La Gallinero

2012-01-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite painting in the world. i found it at a Goodwill or Salvation Army store and snatched it up like i was afraid someone else was going to take. i absolutely love it. There is no signature but it says $40.00 on the back. I think it is acrylic or gouache on a board. The stars are a metallic paint.

i have been writing about this painting even though i don't have a clue what the story is. The bride on the left seems like a ghost but maybe she's just not finished. The long ribbons of color make it magical realism to me. The trees, the moon and the stars are so prominent; they are like characters in the story.

DOES ANYONE KNOW THIS STORY? It may be my favorite painting in the world but i know it is probably more like folk art and not valuable. i don't care. But i really want to know the story. And i want to know if the painting is finished or is the bride on the left really a ghost?

i love to write but i'm not very good, so please be gentle. i am copying in a part of a story i am trying to write using this painting as inspiration. i guess the reason is to get your comments about any ideas in the story that you think relate to the painting.

So, mi amigos, mi chickies and roos, and especially mi Guerreros de la Luz, please help.

The Ghost Filled MoonlitWeddings of Two Brothers

The crescent moon watches thegoings-on ready to add to the rituals in any manner helpful. She has seen thismany times. It has it's place in the cycles. In her wake the people ride theseasons of learning, working, playing and resting. This wedding, one of so manyothers like it, did have it's curiosity. Moon looked again at the smaller ofthe two brides.

Had no one noticed her translucenceor her not quite erectness? Moon tried to catch a few more of Sun's rays toreflect on the little bride's face. She wanted to get a better look but she wasalso confident her reflected light would compliment the bride's inner glow. Thewake and the indirect light; that is what Moon could add to the rituals.

Moon was sure now. The little bridewas well on her way to becoming a ghost. Fascinating, she thought.

The brides wore their moonlit gownswith all the reverence of their mothers before them. Celesta and Menea could not have known the night’s shimmerwas a gift from Moon but they felt grateful for the moon’s seemingly specialglow. The gowns were well worn,having been used by mothers and aunts before daughters, sisters, cousins andgranddaughters.

The aunts have disappeared. They moved around the village busilydoing their work but now they have gone. The moonlit wedding began with the twobrides and two grooms pairing up and strolling arm in arm toward the villagechurch. The aunts had colored the pathway giving the impression of ribbonsstretching out toward the church plaza and into the church itself.

In dusk’s remaining light,full-sailed clouds tack across the sky without obscuring the star’s view toomuch. Stars were warming up forthe evening’s festivities and giggling like school girls. The old mother oak and her sisterslooked down on the red tiled roofs of the village and dug their roots a littledeeper to ground the events.

The brother grooms have recentlyreturned after years away and were still re-adjusting to life in thevillage. Perhaps it was becausethey had been away so long and had forgotten, somehow, the dreamlike quality ofevenings in the village, but the two men were surprised to find themselveswalking in the real and the unreal. They wondered how they could have forgottenthat the village was like this and they wondered why they had stayed away solong. How could they have forgotten how their feet felt so solidly on theground here?

A Lovely Sunday

2012-01-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

i'm still in my jammys, taking it easy, watching the hens and hummingbirds and the weather. The forecast was for snow, maybe. Well, that's enough in Portlandia to get everyone all a twitter. i over reacted by putting the warming lamp on in the coop unnecessarily. Tonight it may actually dip below freezing (not 0, just freezing) and is probably the night to put the lamp on. i try not to put the lamp on more than one night at a time. The girls get a little whack when there is a light in their coop too many nights in a row.

It did finally snow a few flakes for about ten minutes, then repeated about a 1/2 hour later. Nothing stuck tho. Then, what do you know, the sun came out. Nice! And now the grey skies have returned and it is about 15 minutes before noon. Oh, and as i type the snow has returned.

You would be correct to get the idea that snow is a news event here. One of my favorite things to do is to turn on the TV to the local news when there is a hint of snow. It is big news and everyone gets very excited; the grocery stores empty out and tire stores get a spike in sales of snow tires.

i used to laugh at this, being from Montana where winter lasts more than 1/2 a year, but it can get very serious when it stays at freezing for a few days, followed by rain. The rain falls through very cold air and freezes or freezes on contact with the frozen ground. Now everything is covered in ice and road surfaces are like ice rinks. Of course, if this happens i immediately turn on the TV and watch the local news personalities slide around in front of cameras. Portlandia loves a snow day. Kids get out of school and lots of people stay home from work. It's a totally spontaneous holiday.

Oh, damm. i've got to upgrade my phone and i can't figure it out. i must sign off and deal... love all!
C

What I should be doing and what I am doing.

2011-12-29T20:11:00.001-08:00

http://nyti.ms/uxTYiP

Happy Birthday Mr. President... and i want to apologize

2011-08-04T23:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Mr. President.

i have been pretty mad at you lately and more than a little disappointed over all. That said, the email i sent you a few days ago re: the debt ceiling bill was too harsh.

i really don't regret anything i said except that i used the word coward or some form of it. I regret that word and i am sorry for using it. The word shameful would have worked better. i was trying to email you as well Rep. Blumenauer and Sens. Merkley and Wyden on my lunch break so i didn't have time for picking my words.

Also, my brilliant son reminded me that the Congress has become a fascist institution (government that is corporate controlled) and that you, Mr. President, are indeed dealing with terrorist (Oh, sorry. In the spirit of toning down the rhetoric, i'll refer to them as "hostage takers").

And i do believe you are doing your best. It may not be good enough though. You are dealing with people who have been stealing or manipulating elections for decades. They are shutting down voter's rights in several states, conducting misinformation campaigns and blocking people's rights with legislation. i want you to call them out and call them what they are (take your choice: traitors, greedy, beholding to corporate masters, hypocrites).

We have suffered enough out here while you tried to be statesmen like with hoodlums and racketeers. You say you believe in compromise but i see capitulation. i believe in compromise too but i also know you have to stand up to a bully eventually.

Mr. President, i love you but i'm having trouble liking you at the moment. i am a proud lefty so you will just have to deal with me pushing you, pulling you, shoving you as far left as i possibly can. i apologize now for any future ill-chosen words i might say in the heat of my efforts to make you see the logic of progressive ideas.

So, Happy Birthday Mr. President, sincerely.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Cynthia Right Over

2011-04-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Red Rover, by Deirdre McNamer is my new favorite. Granted, my favorite book changes frequently, but this is what i will be recommending for awhile. My Dad has also read it and Mom will be starting it soon.

It's a historical mystery based on true events in the author's family. She had been researching a family story for years, realized she was not going to be able to write a non-fiction book out of it, so she fictionalized the events.

You are drawn along by her prose as much as for the curious events she details. McNamer knows the landscape like so many Montanans do, with their quiet, easy respect for place, and her prose reads that way.

Being a Montanan myself, i felt like these characters were my shirttail relations. Their stories, their habits, their stoic, steady, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other manner in the face of adversity. i recognized their stubbornness, their self-reliance, and that pride-of-self that isn't bragging. And i recognized men and women who held secrets. Weather out of shame, guilt, pride or honor, my people can hold secrets.

Not since Ivan Doig's McCaskill family have i felt this kind of kinship with a novel's characters.

Enough book reviews for now. Love to all.

Is it memory or imagination

2011-03-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

Back to work tomorrow, mi amigos, mi chickies and roos. i found this piece i wrote a few years ago and find that i still like it. i might take it out, dust it off and expand on it. Let me know what you think.

I remember the beat of the drums driving my soul back to the time when I easily talked to Mother Moon and Father Sun. The pulse of the drums seemed to match my heartbeat; or did my heartbeat match the drums? My legs pounded the ground and shuffled the dance I had been taught. Later, I lost touch with the present and went to the other world. Wolf always met me and we danced together.

I remembered my life with Wolf and began to tremble. I couldn't talk. Tears began to fall from my ashen face. I leaned against a nearby wall for support. What was happening to me?

Then I knew. I was torn away from my tribe and enslaved. I never danced again. I could never perform a purification ritual again, let alone lead my people to Mother Moon and Father Sun. I tried to call for Wolf to help me but she was gone. I didn't see her again until I died.

She was waiting there for me and I cursed her for abandoning me. I cursed my people for abandoning me. They hadn't rescued me. Wolf had not even come to me in my dreams. Why? I turned my back and then I became the one who abandoned.

For a few centuries I didn't look for Wolf. I wandered in and out of lives, never really caring about myself or others. I was bitter and turned my back on others who tried to love me. When I was a man I was mean and when I was a woman I was cold.

Once when I was orphaned, a woman took me in. She was kind and patient with me and she waited for me to soften. She taught me to be a daughter of the moon and to heal the people in our village. After some time I realized that my healing work was healing me too. She taught me for many years and the night she died I heard a wolf crying in the woods. That was when my soul recognized her and I cried and cried. I cried away all the mean things I had done and I cried for all the love I had denied others.

A short time later, another daughter of the moon came through our village. Her name was Wynd and she had always been a traveler. We became fast friends and she decided to stay so we could learn from and teach each other. The villagers grew to depend on us to birth their children and to guide their rituals. My heart grew and grew.

Then the priests came. I knew these men would bring harm to our village but as much as I tried I could not protect the people. It didn't take long before the villagers began avoiding us. When the women stopped coming to us to help them give birth I knew the worst was about to happen. Wynd was always an optimist and I couldn't convince her to lay low.

A day came when she was surrounded in the square. The priests accused her of working for the devil. They said her herbs were poison and that she seduced men to pay the devil his due. They beat her and raped her and cut off her beautiful hair. When they burned her at the stake they made the village watch.

I hid in my house in the woods but they found me before I could escape. I called Wolf to help me. Wolf entered my body and we fought against them so well they were forced to kill me. Wolf told me it was for the best. We had denied them the opportunity to use me to make the villagers more fearful.

I wanted to stay with Wolf but I needed to be with Wynd for awhile. I would help her ride out her anger and bitterness and fear. I wanted to help her like Wolf had helped me. I would be patient and kind and when she was ready we would be fast friends again.

Now Wynd is an optimist again and I miss my tribe and Wolf. Wynd wants me to grow old with her. She wants us to be old crones together. My soul is tired and I need to dance with Wolf again. So I am torn. I am ready to die and start anew. I have lost faith in humanity. Modern man has not improved much from the slave traders and priests.

I am not an optimist but I believe in the soul. Our souls will live on one way or another. When I have danced with Wolf and refreshed my soul I might decide to move to a new garden. Gaia's garden needs a rest too. First I need to find my tribe. Wolf and I want to dance with them and call on Mother Moon and Father Sun.

Stacation ending, hand holding, book reading, bread making and a crocus

2011-03-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

i have really enjoyed my vacation considering i spent the multitude of my time cleaning and organizing. The sun should come out today so i can get back outside. The plan is to get my potatoes in the ground by tomorrow afternoon.

my grandson has been over every day, all day long it seems. He is exhausting, i must say. Add one of his friends and i get jittery. Oy.
i walked him to school every morning and home again in the afternoon. i love the way he is still unembarrassed about grabbing for my hand and how he runs excitedly to me when he sees me. i know this innocence will be gone in another year or so, so i am enjoying it while i can.

i finally started watching season two of Nurse Jackie and had to make myself turn it off at 1am. i never stay up that late. i can barely make it to 10pm. OMG, this series has several quirky characters and i do love the quirky.
The characters grow on you but one character, nurse Zoey, hooked me immediately. Merritt Wever, is the actor's name and it's probably not surprising to learn that she has a long resume. The character is so beautifully self-conscience and emotive. The self-conscienceness is not from a critical space so much. She wants to be like Jackie and measures herself against her desire to become more like her idol. She sometimes skips like a child or will twirl on a dime to leave. She truly is an adult child; with the best qualities of both. She is open and honest, sensitive and spirited but capable with a good bullshit meter. i just love her and want to hold her hand and go skipping.

i made scones yesterday and bread the day before. The bread recipe i am trying to perfect is getting there. i managed to make a nice golden brown loaf with a crust that is not too hard. my scones, on the other hand, are not so great. i may look for a new recipe. i'd like them to be a little fluffier for a start. Today i need to make quiche. i have some nice asparagus and will add turkey ham (don't laugh, it's low-cal and low-fat and cheap) and parmesan cheese. The grandson loves it and so do i but i get tired of it before i can get it all eaten. It is best eaten right away and not reheated but there are always leftovers.

The spare room got cleaned out and organized, i took some stuff to the Goodwill, recycled some phone books (i wish they would quit delivering these to me) and went to Burns for chicken feed. The baby chicks are in, so i took Lincoln and his friend so they could check them out. Burns also had baby ducks, turkeys, quails and rabbits. Kid heaven. As soon as we were done looking at the babies, the boys started begging for candy. God/dess, i hate that. So, i got the hell out of there. How quickly they turn from cute little boys to annoying beggers.

i discovered a crocus budding in my front weed patch. i'm going to try to get a picture later today. The bud is closed now (morning) so i hope it will open later. i know about crocus' growing through the snow but i don't think of them growing in Oregon. Perhaps it is not a crocus afterall. i'll post the pic later.

