The Party is finally over and done with.... Having been on my feet for 16 hours, and having taken my walk prior to the party work, I did not take my usual walk this morning. I stayed in bed and cuddled with Lovey and Banichi. The party was fun... I know the neighborhood kids enjoyed it thoroughly and were constantly playing with Sarah, her boyfriend Mike, her brother Mike, and cousin Adam. Adam's sister, Olivia, and I spent a great deal of time in the kitchen. At one point there were five of us in the tiny kitchen, two making tea sandwiches, one making and cooking the sausage rolls, I was making and baking crumpets, and one was loading up the tiered server with tea biscuits... pure chaos.
Five adults looked at my genealogy/history research display. Only one of them read any of the names and accomplishments; everyone else told me up front that they just wanted to look at the photos I had included - none of the photos were people - they were landscapes from England and the US. The parade lasted 30 minutes, and I had to turn back one car and one truck, wearing my jaunty day-glo orange and neon yellow striped road vest. And I had to laugh - no one I invited attended.
I put out two full feeders of "No Waste" bird seed and a bunch of raw, shelled almonds for the outside critters this morning. The neighbor who complains was not at home, so I guess I'll hear from her either this afternoon or evening. I did feel badly for Jim yesterday, because after he had cleaned all the doggy-doo out of the yard, several people brought their dogs (on a lead) and let them "go" without picking up afterwards. One of the neighborhood boys , running barefoot, encountered a rather large deposit and was not very happy about it.
Today, I am going to vegetate and do absolutely nothing. Tomorrow I'll start back up and get into the genealogy research mode and then on the 5th, I start pet-sitting again... Life goes on...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Little things
Last night was cool and brezy both in Denver and Boulder. The DNC came to a rousing close, and I could hear cheers from the Millenium Harvest House Hotel and various apartments located nearby. And now McCain has named Gov. Sarah Palin, of Alaska, as his running mate. This will be an interesting national election....
I had some really odd dreams last night - I took Lovey as a date to a restaurant and scandalized the group of people I had gone out with; I was in a cable car and didn't have a ticket and held up the whole line of cars because I couldn't find it; Jeffrey and I were invited to meet the Queen of England because of our blood-ties to the family and Jeff stood up on a chair in the Royal Dining Hall to propose a toast and spilled wine all over the tablecloth; I was trying to protect my children from a local battle in green fields and was upset because the kids kept going off to explore the nearby countryside, while I was trying to keep them under cover and run for our lives... I guess my subconcious is trying to tell me something.....
Today my walk was cool and nice, with plenty of birdsong - my walk along the Creek was brisk and invigorating, and I also walked through part of the Historic section of town; there were lots of crows and ravens speaking to me from the trees, and I spoke back. (I'm sure anyone seeing me talking to the corvids was convinced that I really am nuts.) Tomorrow is the big party at my sister's house... I hope all goes well; other than when I'm blocking traffic for the parade, I plan to sit in a quiet, shady area and observe.... Here's to the Githen's Acres block party!
I had some really odd dreams last night - I took Lovey as a date to a restaurant and scandalized the group of people I had gone out with; I was in a cable car and didn't have a ticket and held up the whole line of cars because I couldn't find it; Jeffrey and I were invited to meet the Queen of England because of our blood-ties to the family and Jeff stood up on a chair in the Royal Dining Hall to propose a toast and spilled wine all over the tablecloth; I was trying to protect my children from a local battle in green fields and was upset because the kids kept going off to explore the nearby countryside, while I was trying to keep them under cover and run for our lives... I guess my subconcious is trying to tell me something.....
Today my walk was cool and nice, with plenty of birdsong - my walk along the Creek was brisk and invigorating, and I also walked through part of the Historic section of town; there were lots of crows and ravens speaking to me from the trees, and I spoke back. (I'm sure anyone seeing me talking to the corvids was convinced that I really am nuts.) Tomorrow is the big party at my sister's house... I hope all goes well; other than when I'm blocking traffic for the parade, I plan to sit in a quiet, shady area and observe.... Here's to the Githen's Acres block party!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Cussing Chickadee
I was drafted into my sister's party plans again yesterday, thus no blog. Since I spent most of the time either on-line or in my chair, working on fliers, the kits were in heaven - they could get attention and love in the doses that they wanted. Since I have yet to refill the birdfeeders, their raucous song is missing - except early this moring, when a very put-out chickadee cussed me out for having an empty feeder...
