Now I am an official taste tester and review writer.

Oh, the things I luck into on this Internet amazes me.  I had an email from a fellow a couple weeks ago who said he had been watching my activities on Amazon and liked my reviews.  He then went on to explain his product and ask if I would be interested in writing a review of the product if he sent me a sample.  I thought that sounded like fun, so I told him "sure".  Free is always good!
So that is how I embarked on the current learning experience.  He is with Viva Labs and the product I am trying is organic extra virgin coconut oil.  I have used coconut oil in my soap and experimented with it in lotion and lip balm, but this time I am branching out to new areas.  I received my jar a couple days ago and when I opened it, I was met with the most heavenly smell of coconut.  I tasted a little tiny bit and my taste buds went wild.  I envisioned salmon with coconut flavor.  Never had that in my life and never would have dreamed of cooking with the stuff, but off I went in search of coconut oil as a cooking fat.
It seems it is good for a myriad of things including, but not limited to lowering my cholesterol, maintaining my weight, getting rid of my "belly", antioxidant, caring for my skin and hair, and cooking!  Ah!  That was what I wanted to hear!
So I got out my little skillet and my piece of Salmon.  Into the skillet went a tablespoon of coconut oil, little bit of dried dill, and a shot of lemon pepper, just to be on the safe side.  I turned that on a low heat and slapped a lid on it and in just a few minutes, I had my lunch.  The concoction made a kind of sauce which I poured over the fish.  Yummers! 
This afternoon I am going to attempt a gluten free pie crust with coconut oil and rice flour.  I am thinking that the coconut oil is a substitute for butter and I should have a very flaky crust with just a hint of the coconut flavor.  The flavor is very subtle so that is good.  It is clear to me, that the coconut oil is going to be a keeper in my kitchen and organic is the only way to go.  Click on this link and check it out for yourself!
www.amazon.com/viva-labs-organic-virgin-coconut/dp/B00DS842HS

A book sale is easier said then done!

PFLAG funds several  scholarships at PCC.  For many years we did it by hosting a spring yard sale.  Recently we have decided that book sales are the way to go and much less work.  See, all year Ross would gather stuff for the sale and until last year it was all stored in the basement at his condo.  Then my garage opened up and that sucker was filled to overflowing.  When the idea of book sale came up it seemed perfect.  The books would be gathered and stored on site at PCC where the sale would be held.  That was right up until somebody donated 80,000 books from the library of an estate.


 
And then my garage came into play again.  A big van backed up to the door and when it left it was empty.  Not so my garage.

The first thing I did was start repacking because a lot of these were in plastic containers that they wanted back.  I tried sorting, but I really got confused!  I did manage to get a box for Louis Lamore (?) and other authors that I remembered people asking for at the last book sale.  Oh, and the Harlequins, and some where I have a box for kids books and another one for cook books.  See all the boxes on the shelves?  These picture were taken after I had been working for over 3 weeks on this.  I plan on finishing up in the next couple weeks and I hope nobody asks me where anything is located!  See how neat?

And way back there in the corner I can see empty shelves!  It is my goal today to make a path back to those shelves so they can not be empty any more.  Wish me luck!  Oh, first I have to gather up some more boxes.

Should have taken a picture of my chair, fan, and box of Kleenex where I spend a lot of time crying!  Oh, yeah, and the plate with egg roll remains on it, my bowl of melted ice cream, a few chicken bones, and my bottle of water and Jack Daniels!  As soon as all the plastics are empty, I can take a break.  I have rented part of the garage to my son-in-law for storage so this will curb my ability to say "Oh, yeah!  I have a great big garage.  Bring all your stuff out here and poke it in there."  I am bad about that!  But, then again, if no one used it then it would just set empty and empty is not good either. 

 

 

So, for now it is off to church.  Next week I may give you a tour of my lower levels here in the house!  If you cringed at my garage, you will run screaming down the road at my basement, but Hey!  If I can live in it, you can look at it!

Have a good day and remember, 

 People who live in glass houses, should not throw stones!

 

 

 

 

 



Going to save this planet if it is the last thing I ever do!

This is my front porch every Tuesday morning.  Take a close look at this, because this is how much is NOT going into the landfill.  I see in Japan, they take this plastic and turn it into oil.  Here in the United States of America, where we are on the cutting edge, we throw it away.  So I am trying to do my little part to saving this planet.  My son tells me I am wasting my time and I had a male companion who told me  any idiot can do this.  I explained that I was looking at one idiot who couldn't, or wouldn't.  He has plenty of time on his hands now and could take up a hobby if he would like!  The son opted to save his recycles and deliver them to me a couple times a week.  I will keep him!

This is where I dump everything out and sort it.  Glass goes in the green bag.  The black bag poking out of the white bag, came from my step daughters shop .  Bag from the church is in there some where.  Friend on the southside helps fill the green bag with beer bottles.  The guy who picks this stuff up on Tuesday morning probably thinks I am a lush!  Oh, well, he may be paid to think!