Big day ahead and i'm excited. i will hate to see my vacation end but i know i can't live in this kind of luxury forever. For me, luxury is kicking around the house and yard, watching the critters come and go and getting some reading done. BTW, The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, by Alexander McCall Smith is as good as i anticipated. i love all his books but the Scotland Street series is beguiling. You can feel yourself relaxing and you lose track of time.

i started another book, Red Rover, by Deirdre McNamer. It's a mystery that takes a lifetime to solve and it starts in 1920's Montana with two young brothers riding out to have a couple days fun on their horses. Can you imagine, a nine and thirteen year old being allowed to ride their horses into the the wilderness alone? Perhaps. i remember my grandpa telling what seemed to be tall tales when i was a child. They seemed like tall tales to me but he told them as his own experiences. This book spans the same timeline as my Grandpas life. i'll let you know how it goes.

Later mi amigos, mi chickies and roos. XXOO

my new veggie patch

2011-03-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

i worked in my new garden spot today. i am off work this week and really wanted to work outside. It looks like today will be the only semi-dry day this week so i got as much done as i could. i tilled the soil and threw down the stones i had been saving.
Speaking of tilling. Check out my new toy.

It worked pretty well; much easier than doing it by hand. With money so tight, i have been feeling a little guilty about buying this little baby but after today that's gone.

i also potted some plants that i bought from a nursery in southern Oregon. The yard is looking pretty shabby but that's how it is this time of year. Check out this pic of the yard just a couple weeks ago.

Tomorrow or the next day i plan to plant my potatoes, garlic and onions and start some seeds. The weather is not looking good though so we shall see.

Lastly, i have spent the last few days trying to get a pic of our little hummingbird. They are remarkably hard to photograph. This is the best i could do.

All for now. Back again soon.

Glee full

2011-03-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Time seemed to stop. i kept looking at the clock thinking Glee must be almost over. Tonight's episode was like a jewel with it's many, many facets. How many issues are there to explore when you want to talk about sex, sexuality and sexual behavior?

Up until now, my favorite "sex talk" scene in film and TV was in an episode of Friday Night Lights but tonight i watched a father talk to his gay son about sex. Beautiful.

This episode touched on abstinence, lesbian and gay sex, the power of sex, sexual naivety and sexual misinformation.. But most importantly, the emotional entanglements that are inevitable were weaved throughout the show. Oh, yeah, and all the singing.

It was funny! And Gwyneth Paltrow is a natural singer and dancer. i had not expected that. She was part camp, part vamp and part healer. i hope there will be more of her in time.

I must go now. i just wanted to say....

i am your enemy or how to cope in a witch burning world

2011-03-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

"I want to raise every voice -- at least I've got to try

Every time I think about it water rises to my eyes.

Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry

If I had a rocket launcher...Some son of a bitch would die"

Thank you Bruce Cockburn. When i'm mad, i say these words. It makes me feel better.

IF I HAD A ROCKET LAUNCHER........

Let me be clear; i would rather die than kill anyone. But i need a release. It's very hard work being your enemy.

The number one reason that i am your enemy is that i am a woman. You want to control my uterus and i won't let you. You want me to be your whore, your mother (you pervert), your maid and your baby maker. F*#@ you! i will not let you abuse me or mine and you have made me your enemy for that.

The number two reason that i am your enemy is that i am a socialist, a progressive, a liberal. i believe in the sharing of basic resources and a progressive tax policy. i believe in collective bargaining for workers and i believe that the garbage man's work is as important as the fund manager's. Actually, i think all garbage men and women are heros and most fund managers are whores.

The third reason i am your enemy is because i believe people are people and corporations are not. Government is of the people, by the people, and for the people NOT of, by and for the corporations, the power hungry politicians or the lobbyists.

The fourth reason i am your enemy is that i work really hard to not be propagandized to or to be marketed to. i see through your lies most of the time. Everything else you say i will not believe at first blush. i will scrutinize what you are saying to me for the lies i expect you to be telling. i question authority.

i am your enemy because you think you are a Calvinist but you secretly fear God/dess and i do not. i do not fear death, i do not fear God/dess and you have made me your enemy for that.

Making the masses fearful is not new. If someone burns your grandma as a witch you will experience levels of fear you did not know existed. The church can maintain it's perversion if you are busy fearing for your life. Genghis Kahn was ruthless and his reputation kept people from resisting him. Fear works as a tactic.

i am your enemy because despite my fear i will stand up to you. Despite my fear i will watch you as you kill me.

It's been exactly seven months since i posted last

2011-02-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

i really don't know where to begin so i won't. Movin' on.

It's 8:00 pm and 40 degrees. We won't see 40 degrees again for a few days if all the weather predictions are correct. We are suppose to get snow and the temps are going to dip below freezing at night.

i started working my garden this weekend. i have potato starts, onion bunches and garlic to plant after the frost and snow. The unusual cold weather (for us here in Raintown) is all my fault. i have been bragging about how spring starts in February around here, so i jinxed it.

i do like February... here, anyway. How can you not love the first spring day? It happens every year here in Raintown, in February. The last few days have been beautiful. The clouds parted, it warmed up to 50 degrees and i could not stay indoors.

i'm using an online garden planner @ Mother Earth News which i am having fun with. i've learned of a method for planting potatoes called, The Lazy Man's Method and this lazy woman is going to try it. And, i am raising NO chicks this year (unless, of course, i see some tiny little leghorns that call out my name - - putting my earplugs in now).

i took some pics of the barren landscape that is my yard and when i downloaded the pics to my computer, i found Christmas and Halloween pics as well. What have i been doing for the last seven months?

Not going there. i've got a garden to grow.

Finally Fall, garden woes, garden plans, oh my aching back and the good news

2010-08-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

The year is coming into my favorite season. i love the fall; probably because i dislike the heat of summer so much. i don't mean to sound complaining, i'm not, but i prefer the cooler temperatures of spring and fall. The hot of summer is necessary for my garden to grow so i don't complain especially after this summer.

Spring rains came late and were heavy. None of my plants had good starts and everything is about a month behind. i am glad i don't have to rely on my garden to eat.

Next year.... i am excited about next year. i will have a whole new garden plot to use. i will be spending some time this winter planning and plotting it. my remaining garden box will become the sunflower and pumpkin patch. i have a small greenhouse to use for starting seeds so i may go back to starting my plants from seeds. We shall see...

When the weather finally dried out my son and i built a new coop inside my shed. It turned out brilliantly. i can heat it this winter when the temps drop and i can light it to better regulate the number of hours of light. i learned that some chickenkeepers use light to keep the chickens laying eggs during the short days of winter. So i am going to try that.

i reached into my fridge for an ear of corn, my back went ZOING and i was bent over for days. i missed a few days of work and i had spasms that you would not believe. At one point, i was stuck down on the floor for about an hour. i had been trying to do my back exercises but the spasms started in and there i was, unable to move. All good now! But i have chores to catch up on.

There is some really good news... my son got his old job back! It is so great. i have been carrying the load for almost two years now.

And, my grandson starts school in just a couple weeks. i hope he loves it. It is so important to love school but for him it is also a chance make friends and have playmates. He spends way too much time with adults.

One last note. In my quest to find ways to be environmentally sound and ways to save money i have learned to make a bunch of different cleaning products. i will post about that next... with recipes. i'm talking laundry detergent, shampoo, hair conditioner etc. This is stuff you use everyday and you will save soooo much money.

Before my battery goes, i better sign off. Love to all you chickies and roos. i'm off to pick raspberries (finally ripe, about a month late).

C

Check out the new coop

2010-07-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

28 Photos

Click on the link and see photos of the new coop before and after. Paul actually got it done in early July but i am just now getting pictures posted.

i decided to take out the garden box that used to be on the left to make the pen bigger. i still let the girls out everyday (out into the bigger fenced yard).
The duck and ducklings are plastic garden ornaments which i would normally not put in my yard but they belonged to my ex-boyfriend's grandmother. i was with her when she died, just me and her and i honor that with my kichy ducks.
My Japanese maple tree (not pictured) is from that same boyfriend's father, William, whom i was also with when he passed (i think William and i have a past life connection, btw).

An update on the chickens: i lost Carmen last month and adopted Ruby Berlin a few days ago, making our flock five now, and will probably remain that way for awhile. Best laid plans, mi amigos, best laid plans... just saying.

There are three other flocks in my neighborhood and one more in the works (they are building a coop and pen so i assume). i have an idea that i would like to go to each home and ask to take pictures of their flocks and coops. Then i would create a blog for all of us 'Fairview Chickenkeepers'. Stay tuned.

Back to my girls; they are Budda (white leghorn), Precious (Barred Plymouth Rock - named after Mmr Romotswe, No. 1 Ladie's Detective Agency), Blessings (Golden Laced Wyandotte), Licorice (Black Sex Link but similar to Blessings in coloring), and Ruby Berlin (i don't know her breed but she looks like Budda except she is black).

i brooded one other chick this spring but she turned out to be a he. Aggie had to be sent to a farm (Hi! Shawn - what did you name our rooster? i heard you got him a hen to bother and boss.).

With the new coop, the area of yard that was the old coop is now vacant. But i have plans. i will have a huge garden plot next year and believe me when i say, i am very excited about it. i want to start planning now but i am holding back, saving the plotting for January or February, when i will need to indulge my gardening urges.

i am a blessed woman and want all you chickies and roos to know i love you.

Ruby Berlin

2010-07-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

We have a new chicken. Her name is Ruby Berlin. She came from the Humane Society so i don't know exactly how old she is; i think she's young though. They said she had not laid any eggs so...

She is beautiful and this picture does her no justice. i will endeavor to get a better picture soon. She is a black version of Budda.

Check these out!

Trouble in paradise

2010-06-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

my two flocks are not getting along. Budda and Precious are especially aggressive with the chicklettes. The old aunties do not want the chicklettes in the coop at night and actively chase them out. Actually, sweet Carmen does not seem hostile with the chicks at all; it is the other two only. Last night i set up a corner in my newly cleaned out shed and put the chicklettes in there. You can see the shed through the window in this picture. This is my kitchen window and i found the chicklettes peeking through.

Every night they come to my kitchen door and want to go to sleep but are afraid of the coop and remember coming in the house at night (up until a couple weeks ago). So they are confused and every night we go through this horrible routine of getting them into the coop. And once they are in the coop, they huddle up together in a corner, not on a roost. Chickens like to sleep on a roost and i finally decided to put a stop to the nightly drama and trauma. my son Paul and i are working on designing and building a new coop that will give each flock an entrance and each will have their own area. We are hoping that will help the two flocks feel as though they each have their own space. We also like the idea of two openings/exits in the case of a predator.

It was so easy to get the older chicks to go into the coop at night when they were little pullets. It took one try. We showed them the entrance and they went in at dusk. i used to put their food in there as well and that helped. There is plenty of room in the coop for all six chickens but obviously there are territorial issues.

So, while i was setting up the shed for the chicklettes they decided to go into the house. i bet i could train them to come into the house and into the spare room and into their old brooder with little trouble. That would be funny but not pleasant for me and my house.

The pics above are such a mess. Uploading pics to this blog is messy so i apologize for the lack of aesthetic appeal.

Chicklette update

2010-05-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Check out the pics at the link.

The first day out for the new chicks

2010-05-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

We McGuyered a bigger brooder - take a look

2010-05-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

The babies are 5 weeks old and spunky. Cross fingers, next weekend the weather should be warm enough for the girls to have a day outside. i will supply pics!

chick pics - one month old

2010-04-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the brood... Licorice, Agnes and Lily

2010-04-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

I love GLEE!!!

2010-04-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Lincoln and one baby chick named Licorice

2010-04-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Check it out. As promised, pic to Lincoln and one of our new baby chicks.

New baby chicks movie!!!

2010-04-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

So cute and sweet.

Feeling sad but Spring tugs at me

2010-03-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

i want to be sad. i am sad and i want to stay sad for awhile. But spring is tugging at me, demanding my time, challenging me to get busy. i thought i was busy already. . . .

So, i haven't been to Facebook for a couple weeks or more. Work is exhausting and stressful and we have spring about a month early this year. i can't believe it. Hello, climate change. i keep worrying about this summer. i am not so good with the heat. Cross that bridge, cynthia, cross that bridge.

OK, i have a story about my resurrection lilac bush, about my grandson's request to return to the park "that doesn't have swings" and a third topic that gets to my sadness.

RESURRECTION LILAC BUSH

i have a lilac bush i bought when i first moved into my previous house. i love lilacs. The smell of lilacs in the spring takes me back to my girlhood home of Miles City, Montana. Lilacs bloomed in April in Miles City but i noticed later that the lilacs bloomed in May in Bozeman, having moved there as a teenager. Mmm, the smell; and you treasured it more because you could not bottle it to save it for later. You had to enjoy it in the moment.

i have had this bush for ten or more years and it has only produced one small flower cluster in that time. i moved it here, to my new home, four years ago. i was forced to make a decision about it's location a couple weeks ago. i had 4 yards of 1/4 minus gravel delivered and my son (and grandson, sooo cute) wheelbarrowed it from the front yard to the back, creating a really nice ground cover under my new veranda. The lilac was right in the middle of the natural pathway to the new veranda. It had to be moved. Damn, i didn't want to do it. Oh, and sure enough i could tell it was going to bloom. Finally!!!!

