One in a million shot of baby goose and the mother!

Every once in a a while you get a shot with your camera that is actually worth saving.  This is mine!  Baby geese began hatching at my house Thursday evening.  This is a long arduous process. I have an Emiden setting in one part of the compound and Goosie, this African Gray, in another part.  Goosie is a story in itself so I will cover the Emiden babies a little later.

About 5 or 6 years ago  Bret decided he absolutely had to have baby geese.  The fact that we had 20+ ducks at the time was immaterial.  So off we went to Big R for the purchase of 3 geese. I do everything living in triplicate for some odd reason that only God is privy to. Any way, the geese grew and were quite attached to us and the ducks.  As luck would have it, we had 2 ganders and the one hen.  The first 2 years Goosie would lay her eggs and I would eat them.  I called this retro active birth control.

Then the third year the biggest gander developed neurological problems and had to be put down.  I let Goosie set that year.  Her eggs were not fertile, so there was a stinking mess!  The next year I had acquired  3 pairs; 2 Chinese, 2 Emidens, and 2 more Africans. They all set, except Goosie,  and they all hatched and the ganders trampled most of them, but I did manage to grab the 6 surviving babies and take them to my friend Penny to take care of until they were feathered. While over there 2 got sick and died, one was ate by a coyote and 3 survived. When they got tired of taking care of them they brought them back. This brought me up to 10. One of the Emidens did not make it through breeding season, so down to nine.

I decided to let Goosie try this year and we were very happy when this little fellow pecked it's way out of the shell.  Bret spotted this shot and took it for me.  If you click on the picture it will get bigger and you can see the little fellow nestled in  Goosie's wing with just it's head showing.

If you are ever in my neighborhood, feel free to drop on over and check out my little farm here.  Better hurry though, because the fox is busily eating my ducks and you may not see them if you don't hurry!!

Have a good one, and happy Father's Day to all the male species, with and without feathers!

The Wily Old Fox and the Helpless Critters!

There you see part of my flock.  The seven critters on the left are what I refer to as the Seven Musk a Tears.  These seven guy and gals all hang out together.  I suspect these are the seven that were given to me when Lyn moved into town.  There are a white and a spotted that hang out; they were litter mates.  Then there are twin gray and whites, a broad banded mallard, a khaki Campbell and another spotted.  There is a renegade mallard that is lighter than all the others.  He is the one who is in love with the goose. He chases her all over the barnyard trying to kiss her.  All this to the consternation of her husband! But that is another story for another time.  The big bird on the right is an African Gray Goose.

The point I am trying to make here is that much like people, the birds in my flock tend to sort of mate for life.  They stay in the group they grew up in and like it that way.  Much like we, as humans, cling to our roots.  The difference being, we can defend ourselves and my flock is just part of the food chain.  Mother fox, you know the cute little Red Fox that is indigenous to this area, had herself 3 babies this spring.  Oh, don't we all know how hungry those babies can be!

At the height of my flockiness, I had 36 ducks and 10 geese.  This morning I counted 14 ducks and somewhere there is a satisfied family of Foxes.  It was one thing when the foxes were eating the nasty old drakes, but yesterday one of my little twins disappeared. That broke my heart. Did you ever give any thought to a duck's defense mechanism?  They waddle when they walk, they have 2 wings and a rounded beak. No defense their.  When they sense danger the stop stock still and do not move. Well, that makes no sense at all.  But it is what they do.

Some people are of the assumption that foxes hunt at night.  They may very well do that, but they also hunt during the day. They hunt whenever the food source is available. Just happens to be daytime around here.  As much as I would like to be able to stand guard over the flock, I do have other obligations.  So, I guess I am open for suggestions on what would be the best solution for all concerned here.

The foxes need to eat.  The Ducks need to survive.  Trapping the foxes on an acre of ground is almost a virtual impossibility.  Keeping the ducks inside a fox proof house is cruel and out of the question.  So, I am open for suggestions here.  Ideal would be if you would come to my house, catch the fox and take it home with you!  Right now, I have thought  and thought and my brain may explode.

The DragonTree in Beulah, Colorado, up close and personal!!

 We were on our way to the park in Buelah.  Just cruising along headed uphill on Highway 78 when this Dragon jumped up right in front of us!  Renate almost ran off the road. I, of course grabbed for my camera, but alas, it was not to be found in this car.

So, being a woman possessed, I decided to go back up with camera in hand on Monday. I had told some of the chatters in my chat room about this, and of course, they thought I was nuts. One of them got online and found Bishop's Castle, but there was nothing online about a DragonTree in Beulah!

Need to give you a little history here.  One of these fellows is a firm believer  that if it is not on Google, it does not exist. Very faithful fellow. I told him I was sure I would know before Google, but he had no faith; hence the trip to Beulah in 105 degree heat. I took a friend with me because he is really tall and I thought he could get better pictures. And he was very sucessful as you can see. Just a shame that I can't get the pictures the size I want or where I want, but that is not his fault! Well, I guess it is my fault, but ....

                                                                                                                                        

 

This is the base of the tree and it is indeed a tree.I spoke with the  man who did this.  His name is John Clay and he does this kind of work on commission.  This one was made for Catherine Halcomb.  Pine Drive used to be a divided road and this tree was in the middle of it.  He said you can still see the old road bed. So Catherine contracted with him and he gathered up his tools and went and created this work of Art!

I will be meeting with Mr. Clay hopefully next week.  He is going to give me all the details of who, what, when and where.  I am very excited about the City of Beulah and I am going to post a lot of pictures and give you a full report on the happenings.  I know they have an Beulah Art show at some point in time and we will be there, front row seats!! And being in the  mountains, the beautiful Rocky Mountains, it will be cool and clean this summer.  What a respite!

