Sister Patty and her little brood, or some of them.

Here is sister Patty and if you look at the last picture down at the bottom, you will find her husband Bill.  I had him up here, but he jumped back down there.  Guess he wants to be the last in line. 

Now Patty is my second child.  Debbie was the first.  Patty lives in Western Kansas in a very small town.  Well, not in town, per se, but out in the country on the other side of the river.  She is retired from the library in that little town.  Bill works some where driving a truck.  He is usually home at night and if not Patty is where he is located.

 

This is Patty and her brother, Sam.  This was taken last week while Sam was here on his way back to Dallas, Texas.  We had a nice little family reunion.  The only one not here was Debbie, and that is just too far to drive to sleep on the floor!

Patty's hobbies are all art related.  She did all the art work for the Library when she was there.  Even designed their tee shirts.  She also is very accomplished in cross stitch.  I have several charcoal drawings and they are of professional quality.  She sure did not inherit that from my genes!

This is her oldest grandson, Javan.  He is a pistol and smart as a whip.  He was born out here in Colorado, so he is a transplant back to Kansas.  Seems to have taken root rather well!

And this is the little Kaison.  He is such a serious little fellow.  But he does love his granny Patty and his Grandma Lou.  Not to say that Javan does not, just that Kaison is a lot more demonstrative.  Kaison usually shuts his eyes at the exact moment the flash goes off, but I got lucky this time.  Might be because he loves his Uncle Sammy!

Here is the mother of the children and Patty's oldest daughter, September.  She and her kids and beloved live in Western Kansas, near Patty.  She has just completed her Master's Degree and is thinking about going for something else.  Doctorate?  I do not know.  I was lucky to make it though the college I took.  She is smart and gets on the Dean's list, and I know she got that from me!  Woohoo!  See that bear?  I made that for my dear husband who was a trucker.

And here is Patty's youngest daughter.  This one is my little Indian, Savannah. She and her chosen one live farther away so we do not see her that often.  They have one daughter to whom Vanny is a step mother.  If I ever had a step mother I would want her to be like Vanny as opposed to that witch Cinderella got...

Ok, now I am down here where Bill is supposed to be and that rascal has ran off again.  Ok, I got him again!  I better get this published before he gets away again!  He is not in the habit of taking off, just that he does not like to be seen online and in print.  A very hard working man and one of my favorite son-in-laws.  That is saying a lot since I only have 2. 

That is it for today.  Next time you meet a family member it will be my middle daughter.  Well, middle child and she is not that anymore.  I adopted one later so she lost her place in line. 

But there you have it from Western Kansas, near Garden City, and the one place I lived that was hotter than hell.  Well, maybe not, but 110-115 degrees was nothing unusual.  I had 3 kids while I was there.  Fond memories.

Even I have a win some times!

What you see here is the culmination of my thinking process over the last few months.  Of course I first had to have a seed planted.  The whole process began probably 7 or 8 years ago when some one suggested I might try making soap.  So I kicked that one around for a while.  I  remembered when mama used to drip water through wood ashes and get lye which she mixed with old grease and that was laundry soap.  So I studied up on that.  At the time I could buy lye about anywhere so I made my first batch of soap.  First I had to find beef tallow which I had to render.  The first batch was made with beef tallow, lard and olive oil.  And of course lye and water.  Amazed my self!  It was white and pretty.  My skin actually was not dry any more.

So on to different kinds of soap.  And then lotion.  Getting softer all the time.  Then Body Butter.  Fragrances.  Lip Balm.  And then a hippie friend explained about years ago and the lip balm that was made with hemp butter.  I researched the hemp factor and found that Cannabis Sativa  is loaded with Omega 6 and Omega 3  essential fatty acids.  It is one of the richest sources of complete protein.  It is also effective in the treatment of eczema.  That was all I needed to know.  First came the Lip Bong.  Then I began work on the Face/Body Butter and yesterday I reached perfection with the formula.

