ARMED DELIVERY

Our neighbor's granddaughter delivered fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to us through the field. She carried the pellet rifle in case of snakes. I'm guessing she must fancy herself to pretty good shot to think she might be able to shoot a snake. Yikes!

SHAPE SHIFTING

Looking out my kitchen window, I saw an angel in the clouds. By the time I got outside with my camera it had shape-shifted into a giant chicken.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK 7-18-11

What is your earliest memory of developing a love of reading and writing?

I have been moved by words since my early childhood when influenced by A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES by Robert Louis Stevenson.

(Reading a spectacular book makes me envy the writers who came up with such amazing thoughts and words. Reading so many of your blog posts makes me feel the same.)

SERIOUSLY?

Here is a heart breaking commercial we see on television constantly about saving the needy children of Africa.

So is this the commercial they show in Africa about saving the needy children of America?

SERIOUSLY?

Aren't we going a bit far? We leave battered, abused and starving children in the home with bad parents but we want to take them away if they are eating too much. Get a grip America, we're going way too far with this supposed concern. It is just another social issue clouding the matters of more immediate concern in the United States.

ARE YOU KIDDING?

July, 2005 Oklahoma voted in a tremendous reward for 100% disabled military veterans living in the state. It was a thoughtful gift from Oklahoma voters and a great incentive for us to leave our Kansas home and make Oklahoma our primary residence.

One of the many rewards in that law is for an exemption to Oklahoma state sales tax. Most merchants in the state understand the law and seem to happily participate even though it does require a little bit of paperwork on their part. Often they will not only go through the requirements to make our purchases void of sales tax, but they will also take the opportunity to thank Ron for his service.

However some merchants and their employees simply see the procedures as a pain in their ...elbows and will make comments like, "Oh you're one of those" or "you should have told us that first" or let's see your card" or "the manager is out and I don't know how to run this" (which can subject the merchant to a $500 penalty if they do not comply but we have never filed a protest...yet).

The other day I got one of those disgusted employees who glared at me when I told him we were exempt and he asked in disgust "One of those welfare exemptions?" and I said "Are you kidding? Can't you tell we're not dressed well enough to be on welfare?"

Equating honorable military service that ended in a veteran's lifetime disability with a welfare program is just a tad bit frustrating.

GOOD PASSENGER

Slim is very serious about her rides in the van.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK 7-11-11

Are you superstitious?
(Are there differences between practices of superstition and religious practices?)






For instance did you know why: It's bad luck to walk under a ladder. This came from the early Christian belief that a leaning ladder formed a triangle with the wall and ground. You must never violate the Holy Trinity by walking through a triangle, lest you be considered in league with the devil. (And you all know what good Christians did to people they suspected of being in league with the devil.)

LATEST PORTRAIT PARTY SUBMISSION

I am finally getting back to the Julie Kay Portrait Party on Flickr. This is a recent submission that I am most proud of, especially the jacket.

ARE YOU A MATERIAL GIRL/BOY?

A friend on Facebook (Misty, one of those former bloggers that we all miss) is trying to figure out what to tell her family she wants for her upcoming birthday. I understand her dilemma. I am not and never have been a "material girl" and was once criticized for not craving diamonds or gold or other items of intrinsic value.

It seems my wishes are always for things like peace, joy and happiness. Now I am attempting honestly to put together a wish list that I could give someone who wanted to give me something.

Audio books on CD
Movie DVDs
Music CDs
Sketch pads and/or markers
Vintage books (poetry primarily)
House of Stuart Scotch
7 new strong goat collars
Cute hats (for me not the goats).
Auction, garage sale or yard sale booty.

Basically clever items for very little money. The less spent on me the happier I am. Some of my best gifts have come from the dollar store.

Well that list could go on but I'm surprised I came up with these "wants" so quickly. Maybe I am a material girl. What would be on your list? Oops, did I just waste what could have been a good Question Of The Week?




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WHO WAS FORGOTTEN?

It seems that someone was forgotten in this most recent spectacular trial. The media won.