If you have some carving you would like done, just give John Clay a call at 719-485-9605. Oh, and be sure and tell him Lou sent you!

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures and don't forget to stop and see Jan, my BFF at the Stompin' Grounds Coffee Shop!

And my words of wisdom for today Keep your eyes open so you do not miss the Dragons in your life!!

Beulah, Colorado the friendliest place on earth, and good food, too!!!

Today I wandered off to Beulah, Colorado, a little spot about 20 miles West of Pueblo, on highway 78.  I went with a purpose in mind. I had gone on a picnic at the Mountain Park a few days before and had seen what appeared to be a Dragon Tree, which is a dead tree sculpted to be a Dragon along with flowers and all. Convinced that I was probably nuts, I strong armed someone to go with me.  So off we went with me at the wheel.  Let me interject just a bit of my homespun wisdom here.
A man, any man is at a distinct disadvantage when in a car that is not his, with a woman he knows slightly, headed to he knows not where to see he knows not what and the only thing he is sure of is that he has not had his daily ration of coffee.  I must say he was a real sport! Hats off to the German Guy!

After due time we arrived at the Dragon Tree that I had seen.  We parked the car. Now, him being a foot taller then me, decided he would take the pictures.  He thought  he would be a lot closer to the dragons mouth. Me being the person I am decided he would probably just stand there and get himself ran over.  Between the two of us we got some beautiful shots, but that will need to keep for another day.

We then decided to go visit the lovely town of Beulah.  After a quick trip up to the park, we drove to the fair city of Beulah. If you have not been there, you have got to go!  Call me, I will go with you!

There is located in this fair mountain town, a small eating place called The Stompin' Grounds  Coffee House. See the first picture up there?  That is my new BFF (best friend forever).  We walked in and this lady had the sweetest smile of welcome. Her name is Jan Miller and she is the proprietor of this place.  See there behind her is a pink peace sign that someone made her. The Peace Sign along with the one outside that said "Hippies use back door" told me I was in my kind of place.

The picture below Jan is the menu. Lots of coffee and some of this or that to eat. Below the menu is some of the customers.  Oh! It is Kris Allen and her mom! They live right next door and along with half the town pop in for coffee or tea after exercise or a walk or whatever.  Just down home folks, although I have known Kris for many years and was very happy to see her.                                                                  The mantra is on the wall.  Jan had her friends come up with something that would describe the ambiance of the place and they did a beautiful job! All the tables and chairs are eclectic (which means they do not match!). It is just a real comfortable place to be.       
This is the front.  Has a table and chairs out there also, in case you want to set in the fresh air. 

There is a totem pole of sorts over there on the left and a close up can be seen in the last picture.  The sign there in the front says there are special artist days.

By the time I finished my coffee and left the place, Jan was my new BFF, I had caught up with Kris on all the news of the Cuba Caravan.  It was certainly a fruitful day.  Which brings me to this conclusion; Had I not gone to Beulah searching for the dragon, would I have ever met Jan?  Would I have ever wandered into the Stompin' Grounds? You think of predestination and wonder.  Seems like this whole business today was laid out in a grand plan!

You will read about the Dragon Tree and a lot of other Beulah sites as soon as I make the proper contacts, but for now, we have Jan and the Stompin' Grounds Coffee Shop, 8913 Grand Avenue, Beulah, Colorado. It is open every day from 7:30 AM till 2 PM except Thursday.  No Thursday.  Thursday it is closed.  Ah, and Saturday night from 5-8 PM is special also.  That is when they have Pizza, Calzones, Salad and Desserts.  Oh, Saturday night in a tiny mountain town!  What more can you want?  Oh, might want to call just to make sure they are there and have some food for you..I know the coffee is the best I have lucked into for quite a spell.  That phone number is 719-485-0852.  When you drop in tell Jan that Lou said "Hi!"

Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt #2

This is the second panel I am highlighting. I don't know if you realize, but these are not presented in the order of constuction, but in a rather willy nilly fashion that pleases me.  And what is that saying, "If momma is happy, everybody is happy!"

In the upper left corner we have a particular favorite of mine. I made this out of the slinky stuff you would use for a dress if you were someone who wanted to show case something! I made it as a pillow case while Allan was still with us, but he soon learned it was nothing you could sleep on, because it made you sweat! I had also made him a nature stationary to hang on his wall. But that shall be another post! Allan was born 4/29/1967 and passed 5/26/99. We had a surprise birthday party for him a week early.  Good thing! He was Colorado Diving Champion one year. He was offered a "Full Ride" Scholarship to Brown University which he declined because family was more important to him.  My adopted son is named after him. He weighed 83 pounds when he died. His mother passed a few years later.  I miss them both!

Below Allan is Reverend Blong.  3/15/1926 to 7/26/1999. He was a very beloved Priest to a friend of mine.  I made this panel for her.

The next one is Jeffery 12/22/1963-8/9/2000.  I did not know Jeffery although I made this panel. The world has lost an artist!

The last one on the left is for my friend Judy.  11/14/1946-10/14/2000. Now here was a woman who knew how to cook!! Mashed potatoes required BOTH butter and heavy cream and butter on top!  I am sure she is in charge of the kitchen up THERE!

The top one on the right is for Tracey 2/22/1964-8/6/1999. Tracey was a very lovely girl. She actually died of heart problems, exasperated by the medications.  I made the basic panel, but it was designed and painted on my her friend,Mike.

The second on the right is for Daniel. 4/22/1954-1/30/1998.  There are 2 necklaces on here that Daniel wore constantly. He was a very colorful fellow. I made this panel for his mother.

Now we come to Mark. This person did not want anything known about Mark, but did want to memorialize him in some way. She comes when the quilt is on display.

