I didn't understand what I was voting for that time.

I take my voting very seriously.  When I get the little booklet from the League of Women's Voters, I devour every word.  I talk to people and weigh the pros and cons.  If I am not clear what it is about, I am going to find out, you can bet your sweet bippie on that!  When the question of legalizing marijuana came to the ballot, I was very sure that I wanted a yes vote on that.  I would have been more excited had they made the legal age 25, just because by the time someone is 25 they are pretty sure what they want out of life.

I have seen what the synthetic heroine and crack cocaine and meth has done to our kids and I did not want that to continue.  The argument that Marijuana is a gateway drug is a crock.  I have seen first hand kids go straight for the meth and other drugs simply because they are very cheap and very, very easy to purchase.  My hope was that by legalizing marijuana some of that would slow down, but I don't think that is happening.  I have never done an illegal drug in my life and do not intend to start, but I can tell you this, I have dealt with kids smoking pot and they do not behave at all like those who have been doing the illegal drugs.  Ever see a kid that is so zoned out they have no idea where they are or what they are doing?  That is not marijuana!  Marijuana seems to make kids a little spacey, but it does not make them stand on a street corner staring off into outer space and drooling all  over themselves.  Most of the marijuana smokers I run into are happy little people and I would just assume they were having a really good day if it weren't for that little whiff I get that is akin to a skunk passing by outside.

I see in the Chieftain that Hasan is funding a study on marijuana and I will certainly be glad when that is done and we can see the scientific evidence of the benefits of marijuana.  Years ago I had back problems and took more pain pills than I can remember.  I recall going to work more often than not with a fog in my brain and I could hover up near the ceiling and watch myself slaving over a hot grill and smoking french fry baskets.  It is a wonder I survived that! I had back surgery and as with any surgery, more pain pills.  Today I have spasms in my back and when that happens I reach for my bottle of marijuana pain cream that I bought legally in Blende.  I do not take any pain pills and I have been told that I would not be able to pass a drug test as there is pcp or thc or something like that in my system, but I do know I do not feel it and I am clear headed, just no pain.  I refuse to take pain pills so if legal sale of marijuana goes away in Pueblo City and County I am just going to have to go back to being unable to function.

I could go on about what good the tax dollars have done for our economy along with our low unemployment rate, but I think that speaks for itself.  I just wanted to give my opinion as a human being.

My idea of farming on the Mesa!

This is my rototiller.  It is a Yard Man and Kenny bought it for me many, many years ago.  He has been gone over 11 years, so you figure it was probably 13 years ago.  We usually bought our tillers and such used and then tried to make them run.  Never had much luck with that, so first time we had an extra $700.00 we went to Big R and came home with this.  It has reverse and starts and I was in heaven.  Our first decision was that no one could borrow it.  Something about having them returned with the choke wired open with a bread tie that just made us want to not loan anything out to anyone.  I have not even changed the spark plug.  Put a little Stabil in the gas tank the end of the season and I am good to go.  Oh, I have to dig vines, plastic bags and an occasional length of wire out of the tines, but that is normal in this country.

This is the lawn mower.  Unfortunately this is not the one he left me with because I loaned that one out a couple times.  No one likes to clean the filter and it came back with wobbly wheels, so this is what I have now.  And it is also treated to Stabil and runs pretty good, but nothing like that tiller.  

I had a high wheel weed whacker, but I loaned that to my son and you know the possession is 9 points of the law theory?  Finally got the small tiller I use to cut ditches back from him, but someone else borrowed it just for the day, and I am waiting for that back so I can cut the ditches in my tomato patch.

And in my zucchini and cucumber patch.

Put a new tire on the wheel barrow.

Bought a new electric chain saw.

Took down some limbs out back

Went to lunch with a lady friend.

Then came home and transplanted my pot plants!

And that night I slept like a baby!

Lost! Found! Lost again! Damn!

For Valentine's day, I received flowers and a tube containing 25 pot seeds from a benevolent friend who works in the "grow".  He assured me that these seeds would grow the marijuana but not the kind you smoke.  Something about male and female and buds and other stuff that these were incapable of producing.  This fits my criteria to a "t".  I want to make stationary out of them and sell it in my online store.  See this leaf?

Isn't that pretty?  I learned how to make this stationary a very long time ago from a very old woman who wanted to pass the craft along so it would not cease to be.  She chose me!  She also gave me boxes of dried flowers, leaves, and about anything that grows.  Now I have not partaken of this leaf myself, but I am intelligent enough to know what it is and what it looks like.  And in the treasures she gifted me with was some of these.  Seems she went down on the river and came back with lots of leaves and among them was some marijuana leaves.  Now you must realize that all the greens she gathered were then placed between the pages of books and a weight applied so they would be very flat and very dry, but identifiable. 

