Family Photo Fun upcoming

Our topic for the upcoming week will be GLASS.. hmmm.. this may be a challenge.

VIOLET PHOTO FUN

good morning and welcome to my Photo Fun Friday. It's a beautiful morning. The topic this past week was VIOLET/LAVENDER. I had a little trouble finding things that didn't look pink too.. so here are my offerings. Feel free to critique in the comments. And please feel free to link to my blog at the bottom of this page to add your own photos.

Welcome to my garden..

My raised bed with tomatoes in front and peas/beans in back

Blossoms on my tomatoes

zucchini in a tub

Saw the doctor yesterday

Yesterday I had a check up at the doctor's office. I have the ultimate in doctors- he LISTENS to me and responds accordingly.
My labs were pretty good, I've lost 12#, and my lungs didn't have any crackles or wheezes (YAY!!!!!!). I got my scripts for various meds I needed.
I've been whining for several months about my right ankle feeling broken. I had an Xray done a couple weeks ago and yesterday I told him about the pain and we read the Xray report together- NO fracture. However, I do have a moderate amount of osteoarthritis in that joint that is giving me fits. I knew something was wrong. So I have a special splint on it's way to wear for a few months till the ankle settles down.
Another of my complaints was this rash I've had for weeks. It's on both my arms, and only on the tops of them. I thought it could be eczema, but he said no, it was a photo reaction to sunlight caused by one of my meds. Oh, yeah.. I'm supposed to stay out of direct sunlight.. but I never had a beautiful deck before and I LOVE sitting out on it. Okay, he says, sunscreen on the arms every time I go outside and suggested a long sleeved shirt to cover them also. Ugh.. 94* and I will be wearing a long sleeved shirt. It could be a lot worse.

I filled 9 gallons of water in jugs this morning and proceeded to water my tiny postage stamp garden. The tomatoes are looking very healthy- all 7 of them. The most of them have blossoms- I got a late start planting. My climbing beans are going up the trellis and onto the deck rails. The flower bed off the deck is coming along fine... I discovered 2 potato plants growing in there too.
It's starting to warm up here- 86* at the airport and it's almost noon.
Gotta pick up scripts today and get Wendell a pair of special sun glasses..

post July 4

Here it is the day after the 4th of July. I hope your's was a delight. We had a sort of good day.. the Z's grilled chicken and grillers and brought it to our house where I'd made potato salad and had fresh pineapple and strawberries.. patriotic cupcakes for dessert- thanks Mandy- and a taste of barbecue potato chips from the Vulhops. Oh.. yummy everything! Later on the weather really caught up to me and I ended up having to use my nebulizer and some Xopenex for the wheezing. It's that time.
I'll make sure I get all the meds issued to me this month in particular. I can't afford an asthma attack because it involves steroids to calm it down. Steroids leave my body racked with all of their side effects.. happens EVERY time. So I have to be really cautious.
As yesterday, today is very hot and an Air Quality Advisory has been issued. This is the warning to anyone with respiratory problems (including asthma) to stay indoors and preferably in air conditioning. It also includes not expending a lot of energy. Breathing faster while working indoors or out seems to bring the wheezing on faster.
No guilt here. I'm sitting quietly at the computer. Dishes are done, house isn't too bad. I'll save the sweeping for another day.
Had a bad night again last night. It was 2am when I looked at the clock.
It's 90 degrees right now and may go to 92* before the day is out. Plants got watered early this morning- a good soaking for my tomatoes in particular. I have 7 plants and 2 of them are in blossom.
It's gonna be a hot week. I thank the Lord for providing us the resources to acquire central air conditioning. It's been a blessing.

This was written by a Mexican who is now a naturalized US Citizen, and I
think it's a great explanation of the illegal immigration issue.



Perfect explanation.

