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!

 

 

What is normal?

Recently I have had the occasion to wonder, what is normal?  What is not?  To me, 5'1" and 160 pounds is normal.  Not so to my 100 pound step daughter.  Getting up at 4:30 is normal and perfectly acceptable to me.  Not to my 23 year old grand daughter.  Spending 7-8 hours a day on my computer is "normal" to me, but I have friends and family members who are challenged to turn their computer on, if they even have one.  I talk to one daughter several times a week on the phone, another weekly, one monthly and one I have not spoken to in years.  Which of those scenarios is "normal?"
When I was raising my babies it was "normal" for me to work 2 and three jobs just to make ends meet.  Yet I know families where no one works.  To them it is "normal"  for some one else to "take care" of them.  I do not consume alcohol, but I know people who drink as a matter of course.  I don't buy or drink soda pop, but I know people who  drink it on a regular basis.
What I am trying to get to here, is what is normal?  Could it be that there is indeed, no "normal?"  When we were growing up back in Nickerson, it was much like being raised by the wind.  Mom worked cleaning houses.  Dad did not work.  Mom came home and cooked our supper, we ate and then mom ironed a basket of clothes for one of the ladies in town.  We went to bed.  We got up and did it all over again.  My Dad sometimes had a "hot toddy" for his "cold".  Sometimes he let us have a teaspoonful.  Usually not.  The woman at the end of the block kept an eye on the little kids for 50¢ a week.  (She liked to ride stick horses and the little kids would run behind her.)
We were very poor, but so was everyone else.  Poor was the "norm."  We moved to Hutch and fit right in with that society.  Mom was a secretary by that time.  She would later go on to waitress work which paid better then office work back then.   By that time us kids were all beginning to leave home.  Mary got married at 15, I got married, Dorothy got married, Donna drifted off to school, and Jake was Jake, and Josephine was divorced and remarried with her kids grown and gone.
I immediately had a nest full of kids and began travelling the state with my tree trimmer husband.  I remember back when I was raising kids, Ward and June Cleaver were raising kids at the same time as I was, but talk about a world of difference!   A two parent home!  Ward went to work and guided the children in the right direction.  He did not appear to drink or carouse.  That was the "normal" for June but  my "normal" was far different. 
And so it is now today.  I look back down the road of my past and I see a skinny little girl with bare feet picking her way down a road of shattered dreams, lost opportunities, broken hearts, dragging 5 little kids behind her to reach the ever elusive rainbow at the end.  I now stand at the precipice to what, I know not, and I ask myself, "Did I do it right?  Did I do the best I could?"  The answer is "no".  But I do know this, I did the best I could knowing what I knew then with the tools that were at my disposal. 
I got all my kids into the world of adulthood.  They are all functioning members of society.  True, they are no doubt scarred by their childhood, but aren't we all?  They all have a different perception of "mother, hearth and home," but don't we all?  If I could walk the road again and know what I know now, they would all have gone to college.  We would be a close knit family and we would vacation together and talk on the phone every day and be so happy.  But until some one figures out a way to live our lives in reverse, they will just have to live with an imperfect mother, but one that loved them all nonetheless.
So, I just got off the phone with the oldest daughter who reassures me that there is no such thing as normal and as for her childhood, when someone says,  "How are you ?"  she replies, "Mentally unstable, but I am very friendly."
So there it is in a nut shell!

Big misunderstanding on my part about the Sherminator!!!

Just had a short email from the Danaman.
 Lou,
          The Sherminator is for racing @ Bonneville, it's not street legal. So I will be coming down to your place on Sherman's black Matchless that I got running awhile back. Now I am counting on giving you a short ride on the Matchless, so make sure your life insurance is paid up (hah!)
Danaman
Hey, that is even better.  Check this out!  Whoops, never mind.  Was going to link you up to the youtube of the Matchless, but that is not there any more .  RATS!

Thanks, Dana!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y57dnNtUk_Q

 

Yes! It is a go on the cook out at my house!

SHERMAN J SCHROEDER, JR.

MEMORIAL RIDE AND COOKOUT

JULY 6, 2013

FEATURING THE

Sherman's Black Matchless

RIDDEN BY DANAMAN

AND ESCORTED BY THE BMAC

Call for details  719-546-1555

Just heard from the DanaMan and July 6 is a go!  Soooooo, the bike club should arrive here between noon and 1:00 for lunch.  I just want to say, if there is anyone out there who would like to join us for whatever reason, just give me a call so I have a heads up on how many to cook for.  Or leave a comment at the end of this blog.  Or send a message through my email.  I will give you good directions to my house and be most happy to see you.

