Merry Christmas to Icarus, apparently!

This is the fountain that Bret and Amanda gave me for Christmas.  It is battery operated and sets on the counter by the bathroom sink.  It has a few rocks scattered on the base.  At one time it had more then a few, but here is the deal...Icarus thinks that this is her personal water fountain.  When she pops up there on the counter, which can be any time day or night, I am expected to switch it on so she can lap the water.  Like this:

If I am not there quickly enough she will take her delicate little paw and slide a rock over to the side and on to the counter.  Then she will take that same little paw and whack it and send it flying across the room.  Some times she drops them in the sink and then tries to get them out of there.  That makes noise that gets my attention.  So my question here is whose Christmas present was this, mine or the cat's?

This is the busiest cat I have every seen.  Sometimes when I am in the kitchen I will feel eyes on me.  When I look up that cat is invariably hanging down over the top of one of the cupboards watching me.  She will stay in that position until I forget she is there and then drop down and land on the counter behind me.  That is always good for the old cardiovascular as well as cleanliness in the kitchen.

She reads book!

Helps me with my blog!

Has long talks with Daisy!

And naps with Elvira!

Early in the morning and early in the evening, I go out to do my chores.  I am, of course, accompanied by two dogs and a cat that thinks she is a dog.  Course lots of time I arrive at the fowl house to find her already waiting for me there.  She waits on top of it.  She does not seem too alarmed when I explain about the fox.  When we come back to the house she runs ahead as the dogs like to ding around.  She hides behind a bucket by the gate and leaps out at them as the come trotting by.  Never ceases to scare the dickens out of them. 

Night time will find her either sleeping on the other side of the bed, or setting in my window if the moon is bright.  Have no idea what she is looking at out there, but I do know I sure sleep better with the two dogs in their beds at the bottom of the bed and the cat over there sound asleep.  One consolation there is as long as she is there I am confident she is not out some where getting ready to bring me my breakfast of a mouse, centipede or some other of God's creatures to brighten my night time hours.!

Thanks to the Wiccan for giving me a cat that fits so well into my lifestyle!

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Woke up this morning, Nickerson on my mind.

That should be a country western song!  Woke up this morning, you were on my mind.  Forget who sang that, but this morning I woke up remembering when I was a little girl in Nickerson, Kansas and for some reason I was remembering the layout of the school and the lunch room.  Lunch room?  Who am I kidding?  The school was a red brick which was 2 stories tall.  There were 4 double doors to get into the school; two in front and two in back.  Face the school and on your left was the main entrance.

Well, here I made a little sketch of it.  It is not drawn to scale, but let me tell you, on top is the bottom floor.  See you come in the main entrance which is the upper left corner.  On your right is the first grade room.  I remember the alphabet marching above the black board.  But that is not why we are here.  See that hallway running down the middle?  See that table and those benches?  That was the lunch room.  At the end of the hall was the kitchen, restrooms and janitor.  Here was the heart of the school as far as I could tell!
Now this is what I looked like back then.  This is actually my mother, but even today I could pass for her.  Look at those shoes!   Button ups!  I wore brown Buster Browns.  Remember that ad?  "Arf!" then "That's my dog Tide.  He lives in a shoe.  I'm Buster Brown, look for me in there too!"  They came in two colors.  Black and Brown.  I mean you could get a pair of Black shoes or a pair of brown shoes.  In later years they introduced white and then combined white with them and the Saddle Oxford was born!  That is a whole nuther story.