Here is the quote:


"If you had tickets to a sports event, concert, Disneyland , or for an
airline flight, and when you got to your assigned seat you found someone
else was in that seat, what would you do? You would call for a person in
charge of ticket checking and have the person in your seat removed. You
would properly be asked to show your ticket, and you would gladly and
proudly do so, for you have bought and paid for that seat. The person in
your seat would also be asked for a ticket, which they would not be able to
produce. They would be called "gate crashers" and they would properly be
removed.



Now in this huge stadium called the USA we have had (tens of) millions of
gate crashers. We have been asking security to check for tickets and remove
the gate crashers. We have been asking security to have better controls in
checking at the door. We have asked security to lock the back doors.
Security has failed us. They are still looking the other way. They are
afraid to ask to see the tickets. Many people say there is unlimited
seating, and whether there is or not, no one should be allowed in for free
while the rest of us pay full price!



In "section AZ", of "Stadium USA ", we have had enough of the failures of
Security. We have decided to do our own ticket checking, and properly remove
those who do not have tickets. Now it seems very strange to me that so many
people in the other 49 "sections", and even many in our own "section" do not
want tickets checked, or even to be asked to show their ticket! Even the
head of Security is chastising us, while not doing his own job which he has
sworn to do.



My own ticket has been bought and paid for, so I am proudly going to show it
when asked to do so. I have a right to my seat, and I want the gate crashers
to be asked to show their tickets too. The only reason that I can imagine
anyone objecting to being asked for their ticket is that they are in favor
of gate crashing, and all of the illegal activities that go with it, such as
drug smuggling, gang wars, murder, human smuggling for profit, and many more
illegal and inhumane acts that we are trying to prevent with our new
legislation.



Is that what I am hearing from all of the protestors such as Phoenix Mayor
Gordon, US Rep. Grijalva, even President Obama? If you are not in favor of
showing tickets, (proof of citizenship, passport, green card, or other legal
document) when asked, as I would do proudly, then you must be condoning
those illegal activities."


Written by a US Citizen, Globe, Arizona .

Okay.. I'm back in business and this is Friday. I have no excuses except.. ugh. It's been a crazy week. I pick up my PC tomorrow- it's being discharged, but the prognosis is still poor for the old friend.
I think we shall continue our Photo Fun Friday with the color VIOLET as we were supposed to do last week before the PC crashed..

COMPUTER BREAKDOWN

Just when you think all is well, the computer takes a dive.. Friday morning it tried to crash and then Saturday afternoon it had an electrical malfunction and refuse to come on at all.. ugh. I took my old pc to Computer Literates and the old baby had to be hospitalized for surgery upcoming.. prognosis is very poor.. In fact, so poor that the suggestion was to start looking for a new one. She said it had hard drive 'issues'.. hmmmm
She is here! Brand spanking new CPU with Windows 7 already on it. I got used to Vista and enjoyed it, but it seems all the new pcs have Windows 7 on them already.. OKAY! I just have to get the hang of this thing.
At the moment, Carbonite is busy putting my files, music, and photos back on this new machine. I'm so thankful I thought to purchase this program. I have so much family history on it..
The cost was minimal as far as pcs go.. I didn't get an expensive one- nor the cheapest either. I've had such a good report with my HPs that I decided to go ahead and buy another.. this would be my 3rd I think. 1994 we got the first one .. anyone know that for sure? We went online around 1997 and have had the AOL account since that time.
I just noticed I have over 500 emails to go through. If they are not personal messages, I'll be deleting without reading... sorry everyone.. there are just tooo many to stop to read them all.

Photo Friday Fun- Nature

This week I've been looking at NATURE and trying to get the best shots I could. I love the macro setting on my camera- it allows me to get right up on flowers and bugs.. Feel free to join me- click the Linky at the end and link your blog photos.
This coming week we shall be looking at VIOLET

Solomon in all his glory.....

Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these....

Wendell wasn't feeling so well this morning, so I stayed home from worship with him. It's sure not easy growing old.