And now we come to one of the more moving panels.  This is for our little Daniel Yarnell. He was born 10/10/1984-9/22/2000.  He was not 16 yet when he passed. His mother made this panel for him and since she has also written a book about their journey, I am sure she will not begrudge me using his name.  Daniel was so special. He loved Beanie Babies and had a website with some of his pictures on there. On hot, hot days, when we had picnics at the office, Daniel would show up in his coat, mittens and a wool hat.  How can your heart not bleed for this kind of suffering?  Daniel will always hold a special corner of my heart, as does Allan.

As I think back, there is not one I have written about yet that does not own a piece of Lou Mercer! And we still have more to meet.

Personal Bags for the Migrant Workers

This is the trunk of my car, a 2007 Ford Focus. Now you know that year had a fairly big trunk.  As you see this trunk is full.  There are 4 large trash bags in there and in each trash bag is 10 bags of personal items for the migrant workers.  That seems like a lot, huh?  But wait.

This is the back seat of my car. There are 3 more trash bags here. In two of them are 10 migrant bags and one holds 5.  That makes a total of 65 bags for the migrant workers. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, I will tell you. In my fair city, or county we have  many gardens. That is farmers who grow produce for market. We are especially known for our Pueblo Chile, which is a particular breed of chile pepper which is used in our Green Chile. It is not as hot as a Jalepeno, but it is pretty close. Without the produce which is grown out here on the Mesa, a lot of farmers would go broke. Pueblo is also famous for it's Chile Frijole festival which happens every fall downtown on Union Avenue.  If you want to know what heaven is you gotta go to one of these.  I will find out the exact date and blog it so you can be sure and come. It draws people from all over the world, I kid you not!



But, this is about Migrant Bags.  On these farms are a lot of "Migrant Workers" and they are called that because if they were illegal immigrants they would be sent back to Mexico.  But facts are facts, and East of Pueblo there are many "Migrant Workers" who come to work on the farms and without them, the fields would lay fallow. Occasionally there is a crack down and it is then the produce suffers.  The "work force" in town does not want to work under a system that pays them by the bushel to drag a sack through a field in the blazing sun with no job security at all.  My daughter and son in law tried it once. They lasted 5 hours each, 10 hours together. It was time to harvest the peas.  Total take for the day:  $3.30 . That figures out to 33 cents an hour. Courses that does not take into account the trip to the emergency room to clean her eye after Tex tossed a weed over his shoulder and hit her in the eye!

Back on the subject. The workers have no medical, no child care, no nothing, but there are philanthropic people who know where to go to volunteer and help. There is a clinic staffed with 4 doctors who shall remain nameless in a location which shall remain undisclosed. There is a place the people can go get free clothes and once a week a care package consisting of dried beans, corn meal, canned tomatoes and some other dried staples. Several churches get together in the spring and make up "Migrant Bags" which is a cloth bag we sew.  Inside is a towel, wash cloth, a bar of soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a comb. We used to put more stuff in when we did it on our own, but now that we are organized they are more uniform.  Sometimes it takes very little to give a man or woman a little bit of pride.

Our church along with Christ Congregational packed up 65 bags.  Tomorrow I will take these to a church down on Hudson and they will be placed with the ones from several other churches and will be taken to the centers east of town to be dispersed.  The cloth bags are made out of cotton material and are very pretty as well as useful.  If you would be interested in helping us in this endeavor, please leave me a comment and I will get in touch with you.

If you are just wanting to disrupt an operation that has been going on for umpteen years, please just turn your head and look the other way. The Good Lord rewards that also!

The sister, the Royal Gorge, and the bag of shirts.

Well, as is want to happen in my life, sometimes I had the pleasure of entertaining my sister, Donna and her friends, Karen and Alice. They were on vacation! The word vacation usually strikes fear in my heart, but this time I handled it well.  Probably because it did not entail my driving 400-600 miles one way to visit and then drive right back home.
And so they arrived. Plans were made to the Royal Gorge just outside of Canon City on the following day. And so we did. It was a lovely day to do that!  Donna and I took the incline to the bottom of the Royal Gorge. It was maybe a 10 minute ride down, but it seems a lot longer when I have to actually worry about whether anyone checked the cables to see if they were frayed, oiled or greased all the moving parts, checked that the locks were working properly on the doors.  I don't know who died and left me in charge of controlling the world, but I strongly suspect it was my mother!
It was indeed a beautiful, panoramic view. At the bottom we got to see the rapids very close.  I had to worry about Donna falling in and drowning. She fared well.  Back up and then the quest to find the other 2 members of the party. Karen was easy, but Alice was lost. After contacting the Rangers and starting the hunt, we happened to spot her standing outside the entrance gate waving. Alice, get in here!
One more thing to do. Walk to the center of the bridge to take our pictures by the Kansas Flag. Let's see, drive 400 miles to get your picture taken by the flag of the state you drove 400 miles to leave. OK! Got it!  After a flurry of picture taking we were looking down and trying to figure if we wanted to bungee jump or not when here came the ranger again. He stopped by us and pointed at a bag on the other side of the bridge. I quickly spotted our tee shirt bag and sprinted over to get it. He said "Glad that is yours! I thought we were going to have to vacate the whole area. Al Quaida, you know"
That was it for the day. We arrived home very tired little puppies, and I decided it was great fun to go on vaction, if I did not actually have to go anywhere!

Pueblo Aids Memorial Quilt Panel #1.

This is the first group of panels that were assembled for our quilt.  The blue one on the top left is for Craig.  Craig was a friend of mine. He loved Charlie Chaplin and if you look closely you will see Charlie on his panel. You will also see his little dog. He was born 6/6/60 and passed 3/12/94.