Dana added this: I don't have email addresses/phone numbers for these three, so could yet let them know about the ride ? Let them know they can either come to Colorado Springs for the starting point of the ride, or just meet us at your place for lunch. We will start the ride @ around 11:00 AM from Johnny's Navajo Hogan bar and restaurant ( 2817 N. Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO ). I would guess we would be arriving at your place between noon and 1:00 PM.  Also if they want to attend our club meeting at the Hogan, that starts at 10:00 AM, they are more than welcome.

I would love to see a good turnout for this event.  This is one week before the anniversary of Sherman's passing so we need to celebrate the little fellow one more time.  Sherman was one in a million!

Here is a link to the newsletter showing lots of pictures.  http://www.bmacinc.com/Newsletter.html
And look for them on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/293247852308/?ref=ts&fref=ts

So that is the scoop for now.  I look forward to seeing or hearing from some of you very soon.
loumercer3@aol.com
 

This was Saturday when the smoke was at its worst at my house.

 

This was the sun about mid morning on Saturday.  I pointed the camera straight at it and clicked.  Normally all I can see when I do that is the glare, but this was filtered through a lot of smoke from the fires all around us.  The air was filled with a smoky smell and a haze hung over everything.

 

 

About 1:00 in the afternoon we caught a break and I got this picture of a helicopter on its way to one of the fires.  See how blue the sky was?  The smoke smell lifted for this period.

 

 

And then in the early evening it all came back.  Guess the cool morning and evening air held it closer to the ground.  My friend, Wanda, lives over at South Fork which is now under pre-evacuation warning and she said they can not even smell the smoke.  It apparently goes straight up and then down to the valley.  Lucky her.  Well, not really lucky her, because she is still in danger of losing her home.  I would not like to be in her shoes at all!

 

I picked Doug up for church yesterday morning and he said it had rained at his house the night before.  He said it was really nice.  I would not know since it did not rain at my house.  I have not even seen a rain cloud;  just smoke clouds.  I have been talking to the good Lord about this situation and I am sure he will remedy it soon.  Think how fast he could put out those fires, if he had  mind to.

 

But you know how this goes.  It is called nature and ever so often the forest fires thin the underbrush and the dead and diseased trees.  When we were down on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, they had a practice of going in and cutting down the dead trees and hauling them down to the road for people to use as fire wood.  Forest fires there are very rare, but of course the naturalists think that is interfering and a fern may loose it's happy home on the forest floor.  I do not know what the answer is.  I do know that there has been very little loss of life this fire season, which is indeed a blessing.

 

But I have been thinking, if I could get all my friends to pray for rain, maybe it would happen.  If you don't do the praying thing, try the karma and send good thoughts this way.  Just picture a nice soft rain falling all over Colorado.  Not a heavy downpour, because we have lots of areas that are now without vegetation.  That would cause flooding.  Just a little soft rain.

 

I would very much appreciate it!

 

 

Just a heads up for you biker fans or Sherman fans.

This is the "Sherminator" and it is ready to run.  Pretty sure this is going to Bonneville this fall!  The BMAC is having the annual Sherman Schroeder run and Dana called yesterday to tell me the plan.  We are not sure exactly where but it will be before noon. 

 

As soon as I know I will let you in on the specifics.  For now, just know it is in the works!

 

When Sherman passed last year he left the garage to his beloved British Motorcycle Association of Colorado, which he had helped found back in 1983.  Only one of the founders is left and hopefully he will be there that day. 

Any way, the club dug this out of the rubble in the garage and have spent the past year restoring it to museum quality.  This is going to be very exciting, at least for me

The cat and the hummingbird and NO CAMERA!

I have Sherman's desk that he left me right by the front window.  Outside the front window hangs the hummingbird feeder.  Inside the window is a bookcase and of course, a window sill.  Scenario is set!
I sat down in the little chair at the little desk for just a moment.  In that moment, the calico cat, Icarus, leapt on to the bookcase.  At the same moment outside the window, the hummingbird arrived for his afternoon feeding.
Hummingbird and cat spotted each other at the same moment.  Hummingbird came closer to the window to tease get a better look at the cat.  Icarus was plastered with front feet against the window while hummingbird dove and fluttered within inches of those deadly claws!  I knew exactly where my camera was.  It was on the front seat of the car, ready for action.  But I was inside the house and the action was here!

And isn't that rather how life goes?  Seems if I have the good shot in my eyesight, the camera is not near.  If the camera is near, there is not a good shot!  So, what does this say about my life?  Could it be that I am missing a lot of good opportunities simply because I was not expecting them to arise and I did not appreciate them when they did?  See the word tease up above?  See the word tease here?  That is called a strikethrough and it is done with a process called HTML.