Ah, this is like nothing you have ever felt.  It is like silk on your skin and there is no oily residue. I am still searching for a name.  Since it makes my face as soft as a baby's bottom, a friend in New York suggested I call it "Arse Lookin' At Ya!"  I am giving thought to that.  For now it is just Hemp Seed Body/Face Butter.  You can find it located in my eBay store or just email me.  I am pretty sure I have a winner here!

http://stores.ebay.com/Lou-Mercers-Grab-Bag

The son is here and the doggies are tired!

Well, the son arrived here from California yesterday afternoon.  Well, actually a little before noon.  He had left there at 1:00 PM the previous day to make the 22 hour drive.  By arriving here 23 hours later, I  am thinking he did not spend the night in a motel anywhere.

So let me introduce the dogs who are his family and accompanied him on his journey.  This is Oliver.  Ollie is a West Highland Terrier.  Kind of an oaf of a dog, and is constantly surprised by life in general.  He is learning many things.  One of which is that I have a cat and he does not know what a cat is.  He thinks it might be something to play with, but he is not real sure of that .  He also got introduced to the flock of geese and ducks.  This rather overwhelmed the poor fellow as he had only encountered wild life in a one on one setting.  After much trembling, Sam allowed him back in the sanctuary of the yard.

 This would be the poor little Emma, the very old poodle.  She is exhausted to the point of being unable to move at all.  Her only actual sign of her age is that her hearing is completely gone.  She is the most precious little dog and she loves to be held.  Sam left her with me while he took Oliver to the doggie wash.  Doggie wash is like a car wash only you wash a dog instead of a car!  Never heard of such a thing.   I sat in the recliner and she had a nice nap in my lap.  Surprisingly enough, Daisy and Elvira did not grab her leg and jerk her off my lap.

 And here they are making themselves at home on the couch.  Sam wanted me to know that Emma likes to fluff things up so I might want to keep an eye on her and my leather couch.  Yesterday she was way to tired to care about the fluffing thing.

Ok, there is a short introduction to the doggies. Tomorrow or later tonight we will delve into the actual son part.  Oh, and the girls are coming so there will  be lots going on.

Happy Valentines Day to you!

Let me see.  The last time I received any thing for Valentines Day was in 2003.  I got a set of pots and pans and they were exactly the kind and color I wanted.  Seems my husband had just passed away and left his wallet behind with just the right amount of money to pay for that purchase.  He always was considerate to a fault.

Then Marge gave me a thing that hangs from the ceiling and holds the pots and pans on hooks.  That is really nice.  So after all these years they are still in pretty good shape.  Well, occasionally an interloper will pass through my kitchen in search of food and use one to cook something.  No problem as long as they follow the rules which are simple.  No flash frying!  No smoke arising from any vessel.  Spray the inside lightly to prevent sticking.  But, alas, I can not guard the kitchen 24/7 and a few gouges have appeared and I may need to replace something.  These are Wearever Taste of Home collection.  I shall miss them when the time comes, but it is not going to be this year.

What do I have planned for tonight?  Ah, it is the Jeopardy! Challenge where Watson, the high powered computer built just for this, will go against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.  Being a die hard beleiver in human beings as opposed to machines, I am trusting that Watson will blow a fuse.  I have cleared my calendar for the next three days and will be plastered to the screen.  So do not call.  Do not drop by.  Do not email.  I wanted to take the kiddies to a movie tonight, but that will have to wait until after.  Oh, but then it will be cold and dark and I do not do that well at all. 

Ok.  This is my thoughts for the day.  I have something in mind for the PFLAG post so you might want to pop over there for a look.  http://www.pueblopflag.blogspot.com/

Fun to have with a carrot on a snowy day.

Well, a bag of carrots, a couple Llama's, lot of snow, and a vegetarian dog makes for a fun slide show.  No animals were harmed in the making of this slide show.