Here my tiny little foot is mashing things so it will get more in the bag!

And this is my front porch Tuesday afternoon.  I sure feel better. 

At any given time I can pop my trunk lid and you will see almost anything recyclable.  Been hauling a big bag of clothes around for several weeks awaiting a trip to the Los Pobres.  That should happen soonly.  The other day I got a phone call that Big R had grain for the geese priced at 50% off with a limit of 5.  As luck would have it, I had not unloaded the one bag I had picked up 3 days earlier.  So off I went to Big R, completely forgetting that I had to pick the son and girlfriend up for lunch.  Also I had not unloaded the recyle stuff I had picked up Sunday and Monday.  So I had to call him and tell him they would need to meet me because I had 300 pounds of grain, a black trash bag of clothes, a black trash bag of newspapers and the spare tire in the trunk.  In the back seat, I now had 4 white trash bags of recycle, 9 cloth bags for a trip to the grocery store, a carrying case of CD's, 4 packages to be mailed and a partridge in a pear tree!

So, to make a long story short, think about me next time you throw that plastic bottle in the trash, or that aluminum can, or that glass bottle, or the newspaper.  If we all put our minds to it and get in the habit of poking it in a bag and calling Lou, we may last a few more minutes on this little spinning green ball I like to call home!

 

 

 

 

 



Just getting up early to bitch!

Course I always get up early and have my alarm set for 5:30 AM in case I sleep late.  Since I get up early, I get my best work done before Mr. Sun pops over the horizon.  Several times a month I "redirect my emails."  By this I mean, the ones that have slipped by AOL's stringent spam eye.  That is a simple matter of clicking on the "this is spam" button which sends it to the spam folder which allows me to delete a whole page of trash with one little click on the delete button.  But occasionally I like to go in on each one and "unsubscribe".  That is a time consumer.
In the first place, most of them were never subscribed to in the first place.  Remember back when "junk mail" was the rage?  I used to keep a box by the door and toss it in there to be burned or shredded since I could not throw it in the trash because it had my name, address, telephone number, birthday and second child's information all over it.  I get very little junk mail nowdays, but the computer is full of it!
But sometimes I notice that the spam folder is becoming unmanageable so I start through and read them, sort of, but not very closely.  I can tell you, if I were to order all this stuff, I would need to be a very tall man, with a heaving bosom, a flat stomach, small penis, wrinkles, long eyelashes, full lips, flowing hair, shapely legs with varicose veins, in need of birth control, and suffering from erectile dysfunction!  This tells me that they have not researched me very well.  That being said, I start reading until I come to the "unsubscribe" button.
Now they want me to give them my email address that I want to unsubscribe from.  Excuse me!  This one.  And now, why do I want to unsubscribe?  Because I never subscribed in the first place.  Would I like to change my settings?  No, I don't think so.  What year did my father die?  Damn!  This is harder then I thought!
So when this is all done, I hear my mailbox click.  Oh, look!  A letter from them telling me how much they are going to miss me.  Won't I please reconsider?  This is much like the "do not call list"  that I update on a regular basis both on the land line and the cell phone.  Needless to say that does not mean you will not get phone calls from political parties, surveys, religious organizations, charities, off shore drilling rigs and the occasional scam to tell me that my darling grand daughter has been arrested, and I need to wire $15,000 to a bank in Tiawan to secure her release here in town.
But, on a lighter note, it is shaping up to be a great day!  Off to breakfast with the church people, then in to work with the step daughter, then home for what ever reason I always return here.  The moon on Thursday night was huge and beautiful before it was covered by the clouds.  Last night I could not even find it!  That troubles me cause I thought I knew where it was.
Have a good one and remember that every cloud has a silver lining!

Back to the Smokin' Sage!

Just a little note here to let you know I took my little friend by the hand last night and made a return to the Smokin'  Sage.  Selfish move on my part, but I have been craving barbeque like a house afire!  We were not disappointed.
We both had the pulled pork and it was out of this world.  I had a sauce with mine that appeared to be Jalapeno and Apricot.  They nailed it on that one!  I did not see what my friend had and it disappeared very quickly, leaving me with the impression that it must have been damn good what ever it was.
They are taking their little cart up to the Pikes Peak International Raceway next weekend.  If you get up there you better stop and tell them Lou Mercer said "Hey!"  Randy invited me, but unfortunately (?) that is the weekend I have company coming in from St. Louis so I am a homebody then.  
You know what I like best about this barbeque?  Know how some of it is really greasy?  Not this stuff.  Grease is not my friend and I think I have figured out how he does it without soaking it in grease.  See he has this grill that has baskets in it and it goes around.  Be impossible for grease to hang on to that!  My friend agrees with me on the grease thing.

I forgot to ask him what kind of wood he uses.  I will ask him next time I see him and report back in to you.

He is located right on the south side of the convenience store on the corner of Baxter and Highway 50.  Years ago Baxter used to cross 50 and go into the airport, but that was many years ago.  Anyway, he has a sign by the road, so watch for it.  Then you drive right in and get ready for a taste bud delight!  Have I ever steered you wrong on food?  Hell no!  Eating is vital to keep my little (?) body going and I do not put anything in it that does not taste good.