It could not stay in the middle of the new pathway. i figured the thing would die if i dug it up again so i turned my head and ask my son to dig it up. i tossed it into the compost pile and said my goodbyes. i felt bad, but i guess i had just gotten to the end of my rope with it. Over the next couple week, i noticed that the leaves kept growing and the blooms were also getting bigger. The roots were exposed and all.

So, i'm standing outside admiring my new veranda and nice gravel ground cover when i have a vision of the lilac bush living in the sunflower patch. Now, i love my sunflower patch (pics at Facebook), my mammoths get top priority in the garden. Then i thought that there might still be room for sunflowers and that they might be able to grow together. You got it. i planted the thing, one last time and it seems to like it. It's still growing and, cross fingers, i think it's going to bloom.

A GRANDSON'S PROMISE

This story is shorter but if there is a theme to my post today, it is spring, resurrection and promise. my grandson asked me if i would take him back to the nature park we visited before. i promised and entered next Saturday into my BlackBerry calendar to set the date. Then he asked to watch the videos we took when we went before. So, i set him in front of my Mac and found them (on Facebook). He can't read but that babe can remember what every icon will do if you click on it. It took him all of a couple seconds to have my computer figured out.

i worry so much about what his life will be like, it really frightens me sometimes, but i felt promise in seeing him learn so quickly.

MY SADNESS

The healthcare bill passed a few hours ago and i am glad it is over but really sad about what it says about our country. We spend months on a piece of legislation that divvies up healthcare so it can profit. We didn't divvy up healthcare so everyone could get some, we divvied it for profit. We are not a we society, we are a me society.

This bill does not provide healthcare for all Americans; some people will still die.

This bill does nothing about the healthcorps anti-trust exemption.

This bill allows healthcorps to sell across state lines. i'm taking bets on which state's legislature will pass "healthcorps-friendly" bills first.

This bill did nothing about fixing the discrepancies in Medicare payments to doctors in different parts of the country.

This bill says, "Hey, healthcorps! Here is some guaranteed, tax payer supported profits. Please use them to defeat any and all Democrats and progressives in the next election cycle."

The ugliness of this fight guarantees no politician will work to improve this legislation. But since there will be no Democrats left, it's kind of a moot point.

It's midnight and i need to get to bed. i do feel the tug of spring thankfully, or i might go crazy.

Love to all mi amigos, mi chickies and roos.

Building a new shop

2010-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Check it out. Paul's new shop is going up. The chickens are right in the middle of everything. They cackled so loudly about being locked in the pen that Paul let them out to quite them down. They know when soil is being churned and won't be denied a chance to pick out the worms.
The Girls eat so much in the yard now that i have really noticed the difference in how much feed i have to buy. Anyway, they insisted on being in the middle of the chaos this weekend.
Before Paul started the shed he built a veranda outside my kitchen door. Nice but then immediately piled all his shop paraphernalia underneath it. Check back for pic when i get it fancied up.
BTW, my Dad is awesome! 77 years old and working all day with my son.
Check out the pic!

i love Saturday mornings

2010-01-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

i watch the birds interact with squirrels, interact with chickens, interact with the cats, interact with the dog.
It's Saturday morning at the Garden of Weeden All-You-Can-Eat Buffet . The wrens, junkos and chickadees are gleefully feasting on and around the feeder, when a squirrel charges up the wrought iron shepherds hook, scattering the birds in every direction. It resembled a whirly-gig breaking apart. If it wasn't so natural, i wouldn't feel any hesitation to describe it as magical! The squirrel makes it up the pole using the momentum behind a running start and then hangs from the feeder by her/his feet to feed.
Things begin to settle. Some of the braver birds venture back to the feeder but most are content to pick up fallen seeds from the ground. Suddenly the squirrel flees down the pole and over to the safely of the old evergreen tree. "What just happened", i think to myself just as i see, out of the corner of my eye, the chickens charging toward the feeder from across the yard.
Are the chickens charging at the squirrel? i don't know for sure but i think not. Carmen has charged the squirrel when it was feeding at her seed dish but they will run, one after the other, across the yard on occasion. The squirrel is pretty smart though. S/he must know that the chickens can't get up that shepherds hook.

i love sitting here in my diningroom/mudroom, drinking some chewable coffee and watching the Garden of Weeden. It gives me a little peace.

While i was loading these pictures, i saw Precious chase a squirrel off the back porch, away from her seed dish. Wish i could have gotten a picture.

2010-01-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

Fox and Hare part 2/2

2010-01-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

Watch part 1 first....... so good!

Fox and Hare part 1/2

2010-01-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

This is so good! About 6 minutes... so worth it.

As promised

2010-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

This will not happen overnight. i will be spending an hour or so tonight making a to-do list, setting reminders in my calendar and so on and so forth. But it is begun.

i picked a credit union. A very well established one. They have a great website and i already have my debit card. And i sent money to Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders as my first transaction. That made me feel like i put some good juju on my account as well.

The woman who set me up was really great. She has been doing this for awhile. She logged me onto the website and set up my password right there and then. i told her the new password trick i use. OK, OK, i'll tell you too. Use the first letter of each word in a sentence. Add a number or two at the end or beginning if you want. Example: i am a irritable old crone, would be iaaioc. Be sure to use a sentence you will remember... my car is white and my dog is brown... mciwamdib. Done.

i won't tell you her name but i have her card and plan to send a Thank You note.

i have EFT's to move to the new account BUT it is going to take a month minimum for my direct deposit to kick in. i did not talk to HR first because my experience of setting up my current direct deposit was so smooth and easy. Funny, there have been a few changes in the last ten years... hmm.

Note to self: Send Thank You note to HR guy too. So everyone, go to your HR first!

Next issue: moving my EFT's (Electronic Funds Transfer). This is what really makes me nervous. i don't have a margin of funds to work with so i need to coordinate moving my direct deposit and my mortgage payment EFT. i hate EFT's but they are a necessary evil. i have a Netflix account, a monthly contribution to a local non-profit radio station and my car insurance. All needing coordination. i think i will put Netflix and the radio station on hold for a couple months and concentrate on the car insurance and mortgage.

Well, that is boring. Enjoy... oyy. As promised, i will let you know how it is going from time to time.

Goodnight, chickies and roos. Love and kisses

Buell

2010-01-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you Armen. Watch and be amazed.

Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres

2010-01-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

If you can scratch a few dollars together, please consider Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres, mi amigos, mi chickies and roos.

i love you and cherish you in my life.

Move your money, mi amigos

2010-01-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

Well mi amigos, mi chickies and roos, i am moving my money tomorrow. Er, well, i am interviewing banks and credit unions.

i must make this quick as my computer battery is getting low. i will blog here tomorrow and let you all know how it went.

Click this post's title to see a video by Bill Maher.

A lost photo that has me crying

2010-01-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

i needed to post this picture of my precious Nathaniel. He died a little over a year ago and i found this picture that i thought was lost. Just looking at it gets me choked up. He was so loving and gentle. Oh, now i am crying and can't see to type.

Stay close by my precious, if you can. i don't feel you in the yard anymore so maybe you are on your way back. Find me if you can. i love you, Sweety.

Hawthorne looked for you for a long time. You were his little buddy and his only playmate. He watched over you for me and loved you too.

A Prince In His Forest

2010-01-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

Lincoln and i went to another nature park together. This one is close by and not as natural as one might hope. All good tho...

i am very much taking it easy this weekend. i have been very busy for the last few months. My brother will be moving out this week, certainly by next weekend. Love my bro, but..... yeah!

When he is gone, i will reorganize my arts and crafts supplies, begin planning my garden and best of all..... plan construction of a patio cover along the back of my house (pics to follow soonly). i also want to do some writing (Thanks to Jim who made me remember how much i love doing it) and i want to create some fabric art projects.

The cool catz picture is what i want to create in fabric. It is from a video that my friend Armen shared with us on Facebook and the same video i posted here on November 16th. Scroll down and watch it. The video is fantastic!

Bye for now.

Midnight in the Garden of Weeden

2009-12-29T23:05:00.000-08:00

We got snow for the last night of December (OK, the last full night of December) and it's fun. There is an almost full moon so it is really bright out. The pictures are of my bird and hummingbird feeders.

Hey, mi amigos, good news! my brother saw a hummingbird using my feeder... while the snow was falling at that! Wish i could have gotten that photo. It's all good. A hummingbird has found my feeder! Yeah!!!!

No time to be depressed, i make a long to-do list instead

2009-12-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

Victories yesterday, mi chickies and roos! Yes, i am finally able to use my laptop on my lap. Yeah! i got my router problem solved. And, my desk cleaned up in the process. Something in my house is clean.... oyee.

i hosted Christmas for my family this year and sacrificed my personal Solstice rituals to get it done. Perhaps the end of my router issues is my instant karma (thank you John Lennon). my brother will be moving out in another week and i can't wait. i love my brother, don't get me wrong, but i am going to love having my house back.

Oh, there are so many things i want to do. i want to plan my garden and set up a calendar and to-do list. i want to re-organize my art and craft paraphernalia. i want to work on a fabric art piece. i want to brood two more chicks this spring and i want to do my family genealogy. Oh, and i want to read a book, and write down some of the stories i have in my head.

Per usual, i too long of a to-do list.

And, if it's not too much to ask, i want a small farm so i can have an even bigger garden and the need for an even longer to-do list.

Where am i going with all this? i don't have a clue, mi amigos. i am just very chatty this very nice Sunday morning.

i'm off to do some chores and will be back. Love to all, cynthia

2009-12-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

Lincoln and i went to a nearby nature park. Here are is one of the videos we took.

Damn plane. Lincoln thinks this video is funny because i trip and i say "damn plane".

Happy, happy mi amigos! Love and hugs.

Cold December morning queue and squirrels at my door

2009-12-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Just want to add pictures of the creatures that live in my world. i am so grateful!

Check out these catz! Thank you Armen.

2009-11-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

Two months is too long

2009-11-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

It has been two months since i have posted here. Shame on me. There is a lot going on and i don't want to bore you, my one and only follower, but i feel the need to explain.

my brother sold his house and has not found a new one yet. Knowing he needed to stay with me for awhile, i had to clean out my spare room. It had turned into a store room of sorts so now my livingroom is a store room of sorts.... Oy.

i am having computer issues as well. my wireless connection is not working right so i am tethered to a cord.

i started a Facebook account and WOW, all my Warrior of Light friends found me almost immediately. i love them all so much and thought i had lost my connection to them. That's us in the picture above on our last day. i really want to talk about them but will another day.

Special thoughts for my warrior sister Ana Rosa, she has lost her son and i ache for her. i don't know what happened but it doesn't really matter, does it? Thanks to Facebook i can be in touch with mi amigos.

So, you're thinking to yourself, "I waited two months for this?"

my girls (the chickens) are moulting so they look kinda funny. i'll get pictures.

And i promise to write here again soon.

2009-09-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Check out what the rain is doing to my mammoths! EEE! Hold on tight, you're not ready to harvest yet.

i created a facebook page... OMGoddess!

2009-09-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

i usually pick cucumbers and raspberries on Saturday but it is raining today so i am spending alot of time on the interwebs.

i joined Facebook, finally. i put it off for a long time because i like my anonymity but finding my old Warriors of Light amigos has made it all worth while.

The whole healthcare debate has me very worked up but i am calmer today because i joined Facebook and immediately found mi amigos de La Guerreros de la Luz. We all met in Mexico City in November of 2001. They are my spiritual brothers and sisters and they live all over Central and South America.

Speaking of Central and South America, i need to add a quick explanation here about why i am careful about the use of the descriptive Americans when i speak about my countrymen (and women). There are Americans from northernmost Canada to the southernmost point in Argentina. So, you can see why i try to be careful about that. i have many American friends who are not from the USA.

i emailed President Obama yesterday. i tried to make a reasoned argument for Medicare For All. i am very discouraged about healthcare reform. It just seems like my countrymen are so selfish, greedy and narcissistic. But on second thought, i think it is only my country's politicians. The polls show the people want single-payer or at least a strong public option. It is all very disheartening.

Got Hope?

President Obama is really in a pickle. He brought it on himself because he wants the cooperation of the right. So much so, that he thinks progressives like myself will go along. Rahm Emanual even wants us to shut-up.

You shut-up!

Anyway, President Obama has quite a dilemma. If he pushes for a public option he will get the House but not the Senate and if he drops the public option, he loses the House and may get the Senate (i think the Senate is a club and not a legislative body).

He can't win for losing.

But, like i said, he brought it on himself and i fear his presidency is doomed. i want to support my president but he does not want to support me and mine. Wednesday night he will speak to the nation and then i will know if he wants us to continue to be a nation of 'me' or if we will start down the road of the nation of 'we'.

Time to get some chores done so i will see you later.

Love and hugs, chickies and roos.

cynthia

This is why you haven't heard much from me lately

2009-08-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

2009-08-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

Who would you allow to die so you could profit? My grandson? His mother or father? Me?

I really do want to know. My parents are still alive and kicking and in their mid to late seventies; maybe you would be willing to let them die so you could maintain your profits.

Maybe you could get by for awhile by letting the 'dregs' of society die for profit before you have to move on to my parents, children, grandchild and me. Those terrible drug addicts or those useless fat people, the smokers, foreigners, the mentally ill, criminals and those terrible homeless people all deserve to die anyway so why let them eat into your profits?