Ah, the kitchen!  When we arrived at school the ladies were all ready at work cooking.  Mrs. Ritchie was the cook and her brother-in-law, Mr. Ritchie was the janitor.  I think that was right.  In later years, I think he committed suicide.  I recall her as a short, kind of heavy, very sweet lady.  He was always very kind.  Anyway, at the appointed time the kids were allowed to file past the end of the table and pick up their plates and a carton of milk.  (I think it was actually still in glass bottles at that time.)  That was if you could afford the meals.  If not you took your lunch sack, pail, or box and set at the far end of the table.  Seems like the far end was always more populated than the hot meal kids. Although I remember eating hot meals there, so it must have happened a  time or two any way.  I know I carried my lunch in a paper bag which I must be sure to bring home.  Do not remember what I ate, but I do remember that meat was a rarity and peanut butter was a real treat!  And bread was a nickle a loaf!  (I also remember being very jealous of the kids who had the fancy tin lunch boxes.  And today they sell on eBay like gold!)
And another thing, showing that the government was always taking care of us was that once a month, in the middle of the morning, we were sent down to the tables where we were given a paper cup full of orange juice.  This was given to us so we got out vitamin c and did not develop Rickets or some such incurable disease.  I am sure that the one glass of orange juice once a month was the only thing standing between me and being dead today!  But it sure was good orange juice, and the only time we ever had it!
Now a lunch room is a far different thing.  No way would kids be allowed to eat in the hallway.  I know when they were building the new grade school in Nickerson, one of the selling factors was that it would have a lunch room!  Course it was built after I left grade school, so I never got to see it.
Another thing that stands out in my mind is the music room.  It was at the head of the stairs and very small.  There were shades on the windows that were designed to block out light or to keep light from escaping.  This was in case the Germans or Japanese or  some one came and bombed us.  I do not think we ever used them, but you just never knew back then what might transpire.  Early in my school days, the district purchased an older frame school building and moved it to the property and it became our new Music Room.  When it was time for music we marched single file out the door, across the school yard (being careful to stay on the side walk so as not to step on any of the weeds.), and into the music building, which was very big and very airy and we loved it.  Miss Barkiss was our teacher and some years later she would marry David Houston, son of the principal of our school.  That is all I know about that!
I do remember the last day of school was always cause for celebration.  We would be full of anticipation for the coming summer, but we would be sad because we would not see our friends.  Seems people did not visit then like they do now.  Oh I would walk over to my best friend, Barbara Hawk's house and we would play, but that was a long ways over there and when I left she would walk me half way home.  But school ending was always a big deal.  We may have had a picnic!  I think we did!  And the band would play and we would listen. And my eighth grade year which was my last, a bird flew over and pooped right on Gay as she played her Clarinet and she did not even wince, just kept right on playing!  Always admired her for that though I never told her so.
I often wonder about my teachers. Miss Donough  was first grade and she married a guy I think was named Breece in the middle of the year.  Mrs. Wait was second grade, Miss Holmes was third,  Mrs. Howe was fourth.  (She got a thorn in her intestine and almost died.)  Miss Swenson was 5th, Miss Lauver was sixth, Mr. Bollinger was 7th and Mr. Schriber was 8th.  At least that is how it goes in my mind.  Nobody ever quit.  Nobody ever got fired.  Nobody ever molested anybody and as far as I know they are still all there in Nickerson, Kansas where I left them.  Mr. Bollinger owned the movie theater and tickets were 7 cents.  It was open on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
When I was in 4th grade Aunt Helen came and enrolled me in Brownies, which was the precursor to Girl Scouts.  Bought me a brownie dress and hat.  She was very rich and had no kids.  Her brother was Frank Wocknitz who made bologna named "Tony's Bologna" and it was the only kind we ever ate and was carried by both grocery stores.  Lord only knew what was in that other bologna.  And when he died, that was the end of the business cause he took the recipe to the grave.
Well, I could gas all day long here, but I need to get busy.  The memory is a wonderful thing.  I am sure mine is accurate.  But if it isn't one of two things will happen; either someone will email me with their memory or they will say, " Oh, I had forgotten that!  I am so glad she remembered!"  But if there is anyone out there who remembers my good old days, and me, give me a holler.  We will have a great visit, if we remember why we came.

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Amy is here and this is where we went.... Bishops Castle above Beulah.

I am just going to post this slide show and then I will be back later.  Ok, now I am back.  Amy got here on Friday, the 6th of January.  I have never known anyone who would drive 3 days and 2000 miles just for the sole purpose of meeting me.  But Amy and I had been visiting in the chat rooms and by email since November 24, 2010.  I know this cause she told me so.  I have never been one to remember dates and I envy her that ability.

So here they came and arrived on Friday night.  Saturday morning we got up and went to Beulah to the coffee shop.  Course Jan was tickled to see me and meet my friends.  I of course, took a lot of pictures. One in particular of a man named Bill Moulton.  Do you recall a hundred years ago when doing the laundry before washing machines there was a divice that looked like an upside down funnel?   In the top of this you placed a stick and then put your clothes in the tub with soap and used that "Easy Washer" to stomp them clean.  Well he did not have the stick in his so he was setting there with the thing on his head and Jan and I decided that he bore a most striking resemblance to the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz.  So I took several pictures and promised to send him a link when I put him on here.

So the first problem seems that of the 75 pictures I took that morning of Bill, Jan, Beulah, and Bishops Castle , there is no record what so ever.  Gone!  Kaput!  Like my life.  So I called Jan and she will have her son email me copies when he gets around to it.  At that time I shall do a big spread on the Tin Man/Bill Moulton.  And if the kid does not send the pictures, he shall live in my mind.