Now, I am thinking that winter is going to be coming along and I need to visit with them about what happens in the winter.   Pretty sure a blizzard could shut them down.  Would me.  But until then get yourself on over there and enjoy a little bit of heaven before it gets too cold.

And tell them Lou sent you!

 

 

 

Lou Mercer Words of Wisdom: The storm clouds gather...

Lou Mercer Words of Wisdom: The storm clouds gather...: One of my favorite things in life is clouds.  I have albums full of them and now I have my Picasa albums full of digital pictures.  This...

The storm clouds gather...

One of my favorite things in life is clouds.  I have albums full of them and now I have my Picasa albums full of digital pictures.

 This is a fairly harmless shot of "maybe if we get together we can make rain" clouds.

This is a shot of drifty, buttermilk looking clouds at Garden of the Gods on one of the AIDS Walks.

.

This looks like it could really do something.

So anyway, you get the idea of the cloud fetish.  I want to go on record now as saying the clouds that are not clearly defined and hang over our heads like a foggy blanket are the ones we need to watch out for.  My state is being devastated by a silly thing called "rain".   For most of the summer we prayed for rain.  "Oh, Please God, just a little rain."  Our world was withering before our eyes.    Remember that?  Three feet of hail in Denver! 

I took Stockyards Road home on Thursday and the conflux of the Arkansas and Fountain creek was visible.  Arkansas was clear and calm.  Course it flows through the reservoir, but the Fountain was a ugly, angry brown mess.  Bear in mind that it had travelled 35 miles down here from up North and it had lost some of it's furor along the way, but it was still enough to terrify this faint little heart of mine.

It made me think of the people who are in the "eye of the weather".  How frightening that must be to have the rain just keep coming and watch your street fill up and see your property line shrinking.  It was bad enough when the fires were burning up on the mountains, but now there is nothing to stop the water when it races down hill.  And the faster it races, the more debris it picks up.  And our "powers that be" just nod and say, "Oh, a hundred year flood.  That is what it is."  Kind of sad that the loss of property and life is written off with such a simple statement.  Course there is always FEMA.

Here are my thoughts on this phenomenon;

We are a mighty nation.  We shake our fist and nations tremble.  We open our checkbook and nations grovel.  We smile and nations simper.  But when the storm clouds gather, no one is in charge.  Mother Nature has the last word.  (In my simple mind, Mother Nature and God are one and the same, but I shall call the entity Mother Nature in this missive.)  Mother Nature can not be controlled by mere mortals.  She causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.  And she keeps no time table.  She sends earthquakes to destroy temples and fires to consume the dead wood.  She washes her earth clean.  And we, being mere mortals that we are, fall to our knees and tremble.  We beg.  We grovel.  We try to explain it away, and  much like the fires in Yellowstone, we wait.  We wait and we know that soon the green shoot of grass will appear.  The tiny pine will peek from the forest floor.  The roots will go deep and cling to the bosom of Mother Earth.  In a few years we will have a forest again and God in his heaven will smile!

So for now, I will continue to collect my clouds knowing that some day I will be seeing the very bright sun!

You can not sprinkle showers of happiness on other people without getting a few drops on yourself!

 

 

 

If summer comes, can fall be far behind?

Ah, the garden has finally yielded nectar of the Gods, or in simple language, I finally got a tomato!  Let me show you my little garden of Eden here.  At first glance it may appear to be a patch of weeds.  That would be the untrained eye! 

See, if you just look way down here you can see a squash.  I planted two full packets of squash so the geese would have lots.  One packet was yellow summer squash and the other was zucchini which is there favorite.  I have 26 squash plants and only 2 of them are zucchini.  Big thank you to Monsato for that one, I am sure.

 

Here is the beginning of a yellow squash.  It is about 2 inches long.

And here is a bunch of them getting ready to be made into goose food.  See, if I pick them when they are 5-6 inches long and slice and sauté them with a little garlic and maybe a green onion....oh they are so good.  But then the skin is no longer smooth they are almost impossible to chop let alone eat.  The geese do not know the difference.  Stupid geese!

Now if you look real close here you can spot a little watermelon.  It is about 3 inches across and is going to have to do some growing if it wants me to eat it, and better yet, if it does not want to get frozen and have wasted all the summer trying to grow for nothing!  Geese don't even like green watermelons!

Some where over there on the west side are some potato vines, but I have learned that I need to wait until the vines dry up or I will have no potatoes.  I do not know why the call them "vines" because they grow straight up like a tomato plant.  Well, come to think of it, they call those "vines" also.  Here is one of them and if you can see a tomato, more power to you.

But, while I was rooting around there, I did find a big red tomato.  Hell, I almost jumped out of my skin!  What you see here was lunch yesterday.  Sorry you missed it, but there was only enough for one, and what can I say?