"Jury: Twelve people who decide which client has the better attorney."
Anonymous quote

QUESTION OF THE WEEK 7-4-11

To curse or not to curse, that is the question?

(Do you curse? When do you curse? Is cursing necessary? Does it relieve tension? Is there a time and place for cursing? If you can control cursing in church or the office, then why not other places as well? Are there acceptable levels of profanity and other levels that should be taboo? Do you avoid curse words but use other terms in their place like "gosh darn" etc.? My current favorite derivatives are "SHUT THE Front door!", "Frickin" and "Carp".)

This week's question is going up early because of the holiday Monday. Have a wonderful, safe and exciting Independence Day!

SPEAKING OF DOGS

Say hello to my daughter's dogs, Anna and Sofie. No, they are not mother and child. Anna is a registered golden Labrador retriever and Sofie is a long-haired dachshund. It is cute how nicely they blend.

Anna is a very big dog and also a very sweet and gentle dog. However she is not always as innocent as she appears.

Our granddaughter Hope got a hamster for her birthday. She was so delighted with her new pet and was totally devastated when it disappeared the day after it arrived. A mad hunt was started.

Everyone had seen Anna playing with the hamster and following it around so they were very cautious watching the large animal and the tiny hamster but Anna did not appear to have been involved with the disappearance. While they were searching, Anna was laying quietly on the couch about like you see her in the picture above. My daughter kept glancing Anna's way to make sure she did not have the hamster.

The moment my daughter looked away from the dog, she heard a plop and turned to see a very wet and limp hamster in the middle of the room. Anna had been concealing the tiny pet in her mouth and spit it out. The big dog had held it gently like a retriever should so it was not crushed, only soggy and appearing totally lifeless.

Just before the hamster funeral was to take place, the small rodent took a deep breath, started running around and is alive and well today. Needless to say the hamster's name is now Lucky.



Don't miss yesterday's post ANOTHER OLD YELLER DOG

ANOTHER OLD YELLER DOG

My son was visiting us and told me that my dog Slim was after something in the tall grass next to our house. Slim would run to the edge of the grass and begin barking, running back and forth, and jumping up and down as if she was trying to catch a glimpse of something, but not daring to go into the high brush after it.

A few days later, looking out the kitchen window, I thought I saw Slim sleeping under one of the tractors. I heard a noise in the kitchen and Slim was standing next to me. So what animal was under the tractor?

I ventured out to inspect the large reddish-brown dog with an aging gray face. She raised her head to look at me. Once it was determined that I was not the person she expected, she darted quickly into the high grass to hide. Slim followed her, barking loudly, but only to the edge of the clearing.

I am sure it has happened once again. Someone has driven to the country to drop off an old pet. We have many strays in our area due to that fact and the animals are rarely adopted by the locals. Usually they are shot because these abandoned animals quickly turn into predators and threaten the livestock.

This old girl has not adopted us, but she had adopted this particular tractor. Each time we become preoccupied with other things and Slim is in the house, the stray will creep out of the bushes to rest under that one tractor. (We have several.) The minute I walk out the door she does the same thing – she glances at me with anticipation, hoping I am her lost owner, and then disappointed, runs away to her hiding place. For some reason Slim is not trying very hard to run her off.

We are guessing that the dog’s owner must have passed away and the family didn’t know what to do with the aging dog, so they abandoned her. This elderly canine may have picked us because we had a tractor that was probably like one her owner had.

I doubt she will ever let us come near her, but I know that at night she has shelter and can easily access Slim’s food and water. This visiting dog does not show any interest in my chickens or my goats. My husband won’t be driving that old Ferguson tractor for quite some time, so it can be hers for now to shade her and to allow her to sleep with peaceful dreams of times gone by.

TOGETHER AGAIN

The backhoe is finally back together again. My son has spend many weekends working on this and while there is still more work to do, it (almost) runs and it looks like it should. Soon it will be totally functional.

A little paranormal activity in the front yard. The above is a picture our grandson took of the bugs streaming below our huge yard lights. Yikes, that is creepy looking.

Lord Voldemort (pictured above) is growing and doing very well as is his cousin, Dr. Cole.