Now isn't that pretty?  I think that is a Japanese Maple overlaid with Dill fronds.  Hard to believe that I made it, isn't it?  Making this stationary is an all day job and requires full use of the island in my kitchen.  I lay out 12 of them at a time.  First is a layer of waxed paper upon which I  place my design, cover with a single layer of tissue, paint the whole thing with thinned school glue, sprinkle each with glitter and leave to dry.  To fully appreciate my efforts, you just try to paint one layer of cheap tissue with a paint brush full of thinned glue.  When I go to bed that night the whole house  is filled with these things drying.  Next morning it is ironing time.  Then trimming and folding, so this is no easy chore.  Lastly my name is signed in gold ink and I am done.  I sell these for $2.00 each so they need to be nice.  Since this stuff is now legal in Colorado, I want to get in on the market.  Hence the growing and needing of seeds. 
Back on track here.  You now know why I wanted the seeds.  Being a pushy broad I generally get what I want by just wanting it.  True with the seeds.  So any way, here lay this vial of seeds on my counter.  Patty and Vanny were here and the seeds just laid there.  I have  a lady who is a very good friend who shall remain nameless, who helps me keep this house from becoming a true "hoarders nest."  This same lady has been known to partake of the herb.  She must eat hers cause she talks about "the bowl."  To make a long story short, she was coming by to visit and I was reluctant to let her know my future plans in the "growing of the weed" area.  So I grabbed the vial and hid it.  Now I am sure you are a step ahead of me here and you know how my mind works.  Later that day, I laid out the container I wanted to use to hold  the seeds and dirt.  Whoops!  Where did I put those seeds?
I looked in all the usual hiding places.  Patty and Vanna searched in all the drawers.  The next day Bret and Amanda came for a visit and they were full of guesses as to where they might be, but it was all to no avail.   I knew back in the far recesses of my mind that I knew where I put them.  It is just that I rarely venture back into that area of my mind, because there are things there in the shadows that scare me! 
So yesterday, Patty and Savannah packed up and went back to Lakin.  I immediately had a nap.  When I woke up, I spent a few minutes looking into corners and then decided to call my friend, John.  I explained the seed business to him.  He of course thought it was funny.  While we were talking about a fundraiser for our friend Daneya that is coming up next week, I wandered over to the sewing machine I keep here in the office.  I opened the door, pulled out the drawer and voila!  My little pink vial of seeds!  Knowing how fleeting my memory is these days, I told John of my find and told him I was moving them and where.  Now 2 of us know where they are.  I am trusting that he remembers where I put them.  That was, after all, his job.  My job is to report on me, and I might note that is a full time job. 
So once more the seeds are found.  The container to plant them in is , however, out in the shed where it is now very cold, thanks to that damn Polar Vortex!  Looks cold out there today.  I think I need to go to the El Pueblo today with my spinning wheel, but I am not sure.  Nothing is ever sure in my life two days in a row.  I was up late last night listing seed catchers on eBay in a variation format.  I am almost afraid to check those out today. 
So, I called Patty and told her where I found the seeds.  Now, I am off to figure something out, but I do not know what.  Will be in touch soon and we will return to the Stroh place, Nickerson, Kansas, and see what I remember about 60+ years ago,  because I am not having much luck here in the present!


 

Only 5 days and I can get stoned out of my mind....or not!

I want to go on record as saying I have never smoked pot, nor do I ever intend to do that.  Not because I am a prude, but rather because it was illegal.  Now that it is legal, I have other reasons.  I quit smoking cigarettes several years back and that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life!  I will not smoke this little jewel because it might lower my resistance to tobacco and I am not going to jeopardize my quit smoking, never going to smoke again status!  But I am happy this is now legal for a myriad of reasons, but the biggest is, this may open the market to production of hemp products.
You should know that hemp and marijuana are the same, but different.  I use Hemp Butter and Hemp Oil in my face cream and lip balm.   I even eat the Hemp butter  which is made from seeds (like peanut butter) on crackers.  It is loaded with all kinds of  omega's .  I can not extol the virtues of hemp enough. 
Do you remember back in the beginning of this country when our forefathers raised hemp as a cash crop?  Rope was made from hemp and it was the strongest rope that could me found.  I have a couple spools of it which I intend to crochet into a market bag and save a lot of plastic bags.  I am not sure that back in those days the were aware of the high that could be achieved by smoking it.  I do know that hemp in it's natural state is a very reliable and renewable product that can replace wood.  Unfortunately our forefathers decided to worship King Cotton and there was not room for both of them to flourish.  As I understand they both deplete the soil and so need to be rotated and the ground restored. 
Don't get me wrong here, I love cotton.  I am going to learn to spin it if it is the last thing I ever do (and at my age it may very well be the last act).  I am not a scientist, but I have been told by very intelligent people that Hemp/Marijuana must be cultivated and nurtured in order to get the thc or whatever it is that makes you high. ( All these facts I throw at you are coming off the top of my head and no research whatsoever has gone into this article!)
But now we come to the glory of this law in Colorado that takes effect January 1.  Marijuana is big business, but all the harvesters are after is the "bud".  Isn't that wonderful?  This means that the big plants are by products of the cash crop and can be used for ropes, cords, fiber, and any number of things.  Do you follow me on this?  I sure hope so and I hope I am not just whistling in the dark here.  First the state will reap the benefits of the tax on the "recreational marijuana" and then the plants will be made into stuff to sell and the state will get the tax on that! 
As for the recreational part, who knows.  I am willing to bet that this is not as hard on the body and mind as alcohol with its side affects.  Guess we will see.  Just wanted to weigh in on this new law and then set back and see how this plays out. 