Oh, look!  Here is the angel Lyn set in my garden to make it produce and keep it safe.  I am thinking this little chickadee is falling down on the job!  But then again, I did get that tomato.

Now,  look what is right over the fence!  This is my New Mexico Sunflower taking over the area between the Choke Cherry Bush and the actual garden area.  That is where I bury all my pets, so it is some very fertile ground.  This is the first time I have had blooms for a while, because if you remember, the Llama's were over there for several years and they liked to eat them and they had very long necks and really big teeth!

 

Remember this?

So there you have my garden.  I have been telling myself for 40 years that next year I will do better and nothing has changed;  I grow weeds and occasionally God will toss me out a little something to eat.  But, you know what?  It has worked pretty good so far, so why mess with something that works?  Like momma always said..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smokin' Sage Grill on Baxter Road in Pueblo, Colorado

Shooting down Baxter road, headed for the airport, I saw this sign.  I kept thinking about it over there all by itself and thought I should go visit it.  So yesterday, I did just that! 

Here it is!  I check it out and everything looks clean and new!  I like that!

Before I could disembark the car, a lady came and handed me a menu.  I learned later that her name is Linda and she is going to make my lunch.  Well, in all fairness, my lunch, Bret's lunch and Amanda's lunch, since I do not like to eat alone.

Here is the smoker/rotisserie/barbeque where all the good stuff happens!

And the little tables where we can eat outside!

And the ribbons that attest that this is going to be some good eatin'!

Now this is where you were supposed to see pictures of the lunches we were going to consume, but unfortunately, pigs that we are, we ate them before I could focus.  We went out behind Kohl's and ate under a tree in the shade with green, green grass and some beautiful clouds.  You are just going to have to take my word for the fact that it was some very good eatin'!  Big hat's off to Linda on that one.

I visited with Randy while Linda was creating.  I am here to tell you that those two are a winning combination and the food is out of this world!  They have been on that corner (Baxter and Highway 50 East) for 4 weeks.  Had to take time out to cater the VIP tent at the fair and they are off to Pikes Peak for the big race, but I forgot when that is.  Stop out there and tell them Lou sent you by.  I am sure you will get the same royal treatment whether you tell them or not, but a girl can dream, huh?

Might want to give them a call first just to be sure they are there.  719-568-3914.   Or check them out on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Smokin-Sage-Grill/264177706951085

For now, I am out of here.  Going to the Springs today to see my former pastor and her daughter.  Get ready Faye and Patty!  Here I come!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

A snap shot of my test kitchen! Oh, and the judge of the cookies!

You may remember this little tyke when I babysat her several years back.  Well, now she is growing up and insisting I make her cookie, which of course, I did.

 Here you go.  Try this and tell me what you think!  This one is gluten free for your granny.

 

Hmm.  This has a different taste.  Gluten free, you say?

By jove!  I think I like this!  Why yes, yes I do!  Let me give these a big 2 thumbs up!

 

 

And that was how the day went!  A rousing success for my gluten free friends!

 

 

Sneak peek into my bedroom!!

Well, yesterday Jenea and Justin came an laid the new floor in my bedroom!  Let me tell you how this came about.  3 or four years ago I babysat for their baby, Jayvan, and it was on the trade basis.  Usually when I do something like that it is a forgotten favor, but not with these people.  They are friends and friends do not shaft friends.  So a couple months back I ripped the carpet out in anticipation of replacing it with veneer.  My car had other ideas.  First it wanted new brakes, cvc joints and other stuff and then really got pissy about wanting a new transmission!  $3,000.00 later it became clear that the flooring would need to go on the back burner.  Ah, but then I found some money!

And Jenea and Justin came yesterday with saws, hammers, tape measures and a bundle of energy.  Five hours later, they plopped the bed in the middle of the room, cleaned up their mess and away they went.  I am one happy woman today!  I still need rugs, bedspread, the big dresser  and then I can bring Kenny out of the closet and my life will be back to normal.  Both dogs slept in their beds last night.  I think they like this better than the dusty old carpet.

Now I took both of the pictures above from the same spot and a few seconds apart.  For the record, the one on the left with the lavender walls is the accurate one.  I do not know how I got rosy pink in the second one, but there you have it.

Off to church this morning and when I come home I will stop at Lowes and pick up the trim work.  I know where the miter box and saw are, so should be able to make short work of that!  Think I will whip out a blue fleece bed cover.  Going to save my patchwork quilt for winter.

A big old thank you to my friends for helping me accomplish another of my goals.  Ah, yes!  Life is good!