Below Craig is Shawn. Shawn was born 8/26/66 and passed 7/31/97. I did not know him very well, although I made this panel for him. He loved to cook and he loved the great outdoors and his panel reflects that.

The yellow one with the red heart belongs to David. He was born 8/25/47 and passed 8/23/89. This block was made by his sister. His sister has worked tirelessly to keep AIDS in the fore front of our minds and to always be sure there is an observance of World AIDS Day every year on December 1.

The one on the right with the eagle is for Randy.  He was a very good friend of my nephew.  He was born 5/15/63 and passed 10/1/91, which just happened to be my birthday.  He was in the Marine Corps. Seems ironic in the world before "Don't ask, don't tell" that one who held "Semper Fi" in highest esteem should die of AIDS.

Down below on the left is Frank.  He was born 6/12/62 and passed 11/13/95.  I did not know Frank, but I helped his brother make this panel.

The panel with the dove is for Steven. He was born 4/12/52 and passed 4/5/95.  I received a frantic call after there had been an article in the paper about the quilt from Steven's Aunt.  Would I please make a memorial for her nephew.  It says on the panel that he is missed by his sisters and mourned deeply by Aunt Kathy.  That is all I know about him.

The rainbow music panel belongs to Danny.  It was mde by his mother.  Below is a picture of the big panel that is in the big quilt in San Francisco.  A labor of love. He was born 5/26/60 and passed 10/12/93

The green one is for Father James.  He was born 5/6/37 and passed 10/25/89

So you see, there are young and old, gay and straight. There are brothers, fathers, nephews. The face of AIDS takes many different form, but one death is not diminished by a thousand deaths.  Each one is unique in it's own way and by the people who are left to mourn.  Please look on this post as an act of love  and watch for the next one.

Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt; Inception and Evolution.

I now know the year!  In 1996 I had given a class on building a panel for the big quilt in San Francisco.  Someone wanted to know why there was no memorial of any kind for people who had died from AIDS in this area; why it was all so far away.  So a few of us got to kicking it around. I don't remember who all was there and if I did I could not tell you anyway as that is a matter of privacy. (Did I say that out loud!)

AIDS was at that time a very misunderstood disease. We have come a long ways, but it is still misunderstood.  It is a different kind of misunderstanding now though.  People actually  think there is a cure for AIDS.  Nothing could be further from the truth. It is no longer a Gay Disease and knows no class distinction or color line. People are now living far longer, thanks to the "cocktails". But they are now dying from aging factors. The medications are so strong and the body is so toxic from them that bodies are aging very quickly. PWA's (People  With Aids) never did die from AIDS. They died from opportunistic infections contracted through a compromised immune system.

I digress! I am not here to give you a history of the disease, I am here to tell you why we have this memorial.  We thought about doing copper leaves on a brass tree. That was cost prohibitive. All kinds of ideas were kicked around and nothing fit just right. Then I had the brilliant idea, "Why improve on perfection! Duplicate the Big Quilt only do it little." That was the perfect fit! The quilt is displayed several times a year.  Always on December 1, which is World AIDS Day  and then a couple more times. 

The blocks are 12 inches by 24 inches. The big blocks are 3 feet by 6 feet. That is the size of a grave. Our blocks are miniatures of the big blocks but they are no less reverent. Each block is stitched with love and memories and represents some one that was loved by someone. Not all the blocks have names. One says just Mark. Some give the full name, birth and death and a detailed picture of that persons life.  The most moving block.... 

I think I will save that for later.  I will get my first post up on Wednesday. It will be the first section we  finished.  I have got to be honest with you on this point, I am not sure I will be able to do more than 2 posts a month on this quilt. My heart and soul is in every block that is on this quilt. Some of these people were people I was very close to at one time or another.  Some were children of friends, some were husbands, some lovers of friends. This will be very draining on me, but I fill back up rather quickly when I am doing something that I am as passionate about as this project.  See you on Wednesday!

Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt

Ok, I been promising this for quite some time, so it is time for it to actually come to fruition!  I am going to do the history of the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt, but first I have homework for you!  I need you to familiarize yourselves with the original AIDS Quilt.  Here is your link: AIDS Quilt   Just click on that and away you will go.  I set it up that way!  This will give you all kinds of resources so when I actually start writing about our quilt, you will not feel that you are in Never, Never  Land.

By reading on this site you will be able to see the correlation, between the big quilt that lives in California and our quilt which lives in my basement! The big quilt is not displayed all together any more, because there is no place that can hold the complete work.  It is rather displayed in panels as they are requested, ie. if it is in Texas they will send mostly Texas panels, but you can request  a panel and that one will be sent.  It is definitely a work of love.  So, go do your homework and I will probably get my first installment posted Sunday or Monday.

Have a great weekend!!

There is a genius inside me and it wants to be free!

Every time I set at this keyboard I think, "This  is the day I shall write something  that will actually change the world!"  Maybe not so much change the world, but at least make a little bit of difference in someones way of thinking.  I keep thinking that today is the day that I will write something that will at least be remembered, if not for a long time at least until you are through reading what I have written.

Maybe I have writer's block!  I have heard of that and I guess it could be possible.  I set here looking at the leaves on the Cherry Tree, sipping my coffee, staring at the screen and nothing happens. Well, actually something is happening!  What is happening is that I am typing like a fool  and the letters are appearing very slowly.  See I am done typing this line and it is just now putting up the word "fool".  Now I wait for it to finish so I can go back and redo the words I spelled wrong or where I hit the wrong key, which happens with amazing regularity.  No wonder I am frustrated!  The best part of all of this is if I will just walk away, when I come back it will no doubt be functioning like it is meant to and all my stress will have been for nothing.