After we left the coffee shop, we drifted up and I showed them the Dragon Tree carved by John Clay.  Then on up the mountain to Bishop's Castle.  Course it was very snowy up there, but the roads were dry.  That Castle is sure worth the trip up there.  It was uilt from the ground up by one man, Jim Bishop.  He placed every rock and welded every piece of metal.  Fascinating piece of work that will never be completed as long as he is alive, because he will never stop.  Google it.

Sunday we kind of kicked back and they discovered the joys of Colorado Cuisine, namely Green Chile.  Course later we discovered the plumbing was plugged up very tight.  That is another Colorado joy.  After much plunging and cussing we gave up.  Early Monday brought the Septic Tank pumper because when the plumbing doesn't work it is inevitable that it is the tank is full.  Well, for once that was not the case, but since he was here anyway, might as well get that done.  He was followed by the roto rooter guy.  You guessed it, tree roots in the line, so I will get that taken care of this spring.

Then we cleaned up the kitchen and made chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes.  Taught Amy how to make cookies with a cake mix.  Also made a Root Beer Float Cake.  I guess since they had just finished 2000 miles of sight seeing and were getting ready for another 2000 miles of the same thing, sight seeing was not a biggie this weekend.

Then bright and early this morning they hopped in the car and drove away.  I talked to her just a bit ago and they were in Wichita Falls, Texas, and headed for Dallas.  I know I am missing them already.  I know there are those of you out there who may think we are nuts, but so be it.  She did tell me "I can not beleive I did this.  Drove all this way.  I can not believe I did this.  This is crazy!" I know that when I met Amy it was like I had always known her and this weekend just cemented a friendship between Beachgirlbaby and MOUNTAIN MOMMA! 

Since Amy really likes snow I was very glad we got a little skiff Saturday night.  Wish I could have talked God into a little more, but then there was that plumbing problem to contend with.

Amy will be here today!

A long time ago, I became friends on the Internet with a girl named Amy who lives with her husband and mother in Daytona Beach, Florida.  Amy loves cookies, but she does not cook.  So I make her cookies and send them to her and she eats them, that is the deal.  So now I guess she is coming to see just where these cookies are coming from.  So she called last night and they were in Kentucky.  The GPS said they will be here at 8:30 this morning.  Now I rather doubt that because they are surely going to need to have a rest stop and they might even want to eat.  Knowing Amy, I am sure they are going to eat.
And Amy likes the cold, so guess what the forecast is for this next week?  I think today is going to be up over 70 degrees.  So she may not get the cold weather she wants, but we will be making a trip up to Beulah to see Jan at the Stompin' Grounds.  Oh, and Rye.  Pretty sure there will still be snow up there. 
Of course there are those who are concerned that I may be murdered in my bed, never stopping to think that perhaps I might be the one who is going to do the murdering.  You know, slip a little something in the cookies?  A couple years back I stopped in Missouri and met a  lady named Cindy.  Went right to her house.  The wiccan was with me.   Now if anyone had a right to be scared, that woman should have been terrified.  She lived on the edge of a lake and no neighbors for quite a little radius of her house.  Her husband drives a truck over the road so I could have done her in and no one would have known for days.  She turned out to be lovely lady and showed us around Crescent City and bought us an ice cream at a quaint little ice cream store.  Yummy.  (Hi, Cindy!  See I still think about you!)
Years ago we had pen pals that we wrote to and put a stamp on the envelope and mailed.  These pen pals were sometimes overseas, or far away.  Sometimes we would read in the paper about "meet and greets".   So why was it safe back then when we exchanged a few letters with a post mark on them and is not safe now when with the click of my mouse I can get the whole history of her Internet address?  I can type her address in Google and a camera will pan in on her front door and I can go out back and see how much trash is piled there? 
I think you would be amazed if you knew how many "Internet Friends" I have.  Some of them last a long time and some of them are just here for a while.  They are still my friends.  They send me pictures and cards and video's and touch base regularly.   If I ever get rich enough to travel there are a few people I would like to meet in New York, a couple in California, Florida, Missouri and one in Texas.  I did correspond with one fellow for over a year, but I never felt like I knew him at all and it turned out I was right.  So, see, there are ways to tell.  I would never have jumped in my car and gone there, nor would I have had him here.  Just a premonition sort of thing I guess.  But Amy has always been open and honest with me and anyone who knows me, knows how important that is to me. She has been through a lot and shared most of it with me. 
So, I am waiting for Amy as we speak!  I am going to cook for her and Bernie and I have cookies in the freezer, and lots of milk and got the sheets already to put on the bed.  I think we will have a lovely visit and I am probably not going to have time for the blog for a few days.  But get ready when it is over I am going to have a ton or pictures for you!  And she is going to have to drive 3 days to get back home!