709 North Strong, Nickerson, Kansas . Hot bed of the midwest?

Yep!  That is where I started second grade and where I lived until we moved to Hutchinson, Kansas.  Oh, there was that 6 months or so that I was with Grandma Haas and Great Grandma Hatfield, but for the most part, I learned all I needed to know about live there on Strong Street. 
It used to snow back in those days and we would sometimes need to walk home from school in the snow which was up over our knees, or so it seemed.  Of course, my knees were not as far up to as they are today.  Or maybe it just seemed that way to a little kid.  We walked every where we went and it seemed like the walk to and from school was so long, but as I look back now, it was a total of 8 or 9 blocks and it took forever.  I drove it last time I was there and it actually takes about 3 minutes and that is waiting at the highway for the hay wagon to pass.
First block was the school block.
Second block was the people I did not know.
Third block was Eldon Belote and Loren McQueen.
Fourth was Wells(?) and she had delivered her last baby in the bathroom (one of which we did not have inside the house).
Then Darrel Kalb on one side of the street and Jimmy Redford on the other.  (Both of these boys were objects of my 7th and 8th grade crushes.
Then the house where the guy had set it on fire to collect the insurance money, but wound up in jail for his efforts.
Block 7 was Whittlin' Joe and Johnny Carson who let the chickens roost in their house.
Block 8 was Howard Fein who made his lower plate jump out at me once and scared the livin' pee waddin' out of me because I did not know teeth were not attached.  (I did find out later how that worked when momma got her teeth pulled and got false ones which made her look like Tex Ritter, or so I thought.
Then home.  Home was always good.  It was a safe place and there were people there that I liked, or thought I did and then I left home because I did not like them, but then I found out I did, but by then there was no going back.
Behind our house was the cemetery where we liked to play because there was grass there.  And down the road was a sand pit where we were not allowed to go, but we did it anyway, because we were kids and kids do things they are not supposed to do.  We did have to be careful because sometimes a pack of wild dogs would roam the country side and we did not want to be killed and eaten.  Oh, and there was those Gypsy's that camped right outside of town and were known to grab young kids and take them God only knows where and do God only knows what with them.  Luckily I was never kidnapped.  No one in our family or anyone I ever knew was kidnapped.  I never actually seen the Gypsy's and I never knew anyone that did, but still, you could never be too careful!
The high school gymnasium burned down at some point during my high school years.  Now, I must go on record here as saying, I do not remember much about high school.    I do not know whether terrible things tend to be buried deep in our psychic, or the fact that I had a good friend who's dad made home brew might have tended to blur and distort some of my memories.
I do know I was not very interested in boys, not meaning that I was interested in girls.  I mostly liked to just day dream, I think.  I could see a very bright future for me as a writer, an actress, and entertained ideas of every kind, but never the role of wife or mother.  I did date a boy who later proved to be gay.  We had lots of fun and won all the dance contests.  Now I want you to know, that back in the day when we had the "sock hop" at convention hall, there was some dancing going on!  Remember American Bandstand with Dick Clark?  It was mine and Corky's dream to go there.  Course we never made it that far.  We did the over the shoulder, through the legs, toss in the air, stroll, chicken, bebop and anything else you could imagine, but we never made it to Band Stand! 
We did make it to Joyland in Wichita one afternoon.  Unfortuneatly that ended with me throwind up on the Round Up.  Nothing makes a date stand out in time immemorial like the girl hurling her cookies!
I have many memories of those years and I did not know until 55 years later that this was the ground work for Louella Bartholomew to become Lou Mercer.  My biggest regret in life  is probably that life can not be lived in the rear view mirror.  Ah, would I have done things different?  Hell yes!  But would I be the person I am today had I lived it different?  I doubt it.  There is a lot to be said for that song  The roots of my raisin' run deep.  I've come back for the strength that I need.  And help comes no matter how far down I sink.  The roots of my raisin' run deep.
For the record, I am happy with the person I am today.  Not real proud of some of the lessons I learned, but today I am a content woman with my mantra painted on a sign on the deck.  It reads

Love many, trust few.  Always paddle your own canoe! 

Update on things here on the farm.

Just tossed the cat off my lap because I realized that I have not been very good at touching base with you.  Had the trip to Kansas and made it home in grand style, but life has rather gone down the crapper since.
On a good note, Evelyn is on track to get a job she really likes.  Should hear from her on that.
Went to Tia and Matt's wedding down on the Riverwalk.  That was great.  Unfortunately the pictures are stuck in my phone!
Amanda is now getting her teeth worked on and is she ever being a trooper about it!  Gonna be nice!
Garden was hailed out, but I have not turned the geese in on it yet because I may actually get a tomato.  Can't see any, but there is always that thing called a miracle.
Ripped the carpet out in the bedroom last month.  Then spent $3000 on brakes and transmission for the car, so new flooring was out.  But found some dollars so new flooring may be in this weekend.  Hooray!
About to wind up the online true/fiction/daydream that I had promised people I would do.  I am looking forward to putting that behind me and writing my next novel in the Chapter One... series.
Boyfriend is a wash, but you knew that would happen, huh?
Still working on my 500 mile walking goal for the year, but that is not looking too good either.
Meeting a guy from California today to deliver an oil painting that Sister Nancy had gotten from a family who lost their home in one of the fires.  It is by a local artist and it is important to all the principals that it go to a good home and this guy really qualifies.  This guy has driven out to pick this up.  First trip back to Colorado in 28 years, so I am going to take pictures and blog this one for you.
Oh, I almost forgot until I coughed.  I tripped in the back yard while loading the grill for the luncheon on Tuesday and wound up on the side walk and am now the proud owner of a knee the size of a soft ball and a cracked rib.  Honey, that slows me down!
Now, off to do stuff that has to be done for Lord only knows what reason.
Just wanted to say "hi" and let you know that I am still around!