So I've gone for a nature hike around the house and found these flowers. The whole time I was out , that verse from Matthew 6 just kept popping into my head. It's so true.

I love the way the flowers are so sharp and true as their backgrounds all fade kind of.

Labs/XRay

I could use one of these swings.. out under the ash tree. It's a sweltering hot day outside at the moment (noon) 82*. Inside we are comfortable with central air pouring out the cool and removing the warm. I'm thankful that God knows my intolerance to extremes in temperatures and has provided this 'out' for me.
This weather rakes havoc on asthma however and I have noted the last few days when I go outdoors I begin to wheeze- worse if I walk any distance. I do much better inside.
We went to get our bloodwork done today- yes- Saturday. The place was slow, so we got right in. Wendell took his slip in and I had had mine faxed over early this week.. except they couldn't find it and it's the weekend.. RATS! That means another night of fasting next week.. I've already done that twice this week trying to get the bloodwork done. I did have my R ankle Xrayed.. it many times feels broken and very sore in bed. So I mentioned to my PCP that perhaps I could have it checked out before my appointment on Wednesday.
Finished at the lab, we went out to breakfast and really enjoyed that. We are doing portion control, so we ordered 2 eggs scrambled, 1 order of toast split between us, an order of bacon split between us, and a fruit dish that we also split.. good breakfast and neither of us went away hungry or overfull.

FF Faves

Wow! I think I've learned quite a bit from being on Rebecca's Foto Friday. It's been a great experience. Thanks, Rebecca. For our last FF here, we are entering our favorite photos.. there were a LOT of them for sure.

Head on over to Renaissance to see what others have entered for the grand finale.

topics for photo fun

I'm looking for some ideas for our photos.. any suggestions?

Family Photo Fun

Okay.... so now you are aware of how the game is played... I'll hope

you will join me on Friday when we do a little photography and

see how our pictures come out.. topic is ANIMALS... so do your

best!


June 2 we had a visit from Mike and Robb Best. During supper an

annoying little chirp started and we assumed it was the smoke

detector, as that was where the sound seemed to come from. We

bought 3 new 9v batteries and had John put them in before

finding out that we had 4 alarms..

Paul brought us a new one on Saturday and still the rascals

chirped on.

So we called for help to the home sales place where we bought the

trailer.

This has been 6 days of crazy chirping, and only one of the smoke

alarms did it. All the alarms are hooked together so that if there is

a fire in the back room, all the other alarms also go off

simultaneously.

So the guy came this afternoon and spent over an hour with us

trying to figure out the mystery. He announced to us first that we

don't have 3 or 4 alarms, but 5 !

Forevermore! As things ended up, he couldn't make the chirp

stop either and in frustration totally disconnected the alarms and

batteries and the chirp was still there. I suggested we invite Ghost

Hunters to try to figure out this mystery. As a last resort, the guy

called the homesales for help..

the woman on the other end said 'are there any other alarms in

the house?

Maybe a CO or gas alarm?'.. Uhhhhh..well... yes, we do and it's

right under the smoke alarm and runs on battery and AC

current..

DUDE ! Is my face as red as I think it is? We removed the

CO/gas alarm and the little bugger let out a chirp...

Mystery solved. All the batteries we put in were brand new 5

months ago. Who would have guessed?

Friday Photo Fun- Animals

This week's challenge is ANIMALS... next week we will be looking for things associated with NATURE. Get your camera ready and go out there looking for some good shots..

Though I had a pretty good shot at animals this week, the one I chose was the baby robin that was learning to fly. It's parents sat above it on a power line screeching when the baby fell into the grass and Thomas went over to take a look. I'm certain he would have done more than look if I hadn't intercepted him after hearing the commotion outside.

I tried to help by picking the baby up and putting him on higher ground. I thought he was injured at first as he just hopped on the ground. He sat on my hand for a few moments. My photo is out of focus, but okay at a distance.