I went to Safeway's and got a bag of carrots along with a lot of other stuff and when I got home and opened the carrots I found they had roots and greenery.  Sorry, not my idea of fresh.  I will not buy a bag next time that I can not see through.  So I figured this was my fault.  Since I live in the County it would have taken more gas to return them then they cost.  Once more, one of the lessons I have learned.

So I took my bag of carrots and my trusty camera and went to the side fence and called to the Llama's.  Of course they came.  I stuck the carrots in the fence to free my hands and then we talked.  Yes, they do like carrots and they do not mind that they are not crisp and crunchy.  They were most agreeable to have their pictures taken and I do think they posed for me a little bit.  Now I have heard and actually seen Llama's that spit, but these do not seem to have that habit.  For that I am grateful.

When I turned to come back to the house, the Daisy dog shot past me.  Seems she thought she would like a carrot.  She also knew she was not supposed to have it.  That is why I got very good pictures of the Llama's and Daisy ran from me.  Hope she enjoyed her carrot.  And I hope you enjoy the slide show.

Lunch with Grandma Lou!

Isn't it amazing that when you think there is no way to go but down,  life has a way of shaking you right out of that funk?  So I had company for lunch and when lunch was over, I had a nap.  There is nothing to perk an old lady up like a one year old, a 1 1/2 year old and a big old 6 year old.   Especially if I have ice cream and peaches to go with hamburgers.

The weight of the world equates to....nothing.

I remember when I was a kid I would see pictures of Atlas with the world on his shoulders.  Things like that stick with kids.  At that time I thought the world was very big and very heavy and the man that held the world was very strong.  I have since learned that such is not the case.

In the first place, there is no way a mere mortal could even get the world on his shoulders and if he did, where would he stand to hold it? I also remember my mother saying she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.  I thought she must be  a very strong woman.  Funny how a kid's mind will work.

And now that I am older, I get it.  Or at least I think I do.  Usually I am a rather upbeat person and can handle what ever the world throws at me, but then there are times when the powers of the Universe conspire against me and the weight of the world begins to pile on my shoulders.  This also gives credence to another saying, "It never rains, but what it pours." 

My world was on it's axis and spinning right along yesterday afternoon until early evening.  At that time I got the phone call that we had lost a client.  This one was totally unexpected.  A young woman with a small son and a bright and shining future.  She was engaged and life was good.  Right up till that last moment.  Then I had a phone call about a problem involving ego's and power struggles that are always unsolvable and just take up time.  Little weight of the world on my shoulders, but not really bad at all.  Got my new blog up and running and feeling good.

Then came the bright part of my day when my computer lit up with my friend and confidant.  And from there it was all down hill.  Cyber space is not all it cracked up to be.  Things said in jest can not be interpurted as such in black and white.  Emails do not always end up where they were sent and in some cases may be who knows where.  Or maybe they are just ignored in favor of something better?

Suffice it to say when the downward spiral begins there is not an easy fix, so by bedtime I was rethinking this whole life thing.  It seems that life actually can be equated  to doing the Texas Two Step on the way to the grave.  You know, the old two steps forward and one step back?  And  if you turn around and look backwards you are just liable to back right into the open grave. 

My nights get very long when I try to solve the world's problems.  I tried putting all my thoughts in piles and labeling them.  Pile number one was things I could do nothing about.... Egypt, Mubarac, the weather, death of a client went in one pile.  Things I could do something about in another pile...problems at church,  burned out ballast in the kitchen light, hole in the dining room carpet, the new blog went in another pile.  Then came the insurmountable problem of misunderstanding with a friend.  Personal relationships have always been hard ones for me.  And the sad part is that they still are and sometimes I just walk away when I think I am right.  Does not mean I am right or wrong, only means that is how I deal with life when it is more than I can understand.

God grant me the power to accept the things I can not change,  change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.  or something like that.