The Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan...Thought Provoking

When all the wrangling for position and corruption of politicians and all the day to day irritations and every now and then when it seems that life in general is just pulling me down... I watch and listen to this. And realize how eternal and circular are the loves, laughs, tears and majesties of this world. And that the best we can do is be kind to ourselves...and to each other.

Comment Freaks

I'm sure I am not the only one who is incensed with some idiot using comments on my posts as a way to advertise. The one on my previous post is particularly annoying because I can find no way in the blogger layout to delete it. If anyone out there in cyberspace knows how to delete this from blogger posts, I would be most appreciative to learn how.....

HOT!... and Vacation Pics

It's so hot this week that staying inside is the only reasonable choice (if you have one). It's supposed to be 104°F today and was at least that yesterday. Wichita Falls is expecting 107°...as is Yuma, AZ. How did anyone survive before air conditioning? We have turned our hot tub down to 83° .. which holds it around 92° and sure makes for a nice cooling off dunk in the afternoon. I think this heat is worse than the heat in Arizona... the humidity is so heavy. So... who was that was complaining about so much rain...??? ;o)



I took this picture on our way home from Phoenix while we were on vacation. I love these cactus "trees". They are the most amazing looking conglomerations of vegetation that I can imagine. And they were everywhere. Reminds me of a sci-fi otherworld-scape.


The really good thing about the entire trip was that after we reached Pecos, TX there were no itchy eyes, runny noses or clogged sinuses. It seemed that my (and DH's) allergies just disappeared.

If you ever get a chance to go to Pecos, TX...go. The museum there is huge and extremely well done for such a small town. This bar is the original one from the saloon and is in the original building with the original tables and chairs . The mannequin behind the bar is a recreation of the bartender that worked that bar ... he moves wiping the bar and talking about the history of this building. It's great. There are 50 rooms filled with history in this building and the adjoining one next door.






There is one room filled with nothing but memorabilia about Judge Roy Bean. If you have never heard of him, he was called "The Hangin' Judge" and named his little piece of the West "Langtry" because he was obsessively enamored with the world renowned actress Lily Langtry.


















These Indian grindstones fascinated me. Can you imagine how many generations it would take to grind down the one on the left and in the middle?








There is much more in the museum... I have many, many pictures but enough already..lol





It was terribly hot that day and after we toured the museum we just went back to the room and slouched for the rest of the day. Ventured out again around 6pm to find some supper.

This Best Western was new and did we ever love this room.....

Nielsen Ratings...Our Turn

Have you ever wondered how "Nielsen" gets his ratings for the television shows? I have. Now I know. We had a call just before we left for vacation asking if we would like to participate in the Neilsen ratings for last week.

DH was not interested, but I was... if for no other reason than to see how it worked. I told them that we have absolutely no use for regular television... that we hate all the useless "reality" shows that are so scripted it reminds us of the 1950s wrestling matches.... and who in their right mind is "entertained" by watching people scream and yell at each other... ughhh They said that was ok... they wanted us to do it anyway...so I did.

There is a chart for every television in the house...even if they are never turned on. All you do is fill out the channel name and number for each show that you watch for a week. Easy peasy. List the channels you have available to watch and enter any shows that you have saved on a DVR and when you watched them. Really nothing to it. Then there is a place in the back where you fill out what you really think of television in general. Boy! Did that one get filled in quick...lol

Mine are to be put into the mail today. Two of them with nothing but our names in them. They were never turned on.

And now...the next time anyone talks about "so and so" got the top Nielsen Rating, I'll know how they got it... and so will you... lol

Charles Ward

Charles Ward married my mom over 30 years ago. He has been a staple in our lives for a long time. He watched my children grow, my sisters' and brothers' children grow and now all of their children grow. He worked every day. He loved to grow things.. had a lovely lawn and pecan trees everywhere on their small yard and grew a yearly garden. Fishing and boating were "his thing" and he made sure everyone got to go if they wanted to go. He was "Mr. Fix-it".

Charlie loved his two daughters Lindy and Cindy. They never had anything to do with him after the divorce of their parents, but that never stopped Charlie from telling anyone who would listen that his Lindy was the greatest basketball player on the team. He talked unceasingly about them.

He died of leukemia on July 3rd. He was 83 years old. He is missed.

