Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
Happy New Year

Thursday, July 31, 2008

DO WE FORGET WHO WE ARE?

About Me: I avoid the news. I have turned off my political upheaval. My days of political activisim are supposed to be over. My hands have been thrown up in surrender and I try to be the best wife, mom, grandma, sibling and chicken farmer that I can be. (That's what I say on my blog profile anyway.)

Lately I have forgotten that I have "turned off my political upheaval". With a Presidential election on our doorsteps, it is difficult to avoid the news.

I hear things that make me want to disclose an opposite opinion. I begin my research and find tons of facts to prove my point, as well as facts to prove the opposition's point so I know what their response will be to my facts. Realization occurs that for every point there is a counterpoint. We cannot argue without being exposed to another argument that also makes sense. Are you following me? Whew! Good for you.

Hello spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings and chickens. I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A PROUD TPOF

My political registration doesn't mean a whole lot. I like to think of myself as a TPOF (Tolerant Patriot of Faith). To many, the word "tolerant" means I am a Democrat and the words "patriot" and "faith" mean I am a Republican.

To me "tolerant" means you are entitled to your beliefs and I am entitled to mine (a/k/a agree to disagree) as long as yours don't include causing me or my family bodily harm or try to impede my beliefs.

To me a "patriot" is a peace monger and not a warmonger. I believe our military and our law enforcement personnel keep us from becoming intolerant and truly draw the line at mayhem. They are a proven force from the inception of our freedom.

To me "faith" is very personal as is "goodness" and we are called to serve this world in a manner that fills us spiritually. Religion or non-religion may call us to do harm to others, but faith and/or goodness would never make such demands.

TPOF very simply defined is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Could it really be that easy?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL

The caller ID read "The Academy of Motion Pictures......." and I knew it was Jessi. "I'm okay." she announced. "Huh?" I responded. She went on to disclose that they had an earthquake in Los Angles but all was well. She is a good goddaughter, calling me right away before I even heard about the quake. She knew I would be trying to call as soon as I heard and I have this tendency to panic when any danger occurs around my chicks.

She has felt some tremors before but this was a biggie and people were evacuating the buildings. Her first reaction was that a truck was rumbling through the building until she remembered she in on the fourth floor.

I tried to use this as a reason to entice her back to the Heartland but she still seems to prefer earthquakes to Oklahoma tornadoes.

IF THE AGEISM SHOE FITS

Here is an astounding comment stumbled across in recent blog reading session:

"Although 71 isn't THAT old, it is too old to be President, at 71 almost 70% of people who die have colon cancer, at 71 almost everyone has signs of dementia.... he (McCain) has one foot in the grave." Mike, Philadelphia

I would have to ask Mike from Philadelphia if he is not aware that from the moment we are born, we all have "one foot in the grave"?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ageism is stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age.[1] The term was coined in 1969 by US gerontologist Robert N. Butler to describe discrimination against seniors and patterned on sexism and racism.[2]

Butler defined ageism as a combination of three connected elements.

These were:

prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age and the ageing process

discriminatory practices against older people

institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about older people.[3]

The term has also been used to describe discrimination against teens and children, by ignoring their ideas because they're young or by assuming that they should behave a certain way because of their age.

Ageism is sometimes completely in the open. People use offensive language about older people when equivalent descriptions of minority ethnic groups or disabled people are socially unacceptable.

If Barrak Obama loses the Presidential election, people will cry racisim. If John McCain loses the Presidential election, who will cry ageism? Discrimination digs deep on any person discriminated against. Who established one form of discrimination to be nicer than another?

Monday, July 28, 2008

SAD SLIM

This is Slim after we broke the news to her that her canine cousins would not be visiting tomorrow as planned. Here is the story of the dog dilemma.

My brother and sil were taking a two part trip. They were going to visit their son and spend the night in Tulsa, then come here tomorrow to visit us. They go everywhere with their dogs Levi and Leka, two long haired Chihuahuas.

