below, well, it was a whole lot of hard work. 

 We tried planting more so that there would be enough for us and the critters. Didn’t work. They ate everything despite all the sprays and nets and high fences. Deer, rabbits, raccoons, and skunks are all seen around here too often. I had good luck with container gardening so guess that is what I will do. Hope you all are enjoying this wonderful Spring-Summer weather we are getting. My daily walks are sure wonderful without the heavy coats and boots etc. I saw a glimpse of some kind of animal in the barn where the car is parked today and sure hope it is NOT A SKUNK!! It moved so fast I could not see a white mark on it. Lord help me, I am so nervous going in there to get the car. Hopefully it is a racoon or squirrel.   

Tonight we took a drive to a neighboring town. As we traveled, we noticed the clouds building and beginning to circle us. When we came back home the skies were getting really dark and we heard thunder. I wondered if there had been a watch issued. We were in a hurry to get back home when we ran across this guy and he was NOT going to move no matter what. Drivers on both sides of him had to stop and turn around or just wait him out. Now I think, even out on a country type road, this should not happen. Finally when cars began to mount up on either side he had to stop unloading the corn and pull over.        

                                                      

I guess he was in a hurry to get the corn in the trucks before the rain came, and nothing was going to stop him. There wasn’t a watch for our area but one for east of us near Ann Arbor. Out of this storm system a tornado touched down in a town called Dexter. Much damage has been reported. It looked pretty bad on the news at 10 PM tonight. Here is a LINK to reports about it. Notice the LARGE homes and the damage to them. Some of the homes in that area are old and have been there decades, others not. They are two-story homes and it takes a pretty good tornado to do that kind of damage. I send my prayers to them all.      Hope you all have a wonderful and

AWARD TIME

 I AM SO PROUD TO POST THIS AWARD FROM MY “SISTER” BETH MARIE IN ILLINOIS…
WE ALL HAVE COME A LONG WAY SINCE THE WINDOWS SPACES BLOG DAYS… SO HAPPY WE ALL HAVE STAYED TOGETHER THESE 7 YEARS.   LOVE YA SIS!!

Thanks also to it’s creator! 

SPRING SPRUNG

I'm not ready to open windows yet but.....

Last night the weatherman said.."I don't think there will be any more cold nights like the ones we have, had the rest of this winter."  WHAT!!  Then I guess that old groundhog was WRONG then wasn't he. Six weeks has not passed and our snow is all gone again and we are going to see Spring like temperatures for at least a week. They have pretty sophisticated equipment nowdays and make a lot of predictions and sometimes they are really wrong. I 'm watching, and to me I think he might be right. The trees cannot help but start budding when we have had such a mild winter but birds and animals they somehow know way before we do. I have not seen the nest building yet, but the squirrels here are acting like winter is over. I have seen several flocks of geese flying overhead moving northward. I am looking for the robins here and haven't seen them yet, but expect to any day now. Thinking about those people who lost so much in the tornadoes this past week.  I hope that they can recover as much as possible and the weather will help them be able to clean up and try to get some of their lives back together. It will take a long time. Losing everything is very hard.         

SPRING... the time goes FORWARD an HOUR this coming SUNDAY so remember to set your clocks then...

POSTS here will be more scattered soon due to loss of Wifi connection.

Will try to keep going here the best I can. Hope you all have a great SPRING.

NASCAR CHURCH

I ran across this article at CNN about how Nascar drivers have church service before each race. True, each time they get into a car they put their lives on the line for a sport. It is a dangerous sport. Football is dangerous to some players, baseball not so much.Baseball players are on the road a whole lot more than either. Traveling all over the country. Their lives are lived in planes and hotels for months. They don't take their families with them as a rule. Nascar drivers live in motorhomes at each track,but fly from each place to place mostly. You see their families with them at each race a lot of the time.  
 It's not mandatory that drivers,family and crews show up at church services. It's by choice. They know what they do every Sunday is serious and life threatening. Last week, during the Daytona 500 their "superbowl" race, a fluke happened. A driver, alone on the track, lost control and hit a large dryer/blower type vehicle. The vehicle had 200 gallons of fuel on board.  A miracle both drivers lived to tell the tale. Had me wondering if both men had went to that Nascar Church service that morning?

"It is often the only quiet moment these families get during days at the track.
The chapel services are run by the Motor Racing Outreach, founded in 1988 by legendary NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip and his wife, Stevie, and a handful of other drivers.
There were chapel services for drivers before Motor Racing Outreach, but they weren’t formally organized. Most times, there wasn’t even a minister present."

Photo courtesy of CNN


At the start of each Nascar race a chaplin gives a blessing over the race and the crews and all those who are attending. I think that is pretty special to set the tone for each race. When lives are on the line, they know who really is in charge. HERE is a link to the article in case you might be interested.