Hiding My Head In The Sand... Mariella's Mitten Tutorial

We got home Saturday... tired and happy. Got to see that lovely little granddaughter and got some great pictures, but... alas... my pc crashed last night so I cannot post them until my pc is fixed. That shouldn't take but a couple of days (we hope) .... In the mean time, I guess I can post using my sweet DH's pc...but he has NO pictures on his... so this is one I had in Flickr.. It seems to fit my mood... ;o)

I just popped over to Knitting Nonni and she is doing a tutorial for those great mittens with the thumb in a comfortable place... imagine that... a comfortable thumb placement.. amazing. This will be one that I will have to do... Thanks, Mariella, for taking the time and trouble to post this tute....

In Benson, AZ

Hi everyone... Posts will either be short and sweet or non-existant for a week or so. We are...guess where... today! This weekend we will be seeing our new granddaughter for the first time, so will have lots of photos when we return.. Today is a tour of Tombstone, AZ and the pit mine in Bisbee..

Will blog again at next computer stop...lol

Have a safe and happy week...

Lightening, Recall and Dishcloths

We were doing up the dishes from supper last night when we heard a popping noise and then very loud thunder... This has just been the year for it... It knocked my computer offline, but not his and we never found anything else besides the fact that the garage light was on. All this and we only had a 30% chance of rain yesterday... ;o)

The water once again was almost inside the front door, so we looked a lot closer and realized that when we had the flowerbeds put in this last year the edging was placed just about 1/2 inch higher than the front porch. The water no longer could drain off the porch... so now we have had standing water almost inside the house this year every time it rains more than 1/2 inch. DH pulled the edging up a bit and the water immediately started draining off the porch... That's what we need.. !!! Another fix-it!!! ;o)

We got a notice in the mail last week that the new Chevy Colorado pickup DH bought earlier this year has a recall on it already. Some computer module. When he called the dealer it seems that they did not have any of that part in stock, so we had to wait until today to take it in for repair.

When GM announced that they were closing so many of their dealerships we kept our fingers crossed until we got word that ours was not one of them... phew!

I just cannot keep my hands off the knitting needles... sigh It's an addiction... I wish someone had warned me...lol I seem to have become really "into" knitted wash cloths, dish rags, dish towels... whatever you want to call them. I love the way the cotton knits up and how it feels and drapes. I may have to knit me a cotton sweater or vest or something... I think I've become "titched"... as the hillbillies say...lol ( "a little touched in the head..." )

Happy Flowers Quilt

I was wandering through my fabric stash the other for something or another and came across...voila... a baby crib quilt piece of fabric that has to have been there for at least 5 years... Since it is pink and green...girl's colors... I guess I thought I would never have a need for it. But now there's Hannah..!! :o) Well, it is now in the process of being quilted... This will be much quicker than the last one. I will not be doing any embroidery on this one.


And... guess what... when I was in JoAnn's the other day... lo and behold...what did I find...and on sale, no less...for 99 cents... but the impossible to find in this town or any nearby town... a quilting foot! I have looked everywhere...asked everywhere. No one has one and everyone wanted to send me to Wal Mart to find one.. I had already looked there and they didn't have one. It will get it's first tryout on this quilt.. ;o)


The sun is shining today and the temps will rise this afternoon into the low 90s. I haven't looked at the weather, but I'm sure hoping for at least a week respite from the rain. Of course, along about August everyone will be praying for rain..lol.. can't be pleased....


Have a really good day...

International Clothesline Week

The week beginning the first Saturday in June has been designated International Clothesline Week...

How to Use a Clothesline .. this article in Wiki How was my introduction to this international observance. Having used clotheslines for much of my life, my first inclination was to snicker and wonder who in the world would think to write such an article. And then... after a minute or so... I realized that what today's generation is born with is their normal... clothes are dried in a clothes dryer. I'm sure that many today have never seen clotheslines. Many home owner's associations and apartment complexes don't even allow clotheslines to be put in place.

I love to feel all fresh from a hot shower or lingering bath and slip into my bed to sniff the fresh smell of air and sunshine and feel the crispness that only the gentle stirring of the breeze can give to linens... Anyway... I am truly glad that some of the things that were done a couple of generations ago are making their way back. I firmly believe that not all things are progress...
she says as she throws her clothes in the dryer because it is raining outside...
Oh well... maybe some things are progress... for rainy days, anyway.