Instead I set here like an idiot and continue beating my brains over nothing.  I give up!  We had quite a little storm out here last night.  Scared the ducks and geese and, beat my trees, bushes and garden to a pulp.  At least it did all this before I had vegetables that were almost ready to eat.  That is what usually happens!

Ok, I am off to get ready for church.   You all have a nice day and I shall check in tomorrow or the next day.

Today at my house with the Choke Cherries and Llama's!

Here you see my lovely Choke Cherry Bush! I am afraid the Choke Cherry is about to take my back yard.  It is hard to believe that this started out as one little twig about the size of a healthy piece of bindweed.  On the right you can see my house and look right in my bedroom window.  Don't strain your eyes, cause I am not in there sleeping in the middle of the day!  It does give you some idea of how high the Choke Cherry has grown!

And here are the Llama's trying to carry on a conversation with me.  The Choke Cherry bush is on my right as I talk to the kids here.  Actually they just finished eating 2 carrots and are waiting to see if I will run back in the house and get any more.  Alas, they will be disappointed.  No more carrots.

If you could see the ground at the bottom of this fence you would see where Asparagus should be growing for me to pick.  If you look closely at these innocent looking creatures you may see Asparagus on their teeth!

I ask you, though, who can stay mad at a Llama? They have the biggest, brownest eyes, and the prettiest eyelashes.  They have not spit on me yet.  I expect if they do that I may be a little angry.

So this is my tale for today. Choke Cherry bushes are loaded with blooms, but I will not get a berry off the bush because the birds are way to fast for me. The only way we get Choke Cherry Jelly around here is to go to the Farmers Market and buy the cherries.  Asparagus plants that flourish and I can not get a piece for my table, because I am not as fast as a Llama. Got lots of bindweed coming and I am sure I will get to take care of that!  The Bindweed and the stickers are all mine.  The ducks and geese will not touch the stickers, I don't care what you have heard! 

Here he comes! The Baby is crawling!

Here is the little Jayvan working his way across the floor.  Not really working too hard, he is actually moving pretty fast!  He knows what he wants and he knows how to go about getting it. In this case he wants Grandma Lou! I am Grandma Lou to everyone under 30.  Mostly because I am Grandma, cause I got 20 of the grandkids and a bunch of great grandkids. Not real sure, but I think I have about a dozen or more of those counting all the steps. But there are a ton of kids who call me Grandma Lou just because someone else does.  Before the Grandma Lou business it was Condom Grandma, but that is a whole 'nother story!

Now here is the little fellow and he has arrived at his destination and pulled himself up to give me a big smile! Now isn't that cute?  This is what makes life worth living.  This and the fact that someone will come and pick him up at 5:00 PM!  Life is good, but makes me miss all the other little ones out there who are too far away to come and play for a few hours.

Now today I am going to have this one and his 11 weeks old cousin.  Not for very long though, just long enough for me to thank the Good Lord that I have  the child bearing years behind me!

You all have a good day and remember "This too shall pass!"

Some one referred to me as BOSSY!!

Well, we were just setting around visiting the other day, and the subject of personalities happened to arise.  My friend pointed out that I was perhaps a bit pushy in my opinions. She then pointed out the time when I was involved in Operation Paintbrush, but refused to go the next year because they did not "do it my way!"  I want to set the record straight here and now.

I was merely trying to point out to those people that they were screwing around and there was work to be done and I tried to tell them the better way to approach the job. Had they listened to me, we would have been done and off to better things in short order!  But no, they wanted to eat donuts, and quibble over which brush to use and by that time it was lunch time. I just knew better ways and they did not want to listen.

And I like to drive because I know I am a safe driver and I am not going to fall asleep at the wheel. Of course I will give you tips on how to improve your cooking!  I want you to be the best you can be, and if you expect me to eat it, I want it to be good!  I did manage a restaurant for many years and did own my own, which was very successful, I might add.  The point I am trying to make is, I am not overbearing and bossy. I am just trying to give you the benefit of my many, many years of experience! If I ever run across anyone who knows more than I do, I will be most happy to defer to their expertise!  It just hasn't happened yet.

Now, just to conduct a little survey here for my own info, I want you to do this:  See down there where you can mark how this article affected you? There is also a comment thing.  Just sign in on the comment thing and say if you think I am bossy and overbearing or not.  Now I think you can remain anonymous. I would recommend that you remain anonymous.  Not because I would be upset, because Lord knows I can take criticism, but rather so you you can sleep at night. If you do not want to do that just mark one of the boxes funny, interesting, cool.  Mark interesting if you think I am a b---- and cool if not.

I will let you know how the survey went next time I am on.  So for now I bid you a fond, humble farewell.

The Lilac bush could pass as a tree!!

Here is the Lilac beside my back sidewalk!  I do not understand what happened.  When I planted it, it was very tiny and now it looks like a tree.  See how I have timmed up the one side so I can get through?  I do know this is the most beautiful Lilac on the place and oh, it smells so sweet!  I think the Lilac, whether this one or some other one, is the definite harbinger of Spring.

When I go out in the evening and early morning, all I can smell it the Lilac.  No other bush carries this particular scent.  I like it so much I have evern made soap, lotion and body butter with the Lilac Fragrance.  I call it Bad Girl, because it is a definite conundrum! Who would ever think that someone who smells like Lilac could ever be a Bad Girl?

I have a total of  7 Lilac bushes around the place here, but this one seems to be my favorite.  I wonder if it is because it is right there and I run into it every time I go to the back of the place?  Probably.  I know soon the flowers will be gone and the fragrance a fleeting thing of the past and I will get my pruner thing out and start whacking it back so I can get out of the yard. And then alas and alack, it shall be winter again.

KEEP SPRING IN YOUR HEARTS!!!!