I do wish this had come out sharper. The robin just sat there looking at me.
This is Thomas after I shamed him and sent him back to the deck. He likes birds.. too much I'm afraid.


Since Rebecca is not going to host
her Foto Friday for the summer, I want to keep trying to improve my photography skills. So I have a Linky at the bottom of my page where YOU can also keep working on skills. Here are the rules:

1. The picture should be taken by the person entering it.

2. The picture should be related to the weekly topic.

3. Age is not an issue- all ages invited.

4. Pictures entered should be taken the week of the challenge. If

you have to use a picture from archives, please state it's origin.

As we go, we will learn tricks and techniques from each other. This week we are going to look at ANIMALS. Anything goes with animals. Take your best shots.
The link will be open from today to next Friday when the topic will change.
Get your cameras out and if you have questions, let me know and I'll help you as best I can. Remember, this is a new adventure for me too.
Here is your link:

Mike and Robb Best visit

Earlier this week we had a visit from my cousins Mike and Robb Best. I quickly called all the local family and asked them to stop by to say hello while they had the opportunity...

I honestly thought this was a really good picture of JJ and Keith until I enlarged it and realized JJ looks half asleep.. sorry honey.
Aunt JJ braided Joyce's long blond hair... Very nice!

Mike, Marilyn, Robb, and Jane

The guys look great.. I look like I had run a marathon and

I think Jane doesn't look quite as good as she does in real life.

Rob/Marilyn

"Gramma!" Annabelle called out to me, "Look what Aunt Jane made for me!" It's the cutest little dust cap. She dressed up in her finest princess dress and placed the little cap on her head.. WOW! That's my princess!

She still had it on after she'd gotten her bath and her big sister Joyce had braided her hair. Joyce is such a wonderful , patient and kind big sister.

Thanks to Gaylie for the princess outfits and the many many pairs of shoes. I enjoy it when Annabelle does exactly what Gaylie did at one time.. 'clomp clomp clomp!' and there she is in all her glitziness and finery. Big smiles on Annabelle's face.. what more could you want?

This and that

It is the Sabbath.. we didn't make it to church today.. We are both well, but the storm outside has caused our power to go off at a most critical time- the time when we would be getting our showers and prepared for worship. It is discouraging to say the least. I called Paul to let him know we wouldn't be there, but to come anyway for lunch. I put a pork roast in the oven and covered it totally with Paul's home made sauerkraut. I must say, the house smells heavenly about now. I did this at 7am.. it'll be well done when they get here. I had Joyce prepare our frozen dinner rolls before she left yesterday, and then baked them last evening- 2 dozen super de duper rolls! Now, all we need is mashed potatoes! I do wish my hands would permit me to peel REAL potatoes, but alas, they just won't. I can peel 1 or maybe 2 , but generally we have to use the powdered variety, so I buy the best brands, not generic. Potato Buds are usually the best purchase because not only are they name brand, but they have the Boxtops for Education on them and we save them all for Valentines.
I'm so very thankful that we chose gas for our range rather than electric or we would have had a semi cooked pork roast today for sure. The power has gone off no less than 4 times, and it's back on for the moment. The gas range just keeps on cooking. YAY!
Friday came and went and the link for Foto Friday just isn't there. I checked all day Saturday, and no, no link. Hmmmm I do hope Rebecca isn't having a problem.. I hope she's just busy with their little farm. I had totally forgotten Foto Friday after coming home from Valentines last week, but this week, I thought my entry was pretty good, the topic being HAPPY.
Hope to see Rebecca back this week some time.. I'll keep checking.

FOTO FRIDAY: HAPPY !

I totally missed the last Foto Friday.. ugh. Well, I only have one

topic for this week.. HAPPY. I have to say, this was simple- it's

our bathroom heater and I've always thought it looked like it had

a face especially with that red heater light that looks like lips!

Join us at Rebecca's Blog for more Foto Friday..