Brother and sil arrived at their son's home this afternoon as planned and took the little doggie crate out of the car to allow the pups an outside break. Here's the problem. There was only one dog in the crate. They had left Levi at home.

Needless to say our half of their trip was put on hold for another time. They went back home to see how Levi fared in his first ever "home alone" adventure. Meanwhile, Leka was shaking all day as she tried to adjust to her first separation in her 7 years of life without her brother.

Now just wish we could cheer Slim up. Actually we look as sad as she does.



THE BLONDE IN THE CASINO

An attractive blonde from Dublin arrived and bet twenty-thousand pounds on a single roll of the dice. She said, 'I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm completely nude'.

With that, she stripped from the neck down, rolled the dice and Yelled, 'Come on, baby, Mama needs new clothes!'

As the dice came to a stop, she jumped up and down and squealed... 'YES! YES! I WON, I WON!' She hugged each of the dealers and then picked up her winnings and her clothes and quickly departed.

The dealers stared at each other dumbfounded. Finally, one of them asked, 'What did she roll?' The other answered, 'I don't know - I thought you were watching.'

MORAL OF THE STORY - Not all Irish are stupid and not all Blondes are Dumb, ...............
But all Men are Men.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

OUT OF THE BOX


Today the Guinea Fowl keets (The Frankies) are out of the box completely under their adoptive mother's care.

Aren't they just the cutest little things?


Here is what they will be when they grow up. I've been told they are a reverse of the Ugly Duckling. I happen to think Guinea Fowl are pretty.
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Friday, July 25, 2008

5 FIVE five CINCO cinco 5 - 1-2-3-4-5!!!!

Reporting in. I'm on my exercise bike up to 30 minutes a day now and I have lost 5 pounds.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

ZEALOTS FOR SANITY

Which United States zealots do you fear the most? Do you fear religious zealots, racial zealots, gender zealots, immigration zealots, environmental zealots, political zealots, anti-war zealots, war zealots, couch potato zealots, other zealots?

Which foaming-at-the-mouth zealots would you least like to see approach your front door in a pack?

Why does our constitution allow all these nuts to multiply?

It finally dawned on me why this is the best system. Having so many factions for all the zealots to be attracted to keeps any one group of zealots from becoming too large. We are so adamant in our fanaticism that we cannot easily cross the aisle to another faction, thus keeping all our groups manageable.

Our military and law enforcement stand between our zealously and another’s and protects our rights to be zealous if push ever comes to shove.

Pray that when one group does prevail, it is the group of tolerance.


(Where did this post come from? What the heck did I dream last night?)

Monday, July 21, 2008

WHERE THE DEER AND THE CANTALOUPE PLAY


We do see lots of deer but this is just a photo of the cantaloupe in our garden. This one will soon be ready for pickin' and eatin'. Antelope you say? Oh well..........
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Sunday, July 20, 2008

READY FOR REST

The weekend turned out to be exceptionally nice. It was Hope's spoiling weekend, and when her uncle and cousins turned up, it only made it better for her. I did manage to spend a lot of time just with Hope plus spending a fortune on her for the day and half she was here alone. It actually saved me for my son and more grandchildren to arrive.

My daughter called me tonight to report that they were home safe but Hope was already in trouble with her dad. Hope was having trouble following the dinner table rules tonight and her father asked her if she needed to be retrained after her visit to Grannies house. She responded by saying "Granny spoiled me" then she paused for a minute and added " maybe you should spoil me too".

BUT WE CAME TO SEE GRANNY!


Grandpa puts son and grandson to work. It was only 94 degrees in the shade.
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POTATOES IN A TIRE


Hope and her cousin Beth harvest part of the potato crop.
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Saturday, July 19, 2008

YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE

HERS/HIS DIARY ENTRIES

HER DIARY

Tonight I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. My heart just sank. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched T.V. He seemed distant and absent.Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress and we made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.

HIS DIARY

I shot the worst round of golf in my life today, but at least I got laid.