 

senior law day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colorado Senior Law Day Program Schedule

 

 

 

 

7:00 - 8:00 Registration / Refreshments / Vendor Visiting / Appointment sign-up for "Ask A Lawyer"
 8:00 Welcome, Introductions, and Explanation of Day’s Events________M.C. James Jarman, KRDO






Sneak Peek Preview of the 2013 Historic Ghost Walk through the Union Avenue District
8:45 MAIN BALLROOM - Adult Protection and Elder Abuse________Missy Griggs

SC-237 - Fleecing Grandma & Grandpa______________________Betty Alt & Dr. Sandra K. Wells



9:30 Visit Vendor Booths
10:00 MAIN BALLROOM - Living Wills, Advance Medical Directives, DNR Orders, Proxies and End of Life Issues______________________________Paul Willumstad, P.C.

SC-237 - Mountain Mafia_________________________________Betty Alt & Dr. Sandra K. Wells



10:45 Visit Vendor Booths
11:15 MAIN BALLROOM - Scams, Frauds & Lotteries_______________Stacy Harris

SC-237 - Grandparent Rights in Colorado ___________________Sarah Lipka



12:00 Visit Vendor Booths
Seniors Invited to Bring Legal Questionsto the Free Legal Advice Clinic during Senior Law Day
  
 Volunteer attorneys from the Pueblo Bar Association will answer legal questions and provide advice at no cost. They will be available to answer legal questions regarding bankruptcy, civil and criminal issues, divorce, child custody, domestic violence, landlord-tenant, wills and trusts elder law and immigration.

There are a limited number of "Ask a Lawyer" segments for attendees to have the opportunity to speak individually with an attorney. If you would like to sign up, you will have 15 minutes to discuss legal issues with a Colorado licensed attorney. The "Ask-A-Lawyer" segments will be on a first-come, first served sign-up. Sign-up will be during the morning registration. We will not be able to give you an exact time but we will give you a time slot. (We apologize that we can’t accommodate everyone.)

The times may conflict with one of the general sessions, so you may miss a portion of that session. If you sign up for a "Ask-a-Lawyer" segment, we will provide information and a form that will help you organize your issues so you can maximize your time with the attorney.

Volunteer Attorneys

Hank Geisel         Matt Martin             Tim Oshea               Lisa Macchiato         Marcus Behm

Christine Pacheco-Koveleski               Kate Shafer             Richard Redding       Mark Ohlson

Wes Hassler         Nick Gradisar           William Ballas       Tony Cross

Mike Desaulniers

I love my animals. They are the most devoted friends I have.

Ah, here is Icarus.  She is so very tired.  She is always tired.  Here she us in my chair.  When the flash went off it kind of woke her up.  Just a little. 

If you notice her left foot went down just a tiny bit.  Not enough to cause her to get fully woke up.  Just enough so that I knew I better leaver her alone. So I did.  That made her get up and go find a new place to lay. 

There.  The cold hard floor is always better than a nice soft recliner.  And we both know that when she laid down there the dog began to shift his eyes.  The only thing more scary than a cat in front of you, is a cat behind you.  Nope!  Can not trust a cat behind you even if it is sound asleep.  Pretty sure there is no such thing as a sound asleep cat. 

Think I will just go on outside and see what the weather is up to.  I think that cat can move without really moving and get really close and I have seen them claws.  Sure glad she is my friend.

There we go!

 

There is never a dull moment at my house.  I am sure the little dog, Elvira is on her pillow at the end of the couch.   Nope!  Here she is just looking at me and wanting Lord only knows what.  The biggest problem with Elvira is she stays so close to me that sometimes I trip over her.  Her full name is Elvira, Mistress of the Night, but she does not know what that means.

I do not know what I would do without my little animals.  This I do know, friends come and they go.  People tend to be selfish, but my little animals ask absolutely nothing from me.  I feed them and give them fresh water and for this they give me undying devotion.  They are never mean or thoughtless.  They are just always there.  Some times they want petted, but sometimes I want petted to, so it works out.  When I get a dog, it is for life.  I have known people that get a pet and then they decide that it is too big, or too little, or it barks, or it gets out of the fence, or this or that.  Well, I know I am not perfect and sometimes I get out of the fence, but my animals forgive me.  My geese talk to me.  As long as I have my animals I am not sure I really need friends. 

I just wish they could talk!

 

 

A three day vacation complete in 3 minutes or less!