 A couple of  years back ebay had chat rooms and I spent a lot of time in one.  There I met a man who was an editor for a newspaper in Chicago or some such place. (And he really was because I googled him and found his bio.  See, on the internet, you can be anything you want, until someone googles you and you are reduced to being an everyday nobody.)   Maybe Cleveland.  Anyway, at the time I was interested in learning the art of HTML.   I would ask him "How do I do the copyright sign?" and he would tell me. ©   See how easy that was?   Or something like this:

WATCH THIS

So I hung out in that chat room until ebay finally did away with our little playroom, but I still have my HTML sheets and I may very well surprise you from time to time with my prowess in this area.  Give me an HTML format and I can dazzle you, but do not be confused that this means I am a computer genius by any stretch of the imagination.  Just something to do.

Alas, back in May of 2011 I noticed Dan was no longer hanging out.  I emailed him.  Nothing.  I thought that odd and I started asking around the chat rooms.  Finally I got an email from someone I did not know, sent outside of the chat rooms.  It contained short note that said simply "Because you care." and a  link to an obituary.  And that was it.  I do not know why this came up today, but it just goes to show how thinking about a hummingbird led to thinking about a computing process which in turn led to thinking about something silly that happened many years ago.

I guess this just goes to show that nothing ever really goes away.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  And that, my friends, is my words of wisdom for the day!

 

Look, Faye! Up close and personal!

My first rendering of fused glass!

I will bring these Monday so you can see them.  But for the rest of my friends, just look at what I made.  I think I will do even better next time.  I am rather excited about this new little venture!

Button class today, ah the brilliance of it!

Here we are at Lane's House of Glass where we can throw no stones!  This is located at 111 Colorado Ave., Pueblo, Colorado.  Phone # on that is 719-542-2210.   Now the way I happened to wind up in here was I was at the Weaver's Guild meeting and they said who would like to take a class on fused glass and I got confused.  For some reason I thought it was a wine tasting class and since my hand was already up and I was hollering "Pick me! Pick me!" when I actually figured out what was going on and I did not want anybody to know I was not paying attention, I signed up for the fused glass button making class.  Now, I had walked past Lane's House of Glass a time or two on my way to the homemade candy store (which incidentally, is going out of business if they don't find a buyer.)  I knew they had beautiful stained glass hanging in the display window, but that was a far as my tiny mind had taken me, until that day.

Now as I anxiously awaited the day of my class and told people, "No, I am busy that day at my fused glass class", I was asked several times exactly what kind of class it was and what was I going to do.  Did I get here before you?  What is fused glass?   I have no idea.  No idea whatsoever, but when I get done I will know what I did.  That seemed to satisfy my most ardent admirer; sort of anyway.

So today it arrived and off I went at the allotted time.  I was greeted by two of the nicest people I have encountered in quite some time; Bob Lane and his able assistant, Lisa.  We were ushered into the workroom in the back which was all laid out for us.  I at first thought the dark marks on the table were dried blood but was told that was a  crock.  See, I am smart enough to know that glass is sharp and broken glass is really sharp.  Bob asked if any of us had ever worked with glass before and I told him that one time I actually washed a window, but that did not count.

This is my work station.  It consisted of a big square of paper, glass cutters, pliers, some glue and lots of containers of broken scraps of glass and other stuff that I did not remember what was. 

These are my little palettes which I shall attempt to turn into works of art.  They are squares of thin glass.  The big ones are about 1 1/2" and the little ones about an inch.

Now after much brilliance I ended up with little piles of stuff that I am sure were what I did although I am not sure what I saw in my head and what ended up on the palette were any where near the same thing.  You people do know I have about as much artistic talent as a slug, but I gave it the old college try.

Here is my efforts laying in the bottom of the jewelers kiln.  Look kind of sad, don't they?  Ah, but wait!  The master will bake them!  10 minutes at some temperature, then raise it for another 10 minutes and then raise them to 1600 degrees.  I think that is right.  And voila!  The glass I had piled and glued and placed strategically would begin to slump and fuse together, hence the term, fused glass.  Get it too hot and apparently it all turns into a big ball and is good for not much of anything!

 

 

 

 

So, now tomorrow, I can go pick them up, because today they are really hot! 

 

So, I count today as a good day and let me tell you why.  I learned a craft that I had never had an inkling of how to do it.  I now know what fused glass is and I made some.  That is one thing.  I met two very wonderful people, Bob Lane and Lisa.  I tell you this much, they were very kind to me as I navigated this world that was totally foreign to me.  Bob did a lot of my glass cutting for me because I think he could foresee a lot of blood if he didn't.  Lisa is a font of knowledge and the two of them together made my journey a lot of fun.  And my fellow classmates were quick to point out my mistakes.  Ah, bless them! 

So if you think you can not do it, just pop right in to Lane's and tell them Lou said.  I am sure they will work you into a class and what is life if it is not the never ending quest for knowledge.  And it is always fun to learn how to do something first hand.  I am probably not going to take this up as a full time hobby, but it was fun.  Hey, if I can do it, you can do it.