LET THE SPOILING BEGIN

LOVING THAT SPOILING
EXHAUSTED FROM THE SPOILING


Our granddaughter Hope (age 6) is visiting. This is the first time she has stayed here without her brother or cousins or other relatives.

Hope told her mother's friends, "I'm going to Granny Annie's and she is going to spoil me rotten."

As soon as her mom left yesterday, I announced, "Let the spoling begin."

Hope grinned and kept grinning all day until she fell exhausted into the bed last night. Granny Annie was grinning too.

Friday, July 18, 2008

SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!

I'm talking to myself. Do you ever have days that you simply should get to work and stay away from your --

Delete -- delete -- delete

Now, here I am ranting on my own blog and not even taking my own advice to SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP.

Bye-bye. Hopefully I can return to blog world after the weekend and be a sane human again.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

ANOTHER PICTURE FOR PROJECT BLACK


This is Caesar. He is our youngest rooster and is multicolored but appears solid black. He is very hard to catch a picture of because he rarely stands still. If he survives all the predators around here, I believe he is going to be the most beautiful rooster we have owned. His mother is Tiger Lily.

POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES

We make comments on other posts that sometime need to be our own blog post. I said the following yesterday on TGB blog and decided I should share my opinion here as a post. I am truly convinced The New Yorker did not (and never does) go to press without weighing the potential consequences of their total content. They were interested in free publicity and increased readership.

It is simply called "marketing". Do you honestly believe The New Yorker ran this willy-nilly? No, they sat at their conference room table and weighed the public outcry this would bring and they figured the exact amount of readership they would lose and how much they would gain and went with the best odds. As (another) stated, not many people read this magazine. I live in the Heartland and don't even know where I would get a copy of The New Yorker Magazine. (Picture me on the porch in a rockin' chair with a corncob pipe hanging out of my mouth.) If the story hadn't hit the media, I would never have known what they had on the cover. It was planned, I tell you, P-L-A-N-N-E-D and we are playing right into their hands.

Monday, July 14, 2008

BLOG WORLD AWAKENS

Monday offers a new beginning. Bloggers seem to truly be inspired and the week takes off on its own journey.

Lucy got my head spinning this morning with her post of a non-published (should-have-been-published) letter to the editor. Read it and see what you think.

Item of interest. I wear headphones and listen to audio book tapes when I do housework or exercise. It is amazing what energy I have and how much I can accompish when listening to a story or music.

And, yes I am still exercising. I have added some meal changes and am trying to cut back on what I eat, and certainly on how I eat -- meaning I'm chewing my food better after my choking incident.

Devotional theme for the week: HOLY REVELATIONS
"People often travel daily via the escape route or move through the geography of life focused on a place named Promise." Cynthia Langston Kirk



Sunday, July 13, 2008

DAILY ENCOUNTERS FOR PROJECT BLACK

BLOOD PRESSURE KIT
FRAME FOR BARK PAPER PICTURE JESSI SENT ME FROM MEXICO
RON'S PRIZED NAVY CLOCK
MY DAD'S BIBLE FOR DAILY DEVOTIONAL.

Here are my contributions for Project Black and outlined by Anna and directed by Kenju. These are sentimental encounters as opposed to artistic photographs.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

MY PLIERS


These are my pliers. Ron bought them just for me and I put my name on them. It seems I need pliers around here more than anyone else. If you see these pliers, return them to ME immediately and no questions will be asked.
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CUTE IS CUTE



My Australorp hen hatched these Guinea Fowl chicks. Isn't it amazing that Guinea chicks are so cute and grow up to be such wierd looking creatures? We are hopeful this hen will be a good, protective mama until the chicks are big enough to take on the world. Hatched on the 10th, they are named for my cousin Frank. These are the Frankies.
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Thursday, July 10, 2008

TO SHARE OR NOT TO SHARE THAT IS THE QUESTION

My mother told me never to put anything in writing that I did not want to share with the world. That is good advice to pass to my grandchildren and I will add this about how we talk. "And always live your life as if the microphone is on."