Early morning walks have been glorious - the snowfall up in the mountains was a wet one, and most of the snow has once again melted from view, except for small crevices where the sun doesn't have much power. My "local" bakery at Safeway is having trouble with employees, and I haven't been able to get a fresh bagel or pastry for the past three mornings (whine, whine). One of the men in the produce department gave me a freshly washed, sliced, and de-stoned local Colorado peach this morning - he and I usually trade quips in the morning - so I had a very satisfying (and free) breakfast.
Several pet-sitting clients are going to bring their pets for a "quick visit" at the party, and will then take the dogs home and return without their four-legged family members. I have more than enough clients to keep me busy in pet-sitting, so at the party, I'll talk about my other passions, genealogy and history, and how they interweave. One of the things I love in genealogy is to find odd, unsusal names - or melodious ones. I loved it when Joe Biden introduced his mother at the DNC last night - Kathryn Eupemia Finnegan Biden. What a truly melodious Irish name - until the Biden. She made me think of my Mom.... (not that Mom was Irish - she was Swedish, Danish, and English - but just from her looks, and her saying, "That's right..." and nodding, when he son told a story about her....) And when I say odd and unusual names, I discovered a cousin of mine whose Christian names were: Eight One.... I am not joking.
Early morning walks have been glorious - the snowfall up in the mountains was a wet one, and most of the snow has once again melted from view, except for small crevices where the sun doesn't have much power. My "local" bakery at Safeway is having trouble with employees, and I haven't been able to get a fresh bagel or pastry for the past three mornings (whine, whine). One of the men in the produce department gave me a freshly washed, sliced, and de-stoned local Colorado peach this morning - he and I usually trade quips in the morning - so I had a very satisfying (and free) breakfast.
Several pet-sitting clients are going to bring their pets for a "quick visit" at the party, and will then take the dogs home and return without their four-legged family members. I have more than enough clients to keep me busy in pet-sitting, so at the party, I'll talk about my other passions, genealogy and history, and how they interweave. One of the things I love in genealogy is to find odd, unsusal names - or melodious ones. I loved it when Joe Biden introduced his mother at the DNC last night - Kathryn Eupemia Finnegan Biden. What a truly melodious Irish name - until the Biden. She made me think of my Mom.... (not that Mom was Irish - she was Swedish, Danish, and English - but just from her looks, and her saying, "That's right..." and nodding, when he son told a story about her....) And when I say odd and unusual names, I discovered a cousin of mine whose Christian names were: Eight One.... I am not joking.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Loving cats...
Well, the heat is back and I've had to turn on the fan again. At least we're only expecting the low 90s and nothing much higher... The birds have been enjoying the last of my regular blended seed - and I'll soon head over to the Wild Bird Center to get hull-less sunflower seeds and "waste-less" mixed seed. I'll also check into the cost of unshelled roasted saltless peanuts at the farmer's market, so I can continue to feed my critters without all the waste my neighbor complains of.
The kits were very cuddly all night long; Banichi brought me his shoelace, freshly dipped in water, three times last night/this morning in bed and Lovey wanted to sleep inside my nightgown for several hours. Kathy highjacked me for several hours yesterday afternoon and evening - working on the party invitation... She was suffering terribly from a nasty head cold and, I think, went a little overboard in her highlighting on the invite....
I got a new vacuum cleaner yesterday afternoon, and while the kits were outside this morning, I vacuumed the apartment - they were quite startled by the noise, as I've just swept and mopped before now. I managed to see Teddy Kennedy's speech at the DNC yesterday evening - he made me cry....