Yes, i am being sarcastic, or am i? For the sake of profit, people in this country will do anything. We allow children to go hungry, poor children to get a deplorable education, old people to live in squalid conditions, climate change to worsen, and pile debt onto our great grandchildren.

i really don't know why i go on about this stuff. Humanity is cooked. Humanity is a failure. The sooner we are gone the better the chances are for the rest of the beings on this planet. For those who believe in that big brother god-daddy in the sky, your god made a mistake in making you, us. We are not only killing each other but we are killing the planet. Instead of seeing ourselves as a part of a larger whole, we think we are the center of the universe and everything is about us. It's all about me, me, me, not we, we, we.

When i die i hope i can find a way to move on without reincarnating again. i want my soul to find a new path. Mother Earth needs a respite from human-like animals. Human souls who have not learned that the village is more important than the individual have not evolved.

Are you a me or a we? i try my best to be a we and that is all i can ask of you. Give it your best effort.

Just another family photo

2009-08-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

Holley the dog in the back is mother to all who need mothering or protecting is watching over the other residents of my little Garden of Weeden. Hawthorne the cat, and the girls, Precious, Carmen and Budda, are enjoying my stay-cation with me.

We're having a heat wave!!

2009-08-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a real struggle around here for about two weeks. my area of Oregon doesn't usually experience this kind of heat. The same can be said for the two feet of snow we got last December. It is some kind of weird karma... or just climate change... or just co-ink-i-dink.

The cucumbers, beans, raspberries and sunflowers love the heat though. me, not so much. i am definitely of the delicate flower variety. Yes, i am a wean.

The chickens are holding up well. i give them cantaloupe every afternoon and i have not been shutting them in at night. They seem quite happy to get up when they please and are content to wait for their breakfast until i get around to it. They get cottage cheese, shredded carrots, cucumbers and sprouts every morning. Yes, i know, they're spoiled. So? If you were sweet, entertaining and gave me eggs everyday i would spoil you as well.

Shifting gears, chickies and roos. i am on to healthcare reform. i am a single-payor advocate and i am only willing to settle for a strong public option if necessary. Despite the clean, simple, no hassle advantages to single-payor, despite the cost efficiency and true equality of single-payor, many Americans think that being over-charged, denied services and held hostage by insurance companies is the way to go. Oy...

OK, let's think this through, mi amigos. Do you think for-profit fire departments should be the way to go? Do you think for-profit police departments are the way to go? How about for-profit court systems? Do you think it moral to let someone's house burn down, perhaps with people in it, because they can't pay for fire services? And how sensible is it to let someone who is ill go uncared for? Really? If a person has swine flu, or TB (two very contagious diseases) does it make sense to deny them care? Of course not; you don't want those diseases to spread.

And how about cost. We all know that the larger the pool, the more costs can be spread out (Social Security) and that the large pool can negotiate lower prices by buying in bulk (Sam's Club anyone?). Yet we choose to pay more and deny care to some.

Some say we are a Christian nation; i don't believe this but for the sake of argument i'll go with that for a minute. WWJD, people. How Christian is it to deny healthcare to anyone? How Christian is it to worship the almighty dollar by the way. Isn't there something about worshiping false idols like money and flags in Christian tenets? Get a grip people!

While i'm on the subject of Christianity i'd like to know what Jesus/God thinks of people who think they don't have to take care of the earth that he is said to have given us to live on. What does he think of the way Christians treat fellow humans (non-Christians) that he is said to have made? i'm stopping now because i could go on and on about Christian hypocrisy and blood-letting; not that any other religions are better...

HEALTHCARE FOR ALL, mi amigos. It's the right thing to do.

Praise Goddess.

2009-07-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is my Garden of Weeden (i know, it cheesy) last February

Late April: The Big Dig

Today, mi amigos, my chickies and roos, today

i finally bought batteries for my camera. These batteries are as expensive as film used to be. Jeez! So, the pictures are proof i don't just sit on my arse. No plush lawn here, there are weeds galore but there is also at least one tiny frog, maybe two. i take this as a victory. Any time i can provide habitat for frogs i pat myself on the back. Frogs need our tender loving care. Their kind are fighting hard to live in our ever degrading environment.

For the first six or seven years of the ninties i worked at a grocery store that was next to a large vacant lot. Every Spring the frogs would chirp and crock for about two weeks, maybe longer. i loved hearing them each spring. The vacant lot is now a learning center and the frogs have moved on. Granson L found one a couple weeks ago and was very excited and i found one yesterday. Then i saw another one. Now, it could be i saw the same one but they seems to be different colors. One was sandy brown and the other one was mossy green. i am going to error on the side of caution and say i have ONE frog for sure, but i have a sneaking feeling there are two. And, if you have read The Alchemist, then you know the Alchemist gave the Shepherd a truism which is: Of a thing that happens once, it probably will not happen again. But if a things should happen a second time, it is bound to happen a third.

i bet i see more frogs, chickies and roos. i'll keep you updated.

Son JR may be over later today. We are planning a dinner of pulled pork, green beans (from the garden) and corn on the cob. But there may be a hitch in the plans. He forgot he was suppose to help my parents move some stuff and evidently there have been 'delays'. i'm sure my Dad is frustrated; he planned to get this done early today. In fact, son MP left early this morning (9:30 is really early for MP, so i am assuming he wanted to make a short job of it as well). So the grandsons are helping their Grandpa get an annoying little chore out of the way and it has turned into an all day job. This is what i like to think of as 'bonding opportunities' for my sons.

It is almost 4pm so i am thinking i may be eating pulled pork by myself.

i want to make a shout-out to my brother RG. i hope he is reading my blog and i hope there will be comments on occasion. We live on opposite coasts and find it hard to find time to talk. By the time i am home from work, he is thinking about going to bed. Three hours are a lot of time to work around. He sent me a birthday card and i was so surprised, and thought it was so nice but by the time i get home, settle in, take care of the critters and such, i forget about making phone calls. When i do remember it is midnight on the east coast... oy.

We just need to decide to use the inner-tubes and the email to communicate. Which, of course, means i need to do my part.

That was a hint, chickies and roos. i have said enough for today and must compose an email to my brother.

Love and light!

A Ghost Filled Starlit Wedding of Two Brothers

2009-07-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

The crescent moon watches the goings on ready to add to the rituals in any manner helpful. She has seen this many times. It has it's place in the cycles. In her wake the people ride the seasons of learning, working, playing and resting. This wedding, one of so many others like it, did have it's curiosity. Moon looked again at the smaller of the two brides.

Had no one noticed her translucence or her not quite erectness? Moon tried to catch a few more of Sun's rays to reflect on the little bride's face. She wanted to get a better look but she was also confident her reflected light would compliment the bride's inner glow. The wake and the indirect light; that is what Moon could add to the rituals.

Moon was sure now. The bride was well on her way to becoming a ghost. Fascinating, she thought.

Hey chickies and roos! Love you and missed you. i've been so busy (or lazy, as you see it) and have not written much lately. i have been reading. i am reading three books at the moment and i am anxious to start another... Oy.

The World According to Bertie, Alexander McCall Smith

Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell

Portland Noir, Various Authors

and since it is my birthday today, i took a chance on a hardcover called The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe. It promises to be historical fiction that involves witches. A kind of Da Vince Code (i hope it is not a bad copy cat). But, first things first. i will finish what i have started.

Oy, and i need to get up and water the garden. Since it is almost dark the chickens will need tucking in, as well. The opening above is a little story i have dreamed up based on a painting i found at a second hand store. i will keep working on it so check back.

Love and light to all

Cynthia

If you or i had to pull the trigger to kill the death row convict, how long would we support the death penalty?

2009-06-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Who decides who gets healthcare? i know there are some sickos out there who would love the job for the power rush, but most fair thinking people would not want the job of deciding who gets healthcare and who does not. Do you want to be the one who tells a person they cannot see a doctor?

DC elites, who have fabulous healthcare by the way, think that they can devise a plan to portion it out to the rest of us. All those groups protecting what they feel are their entitlements; the American Medical Association, free-market capitalists, insurance cabals and money-hungry politicians, all so full of themselves that they refuse to see the destruction they are raining down on we... the PEOPLE.

Healthcare is a right! Again, i ask, who would you turn away? i have heard a lot of talk lately pointing to smokers, fat people, drug addicts, even sports enthusiasts as costing the tax payers more for healthcare. Yes, even those who live well and for a long time will cost us more as they spend years in old folks homes. This is an old trick, people! Turn someone into a devil and you can deny them anything. Now you have justification. NO, you cannot see a doctor, you unhealthy, sick person!

i know i need to communicate my opinions to my Senators, Congressman and the White House but i really need to create a script. i am too angry to be effective. i want to convey my displeasure without them writing me off as a whack job.

i'm the daughter of a mailman. i know government can work and work well. For 44 cents a mailman will come to your house, take your letter anywhere in the country and deliver it to the address on the envelope. 44 cents, people. The post office has been ridiculed for years but it really is an amazing operation.

Yes, chickies and roos, i am working out some demons today. (so what else is new, you say) Some things in life are not for profit. Who would you turn away?

2009-06-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

i am such a bitch sometimes. i know my boss is difficult and flaky, so why can't i just accept the difficulties that she causes? Why do i feel the need to point out the absurdities? i have never been good at playing games. i am not a good liar and can't pretend a pink elephant is anything other than a pink elephant.

So here i sit stressed out and feeling bad because i cannot just go along... just shut up and go along.

Well i just walked away for a few minutes to hang with my grandson. Since i don't want to bitch anymore, i'm going to end on a high note.

Love you chickies and roos.

2009-06-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

i have never been as afraid of foreign terrorist as i have been of homegrown ones; namely those who profess to be protecting unborn babies. There are plenty of people i am afraid of, like our government between 2000 and Jan. 20th 2009, like the police in Portland and like aggressive drivers but the people i fear the most are the self-righteous religious fanatics... of all strips.

i believe the reason congress will not give us single-payor healthcare is because they don't want to have a fight with those who want to keep women down. That is the only way to put it. Barefoot and pregnant, is the old fashion phrase but it is the reality. The men i know get very defensive when i speak up for women's rights. There are a lot of reasons for that and i won't go into them but that keeps me from talking about women's rights in 'polite' company. So many people, not just men, think the fight for our rights is over. They are so wrong. Roe v Wade is law but in practice women are denied their right to sovereignty over their own body by constricting access. Equal pay for equal work is the law but we are not allowed to know the wages of fellow employee so we cannot confirm compliance to the law (another good reason to pass the card check law).

It occurred to me today that by law we protect the privacy of healthcare records (i work in medical billing and know the lengths we must go to protect medical records) but in the case of women's reproductive health all bets are off. If a woman wants an abortion (for whatever reason) or wants birth control (either the pill or the morning after variety) she is subjected to a marathon of hurdles from healthcare professionals and pharmacists. When it comes to a women's reproductive medical issues her privacy is lost. She must seek cooperative professionals thus exposing her medical issue. Where is equal protection?

i am mourning the assassination of Dr. Tiller and am having trouble processing it all. i get so angry at people's deliberate ignorance. Dr. Tiller performed late term abortions. These types of abortions are agonizing decisions for the women involved but if you believe the lies of the righteous pro-lifers these women are callous baby killers who decide weeks before delivery that they no longer want the baby. Holier-than-thous!

There is a vigil here in Portland on Sunday at 6pm. Go to Oregon Naral for more information. i think i am going to go and maybe i will start volunteering at a women's health clinic. Perhaps it's time to put my body where my mouth is.

Signing off in sorrow, chickies and roos,

Cynthia

Garden time, Espresso Tales and shame on the Washington elite

2009-05-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hey chickies and roos! Getting my garden going is consuming my time these days but it will soon be time to water, water, water and watch the plants grow. It has been very warm this weekend, requiring me to hide inside during the heat of the day.

Last weekend was Memorial Day and i was determined to get some reading done so i read Alexander McCall Smith's latest installment of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. i love his books so much. i savor them like a one savors a cup of great coffee. His Espresso Tales series is wonderful as well. i have been collecting his Isabelle Dalhousie books to take on one day.

Most exciting of all, i was able to download podcasts for a new book that McCall Smith serialized at the Telegraph. i am excited to go to work now, since i listen to podcasts while i work (after listening to Thom Hartmann, of course).

News in politics: Sonia Sotomayor has been nominated by President Obama to the Supreme Court and she is being skewered by conservatives. It is what they do... idiots. If they keep it up long enough they will have alienated every possible voting group. So, of course, i hope they keep it up.

The usual parsing of the candidates spoken or written words is the first shot. What really pisses me off is that the media perpetuates the parsing by repeating it in the form of questions to 'panelists'. They don't play the whole clip so that the audience can hear it for themselves; they play a clip of Rush or Newt repeating a small portion of a statement she has made.

The best i can figure is that she is fairly neutral politically. She is not liberal or conservative. i would have preferred an unabashed liberal but Obama is not a liberal so i suppose i shouldn't be surprised.