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

DID THIS EVER HAPPEN TO YOU?

It happened to Mama Cass and she died. It happened to President Dubya Bush and he was made a laughing stock. It happened to me yesterday and no one was laughing. I choked on a piece of fish in the restaurant and the next thing I knew people were standing around my lifeless body and my poor spouse was trying to figure out how he was going to get me off the floor to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

It was amazing how quickly all this happened. First I started to cough and that is my memory of the incident. Ron takes it from there. The next step was for him to watch me stop breathing and pass out. Thankfully my airway was cleared perhaps by the fall and I opened my eyes to what seemed a million eyes staring back at me. My husband's anxious eyes and lots of waiters and waitresses confused eyes. Everyone was holding a glass of ice water for me.

The restaurant was Red Lobster and I had told Ron earlier, when I was still enjoying the delicious meal, that when I died I hoped I would be at Red Lobster. Talk about "be careful what you wish for".

That was a happy ending to an almost tragic moment and I feel truly blessed.

Another more humorous embarrassing moment of mine is on The Elder Storytelling Place today.

Monday, July 07, 2008

HUZZAH! and whew......

RON LECTURE 12:30
SON AND GRANDCHILDREN MISS LECTURE. DARN! LOL
GRANNY ANNIE PRETENDING TO BE COOL.


What a FOURTH OF JULY! We had it all. Family visiting, grand kids shooting off fireworks, huge fireworks displays, picnic, swimming, blackberry picking (yielding my yummy blackberry cobbler) mosquitoes, flies, lots of naps, movie watching, Slim hiding, Ron tractoring.

Grandson Dillon introduced us to Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Funny, funny!

We watched movie HEARTS IN ATLANTIS with Anthony Hopkins written by Stephen King. Excellent.

Well, I guess we really didn't "have it all" because all of our family wasn't present but we were grateful to have my son and his kiddos here and we had everyone else here in spirit.

This week's devotional theme is: Fishing, Waiting and Praising

Thursday, July 03, 2008

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY


Special thanks to our Nation's dedicated Military volunteers who devote their lives to protect lives and guard our freedom.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

NICE OR EFFICIENT OR BOTH

Do you want help from a nice person, an efficient person or a person who is both nice and efficient?

Our local medical lab used to zip us through at almost breakneck speed. Some insurance rules changed and slowed things down a bit but we did not mind. However, as the receptionist became accustomed to blaming the slowdown on the government rules, she started taking advantage.

She gets very chatty with people she knows. She asks about kids and grandkids as she checks people in. It is nice that she takes an interest but it is at the expense of others waiting to get out the door and not spend the day listening to her tales of her ten month old child.

This morning this receptionist arrived after 8:00. The doors were open and five of us were waiting, but by her arriving late, she had to get settled and fix the answering machine and turn the computer on, etc., so it was after 8:15 before she started signing us in. By this time the number waiting had doubled.

One of the lab techs was also late and wandered in carrying her breakfast. We had to wonder if she was going to eat before she started taking our blood.

It was 8:35 am when Ron came looking for me. I loudly explained all the delays. Finally it was my turn.

The lab tech very cheerily asked me how I was. My response: "Tired. Tired of waiting."

Tech: "Oh it's like this every morning because people are fasting and everyone arrives early so we get behind." (Notice how this long wait is suddenly my fault?)

Me: "You would not get behind if the staff arrived on time. I would have been out of here 15 minutes ago if you had been set up at 8:00."

She then politely informed me that they also had a lab facility across the street.

PAY ATTENTION

SOCIALISM: (n) any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. TRANSLATION: You will work hard to earn what you deserve and government will take it away from you and give it to someone who doesn't.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

CAUGHT CHA


This is Fit. He is about a year old and this is the first picture I've managed to catch. He hides and does not like me very much. His sister is about as bad. Her name is Hissy.

FRIENDSHIP

Slim and Simone stand guard together.