WHO THE HECK IS MASSEY RAFFE?

We are being bombarded by a recorded phone call message from Bennett Law PLL phone number 1-801-432-2935 and we do not answer (thanks to caller Id) They leave a message saying "This call is for Massey Raffe. If you are not Massey Raffe please call"... some 1-807 number. "If you are not Massey Raffe don't listen to the rest of the message" and then it records the rest of the confidential message on our phone (so I put my fingers in my ears. lol).

We are not about to call the number they say to call because it will probably cost us or just put us on more lists. But we cannot answer and tell anyone that they have the wrong number because it is only a recording. This has to be happening to other people. We had this happen before and I had to report it to the FTC to get it to stop and that was a big ordeal. Anyone know a quicker way to stop this from happening? The answer from the phone company is to get a new phone number and/or an unlisted number. Of course that would cost us more. Perhaps it is the phone company doing this to us in the first place to sell a new service with a monthly charge. And yes, we are on the national do-no-call list.



Yesterday's Question of the week

QUESTION OF THE WEEK 6-27-11

What funny stories will your family tell about you at your funeral?

(Undoubtedly my daughter will tell the story of coming to help me clean last weekend and finding this: The book on HOW TO CLEAN PRACTICALLY ANYTHING , covered in mouse droppings and setting in the middle of my cleaning supplies.)

LAUGH, I THOUGHT I'D DIE

This is my handsome 18 year old grandson Ryan. He has been notorious all his life for telling the most lame jokes. So how in the world did he have me laughing harder last night than I have in years.

Ryan simply opened the dinner conversation with "I saw the funniest episode of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM the other night"...and he went on from there to basically re-tell the entire episode. I doubt he left out one detail and his gestures and facial expressions and his own enthusiasm are hard to describe.

I like that show sometimes but will not be able to enjoy future episodes without wishing Ryan was around to re-tell the story.

He has been accepted at OU and will leave for college this fall. 18 years! I must have blinked.

WHEN NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

It has been around 160 days from symptoms to testing to diagnosis to treatment. Breathing in -- breathing out -- holding still. We do not know the level of success of the radiation and chemo (it will probably be August before we do) but we do know that treatments are OVER. It is unbelievable what the release of that grip on the mind this news has been. The radiation oncology staff even had a graduation party for Ron and they gave him a graduation pin. I am told it is an angel but I thought it was a flying monkey. (That's your fault Pheromone girl that I see flying monkeys everywhere.) Regardless it is beautiful.

Our expectations now are for regained strength and more activity. We have been so blessed through this ordeal to have close ties to family and friends who have been willing to help at a moment's notice. How people make it through the trials of cancer without loved ones to assist them is a great concern. How do they do it?

Of course the major victory does boil down to the strength of one person and that is the patient. We have encountered so many obstacles through the procedures including bacteria in the blood causing a 6 day hospital stay and liquid infusions plus blood transfusion, etc., and I don't see how Ron has maintained his sanity but he has remained stoic. Just being his advocate has left very little of my sanity in tact. No, it is not over but a major portion is over and these next several weeks give time for comfort, relaxation and more breathing in -- breathing out -- which is what this is all about.

Thank you all for your concern and your continued thoughts and prayers.

Thank you for being my sounding board from time to time.

Love, Granny Annie and Ron (aka Ma & Pa Kettle)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK 6-20-11

Did you know exactly where "it" was so "someone" must have moved it?

(What was the last thing you lost? Did you eventually find it? Did someone else take it or did you simply misplace it? Were you actually holding the item while you were looking for it? Can you easily find lost items for other people but never for yourself? If you say you never lose things, you are either lying or not of this planet!)

RARE CALIFORNIA ART TREASURE

It is not often that we get to see the artistic creations of our California grandchildren. Jasmine (17) sent this watercolor masterpiece to her grandpa for Father's Day. I wish my photograph could properly reflect the unbelievable detail and fantastic work she did on this beautiful piece. We knew she was talented but did not know to what degree she had progressed. Wow...and again I say Wow! Perhaps our very talented grandchildren will all be able to support us in our old age -- that is if we ever get old:)