I love these slide shows.  I can take the pictures in 6 minutes, download them to the computer in 1 1/2 minutes, and spend three days trying to find them and another day and a half getting them into an album, which is immediately lost, and when found is accessible only to the man over on County Farm Road.  But now you see it. Gotta love technology!
So the vacation began on Saturday and Sunday morning was the Garden City Pool which was not open, followed by the Richardson Zoo which was not open either.  Lot of planning went into this vacation! 
Dodge City proved a little better.  First the Casino and the camera stayed in the car.  Then Boot Hill then off to Hutchinson.  Hutchinson is always the visiting place so first to Donna and Karen's, then off to Skaets to test out the Moon Burger.  Never made a trip without bringing one of those back in my tummy!
Now I do need to interject something here!  Usually a trip to Hutch the end of July is very miserable weather-wise.  Such was not the case this time.   It was cool.  Course it rained buckets, which I thought was wonderful, but it does make dashing some where on foot a little tricky.  And since driving in rain is a trick itself and something you forget how to do living here in Colorado, a lot of time was spent in the parking lot.
But Monday I met cousin Daryle at McDonalds for breakfast.  Donna and I dropped in to see Dorothy and Joyce.  Michelle, who had chosen the time so we could meet her fiancée, was a no show.  Then drove to South Main to check on cousin Stephen, who was not at work.  I wanted to walk the riverwalk, but then again was the deluge so I gave that up.  I did find Evelyn and Kay at home, so that was good.  Karen made Ham Steaks for supper and then it was veg time in front of the television.
Tuesday was breakfast at Skaets with Daryle.  Then back to Smith's to see Stephen.  Lack of rain let me take a quick trip along the river walk which is coming along nicely and is very well maintained, although I do not understand that one painting on the side of that building.  Before the highlight of my trip, I did get a quick visit in with Sharon Jackson, whom I had not seen in over 35 years.  She looks the same as the last time I seen her, but then so do I!
At 12:30 I was back at Skaets for the rendezvous with cousin Sandy and My Favorite Republican!  Did not have the camera for that either, but I do have him and I on my phone as wallpaper.  Every time I look, there he is and it makes me laugh.  We discussed politics for 2 1/2 hours and never once did we get into an argument.  As you can imagine in a Bible Belt state. the majority in the Kansas government is Republican, but as I found out, they are a different breed of Republican.  A Democrat can actually get a bill passed if it is the right thing to do.  He was having a little problem with the gay stuff until I explained to him my thoughts. 
"When my husband died, I received benefits for my son from Social Security.  Two weeks later my friend David passed leaving his partner with two kids and one paycheck and no insurance.  Is that fair?"  You should have seen his little brow furrow and the wheels turned.  "I never thought of that!  It is about families, isn't it?  That is what we are missing!"
And that, my friends made the whole trip worth it.  I am confident that he will convey to his constituents our conversation and if any of them are like minded, which I am sure they are,  we will see good stuff come out of the state house in Kansas.   I bid my friends a fond farewell until next time and drove out to the Nature Center, then through Carey Park and back to the house where popcorn and game shows awaited my attention.
Glad I went?  Sure I am.  Glad I am home?  Of course.  And of course I hurried to the kennel to pick up the dogs.  "Here are two leashes and here are 2 dogs.  Sorry, but they ate their pillow!"  I think they were pissy at me.  What do you think?

I am off on another of my power vacations.

     It is that time of year and I have not done it for several years so, today is the day.  We discussed this and my friend wanted to have the Kansas experience and who should know better than me about Kansas?  Having lived there for the first half of my life I should have a vague idea about it.  As I recall, the " Kansas experience " is best done in the early spring when the Lilacs are in full bloom or in the fall when the wheat has all been harvested and most importantly, when the temperatures are moderate.  Lord I remember that Garden City and the thermometer on 115°.  All that was back in the day when air conditioning was a rare luxury and having a fan put you in the upper echelon of society.

     That being said, back to my "vacation".  So we will be leaving here this afternoon, and racing to Lakin, Kansas.  There Dona will cut my hair since I just decided yesterday that I can not go another day with this mop hanging in my eyes.  After a night of visiting and sleeping in a bed that is not my own with out any dogs on my feet or a cat on my head, it will be off to the Garden City Zoo.  Course I am going to need breakfast there some where.  Then on to Dodge City and Boot Hill.  Oh, yeah, and I need to eat again.  Arrival in Hutchinson should be sometime in the early evening.  Visit with Sister Donna and unload the car.  Go visit with Sister Dorothy.  Maybe squeeze Evelyn and Kay in also.  Oh, forgot about Tommy and Alina.  And the baby.  And the nieces and nephews.

     Jump up on Monday and hopefully meet cousin Daryle over at McDonalds.  Run out to the Nature Center, drive through Carey Park, stop at Smith's and see cousin Stephen, drive to Nickerson and see the old home place, or at least where it was when it was still standing.  visit the cemetery in Nickerson and also the one in Hutch.  And a trip back home is nothing without a tour of the Amish district.  Day should be pretty well shot by then.  Hope Larry brings Mary over for a visit.  Bed.