I love Spring and I love my Spring Fever!!

Here is a close up of my Apple tree and on the other side is my humble abode.  On the center left is the pooch and a few sprigs of the Red Bud tree.  On the lower left is the lid to the septic tank.  All is well there, also. I will put a pot of Geraniums on it when they are in season, which will be pretty soon.  It is about to quit freezing at night, for which I shall be very happy!

Right now, blooming in my yard are the Lilacs.  The Apple tree is about done, as is the Red Bud and the Cherry.  Flowering Pink Almond  is all done. Forsythia never bloomed at all.  The Apple tree will have green apples. They will have bugs, cause I do not spray.  I throw them over the fence to the fowl and they like bugs.  Apricots are going to be prolific and buggy as well.  The Cherry tree has never had even one cherry.

But anyway, I am trying to tell you about my Spring Fever!  Did you ever hear that saying, "In Spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love?"  Well, in Spring, this old ladies thoughts turns to thoughts of naps!  I think I could completely sleep all the way through Spring if it were not for that wretched phone!  I know we get that urge to dig in the dirt and plant stuff, but the more I look around at what needs to me done in the yard, the sleepier I get.

Hey!  Maybe I am secretly a bear!  I could sleep all winter and then kind of start stirring the end of the Winter, which is the beginning of Spring.  Oh, oh!  Gotta go to church.  We will continue my sleeping habits at a different time! 

The church now has a piano!!

 
The pipe organ that Randy plays every Sunday is really nice, but a piano is an added touch. For now I think Randy will be going across town and playing the organ at Christ Congregational which gives them an added touch also. Ah, if Nancy and Howard could see us now! Howard was the organist before Randy and he passed away with Cancer. Nancy was the pianist and she passed suddenly shortly after Howard. Needless to say the church was devastated. I bet they are up there looking down on us and getting a good chuckle out of this.

We are getting a new minister who will take the pulpit May 1. This is how that works; our church meets at 9:30 and she will hold our service and then jump in her car and drive to Belmont to preside over their service which starts at 11:00. Then in July we switch our meeting times, I think. It works for us and is called a shared ministry. If you are near our area I would love to have you pop in for church service. We are located at 228 West Evans. We will have coffee after and be prepared to buy tickets for the quilt raffle. We need to raise over $2,000.00 and we are doing in $1.00 at a time!

The Llama's are eating my Asparagus!!

Do you see those two innocent looking Llama's there?   Well, do not let them fool you!  They are evil.  They lean their very long necks over the fence and eat my Asparagus.  Now I love Asparagus and getting a crop of it is usually iffy to say the very least.  First there is the problem of freezing and then as soon as I think it may actually have a chance to grow it gets too hot and it bolts.   Now this new wrinkle has me pretty much perplexed!

I do not go to their field and eat their stuff, so why do they think they can just hang their shaggy little heads over the fence and eat my food?  I was happy to see that they seem to be kind of housebroken.  I seen a big pile of stuff over there and seen the brown and white one contribute to the height of the pile.  So that is a good thing.  I do wish they would move the pile away from my bedroom window.  For the most part they are pretty neat animals, but woe unto the animal who comes between me and my vittles!

See I don't know if you realize how long it takes to get an Asparagus bed established.  This one has been there for about 5 years and is just now showing signs of being able to produce enough for a "mess".  A few of the remains of the stalks I seen were as big as my thumb!  Yummers!!  At least I hope that is what the furry creatures are saying.

See, I also wanted to plant a few gourds along that fence.  I suppose they eat gourds also.  As I set here contemplating this latest dilemma I just thought of something.  I never get a garden anyway, so why am I so worried?  The hail always comes and wipes me out and I wind up eating out of the farmers market, so why fight it?  If those little Llama's want to eat my stuff, I say let them!  At least this way, something got something out of my garden.

Life is Good!!

The small part of Pueblo After 2 on the Pueblo Levee Project.

This is but a small part of the Pueblo Levee Mural Project. It was started in the 1970's as graffiti. The city fathers very quickly seen a way to make it work for the city as opposed to becoming a blight on the city.  It is and has been controlled by the city since that time. The Project is now over 3 miles long and is billed by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest continuous painting in the world.

Then on November 3, 1992,  voters of the state of Colorado, passed the dreaded Amendment 2. By its pure design it was worded to repeal anti discrimination laws that had been passed by various entities to protect the rights of our gay/lesbian population.  I had at that point in time been working with the gay community as a member of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.) We had worked very hard trying to explain that this amendment wa sunconstitutional.  

 The night when the vote was announced we all went to a central gathering place and found out just how many gay people there were in our fair city. I knew my stats, but even I was amazed. On the same ballot was a question to protect black bears during mating season or some such thing. Many people wore signs that said "Don't shoot! I am really a black bear." But out of that evening came the realization that without organization and with out working together the gay community would always be an outcast segment of society. The grass roots organization was named Pueblo After 2, a very symbolic name. 

 If you look very carefully right there under the bridge you will see an upside down rainbow triangle. That was the symbol for Pueblo After 2.  As a friend to the community I was allowed to help! It was my job to bring the coffee and donuts.   I took this picture yesterday. The sign has weathered and faded, but it has been 18 years. That hardly seems possible, but I can subtract.    A lot has happened since that time.  Amendment 2 was struck down by the Supreme Court on May 20, 1996.  Pueblo After 2 is now Southern Colorado Equality Alliance.  As SCEA they are a very respected member of society. PFLAG and SCEA fund scholarships at the local community college.

As for me, I got old and do not do the political thing much any more, but you just never know where you might find me or why!!                                                      

Pueblo Levee Mural Project will be my next undertaking!