HEARTBREAKING....

The NEWS of terrible destruction and loss of life is just heartbreaking to hear. It is not  offically tornado season yet and such horrible loss is coming from terrible storms. We have had a mild winter so far..temps in the 50's sometimes here in Michigan and that is very unusal for February and March. I think this might mean that March could be very scary for a whole lot of the nation if the same pattern continues. 
 I send all those my prayers who lives have been touched and changed forever due to these horrible tornadoes.

NEWS of the death of Davy Jones of a massive heart attack at 66 really was shocking. I was a big fan of the MONKEES growing up. Immediately my heart sank and all I could hear in my mind was the lyrics of their songs.. Daydream Believer..Last Train to Clarksville and a little known song.. maybe you heard of it.. I think it is such a nice tune and sung only by Davy.. Give it a listen...

MEME RANT

PSSSTTT ..yeah it's me... trying to sneek in here on this flat thing.

   I gots some things to say bout this new female at my home. She is constantly ignoring me for this black thingy and seems very busy when I want to play with her. This makes me slightly UPSET..

So I decided to why not JOIN in and see what this whole thing is about. You seem to be able to make it move around by touching the black things so I am giving it a try.

Oh I do love the little humming it makes..gotta say it is NOT very tasty though. Yecch!

This new lady scares me sometimes I tell ya..she runs that big thing that sucks up dirt a lot and makes me run and hide. I hate that thing. I cannot even escape to my safe place because she is right there bugging me.  I just give her the ole evil eye and she backs away though. I know she stays away from me and this I cannot figure out because I am so loveable.

I think I am trainin' her, yesterday she gave me some of her tuna and I was  thrilled. Maybe I will win her over after all. Time for my napps..I do a lot of that cause I am still a growing girl.

A LESSON LEARNED

I make copies of everything and I try to back up things best I can on the computer when I remember. I learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago with my first computer "Rupert". A friend told me."back-up... back-up everything, it's your best friend..save everything you can."  When Rupert decided he was on his last legs..in went the discs and copying began. I also decided, at that time, that I would have all my writings in several different places so that there would always be a back up of sorts. Spaces had a back up at Blogspot. Blogspot had a back up at something called "Authornation".
So much for that idea. For a long time now the site "Authornation" has been shut
down and all my posts there lost to me. Makes me start thinking that maybe even multiple backing up things isn't really safe.  You can use  those thumb drive, memory sticks, but if your computer is no longer working or there is NO POWER they are useless. Nothing is ever safe, unless you
have that printed copy in your possession. Now that means paper and ink and lots of storage space. The cycle goes round and round. To copy or not to copy that is the question! I guess that is my lesson learned. Some blogging family have lots of interesting photos and materials in their blogs..what if all that went POOF? I tell you I would be one very upset person for sure. I was very happy when SPACES allowed us to put all the entire posts we had at Wordpress. It took some time but even my comments from years ago are there now,including my guestbook. Someday when I get rich, I will get one of those books where you can print out all your blog posts. Now that would be so neat to have that in print as a back up. Do you copy things or back up things on your computer all the time?? How often? I guess one just has to get in the habit of doing it. I am a slacker so guess I better get busy. 
  

Not much to report from here..at least the temperatures are not in the below zero category this winter so far. I am happy for that. I have shoveled only 2 times and that is just amazing for winter in Michigan. Today will be near 40..YES 40!! Very happy camper here..not picnic weather, but certainly good walking and shopping. 
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

TO ONE AND ALL...

WHITNEY HOUSTON..

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU… my favorite song she ever sang..I must have watched BODYGUARD over 25 times in all these years. I own the movie and the CD and loved all the songs.I was stunned to hear the news of her passing tonight. A real talent that will be so missed. When this nation suffered so after 9-11 she sang the national anthem. It gave me chills and was one of the best versions I have ever heard.



Rest in peace…Another angelic voice for God’s choir in heaven.

ATTENTION CUSTOMERS...

Have you ever been in a big store and heard that call coming over the PA system?
I imagine you have on occasion.  Most times it is a lost child or a car in trouble in the parking lot. Today we heard what you really don't want to hear.
A male voice calmly speaking over the speaker.."Ladies and Gentlemen..we have a situation that is out of our control and we are asking that you calmly leave your carts and come to the front of the store as soon as possible, we are evacuating the store."