Speaking of Obama, i have never expected him to be perfect but his lack of action on gays in the military has me very disappointed. And, my former senator from Montana, Max Baucus, is downright shameful. He refuses to let single payor advocates in on the healthcare legislation hearings. He and so many others are refusing to allow single payor to be part of the process. This means, chickies and roos, that our government is going to pass a healthcare bill that will institutionalize profits for healthcare companies. The same healthcare companies that refuse people due to 'previously existing conditions' are now going to profit off the goverment teat. Now the poor will be forced to buy healthcare, taking money they barely have and giving it to healthcare companies. i am so disgusted and so disappointed in Obama. Max Baucus and President Obama have great healthcare but don't think my grandson should have it, unless, of course, his parents miraculously come up with a way to pay for it.

Per usual, i am mad as a wet hen. i don't know what i expected from the Washington elite. i guess i thought things would change but Obama is slowly but surely turning into one. What a disappointment. Shame on you Obama, shame on you Max Baucus, shame on Republican, shame on all of them.

Stay-cation is about over... happy gardener going back to work tomorrow

2009-05-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

i can't show you pictures cause the camera has a dead battery, but the yard, garden boxes and coop are starting to come together. i waited five days for P to till a small plot for my sunflowers with a motorized tiller but to no avail. So, this morning i did it by hand between rain showers.

i am days away from chamomile tea. The two small starts i potted have taken off, are about 3 feet tall and already blooming. There are three kinds of lavender in the yard; french, spanish and english. i should have a really nice sunflower patch. i'm really excited about harvesting the seeds this fall. i found a great recipe for roasting the seeds. The trick is boiling the seeds before baking them. i hope to have five or six mammoth heads to harvest. For Solstice, i will give little packets of roasted sunflower seeds in honor of the returning light.

Shush... don't tell anyone that i'm going all pagan on their asses.

You know, chickies and roos, i am very tired. It is almost 11:30 and i need to get to bed.

Love and light mi amigos.
C

The audacity of hope, mi amigos, the audacity of hope

2009-05-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

So my camera is needs a new battery already. i have to completely rethink how i use it. The battery does not seem to last too long and at $10 to $15 a pop, it is not even practical. i must be missing something. There is a camera shop near my work so i guess i'll be visiting them soon.

i am really enjoying my stay-cation. Much relaxing and many chores taken care of; not too bad. Tomorrow i am going to do one of my favorite things.... second-hand store shopping. Ohhh, i wonder what treasure i will find? Oh, and Craft Warehouse; i picked up a soldering tool today from a mark-down bin and want to see what i can do with it. So, i want to go by Craft Warehouse and stroll around and see what project i can come up with.

Today is Sunday and i almost always watch the talking heads. It is "try to deflect attention about torture from the Bush/Darth/Rummy/Rice/Yu cabal to Nancy Pelosi" week. I guess i understand, it's worse to NOT report torture than to actually DO torture.
And, what if she had reported it? Do you remember what it was like in 2003ish? If Nancy Pelosi had learned of torture going on and had gone public she would have been accused of treason. i forget who, but a senator learned of the illegal wire tapping going on long before it went public, and knew he could not go public because he would be charged with divulging secrets by the Bush cabal and Homeland Security so he composed a letter of objection and locked it in his safe. He could not even tell his staff.

And here we are in 2009 and now we are being subjected to a kind of 'blame the victim' game by the conservatives. If they can create a firestorm around, preferably a democrat, they can BLAME THE DEMOCRATS FOR TORTURE i can heare them now, "You Democrats didn't stop us, so it's your fault".

Oy....

i really hope we have learned our lesson and that people will see through this tactic. My personal audacity of hope.

Hey, chickies and roos, i know this is all boring and i am actually relaxed and enjoying my stay-cation so i hate to end on a sour note. The audacity of hope, mi amigos, the audacity of hope.

Love and light to you.

2009-05-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hey, chickies and roos! Sorry for the lack of postings. The big dig in my back yard is still a work in progress and it is keeping me from my garden work. i still have sunflowers, watermelon and maybe cucumbers (if the seeds don't sprout soon) to plant. Oh, and the raspberries to wire up.

i am on 'stay-cation' until Wednesday and doing a lot of yard and garden work. Love it. i will post more tomorrow, maybe post some pictures (if the yard begins to look nice and organized). The Sunday shows are on in the morning so i may have some things to say about politics.... per usual.

Now it's late and my internet has been out for a day or so i just wanted to reach out to all of you ...(two people?).

Tomorrow, chickies and roos! Love and light, mi amigos. Solstice approaches.

Dick!

2009-05-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Don't watch Darth Cheney! Refuse to tune into his interviews. Please, people, just turn your back on the man. Shame him. Persona non-grada.

Nuf said.

Big digs

2009-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

Son P has taken on the project of putting in a retaining wall. (Why is he being so nice?) Looks good, don't you think? The new nesting box is in as well. i pretty much had a lazy weekend (no guilt). i really couldn't get much done with P's project going on.

Well, chickies and roos, i really am tired but i wanted to get pictures posted of the wall. We only had to buy a dozen new bricks because we reused bricks from a faux wall out front. As you know if you read me much, i love, love, love reusing. The new nesting box was made out of a salvaged shipping crate, a few screws, and some leftover primer. Nice!

i know i haven't blogged much about politics lately. i hope i don't disappoint, mi amigos. i will say that i think John McCain is performing contortions any acrobat would admire, in order to justify torture. We must atone, chickies and roos. That's the only way to truly do the right thing. Face the truth and atone. Cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect... karma, tit for tat, yin and yang, E=MC2... The only way to stop a destructive cycle is with forgiveness. But, forgiveness is not ours to give. It is ours to request only. Atone, hope for forgiveness and refuse to continue the cycle. Sounds so simple...

Maybe that's why P is being so nice.

Love and light my friends!

Some after and before pictures and chickens on a wire

2009-04-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hey chickies and roos,
i've been working so hard in my yard that i am about worn out. Above are some before and after pictures plus one of Budda and Precious on the crossbeams of the old canopy (the one that collapsed under the weight of 18" of snow last December). The canopy is down now. The corner posts are going to be turned into supports for another shade cover. i'll make it using a piece of my brother's old shed that he deconstructed. The new nesting box is almost done. i'll post pictures tomorrow.
The other pictures above are of the front (weed) garden before and after and my watering area before and after. P wants me to plant corn so i told him he had to get the front mess all ready and he did. Tomorrow i will plant corn and pumpkins.
i've got the compost area set up using the bales of straw that i put around the coop for the winter. i could not have done it without P and T, pictured at top. The bales were a ton, being wet to the core from snow and rain. i got that picture of them while they took a well deserved rest in the shade.

OK, enough for today. More to tomorrow, chickies and roos. Love you...

i'm on vaca chickies and roos

2009-04-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

That's pretty much all i have to say. Four days off and the sun is gonna shine. I'll be checking in.

Radish sprouts! and dying lettuce...

2009-04-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

i have radish sprouts! No sign of peas yet and my lettuce has been eaten by some kind of larva or worm. i think they fell from the tree next door. i got pictures of what looked to be a newly hatched butterfly (see here) a week or ten days ago. i think this is related, but what do i know.

So, i need to rethink the lettuce. We are due for fabulous weather this weekend and i think i am going to take a long weekend from work so i can work around the house. Yahoo! i'm also taking a longer weekend in May.

i'm in the process of converting a shipping crate into a new nesting box for the chickens. i'll post pictures this weekend.

Ooh, i'm getting excited. i love being home and futzing around the house and yard. i get up with the chickens everyday. i have to. They need to come out of their coop at daylight so... Going back to bed never seems to happen even though i tell myself to go for it. A nice breakfast and some coffee, and i'm ready to go. i'm such a gooner (gooner means nerd/not cool).

Thank you for your prayers or candle lighting for my friend D. She sounds more grounded now and she sounds like light has gotten into some of her corners. Hey D! Love you.

i just talked to P. i hope to get his help on some projects around here. He has lost his job like so many others, and i think he should keep busy. He probably does not appreciate my thoughts on this. Love you P.

Signing off chickies and roos,
C

I cannot put in words how much i love this

2009-04-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

OMG!

I watched this three times and cried every time.

I need a prayer for a friend. Light a candle, please, or call on a spirit helper.

2009-04-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Take my hand Debbie. I won't let go.

Garden boxes and butterflies

2009-04-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

i'm not sure i have anything interesting to say today but i have not posted in a few days so i feel like i should check in.

The weather was AMAZING last weekend and i got my garden boxes put back into shape for the season. Here are the before and after pictures but i'm not sure you can tell the difference.

In the other box, i planted lettuce, Walla Walla onions, radishes, and peas. P is doing the hard work of tilling up the front yard and i will plant corn. Don't get me wrong, i am not taking out grass to plant corn. There is a large space between our front doors that was overgrown with old bushes and such. It had basically become a weed patch. The problem with it was that the bushes had gnarly root balls that were really hard to get out, as well as, layers of plastic weed blocker. He is prepping it on the promise that i will grow corn (and pumpkins between the rows of corn). i would normally not grow corn because it takes too much space for too few ears, but i would do just about anything to get that patch cleaned up.

This weekend the weather is not going to be so cooperative, so i will start my cucumber indoors. i plan to grow cucs, beans and carrots in the box pictured above. i had good luck with cantalope last year so i'm going to try them again in the ends of the raspberry boxes. With sunflowers galore in the corner patch, i ought to keep busy all summer.

i got a picture of this butterfly that looked freshly hatched from it cocoon. The body was still fuzzy and i followed it around for awhile until it's wings dried and it flew away.

Later chickies and roos!

For the Ages, for Debbie and for mystery

2009-03-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mystery is the word today. All the knowledge of humanity is tiny compared to all we don't yet understand... mystery. How many lifetimes do i need to learn and do all there is to know and do?

The answer to that is one more mystery.

The future is another mystery but one can use what is understood about consequences to understand what the future holds. The whole Earth Hour thing has me thinking about my contribution to climate change and what positive effect i could possibly have. Since my grandson was born four years ago, i have tried to think in terms of generations like Native Americans.

What ever i sacrifice will leave more for him. That's been my thinking and my motivation to conserve, to sacrifice and to re-think how i do everything.

The problem is i really think the planet and humanity (all life on earth) is in for a long hard road. i think it's all gone too far. Humanity has not learned the lesson of the Native Americans. We live for now, there are far too many of us and we poo in our nests. We're dirty, indulgent and short term thinkers.

What we need to do for the planet will probably not be felt by our grandchildren but if we do what we need to do, our efforts could make life possible for the seventh generation.

I do it for the Ages. i've got to teach that to my grandson because we will probably not see the results of our efforts. The audacity of hope, our president would say. i have to hope my efforts, my children's efforts, and my grandchildren's efforts will pay off.

In other news, my long lost friend Debbie got in touch with me. i owe her an email but i know she is checking in here so... "Hi Deb! Love you, girl."

There is too much to talk to her about in this posting so i will control myself. Oh, and i will now have to join Facebook. My friend, Wynd is already there and Deb says she has a page so i guess i will have to set myself up now. i'll keep you informed.

Mi amigos, chickies and roos, it has gotten late while i sat here composing this post, so i must go but i leave you with the picture above and the link to a former post of mine that, i think, explains a lot about me.

Prodigal parents, Google Earth and snotty Earth Hour rant

2009-03-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

The prodigal parents have returned and here they are with my brother, his daughter and Mom and Dad's new dog, Emmie. i might have that name wrong but the dog is sweet as can be. Just one tiny ball of love.

i've wanted to post many times since my last entry but could not for one reason or another.

i still haven't heard from my friend Debbie in Belgium. Hi Debbie (or Barbara Morgana)! Yoohoo! Email me girlfriend.

Earth Hour tomorrow. Yes, that exercise in global, we are oneness, in the name of spread the word about climate change. i don't mean to be snotty but it's been obvious to me for a long time that we need to consume less. First law: Reduce. Then, Reuse, reuse, reuse. And then recycle, mi amigos.

How 'bout we power down everyday for one hour. Require it. Force everyone to purposely power down their life. I'm not talking hospitals etc. or even your refrigerator but lights, TV, internets.

i found instructions on the internets for building a solar panel and a wind turbine and i really want to build one. They each cost less than $200. i want to build a panel and run P's shed with it. Then build a turbine to run a heating system for the coop.

i live in the ultimate windy city, right at the mouth of the Columbia Gorge (Google Earth that for a fun time). The wind blows out of the gorge at this spot on the Columbia River like a wind tunnel. Perfect for homemade wind turbines.

Google Earth is my new fun friend. i googled my house, the town i was born in, where i went in Mexico... Time stood still and i had to be made to stop.

We have a long rainy weekend ahead and i haven't made a plan. i like to plan my weekends. i guess i do want to do the usual cleaning but beyond that i don't know.

Perhaps i will post.

Later chickies and roos.

The Rand Illusion

2009-03-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Check out the link to Stephen Colbert giving us "The Word". The clip starts with a commercial, sorry, and is about 5 minutes long. i have never read the book that is the bible of the far right, Ayn Rand's, Atlas Shrugged.

i never felt the need. i had always heard about it and thought it was a book that would be a waste of time for me... and i think i made the right decision. Life is too short.

If you want to understand where the right is coming from, or who Ayn Rand is or what Atlas Shrugged is about, then watch the clip.

i wish i had understood this earlier. A whole cult like group grew out of Ayn Rand's livingroom, including Alan Greenspan. Ronald Reagan was also a devotee.