I was just flipping through the pages of my mind yesterday and I came up with my next undertaking on the old Blog. Many years ago I was involved in helping put an addition on the Pueblo Levee Mural. I shall revisit the site. I shall also give a brief history of the project. I am getting all excited just thinking about it. Now, I know you think it is a done deal, but there are facts that need to be researched, because this old gal has forgotten most of the particulars.

It is not enough to just put it out there and call it good. There are some facts that need to be accurate. Maybe someone out there can help me. What year was Pueblo After 2 established? What year was I President of PFLAG? Was I President of PFLAG or was I Vice President, or was it Secretary? I got a lot of work to do between now and then so I am going to get busy!

If you think of anything that can help me, please send me a note!!

And my life is full and rich...

This is the Daisy dog. She has not had a bath in over a month!

This is the Elvira, Mistress of the night dog. She just had her bath and she is very pretty.  I look around at my life and I see that it is very good. I have the Cherry Tree right outside the office window, the Redbud blooming in both the front yard and the back yard, the Flowering Pink Almond, Lilac's  and tons of the pretty little yellow flowers all through the grass. Now what more could one woman ask from life? The companionship of the doggies is enough to satisfy any longings I have on the cold winter night. Barely enough room in the bed for me to sleep!

I have a car to drive, a roof over my head, clothes for my back, and food for my tummy.  I have friends and my church for a social life, a mind to think , and a marker at the cemetary that is already engraved. Can you think of anything that is missing? When I bought my marker, the guy at Imperial said the date of my death would be engraved later. I tried to talk him into helping me just set a date and we would work from that, but the guy had no sense of humor. In his line of work I think I understand that.

So, just wanted to share that with you while I had it on my mind.  Dogs come and dogs go. Cats come and the owls eat them. The duck flock is slowly thinning itself and I am sure the geese will follow suit.  A couple years ago I had 36 ducks. Now I am down to 21. It is called the cycle of life.  I have friends who are concerned that the world will end in 2012. First it was 1984, then 1999, then 2000, and I am still here. See, I read the Bible and I like the part about. "No Man shall know the hour of my coming. There shall be 2 people working in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left behind..."

So I shall set here with my doggies, very patiently waiting. In the meantime, I think I will do a lot of living and there is a lot needs doing out there. Think I will go find some to do.

Adoption in Fayetville of Russian boy really wasn't what she wanted.

Hey! Wait a minute!  I changed my mind. What was I thinking?  Those thoughts flashed through my mind many times after we adopted Bret when he was eight years old. Lucky for hm, I did not know about that loop hole. I should have just called him a cab and got on with my life. Not really.

Putting that boy on a plane to Russia has probably traumatized that kid beyond repair. Could you picture yourself at 7 years old leaving your homeland and flying to another country only to be slapped back on the plane and sent back to your homeland? I know first hand that the kids who are taken, or thrown away, by the birth parents, can and do suffer rejection. DUH! There minds are not developed enough to set down and methodically decipher all that has happened in there short lives. So they react.

Their reactions are not understood, by the adults as reaching out, but rather as pushing.  In order to gain your love, they need to push and most humans do not react well to being pushed away. They think of it as being pushed away.  I was well acquainted with the people who ran the mental health facility. I was there for the anger management, attachment disorder, and the sports programs to build self esteem. We had the lying, the stealing, and the threats of running away. Been there, done all that. Social Service was not the only group available to help, but they were paramont. It is not in their or the children's best interest for the adoption not to work, so every effort is made to transition.

So rather than haul old Bret off and get on with it, I chose to stand and fight. Now, I may not have the most successful kid it town, but I do have a funtioning member of society. He isn't in a gang, he is a very soft hearted and kind to animals, old people,  and babies, so I don't think he is a serial killer. True, he does not run out and do chores when I first tell him, and sometimes not the second or third time, but he really feels bad when I wind up dumping the 50 pound bags of feed. Or at least he says he feels bad.

I do know, however, that he does love me.  I know he appreciates that I chose to keep him and not let him filter down through the foster care system. Not that the foster care system is bad, but rather that being with grandmother is better. At least there is a connection.

So to the woman who put her son on the plane and walked away, I would say this: "You did what you had to do.  You based your actions on information you had at the time.  There may have been other choices, but you chose the path you walk. Walk forward knowing that we can not say what you should do until we have walked in your shoes. God Bless You!"

This is what I call a sad looking sight!

This is my doggie, Daisy.  Actually she was adopted at the pound for Little Bret when he was about 14 years old.  He was going to walk her, give her a bath, play ball with her...  So here we are later in life and I have inherited the dog, along with the 4 ducks he had to have when he was still cute and got what he wanted.  The 4 little ducks have grown into 21 ducks and those 3 cute little geese have multiplied into 10.  I just have a headache.

Somehow little Daisy looks a lot like Groucho Marx.  That is not a cigar in her mouth, but is a chew toy, one that is supposed to make her have sweet breathe. Sorry to say it is not working!  This is the sweet little dog that jumped almost over the fence coming out of the duck pen and tore her skin loose, thereby requiring a trip to the Vet on a Sunday afternoon to the tune of $240.00.  I especially enjoyed that one!  But where would we be without our little pets?

I had an email from my former Pastor a while ago and she said her cat, who has been her best friend for 12 years died today.  My heart bleeds for her.  People are always sympathetic when we have a loss that entails a human, but neglect the tender thoughts when it is an animal.  Why?  An animal gives us unfaltering love, trust, and devotion.  Why should we grieve any differently over the pet than a human who was perhaps, not so faithful and intuitive?  An animal's love in unconditional, while humans tend to run and hide when we are pissy.  She can get another cat, but she will never get another Thomaus.