Colorado Avenue Antiques, Pueblo, Colorado

Wandered into the old Ambrosia Health Food building the other day and there was my little friends Ron Lombardi and Eric Gibson.  Seems they have bought the building which is 3 floors and done a ton of renovations.  The top floor is an apartment and since it is rented to an individual I could not see it, but I did see before and after pictures and it is fabulous.

The main level and the second level are full of antiques as you can see in the slide show.  The top level is thier antiques and the main level is leased to other people.  They are currently working on the Christmas room which features a silver pompom tree.  But don't tell them I ratted them off.

And across the street looking out the second floor is Netties Candies which I might like to visit.  If you notice the doors have many locks.  That is because it used to be a marijuana distributor.  But now it is an antique place and I love it. 

Colorado Ave. Antiques

112 Colorado Ave.

Pueblo, CO 81004

719-225-8293

Monday -Saturday 10-5

Sunday 12-4

Wonderful way to while away some time and remember the good old days.

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Hey! Look at my purple bike!!

Look at that bike!!  That is my bike and I can ride it everywhere!  We pulled this out of the scrap pile and Tim fixed it all up for me.  He and his son, Chris, painted it purple and lavender.  Then he bought the tractor seat with white flowers for me.  No offense here, but I can not set on one of those little 3 inch seats!  That is more pain than this old lady wants.

Now, yesterday I hopped on this trusty steed and rode up to the produce stand, which is about a mile uphill.  I bought some goodies and started home only to find that the return trip was also uphill.  What the hey!  I did not know it was possible to be uphill both ways, but there it was!! No one was more amazed then me on that one!!

Last night we had our humble supper and then watched the new Cheech and Chong documentary  that is preceeding their Light Up America Tour.  I understand that this tour is promoting the legalization of marijuana. Better them than me!

Now how I made the leap from my pretty purple bike to legalization of pot is more than even I can understand, but there you have it...the workings of Lou Mercer's mind in action!  God be with us all!

The teenage mind is an easy thing to scramble.

This is the boy. This is the teenage boy. This picture is 2 or 3 years old, but it was the only one I could reach without actually getting out of my chair. My purpose today is to teach you how easily a teenage mind can be manipulated. I like to screw with him, because it keeps me young!

This boy is 18 now. Yesterday he wanted to go to the shooting range and set his new scope. I told him that would be fine if someone went with him. So he came to tell me Matt and Chris would be going also as Matt wanted to try out his new shotgun. The following conversation ensued. See if you can guess which words are his:

" Ok, I am off for the shooting range."

"Smoking pot?"

"With guns! No way!"

"So before then?"

"Before a loaded gun? No way!"

"So later then?"

"No, after, we are going to play Xbox."

"Well, when?"

"I don't smoke pot!"

"Why didn't you just say that? Could have saved a lot of time."

And with eyes rolled back in his head he was off to do his thing. His curfew used to be midnight, but I have noticed that now that he does not have a curfew, he is usually home around 10. We are now in the "fine" phase of our relationship. If he does not bring up his laundry, it is a $5 fine. Don't take out trash is $5 fine. Forgets to load the duck/goose feeder, $5. If I tell him to do something and it isn't done in a timely manner, that is $10. So far I have made nothing off him. Guess he likes his money.

So, that is where we are right now. I am smart enough to know this smooth sailing will not last, and about half of what he tells me has any resemblance to the truth, but he has to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. After all, I am the mother and as such I am very stupid and probably will not pull my head out for another 6-8 years. That is when I will suddenly get smart. Right now he knows all there is to know, so we will just let him think that. He will, no doubt, be a father someday. I hope I have instilled something worthwhile in there somewhere. At least I have his respect and that is a lot more then a lot of mothers have!