The kits were very cuddly all night long; Banichi brought me his shoelace, freshly dipped in water, three times last night/this morning in bed and Lovey wanted to sleep inside my nightgown for several hours. Kathy highjacked me for several hours yesterday afternoon and evening - working on the party invitation... She was suffering terribly from a nasty head cold and, I think, went a little overboard in her highlighting on the invite....
I got a new vacuum cleaner yesterday afternoon, and while the kits were outside this morning, I vacuumed the apartment - they were quite startled by the noise, as I've just swept and mopped before now. I managed to see Teddy Kennedy's speech at the DNC yesterday evening - he made me cry....
Monday, August 25, 2008
Three Twisters in Thirty Minutes!
Yesterday was quiet - bright and sunny in the morning, cloudy and cool in the afternoon, with thunder rumbles and light rain in the evening. I would have liked to have seen the Olympics closing ceremony, but Hila's house has no TV and no radio, so I read, as usual. When I returned to my apartment this morning, I found that there had been 3 tornadoes within 30 minutes near Denver - luckily, none caused damage. And when I looked out on my patio this morning, I had to laugh - my neighbor had lined up a dead mouse and a rather tattered dead sparrow on the outer edge of the patio. Her note the other day blamed me for the deaths of any and all critters near my apartment - because I feed the critters.
The hens have laid 4 or 5 eggs for me each day, and I harvested in the gardens yesterday afternoon - tomatoes, cucumbers, 5 kinds of squash, Swiss chard, and, being allergic to them, I did NOT touch the huge red onions that look ripe for pulling. The canatloupe need about 2 more weeks on the vine, but the squash plants are blooming again, and we should get a double harvest of them. The cherry and Roma tomatoes are over-producing themselves - and one can gather almost a quart a day from them.
The Democratic National Convention begins today in Denver. When it was first announced that local people could get a ticket to see Obama's acceptance speech, I toyed with the idea - but my dislike of crowds convinced me not to go - along with the fact that when I went to sign up for the ticket, 5 hours after it was announced, all 50,000 had already gone and I was the 28,657th on the waiting list for cancellations. In a way, I really want to be there for the history, and at the same time, I know I'll get a better view, hear the speeches much more clearly, and be more at ease if I watch from home. And - it's pretty well accepted that if you're below the 5,000 number on the waiting list, that you might as well go whistle in the wind.
I'll be home after tonight for about a week - I can sleep in my bed and schmooze with the kits... then I'll be off with Spike for awhile in Niwot. I will correct the Nocks family tree on-line this week and start putting up the Devine-Boyer and the Lancaster family trees; as well as mailing out (finally!) the Martin and O'Neil family trees to Idaho.
The hens have laid 4 or 5 eggs for me each day, and I harvested in the gardens yesterday afternoon - tomatoes, cucumbers, 5 kinds of squash, Swiss chard, and, being allergic to them, I did NOT touch the huge red onions that look ripe for pulling. The canatloupe need about 2 more weeks on the vine, but the squash plants are blooming again, and we should get a double harvest of them. The cherry and Roma tomatoes are over-producing themselves - and one can gather almost a quart a day from them.
The Democratic National Convention begins today in Denver. When it was first announced that local people could get a ticket to see Obama's acceptance speech, I toyed with the idea - but my dislike of crowds convinced me not to go - along with the fact that when I went to sign up for the ticket, 5 hours after it was announced, all 50,000 had already gone and I was the 28,657th on the waiting list for cancellations. In a way, I really want to be there for the history, and at the same time, I know I'll get a better view, hear the speeches much more clearly, and be more at ease if I watch from home. And - it's pretty well accepted that if you're below the 5,000 number on the waiting list, that you might as well go whistle in the wind.
I'll be home after tonight for about a week - I can sleep in my bed and schmooze with the kits... then I'll be off with Spike for awhile in Niwot. I will correct the Nocks family tree on-line this week and start putting up the Devine-Boyer and the Lancaster family trees; as well as mailing out (finally!) the Martin and O'Neil family trees to Idaho.
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