Sorry, Chickies and Roos. i don't want to be a downer. Check out the clip and laugh and learn.

Check out Ricky Gervais and Elmo... Hilarious

2009-03-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

John Stewart eats Cramer for lunch

2009-03-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

OMG! Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer (CNBC) was so hard to watch. The battle began here. Last week he railed about the commentators on CNBC who are contributing to the world's economic woes and the thing blew up into a huge 'battle' between Stewart and Cramer.

Tonight Cramer went on The Daily Show to defend himself and he was so self-deprecating. So much so that it came off as desperate. He wanted off the hook so badly, and i think he thought that if he came on and acted all, 'I make mistakes', 'I should have seen these things coming', 'I'm working with the government to find these criminals', that Stewart would be contented.

Jon called him on all of it. Jon aired clip after clip showing just how Cramer gave advice on how to manipulate the market at the expense of regular people's retirement accounts. He pointed out how we are all told that we should invest our money for the long term, how we should grow our money slow and steady. But CNBC and the commentators are telling the market players how to make quick dollars in ethically challenged or outright illegal ways.

It was amazing. Check it out. And here and here.

Mexico memories

2009-03-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

The souls in robes in the plants that grow

2009-03-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

i got two blasts from the past today. Knock me over with a feather! My friend Debbie from my old 'Warriors of Light' Yahoo group sent me an invite to her page at Windows Live. I had to sign up for an account (i hate that - now i will get bunches of unwanted email). My friend Wynd prefers her Facebook page but i don't want to sign up for an account there. i probably will in the end. Although, i can call her or go over to her house so i don't feel an urgent need to join Facebook.

The other amazing event today was an email from Kim Antieau after she read an email from me that i sent her over 4 years ago. She reminded me of an old favorite saying i had relayed to her in the email. I began following her blog then and still do today.

i can't believe i forgot The souls in robes in the plants that grow. i talk to my stuff; my computer, my garden tools, the car etc, as well as plants. i also talk to my friends and family who have passed. Don't get me wrong, i'm not John Edward, i just talk to them when they come to mind. Speaking of, Wynd, Mark has been coming to mind lately. And i realized that i am mad at him for the grief he caused in his death. i understand that these things take on a different tone on the other side but i haven't completely put it away.

For now, i await an email from my long lost friend, Debbie and i look forward to Kim's new blog experience.

Speaking of souls i love, my hens are in for a very cold night. i thought about plugging in the heat lamp but they dislike it so much i decided not to do it. i probably worry about them more than i need to. OK, i know i worry about them more than i need to. Some days the only happiness i feel is from my critters, they keep me going.

Later, chickies.

Love and kisses.

Hot flashes: surprising climate change cure

2009-03-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

i have been having hot flashes almost constantly this week. i throw the covers off at night and then pull them back over me a few minutes later when i suddenly feel icy cold... Oy!

i probably cursed myself when i had the thought a week or two ago that my hot flashes seemed to be abating. Should have knocked wood.

Today is a beautiful spring-like day but snow is in the forecast for Sunday. In the very wintery Montana, where i grew up, a day like today would be labeled false spring. That is to say, it feels like spring, looks like spring, and even says spring on the calendar but it is NOT spring.

Here in Oregon, we have very long springs. It starts to come on as early as February and doesn't really end until mid to late June (just as soon as our annual Portland Rose Festival ends). Winter is rainy but spring is rainier. As soon as Rose Festival is over the clouds part and summer begins. We jokingly call ourselves slugs for this reason. And as a result, we wilt like we've been salted when summer finally arrives. The temperature hits 70 degrees and we all go running to find our moth-balled air conditioners.

Actually, i bought my first air conditioner only two summers ago. i was determined not to get one for so long. It is a device that is only needed a few weeks a year. To be sure, i am stingy about using it but i still feel sheepish about it. If the thermometer hits 80 degrees, i turn into a big lazy whiner.

i guess i can't win for losing. i whine when it's too cold and whine when too hot.

On another topic, i got my taxes done today. Yahoo! That chore is done for another year. i will see a small refund from both federal and state and as much as i want to save it, most of it will probably get spent. i do pride myself on spending my meager refunds on my house or on things that have some kind of return. Last year i built garden boxes and set up my chicken enterprise (enterprise? like some kind of profit making something-or-another? Yeah, right).

This year i want to build a reliable, workable compost bin, insulate the floors, get a energy-efficient dryer, build a deck off my back porch, install solar panels and a wind turbine and buy a Smart car.... that's all. $1000 ought to cover it, right?

A girl can dream. Oh, and i want the new Brett Dennen album and the new Alexander McCall Smith's, Number One Ladies Detective Agency novel.

Oy! It's the hot flashes talking. i'll get the novel and the album and the compost bin and i'll get my old non-energy-efficient dryer fixed. I will send some more money to Kiva and save some of my refund. That's the big plan, chickies! Exciting, isn't it.

i know i haven't blogged much about politics lately. It is my favorite topic but i've tried to back off just a little. President Obama is impressive but in no way perfect. For right now, i am willing to give him room to work. Our Oregon legislature is now in Democratic hands and they are busy righting the wrongs of the Republican dominated previous decade. Like Obama, Oregon Democrats have devastating messes to clean up. It is almost too much to handle.

i am basically a pessimist (so not suited for public office) but i really hope the optimists carry the day, so to speak. In my hot flash fed nightmares, it is already too late to fix climate change, my grandson will get an even lousier education than his step-siblings, and the economy is already f**ked beyond repair. Now there's a insight into my psyche that should keep you at arm's length.

Beware!! Hot flashing crone spews her nightmarish scenarios! Now there's a blog worth reading. Huh? Excited, aren't you.

Love you chickies! i'm off to create some economic stimulus by spending my gigantic refund check.

New toy

2009-03-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the girls and two boys.

My grandson Lincoln, Hawthorne the cat, Holley the dog and chickens, Budda, Carmen and Precious.

The new toy, of course, is the camera. i have much to learn so i won't bore readers with lots of pictures of my critters. In future, i will only post photos when they are worth looking at, but i played around with it and used the critters as guinea pigs. The yard is not photogenic right now. Winter has scoured and battered her but only three weeks until i can begin planting peas and onion and lettuce.

Got run. Lincoln is here for a visit.

No Guilt posting

2009-02-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

i spent yesterday catching up on my Netflix so, per usual, i feel guilty for not getting more productive things done. Of course, one could argue that my Netflex IS productive.

MUST HAVE ART!

Today, i am wasting away more hours blogging. No Guilt Zone, chicks and roos. Today is no guilt blogging day.

Before i leave the whole Netflix thing, i have a recommendation. Bear in mind that my movie and TV series recommendations are usually rejected by my friends and family, so you can't hurt my feelings if you don't agree with me in these areas (maybe politics but not art). Robson Arms is a Canadian television production that i think is very good. If you have ever watched Tales of the City you will know immediately the kind of genre i'm talking about. i am looking forward to watching the second season. Also check out another Canadian series called, Slings and Arrows. Excellent! Do not let your Shakespeare phobia stop you from watching this series. OK, ok, enough. Movin on.

i now am the owner of a camera. It is a gift from the company i have worked for for ten years. No doubt you will all be exposed to my photographic impulses in the next week. Don't expect too much. There is a lot to learn. Oh my gosh, it is going to take me awhile to learn how to use it as well as how to run the photo program on the computer. Yeah, i don't have enough going on with spring cleaning, banishing and garden planning to do. my parents are coming home next month so i will have them coming and going.

i will be happy to see them but i always worry about having my house just so when they are around. i won't burden you with my parent/child behavioral quirks. Suffice to say, i fall short of my expectations which are probably not those of my parents but i always feel like my house and yard are not up to snuff for them.

The sun has finally come out and who knows how long it will last here in western Oregon. Mind you, it is still pretty cold, too cold to do any real yard work. But, i still get the itch to get out there. i am also resisting the urge to brood another chick or two this spring. P wants me to, but i've decided to wait until next year to add to my flock. i am going to redesign the nest boxes in the coop so i'll keep you posted on that. i'll do pictures!

i've met J's new friend and like her very much. They came over last Sunday and i talked her ear off. i did it for a couple of reasons; nervousness for sure but also because i love to talk politics and such and i talk a lot as compensation for spending much of my time alone. As i've said before, i am not lonely, i like my own company but good conversation is fun too. i don't want to jinx anything so i won't talk about J and C except to say first blush is positive.

It is about time to get my taxes done. This is not only necessary but a part of my whole Spring cleaning-pay old debts-banish negative influences-wrap my home in protection before i plant my garden plan. i have work to do to get ready to do my taxes, Oy.

Lists will be needed, chicks and roos. And a plan of attack. And that is exactly what i am off to do now, mi amigos.

Imbolc hiaku

2009-02-03T22:25:00.000-08:00

"Brigid," i intone,

"Banish winter's stale dark days

and sweep earth awake."

Spring Cleaning will be early this year

2009-02-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Oh, sisters and bros, chickies and roos, this old crone is mad as a wet hen.

i got a call today from someone at the city, who informed me that our small pile of stuff awaiting spring cleaning to be distributed to recycling centers, second hand stores and the dump must be moved. An anonymous complaint, is what he called it. i am not to know my complainer's name and i must comply or eventually go before a judge.

i checked out this pile of stuff when i got home from work. There is a broken chair, a big plastic car thing my grandson has outgrown, a couple old BBQ liquid gas cans (empty, of course) and some other things. This stuff is all packed around the camper, half hidden to the street.

And! And, he dared threaten me. He said my attitude could determine the level of pressure the city might decide to exert. i question authority and authority gets a harassment orgasim.

Drama Queen? i don't care what this is. i'm mad and i'm not apologizing for it. This guy had a list!! And pictures.... OMG! He came onto my property, made a list and took pictures!!

Is that even legal? Ahhhhhhhhhgggg!

Don't give up on me yet, mi amigos. i decided on my way home to let this go and move my spring cleaning up a month or so. Listen to this. When i got home i picked up my yet unread Llewellyn calendar and gazed down to see a whole page of banishment spells.

Girlzzz i am going to do some banishment spellwork. Spring cleaning and banishment spells; i am pumped!

Wynd? Are you there? Hey girl, it's been awhile since we've done ritual. Whatdaya say? i feel my witchy groove coming back. Let's harness some Goddess energy and kick some butt!

Political correction alert! i am a peaceful, simple-life-loving, live and let live kinda gal so don't get me wrong. No kicked butts will be harmed during banishment making.

FNL and Battlestar

2009-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

i am going to watch the TV machine tonight. i normally watch Public Television on Friday nights (lots of politics - big surprise), but tonight i will sit down and watch Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica. Yes, i am a gooner.

FNL is not a show for teenagers. It is a totally adult program. Real people, real Texans (it's a different world in Texas), and (cover your eyes, Mom) hunky boy-men. OK, ok the coach is hunky and he is a grown-up man, but that Riggins reminds me of my younger, sexual self... back in the day, when i cared to have dirty thoughts.

Snap out of it cynthia!!!

Yeah, OK, yeah, it's a good program. Trust me. There is a lot more to it than hunky men. The women are real and strong, proud and capable. Texas is so NOT politically correct though.

The main characters are great and even honorable but then there is the underbelly of their community. For instance, each football player gets a 'girl' for the year. She performs tasks for her player. Doing his homework is one thing, providing sex is another. These girls are slaves to their players. It's disturbing but real. Sad. Then there is the drinking. Lots of alcohol for the players, pretty much on demand.

Battlestar Galactica is so amazing. The story lines are thought provoking and layered. Religion and politics are prominent but so is racism. Women have equality, it's not even questioned. i don't remember a plot point that deals with women being held back in anyway. They deal with war and torture, the military and it's rules vs the government and it's necessities.

They worship gods. They say, "Thank gods" or "Gods bless". They say "frack" instead of f**k. And they say it a lot. They have good reason.

Hey, FNL is starting. Time to skeedaddle, mi amigos. Tomorrow...

How i feel today

2009-01-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was joyful and exhausting. i'm having a hard time describing my feelings.

I mostly watched CNN and i guess they won the rating wars. i like MSNBC as well but the CNN coverage was the one i settled on. i feel bad for MSNBC because i watch Keith and Rachel all the time. It was them among others that got me through the last years. So, sorry K and R.

No one is talking much about it but i am really curious about the LACK of pardons by GW. Doesn't that leave his advisers vulnerable to prosecution? It would be one thing to investigate the Bush Administration but i really thought that GW would insure they did not see the inside of a jail. There are a few ways you could look at this. GW is very sure of his innocence out of arrogance or a stacked Supreme Court. Or, GW doesn't think Obama will actually pursue any prosecutions. Maybe GW feels that his advisers and others are responsible for his failures and this is his way of stickin it to them.

The last one is my favorite but probably not the reality. If it was true, i could actually kinda, sorta appreciate him... for that one thing... that one single thing. They are locking up the records for 50 years and i am livid about that. They can justify this but i think it provides a way to cover crimes. That law needs to be modified. You can't cloak people in power so they are not accountable. Power must be checked and regulated. Our founders tried to set up our government so there would be checks and balances.

Our government is out of balance. Congress cowered for 8 years and did not fulfill their constitutional obligations. The presidency has been given too much power and the Supremes are there to defend their ideology.