Yes, Virginia, the Post Office is in a bit of trouble!

 Label/Receipt Number: 9101 1501 3471 1091 7220 14
Expected Delivery Date: December 21, 2011
Class: Priority Mail®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation™
Status: Processed through USPS Sort Facility
Your item was processed through our DENVER, CO 80217 facility on December 31, 2011 at 5:08 am. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.
 
 
    
     
     Enter Label/Receipt Number. 
  
Enter Label / Receipt Number. 
     
    And I did enter all the info.  See I never send anything through the USPS without a tracking number because it just has a a way of going lost.  So let's follow this package.  I sent one of my purses to a lady in Denver (paid for by a mutual friend.) on December  20.   It went immediately to Colorado Springs.  And 2 days later it arrived in Bell Gardens, California .  Apparently they realized right away that it did not belong there.  It was then sent to Denver where it has been kicking around now for  3 days while they search for the address before declaring it Undeliverable as Addressed.  Then they hung on to it for 4 more days.  before they ran it through another sort facility.  Today is January 2, 2012, 14 days, or 2 weeks after I sent this on it's way.  I have no idea where it is now.  No doubt it is probably still in the sort facility in Denver.  Does this tick me off?  Yes it does.  Why?  Let me tell you why...
I sent this Priority Mail, which costs extra with confirmation, which costs extra.  I have the correct address on it with the postal code the Post Office gave me.  Now I could punch this in my GPS and drive right to her front door.  The Post Office will be receiving another increase in postal fees here pretty quick.  They need more money.  They occasionally slip one in on us online buyers anyway, but that is neither here nor there.  What frosts me is that this is the most unreliable shipping service in the business today.  Do you know I can ship Priority (with2-3 day delivery) cheaper than I can ship Parcel Post (2-9 day delivery).  Does that make sense to you?
I live in the county and have a mailbox at the end of my drive.  It is not uncommon for the mail person to just lay a large package beside the mailbox (assuming that everyone who passes it is honest and will not steal it.) rather then bring it to my door and put it on my porch.  One day the door bell rang and a neighbor stood there with a small, dripping wet package.  It was addressed to me and was floating in his irrigaiton lateral.  MP3 player and it is just a damn good thing the Chinese double wrap everything in cellophane.  Since this was not the first time I found mail in the ditch I called and complained.  So now parcels appear on my porch which I greatly appreciate.
Now today is a holiday for the Post Office, poor overworked souls that they are, so I will have no updates on my package.  But, ah tomorrow is coming.  I am assuming that they can get it back to me, but who knows.  Then I can buy postage once more and see where it goes, or wait!  I can give it to the guy who bought it and let him drive it up their to this illusive address.
So that is my story and I am sticking to it.  Oh, yeah, Happy New Year and here's hoping some people are making a lot of resolutions to break.  I will not be breaking mine cause I gave up making them years ago.  Keep in touch!






  Detailed Results:
 
 Processed through USPS Sort Facility, December 31, 2011, 5:08 am, DENVER, CO 80217  Undeliverable as Addressed, December 27, 2011, 6:53 pm, DENVER, CO 80224  Out for Delivery, December 27, 2011, 9:28 am, DENVER, CO 80222
 Sorting Complete, December 27, 2011, 9:18 am, DENVER, CO 80222
 Arrival at Post Office, December 26, 2011, 7:56 am, DENVER, CO 80222  Processed through USPS Sort Facility, December 24, 2011, 10:40 pm, DENVER, CO 80217
 Depart USPS Sort Facility, December 23, 2011, BELL GARDENS, CA 90201  Processed through USPS Sort Facility, December 22, 2011, 3:05 pm, BELL GARDENS, CA 90201
 Depart USPS Sort Facility, December 21, 2011, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80910
 Processed through USPS Sort Facility, December 20, 2011, 9:22 pm, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80910  Dispatched to Sort Facility, December 20, 2011, 7:06 pm, PUEBLO, CO 81005  Acceptance, December 20, 2011, 2:03 pm, PUEBLO, CO 81006
 Electronic Shipping Info Received, December 20, 2011