     Tuesday will be get up and have coffee with Karen before she goes to work and then off to  breakfast at Skaets.  Hopefully I will meet cousin Sandy and MFR at Skaets for lunch and an hour or so of frivolity.  Then back to see Evelyn, Daryle, Stephen, Sister Dorothy, and miscellaneous friends that I need to touch base with before I go.  I will spend the evening unwinding at home with Donna and Karen  preparatory to my departure early Wednesday morning.  Got to get on the road early because the doggies are going to be kenneled this trip and the place closes at 5.  They are going to be so happy to see me.

     Wednesday night will be spent thinking of all the things I forgot to do and all the people I forgot to go see.  Thursday, Friday, and probably Saturday will be spent flat on my back wondering why in the hell I bothered and what exactly became of the trip to the Cosmosphere, antique district, hike through the sand hills....and what exactly is the definition of vacation.  Let me grab my Websters here.  A period of rest or freedom from regular work or study.  Well, alrighty then!  It will be that! 

      It does not say I have to do all this stuff to relax.  I am sorry, but I do not relax well at all.  And it does not say I have to visit every tourist site along the way.  Would like to swing through Greensburg and see how that is progressing.  That was my friend, Lyn's biggest complaint.  She wanted to look at stuff and relax and not think.  Those of you who know me, know that I am a bit of a whirling dervish, so to speak, and I do not chill out well at all.  So hopefully this travelling companion will understand me a bit better and can keep up or otherwise be entertained without me.

    So, power vacation, here I come, ready or not!  See you people in about a week and I should have the slide show from hell for you to view!

 

 

 

Trayvon is remembered at the Sister Plaza in Pueblo, Colorado .

Had a lovely time with Janet and the rest of the group today.  Just want you to enjoy this video.  More to follow.

My insane mother goose!

I have a goose that has been with me since Bret was 9 years old.  All she has ever wanted to do was have babies.  True, she has hatched out a few.  I am not sure of the lineage since she is an African Gray and she has hatched several Imidens and one Imiden/gray cross.  That one had a white "v" across it's chest so I know it was a mix.  See, the way this works is the hens lay and somebody sets on them until they hatch.  Everything in the nest belongs to the whole flock.  They do not know that they are different.  This is mama goose with her "husband".  They have been together for 4 or 5 years.  I think he was her "step son" which means she hatched the egg, but did not lay it.

Now, here is her on the nest.  I took this early one morning.

Here is the nest with her NOT on it.  She has dragged almost all of the straw into this one corner. 

What you need to know is that she has been setting on this nest for 2 months.  It takes 28 days to hatch an egg.   I go in and pet her every morning and tell her what a good job she is doing.  Then she goes out to get a drink of water and visit the rest of the flock.  And every morning I rake her nest and then pile it back up.  There is no egg in there.  There was an egg or two early on which I ate.  But now there is no egg and there has not been an egg for almost 2 months.  But still she comes back in and sets all day and I want you to know we have had a lot of 100 ° days, so I am thinking this is one determined goose!  Someone said I should let her have babies, but I am trying to get rid of my flock that eats high dollar grain and does not pay me back.  I used to think I would sell the babies, but that did not happen!  So, I am sorry, but no goslings here on South Road.

I do not know how long geese live, but when Goosey is gone the rest will be shipped out to someone who wants geese.  I managed to set here and let the fox eat 37 ducks before I shipped the last two out to a pond in Pueblo West, but I am not going to be so lenient with the geese.  I have already lost 3 and am down to 10.  If I were younger I might do the baby thing again, but I am not and doesn't look like I will be getting younger any time soon.  Goosey is the last of my original flock.  I had three.  One had neurological problems and the neighbor man took care of him.  The the Muscovee Ducks murdered the other male.  So Goosey had to go many months by herself before Lyn moved into town and blessed me with a pair of African Grays,  a pair of Imidens, and a pair of Chinese.

So that is where we are now.  10 geese, 2 dogs and 1 cat and then I can move into town.  Probably going to be staying at the State Hospital, if you get my drift!

 

 

One year ago....Long Ago and Not Very Far Away....

"Oshermo"

Sherman Joseph Schroeder, Jr.

2/17/1935

7/13/2012

Some one once said that in order to have a friend you must first be a friend.

So very true in this case.

Sadly missed by a multitude of friends.

And the British Motorcycle Association of Colorado came to my house today!

And what a day it was!  Hey, Dana, come on in!  What are you riding? 

Oh, I see, it is Sherman's Black Matchless!  Lookin' good!

 

I wanna' go for a ride!  And Dana, ever the gentleman, took me!

 

And we feasted on pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans and all the other good stuff, topped off with an upside down German Chocolate Cake.  My grand daughter helped with the cooking and the clean up.  Great to have her around and not just because she is a work horse.

So it was a very fruitful day and I am very tired.  This was the one year anniversary of when the club came to bid farewell to Sherman.  Next week marks the one year anniversary of his passing, so it was a bittersweet celebration of that time in our lives. 

So let me just thank everyone for today.  And an especially big thanks for giving me the ride Sherman would have given me.  Thanks, buddy!  Hope we meet again soon!