Alas, from here we must move forward. Yes, and i do pledge, Mr. President, to work harder, sacrifice more, to help in more ways and to set a good example. i liked that he asked us to grow up. i think it would be nice, if being an adult could be considered cool again.

That word 'cool' worked to convey my meaning in the last sentence but i use it sparingly. i think the whole 'being cool' thing is problematic. i don't really want to get into this too much today but 'being cool' or pursuing 'the cool' is responsible for a lot of dysfunction. For example; one might not follow a path that is right for them, and will instead, follow the 'cool' path. This is how teenagers operate. Another example is the way we buy and wear clothes. Name brands are a must and then there is the wearing of clothes inappropriately. Over-dressing, under-dressing, pants that don't cover your ass or heals on a winter day. You're not cool, your a lemming.

Enough of that. That is a topic for another day.

This post today is not very uplifting considering the hopefulness we are suppose to be feeling but i am feeling serious. That said, i also feel a weight lifted. i am in the habit of censoring myself, fearing the Bushies, but i can drop that now.

Lastly, for today, i am truly surprised that the Bushies are gone. i fully expected a coup. i did not think they would give up power. Yes, they are gone but they left behind a mess. A huge steaming pile of a mess. And, they stole our treasure. And, our planet, is it too late?

Sorry for the downer post mi amigos. This is how i feel today.

President Barack Hussein Obama

2009-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Too tired to post today except to say that joy in the morning and yard work in the afternoon make a crone weary.

The wind oh the wind

2009-01-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

It is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. i love this day. i always have. There is something special in it for me. This year with the Inauguration following on it's heals, it feels even more special.

When i read moonroot's blog this morning i intrigued by her comments about the change she feels in the air. i felt it too around the Solstice. In the middle of a snow storm, so rare for us, i felt this strong feeling of having turned a page. You know, i don't know what the new page says but i want to find out.

Not only do i love MLK's day but i love Inauguration Day this year. There was a time when i would not have ruled out a coop by Bush Co. A complete and utter take-over... So, i am feeling much relief that again, in our nation, we will have a peaceful transfer of power. It happens so often now, all over the world, that it is commonplace. Just two hundred years ago humanity had only a few, failed examples of this phenomenon. Our founding fathers really were going on faith... hope. Hope that they could construct a method to produce this crazy idea of 'transfer of power'.

The winds of change continue to blow. Literally, or is it figuratively, anyway, the wind here does not want to stop. It was suppose to end yesterday but continues today. Everything is getting torn up by it. So, clean up is rescheduled for tomorrow. Busy day tomorrow.

i love the smell of Inauguration in the morning.

February 2nd on-line poetry slam

2009-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Check out this on-line poetry slam.

Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.

RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.

Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers. Thank you, Reya, for beginning what is now an annual event.

OK, Chickies, let's get writing. You know how much i like a nice haiku. Or, post an old favorite.

i got this idea from moonroot. She has a great blog. i feel like i know her somehow.

Hot Mash and Inauguration warm a windblown day

2009-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

The Columbia Gorge winds have been howling for a couple days now. My yard is tore up and will be getting my attention tomorrow. i've got fences to tack back up first. Wow, i'm telling ya, the wind can blow here. That said, there are 'wind events' that get names around here. Now, i don't know if this one is getting a name or not because i haven't had the news on for a couple days.

Being the gooner i am, i am glued to CNN and MSNBC. All Inauguration, all the time.

(think John Stewert here) ..."LOVE IT!"

i predict joy headaches by Tuesday noon.

I gave the girls Hot Mash this morning. i think they like it. Carmen preferred it to the coveted cottage cheese. Budda took to it as well. Hurray! Makes me happy. But dear Precious maintained her devotion to the usual morning fair. i brought home a pot of wheat grass and thought they might like it. i thought it would continue to grow but they cleaned it out.

Lesson learned? A two dollar pot of wheat grass is a once-in-awhile treat, not a steady diet.

Later chickies.

Curmudgeon Queen blows off steam

2009-01-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

i've got to get back to my work, here in this cube among a hundred other cubes, in an office with no windows, in the middle of a Portland winter when the sun can barely pass through the clouds.

i copied the sentence above from my last post. i kind of like it. One might be right to think i could have at least edited it first. But no, i thought it, i wrote it, i felt it.

Things are out of sync. me for sure; i'm out of sorts but things are not right at work. i need to compartmentalize like some can do. Bill Clinton could do it, i've heard. i need a work compartment; a place to go and put on my "professional" uniform, so to speak. That is how he governed while defending himself against impeachment, how he ran for president while being exposed for having an affair. Compartmentalize. Be a good soldier. Focus.

Many people would be glad for my job; i really am more grateful than i sound. They would be all about doing what was necessary to secure and keep the job. Stick your tongues back in your mouths, mi amigos. i know how much you want my job! Quit drooling!

Job loss anxiety. That is one element of what's going on with me. Couple that with weirdness at work. Rob, my buddy, got fired a few weeks ago... more jitters. i can overreact on occasion. Ok, Wynd, i hear you. Queen of Curmudgeon... yeah, i know. Drama Queen, that's me, right?

Still, i trust my instinct/intuition. Something is not right and i know i am an odd duck. Really. i get it and i don't mind. i don't mind because I LIKE ME. But odd ducks make some people nervous. And in weird times... oh, i don't know.

So, that is why compartmentalization would be a great skill. Just be a soldier. Take your orders. Carry them out. Do your job. Put your smile mask on, wash your hands, you're done.

I have done this many times in the past. Why is it different now? The company knows i'm odd, why now do they want me to pretend to be 'professional'. Real professionals got to finish college. Real professionals have careers. i have a job. i like my job, but it is just a job.

My job is the tool i use to pay for the rest of my life. That's what i've always said. I like the bargain i have struck. Perhaps my company no longer sees me as an asset.

Am i making any sense at all? i'm rambling. What's my point?

Weirdness at work + financial meltdown + SAD + Curmudgeon thing = Job Loss Anxiety.

So...

Curmudgeon's lament

2009-01-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

i am in one crappy mood today. i called Wynd last night and begged her to talk me down. i can feel my mood trying to spiral downward. This time of year i need to make sure i get enough sunlight or i will get seasonal affected disorder (SAD). Actually, that may be contributing to my mood.

i am writing from work on my lunch so this will be short. It is stupid things that are getting to me. Today we were informed that all emails must use a specific font and color with no background. It is more professional.

i have been at this job for 10 years and mostly like it but more and more i feel i am being Wal-Marted. The whole email thing is just a straw on the camel's back, i understand that. The days are getting longer and my winter malaise will pass, i get that too.

Wynd reminded me last night that i am the Queen of Curmudgeon. True, i like being a curmudgeon. i hate 'happy talk'. This is the noise of people who want to live with their head in the sand. "Don't make me look at reality. I want to pretend all of the world is a Thomas Kindaid painting."

On the otherhand, my inability to be that person may be blinding me to a more 'positive' attitude.

i don't know. i'll have to pick this up later. I've got to get back to my work, here in this cube among a hundred other cubes, in an office with no windows, in the middle of a Portland winter when the sun can barely pass through the clouds.

Oy!

So much cute-atude!!

2009-01-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

OMG! i love this child! Click the title to read the story and watch the video.

Go Damon!! i'll be looking for him on Inauguration Day.

As promised

2009-01-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

i said i would blog again today but i've lost heart for it. i'm tired (got my chores done) and J and P had a big fight. And, of course, my grandson pays the price. Makes me sad.

As promised:

Moving Day Survival Kit

paper towels

Handi-wipes

vinegar (for cleaning windows and mirrors)

large jug of earth-friendly cleaning concentrate

spray bottle (to use with cleaner above)

scrub brush

rubber gloves

coffee and/or tea

mugs (also filters for the coffee and filter holders)

teapot

bread, cheese and fruit

i have enough vacation days to take Inauguration Day off. So picture me watching all the pomp and circumstance, flipping TV channels, crying and happy. Our new president will be sworn in about 9am my time so that is how my day will begin.

Oh, and i wanted to just mention that i have been listening to a podcast everyday called, The Archers. It's a BBC daily radio play. It lasts about 15 minutes and is set in a fictional rural English village. i like it, for a soap opera. With the soap opera going on around here, you would be right to wonder why i would listen to another one. Anyway, just a little recommend for ya.

Keep in touch, chickies.

So much to say and do, moving day survival kit and Inaugural Day plans

2009-01-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

i did something yesterday that may cost me more than i'm comfortable with.

i want to talk about it without sounding boastful. i want to share the feelings i am experiencing about the spell i cast. i also have a lot of work to do today and feel the itch to get going... oh, laundry, clean the coop. Oy... my list.

i want to say a million things about a million things. i'm on a coffee buzz and want to visit. Scone, anyone?

Meet the Press is really enjoyable this morning. If you can catch it, you should. Bill Cosby is a hero to me. When i was 12 or 13 years old, i babysat for a teacher. He and his wife had a collection of Bill Cosby records. i loved babysitting for them. They always left something nice for me to eat and i was allowed to play the records. Sweet memory... nice.

i went to Freddys yesterday and purchased a Moving Day Survival Kit/Housewarming Gift. Jesse and Kali (each eighteen years old) just got their first apartment. i too, got my first apartment at 18... Ummm, the nut doesn't fall far. Hey, they saved their money for first, last, assorted deposits and fees and pet deposits. As i understand it, they have money to spare.

Good for them! And i told them so. i told them i was proud of them and that they had been patient in their search for an apartment and that they had chosen well. They are only a couple of miles away, in a nice neighborhood, close to work and us. Well done!

They didn't have a rental history so they were being asked to get co-signers for the lease. A family friend refused and so did i. Neither Travis nor i can afford to pay any arrears if the two of them default on a lease. They talked a lady into taking a chance on them. Good for them, good for the lady taking a chance on them!

Our new president is on This Week. i am so proud of him. He sets such a good example. You want to do and be better after listening to him. Another scone anyone?

Our new president just said that to find the First Dog has been harder than finding a Commerce Secretary. Heeheeheehee.... Goddess, i'm giddy.

Moving Day Survival Kit

Oh, my Goddess! Hold the phone! i'll get back to the kit in a minute. This Week now has a panel for discussion that includes George Will, Peggy Noonan, Newt Gingrich and Thomas Friedman! Can you believe it? OMG! These people supported, even applauded those who broke us, those who shamed us, those who are destroying our planet. i believe these four stooges would do it again. They are resisting Obama, in hopes of capitalizing on any failure Obama may have. Revisionist historians! Machiavellian propagandists!

I agree with Pilosi that the tax cuts to the rich must be repealed and RAISED! You people got us here so now you must begin to at least contribute to our recovery. Simple, stupid.

i cannot buy enough stuff to save the world. In fact, that would destroy it faster.

First Law: Reduce (Second Law: Reuse, Third Law: Recycle). We need to buy less and redifine our buying habits, not mindlessly buy stuff.

Ok, mi amigos. i need a chill pill. i'm going to go clean the chicken coop and start the laundry.

I WILL WRITE AGAIN LATER. Still need to give out the Moving Day Survival Kit and talk about Inauguration Day plans. And i still want to talk about how it feels to do the kit/gift for the kids big day.

Later Chickies.

Change is constant, chickies

2009-01-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

Jessica's brother died, night before last... it's hard to know what to say because i didn't know him well. He was a musician, i understand. i'm certain there is a special place in heaven for musicians. i admire anyone who can play an instrument.

i just wanted to honor him with a small mention. Jessica will need lots of love for awhile. i hope i can be of some help to her. Peace, love and light to all.

i'm having a hard time writing. My arm is really sore. i don't know what i did to it but it hurts. Ouch!

i have a lot of work to do this weekend here on my little 'farmlette'. Mostly, the chicken coop and their yard. i've got a lot of straw to move. Some can go into the raspberries boxes but most of it needs to be composted. I AM OVERRUN WITH STRAW AND CHICKEN POOP to compost. Straw is working wonderful as an insulator around the coop and i put a lot inside when the weather was so cold.

My spring project is to build a really nice composting system. i've started researching and i'm going to use my income tax return, meager as it will be.

I feel a list coming on.

i also need to get a few yards of gravel and perhaps build another garden box. Oh, and there's some car maintenance and my flat roof need a coat of sealer.

i love writing my life here and i love you dear readers (all two of you). But i need to rest this arm. Seriously, it hurts. i'm off to rest up for my busy weekend.

Later, Chickies.

Cameras, cocoons and the coming spring

2009-01-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

i picked out my new camera today. The company i work for is giving me a camera for my tenth anniversary. The dear woman in charge of ordering the camera gave me printouts with specs for four different cameras. i haven't owned a camera in years except for the one that is on my cell phone.

i can't tell you a thing about it because i'm so lame about the technology but i'm excited! i should have it in a few weeks. First shots will be of the girls and my totally trashed yard, garden and chicken coop. Winter is taking it's toll this year. There will be TONS of cleanup next spring. You know, spring is not that far off really. February should produce a couple nice warm days and then March will roar in.

Between now and then, Obama will be sworn in and our long national nightmare will be on it's way to memory. These years have been hard on me. The weight of the shame and destruction our government has caused has affected me physically. The despair and hopelessness has made me more and more withdrawn. i have wrapped myself in a powerful cocoon. i'm not sure i want to come out but i suppose i must; just as the spring must return.