Some people never really heard what he said, some people just ignored it completely. Some people had no urge to leave the store at all. Some were told by employees to leave everything and go. Some who were checking out their items were told to leave the purchases and walk out. Told they could come back later. As I walked to the front of the store..I grabbed my camera out of my purse. Odd pictures started coming one after the other. Carts sitting everywhere in the store full of items and no people. It was so strange. There was no panic really, but

when you hear something like that all sorts of things run through your mind. When 9-11 occurred it changed the way everyone thinks about things. A very busy store at the first Saturday of the month and the day before the Superbowl game. The store was jammed with people. The parking lot was filled quickly and many people just up and left completely. We started asking employees if we should walk away from the building farther. I wasted NO TIME, I went to my car which was parked quite a distance from the front of the building.

We saw police cars, but no fire trucks. I knew it was probably NOT a bomb threat. Employees streamed out of the building one after another as they finished "sweeping" the aisles for stragglers. One woman said she had been shopping almost 2 hours and had a large cart full. "I still want my stuff..I will wait." Some employees were busy on their cell phones asking others what was going on. Sis stayed behind and asked how long this whole thing was going to take. She was told "at least an hour". A Gas company truck arrived and then we knew.. some switch or alarm had went off and they had to worry about a gas leak. Several men went inside with police and they started their search.

There was quite a traffic jam in front of the store with people and cars all trying to leave at the same time. I was so happy to see everyone being calm and very courteous to one other. We were lucky..it took only half an hour to check out the store. The weather co-operated and we had a nice clear day to stand outside and wait. When we walked back inside the store we immediately went to where we left our carts. Some employees were already rounding carts up and putting them to the front of the store.

I did not envy their long task of sorting all the items and re-stocking the shelves later on. One employee said that they do drill for things like this but it was the first time they had "really" had to do an evacuation. I hate to think of all the money the store lost in that thirty minute time frame. Thousands of dollars, I imagine, as many people left the premises and did not return. Our short visit to the store lasted way over two hours. It was educational in a way. When a person makes an announcement over the PA from now on, I will be listening even more careful than before. You just never know what will happen next.

DEALING

OH I've been dealing with allergies and how to NOT sneeze, not blow and not wheeze because of this here critter.. her name is MEME..at least that is what the Vet report said when she got (fixed) this past summer.

This is my sister's cat, I am temporarily staying with her for awhile.

I always thought the name was spelled MiMi. No matter the spelling she comes when called.

 I found out that some of the newer medicines and pills on the market are NOT for me.

So I am back to taking the old fashion Benedryl only in liquid form so I can manage thedosage. Having asthma all my life, I pretty much stay away from what things I am allergic to and trigger attacks. Right now I don't have that luxury, so I am dealing with new territory here. Some days are pretty good and others I am pretty fuzzy. Sis Carole is right though, when taking a close up picture of a cat or dog it is a very tricky thing..(eyes-wise) especially if you don't have the fancy lenses etc. They have no idea what is going on except.."LET'S PLAY!"

This cat is about a year old so it is still in the exploring stage and loves to run through the house and search out things. She will be a very good watchful kitty for those critters that might find themselves in her path. I have been, and always will be a DOG person. It's just me..the way I am, so dealing with MEME has been a real challenge.
I am taking it one day at a time and working around it. Who knows, maybe I will get used to her..or... maybe not.. We will see...
Until later..hope this finds you all staying well and warm this winter season.

TAKING A BREAK..

I will be taking a break from blogging, as I am feeling somewhat under the weather and will be back soon. Until then.., stay warm and  take care of yourselves. Blessings to you all.

CHANGES

There are a lot of changes going on right now, both for me and for the blogs and at Facebook. Some I would rather do without since change is not my favorite thing.
Starting a new year I decided I was done trying to manuever the blog theme and jump in with everyone else on some custom backgrounds. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. So I changed and I like it so far. Blogger is so much easier than Wordpress to change. I think those in power should really think about making things better for us bloggers.. since it seems that a whole of people have jumped over to Facebook and maybe the art of blogging is dwindling now. Facebook has new changes too, some like it a lot, others not so much. I managed to re arrange things on my page to suit me. I still have a long way to go to be at ease with it though. I  remember awhile back when Windows Live Spaces thought it was nice to keep constantly upgrading and changing things and that led to  their total disruption. People can only take so much and then they are DONE.

Other changes are that I am on the move again soon. I mentioned before that I had moved farther north in Michigan looking for work.  Applying everywhere I could and waiting. Looking and asking and searching. Hours and hours and days and days and nothing so far. How could this be? How can it be? I really have no answers. It's exhausting and very frustrating. So... now I am going back south again. Yes, packing up again, only this time taking very little, donating and getting rid of as much as I can.
It's a roller coaster that is for sure. I will be leaving the north soon and headed to the unknown again. I will miss this place and these wonderful times and views but have them close at hand to look at and remember.

 If posts here become very scarce you will know I am busy trying to get things settled and move on. The library will once again be my connection to the outside world. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have that wonderful place to help me get by. Support your public and district libraries if you can, they really are important.
2012 just has to be better..it just has to be.