So I will enjoy my little furry friends while I have them.  Sometimes I would like to not have them, especially when I am sucking the white hair off the brown couch, but there you go. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

And there you have my musings for the day. No words of wisdom today, just brain dead!

Another day spent eating my way toward bedtime!!

Ok, now maybe I did something else, but right now I forget what it was.  First thing this morning it was off to the annual United Way breakfast at the Golden Corral.  That is one of those all you can carry places.  My husband decided that early on when he looked at what we had on our plates at an all you can eat place and declared, "This isn't all you can eat, it is all you can carry, because there is no way we can eat all this!"  I had to agree with him on that one.

After breakfast it was time to prepare for lunch with Tim and my daughter Patty.  That happened at the resturant at the Airport because Tim works in one of the businesses out there.  I had a hamburger and true to resturant fare the bun was 6 times as big as the 3 ounce hamburger. Extra onion means they actually left a piece of onion on the plate. Then home for the nap.

Then Patty was off to play bingo with another sister leaving Bret and I to fend for ourselves.  I had leftover Jambalya and Bret had a plethora of chicken nuggets, chicken egg rolls, and mozzarella sticks, all deep fried because he is getting tired of the soggy stuff in the microwave. I think there is some ice cream in the freezer somewhere, so I may go find that I polish that off and then head for bed. 

Have a good one.

This is Randy Tryon, Organist at First Congregational United Church of Christ....

Here is Randy having a cookie.  Like every red blooded American male, he likes cookies. Randy is one in a million.  When he is not doing his job which is being a nurse, he is playing the organ at our churdh.  If that is not enough, when he is through playing for our church which meets at 9 AM at 228 West Evans here in Pueblo, Colorado, he jumps in his car and races across town to our sister church , Christ Congregational  which meets at 11:00 AM.

I do not know Randy very well, but I do know he has a lovely wife to whom he is devoted and at least one son and a daughter in law who plays the flute.  Also they have a baby who is a grand child to Randy. I am sure it is either a boy or a girl, but that is all I know.

This dark forboding picture is of the piano that Randy wants to replace.  I have never played anything in my life except the radio, so what I know about musical instruments you could put on the head of a pin.  But Randy says this archaic monster has got to go, so go it shall.  I do know it looks kind of cold and not very friendly. The piano at Christ Church is very black and very pretty.  Soon, I hope we will have one like that!

So, for the time being, we will be gearing up to raise money and the first quilt is laying on the table in Mayflower Hall and I bought the first 5 tickets, so I know there is $5.00 in the fund.  Wish us luck and I shall hopefully keep you up to date from time to time!

The first quilt we will raffle to buy the piano for the church!

This is definitely a scrap quilt!  When I am working in the sewing room I throw all the scraps of mateial in a box.  Then Linda came and got the box and took it to her sister, Elizabeth Griffith who very patiently sewed them together to make this quilt.

This is what the whole thing looks like.  The above picture is just a corner.  The four blocks in the center are parts of a nativity scene that did not measure up for quality so they went in the box.  I did tell you that Randy wants a new piano at our church , didn't I? Randy Tyron plays the pipe organ at my church, First Congregational Church, UCC here in Pueblo.  The piano we have is very old and not in very good shape,  so he thinks we should have a new one.  He is probably right!

Anyway, our church does not have a lot of money, so we thought if we could make a bunch of quilts and raffle them off, that would be a good way to raise needed funds.  So this is the first one. We figure we should raise at least a $100.00 on each quilt so we will sell tickets afte church every Sunday until we have sold 100 tickets then we will have a drawing.  Sounds good to me. I can see I better get busy working on the next quilt!

I plan on doing a little blog on Randy and his pipe organ, but this computer is very slow at loading pictures, so it will need to wait a day or two.  For now, we are starting our project and I will keep you posted on how it is progressing.  In the meantime, if you would like to pop in to our church and buy a ticket, we are located at 228 West Evans, Pueblo, Colorado  81004. Church starts every Sunday promptly at 9:30 and we always have coffee after.  Maybe I will  see you there!!

Here are the Apricot blooms I was telling you about!

Here you see the blooms on the Apricot tree.  I know some of you will think that means Spring is here and Winter is over, but I am sorry to say you may be mistaken. It has been my experience that here in Pueblo we only get a fruit crop about once every 7 years.  I can still remember getting Apricots off this tree and I can't remember things that happened seven years ago, so I am pretty sure the freezing stuff is not over.

But I do want to tell you where this tree came from. About 20 years ago we were working on a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) job in Paonia, Colorado.  That is over on the Western Slope where all the fruit comes from. The land is mostly for grazing cattle and recreation and such so it is mostly public land. On the public land grows all kinds of trees to include Apricot, Peach, Choke Cherry, Apple, and one called Sarviss Berry which is a lot like a Blueberry.  Anyway my dear husband picked a bread bag full of Apricots for me.  I made them into Apricot Jam and threw the pits out by the septic tank. Next Spring I had many Apricot Seedlings.  I planted 14 over at my mother-in-law's and planted 3 here. Still have them.

The Apricots are the first fruit trees to bloom in the Spring.  Also usually the first ones to get frosted, too.  Ok, that is the story for the day. Putting my tired old body to bed.

Welcome home from Iraq to Christine!

The granddaughter is safely home from Iraq!  That is always good news for all concerned. There is just something about having their little feet on United States soil that gives moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, friends and acquaintances a sense of relief!  True, we may not see the girl and in fact probably will not see her, but I rest easy knowing she is back.

Chris has been in the Air Force and will remain there for some time, but she is back in Denver.  She did get to spend 2 nights in Pueblo and must report in to the base in Denver today.  So for whatever it is worth and wherever "home" may be we thank the Lord above that she is home and not sleeping in Iraq tonight!

Welcome home, Chrissie!