We shall see. i am stubborn. i am stubborn but grateful. i have much when so many have so little.

Hey, moonroot posted a recipe for her 'hot mash' that she gave her chickens in the bitter cold. i can't wait to try it out on my girls. i'll report back.

So long for now dear amigos.

Tough chickens and wussy me

2008-12-30T20:36:00.000-08:00

i am thinking that i should enter a new post. It's been a week or so. i have a lot of catch-up at work and come home exhausted. Everyone at work are worn out as well. We lost several days work and need to get it all done before tomorrow day-end. Oy...

Being from Montana originally, i always think we Oregonians are a little wussy about snow BUT our mindset is all about the rain. We are rain worshippers here; we understand rain. We harness it for energy and use it to grow crops. Montana has long winters and Oregon has long springs. We are 6 or 7 weeks away from the first spring flowers. February is the month to prune your roses for the coming year. My rose bush may have been killed by the cold and snow. On the other hand the lilac bush i have been nursing for several years may actually bloom this year because of the cold and snow.

My girls (the chickens) have had a rough time of it as well. Their coop and yard is in chaos. i took the canvas canopy down this weekend but left the framework in place. i don't know if it can be fixed. i am going to have to get creative in order to reconstruct another canopy.

Carmen came up to me for a scratch this morning instead of running for the breakfast plate. She seemed to want a moment with Mom so i gave her an extra special scratch. Her tail wiggled like the dog's when i give her a good scratch. So cute!

Oh, i almost forgot. i bought a really great chicken calendar today. Actually, i got two calendars. The chicken calendar is really beautiful and i got it for 1/2 price so i didn't feel bad about buying a Llewellyn calendar for 1/2 price as well. Two for the price of one. i had decided not to get a Llewellyn this year (the first time in twenty years) to save money but...

i love Llewellyn calendars. It has all kinds of good astrological information as well as Wiccan lore. It was the last one the shop had so i took it as a sign.

Hey did you know Reese Witherspoon and Harry Connick Jr have chickens? i happen to catch some of David Letterman last night and Harry told the story of how he got his chickens and how his kids relate to them. I didn't see the Reese Witherspoon segment but her and Dave must have talked about chickens because Dave said her and Harry had that in common.

Well, mi amigos, i'm done for now. Peace, love and light to you and yours.

2008-12-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

The canopy over my chicken coop collapsed under the weight of the snow. Knock wood; if this is the worst of the damage from this storm, i will consider myself lucky and grateful. It collapsed directly on top of the coop roof, thus supporting it from total destruction. It may actually help keep the coop warmer. There is a foot of snow everywhere and it is still coming down. Oy!

But... i am grateful. These are challenging days. i pray we keep getting stronger and we learn from our challenges cause we are in for more of them.

If i had a camera i would take some pictures. i will get a camera in a month or three. My company gives you one for your 10th anniversary. i think i will enjoy downloading pictures to this blog. As long as i can continue to pay for the cable internet. Cross fingers!

Later chickies.

BFFs... NOT!

2008-12-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

Here i am crying again. i cried at work; i couldn't help it. My friend got fired. i don't know why and i had a whole meltdown about it. i felt betrayed by my co-workers, whom i thought were my friends, because no one told me until i asked if the weather had kept him from coming to work.

After i heard, i felt embarrassed and then betrayed, i guess. i was going about doing my job, chatting with people about the awful commute and so on. No one said a word.

i asked someone to tell me what happened and my boss shut down the conversation. She can't legally tell me why he was fired; so i guess i get that, but why hadn't she at least told me?

All the damn drama! All the damn whispers and all the damn legalities wrapping it up in a bow.

He was my friend; a real friend. Not a "work" friend, a real friend. We go to movies together and talk politics. We share news stories and he always makes me laugh.

i'm going to miss him. Damn these tears!

Haiku or two

2008-12-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

Let's hear it for Burns Feed Store! Woohoo! i love this store and recommend it to you, mi amigos. Since my post this morning, i have driven to Burns and back... safely.

i feel the need to write a haiku.

Wait for it...

Straw smells good... wholesome.

The good gents spread paperboard.

Subaru heaven.

Maybe one more...

Tank heaters R Us,

coop heaters on the shelf,

little glass chickens!

my mood is no longer so sour.

i braved the roads and traffic and ice to get to Burns. My Subaru holds two, count'em, two bales of straw. They had a great coop heating light and wonderful little glass chickens. i was in and out of the store in minutes but the dock guys had my car loaded already and even laid paperboard under the bales.

The gals at the counter weren't busy but said it had been busy earlier, people buying a lot of tank heaters. We're not used to freezing temperatures around here.

The hens now have a 250 watt heat lamp and the graphite cylinder is heating up. Now i have to go out and check that it's not too hot. First i worry the coop is too cold now i worry it's too hot.

Their water is partly frozen. It needs to heat up some in there but i worry about fire. I will be checking on them several times before i go to bed myself tonight.

OK. Enough for now. i need to check on the girls.

The best laid plans...

2008-12-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

i'm stuck at home. i'm worried about my chickens. i waited for the bus at a stop that no longer exists (temporarily). it really is a good thing i like being at home but right now my mood is sour.

To work half a day, i need two hours commute time each way. If i want to be home before dark i need to leave by... (let me calculate)... 8 am. Hey, i can do that. i need to feed the chickens before i leave and that gives me about 1/2 hour of daylight.

This is my first winter with chickens and i feel so blessed so far. The girls are healthy and seem happy but it is COLD out and will remain so for a week solid. Now, i know chickens live in cold climates but i just don't have the experience that years of raising them brings. For the next week i need to take care of my girls and get to work as efficiently as possible.

i've re-checked the bus schedule and and made a new plan (Stan). i like having a plan. i feel better when i have a plan. i don't like it when things interfere with my plan. i was sick with a headache last week; that f**ked with my plans. Just when i am recovering the weather starts in, i had to figure out a way to heat the coop for more than a night or two.

i'm actually proud of the heater my son and i came up with and since i'm home for the day, i'm going to tweak it again. And i am going to go get a higher wattage bulb (if i have the nerve to drive my car), that and some straw. i need more straw. i thought i had enough but...

Need to run. Back later.

Hen Interrupted

2008-12-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

i'm finding it hard to blog because i don't know who i'm blogging to and i'm a bit of a loner. i don't really understand people; hell, most of the time, i don't understand myself.

i accept my losses as best i can and i expect to experience failure cause life is mostly learning from failure.

i wish i was a faster learner and had more stick-to-it-tiveness, but my go-it-alone attitude and ability to teach myself just about anything i decide to learn are strengths.

If this blog was a private journal i would probably still have trouble writing my thoughts out. i have the reader in the back of my head...ALWAYS. i never kept a diary for that reason.

i like writing and i always have. i wrote for my college newspaper and even spent a term as editor. i fantasize about writing but don't do it enough. The fiction i write is usually a kind of magical realism, love it! But the fiction i read is so much better that i can't help but compare mine to it.

So, i don't want to write about my private matters and i don't feel up to exposing my fiction to the one or two readers that drop by; what the hell am i doing here?

i guess cause i'm a loner but not a hermit and my soul likes to write despite the fears and feelings of inadequacy.

So, what do i want to say and who am i saying it to? Before the election i could rage about the state of our country. i was speaking my rage, not caring who was listening. i know the election means our work has just begun. But were working toward something now, not watching the destruction of our way of life.

OMG! i have nothing to bitch about! hehehe

For sure, i no longer feel that tightness in my chest. i was in pain for a week after the election from joy. Joy hurts... not that i'm complaining. Letting myself relax and allowing myself to believe that we really had stepped back from the edge was hard on my body and mind.

An now i have nothing to say.

Talk to ya next time chickies.

Love

Headache haiku and my gratitudes

2008-11-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday and i haven't written since election night. Maybe a haiku will explain.

Drama fatigue ruled

after joy's exhausting rush

of crying headaches.

Being a political junkie, i can't help but comment on our president-elect. He exudes steadiness. i am so impressed with his demeanor and feel calmed by it. Thank you BHO. Thank you.

i made a list of comedians to thank, a day or two after the election, because i felt so strongly about how i would not have gotten through the last eight years without them. D.L. Hughley described comedy as therapy when Larry King asked him if comedy influenced the election.

Firstly, there is Bill Maher. He said, "I'm a cynic 'caus I love." That's me, always questioning authority. It's a bit of a curse, really, but i'm proud of it. i like that about me and i love that about Bill Maher.

Secondly (or maybe firstly, it's hard to say), John Stewart's courage in the face of news media's coward position after the election of 2000 until Katrina in 2005, kept me going. i would watch his show and know i was not alone in seeing the absurdity all around us.

Next on the list is Stephen Colbert. That press dinner where with comedy he lambasted the Bushies and the press and was a moment of clarification and cleansing for me. Stephen Colbert spoke truth to power and power didn't see it coming.

David Letterman came through for the country when we seemed to need him the most. There was the first show after 911 with Dan Rather and the many days screed about the planet in hopeless peril. When John McCain dissed him, David let him have it. He didn't do it because he thought he was so special, David blasted him because John McCain had lost all regard for the truth.

Lastly, there is Michael Moore who is not technically a comedian. But his documentaries use comedy to soften the blow of the hard realities his films portray. Farenheit 911 and Sicko are great pieces of work but his best film is Bowling for Columbine. He became a punching bag for conservatives and he took it over and over and over again. He took the blows so many of us wouldn't have to. i believe that with all my heart. Haters need someone or something to direct their hatred toward. When they are expending their energy on people like Michael Moore, they are NOT directing it at people like me who feel the same way but are more vulnerable to their poison. Thank you Michael. i know there has been a cost to you and you have my undying gratitude.

i'm getting another joy headache. i am so grateful.

Now that's what i'm talking about! Read this short, short Naomi Klein post.

2008-11-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

44

2008-11-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

Mom, Dad, did you cry? Maybe get a little choked up? Or was it just me? Was i the only gooner in this family who cried?

Wynd was here last night with her son Thor. We had a blast. i drank a couple glasses of champaign, Thor had hot chocolate and Wynd redecorated my tiny dining room.

This is how real Americans celebrate the taking back of their country.

Well that... and doing a happy dance with Thor (recorded on Wynd's cell phone for posterity)

Being the gooner i am, i was watching the electoral vote count and adding 77 to the latest numbers. 77 represented the number of electoral votes on the west coast. i knew California, Oregon and Washington were going to go for Obama so i knew somewhere in the six o'clock hour that he had won.

But, we restrained ourselves. We held off doing the happy dance until 8pm when the networks called it.

John McCain, the 2000 version, gave a very gracious concession speech last night and i am happy for him. His PTSD was brought out in this campaign, in my opinion. Since i'm a gooner and eat up all this political stuff, i caught a short video clip of John McCain driving his car out of his own garage today. Back to normal life for John (the secret service left his side at 6am this morning - that's how they do it, i guess... weird). He gets to drive his own car and go where he wants. Nice! Gods bless you John.

And 44? He got to have breakfast with his daughters this morning. Nice. i wonder if they talked about the puppy?

Love you all,

LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!!!

2008-11-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

Change has come to America, my brothers and sisters! Celebrate today because work begins tomorrow. Barack is not taking the day off or basking in the glow as they say. He is putting together his cabinet and marching forward.

More later.

Dia de los Muertos

2008-11-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Last night was my grandson's first Halloween trick or treat experience. He was a Star Wars, Darth Vader type goon. Since it was suppose to rain i suggested he wear his winter boots. Oh yeah, they made him feel even more powerful. He pounced around my kitchen pointing his gun at bad guys. So cute! He's a warrior at heart and he makes me very proud.

But i really got a laugh today. He came with his dad to say 'good morning' and i asked him about going trick or treating. His eyes lit up and he started to tell me all about it. When i asked him if i could have some of his candy he said yes and went to his house to get me some. Paul and i continued talking and a few minutes later, here comes Lincoln with one of those tiny Dum Dum suckers.

"Here you go Grandma." I, of course, said 'thank you' and he bounded off after the dog or something, leaving me standing there with my tiny sucker. Paul just looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said Lincoln was being very 'protective' of his candy.

Every time i look at that little sucker sitting on my kitchen counter, i laugh again.

We are blessed around here. We have good friends. We take care of each other. As stressed as i am about finances right now, i am also feeling happy and blessed. Travis bought Lincoln his costume and then came by to take him out trick or treating. Then Danny came by to do the same thing but, of course, Travis had beat him to it. Such good friends.

i wish i had a camera. i will have one in a couple months though. i've been at my job ten years now and they are giving me a camera at the ceremony in January. Watch out world! Pictures of Lincoln and the chickens and the garden. i wish i could post one of my yard right now. Mom and Dad would be so surprised. It's all cleaned up and winterized.

i am still getting raspberries; can you believe it? i keep thinking i've picked the last one and a week later i get another handful. Raspberries make me happy.

November 1st is The Day of the Dead in Mexico. So, today is the day i honor my ancestors and think about my family and friends who have passed. my ancestors were strong, they struggled, they persevered and here i am trying to be half as strong as they were. i am so grateful to them and i honor them.

Peace and love to all.