ah...yes!!!

This road could take you almost anywhere....couldn't it, Frodo? Traveling in the fall....my favorite! Ready for an adventure?

It's a beautiful day...

and I need to get out and walk...listen to the birds....the light has started that wonderful slant that indicates fall is coming....Bilbo and I always get the itch to travel and adventure this time of year. Wonder what the weather is like on Weather Top? Has anyone seen Strider up there recently? It's a dangerous thing going out your front door...your walk connects to roads and more roads and you might end up encountering a dragon or dwarf....or even an elf.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON ADDICTIONS

Olympic mania.... yes, sigh, I have it!....I've been up until 2 AM almost every day since the opening ceremonies. I love the swimmers (all events), the gymnastics , even the beach volleyball. CAN'T STOP WATCHING!!! SOMEONE OUT THERE HELP ME!

Homemade ice cream: about 6 weeks ago we purchased the machine of evil (i.e. ice cream freezer) & and I can't stop making ice cream. When we run out ....I make more. It's wonderful and creative and more addictive than nicotine. I've made fresh peach, intense vanilla, cherry pecan, bing cherry and ....I'm contemplating fresh mango w/coconut rum.

The new Batman movie: I've seen it twice. How can a 60 something woman have such juvenile taste?

I'm not very good at this....

I'm truly sorry ....I wish that I had more interest in blogging....It's been a busy year. People have wed. Parties had to be given. Funerals had to be attended. Things had to be dispersed. Goodbyes were said. Maybe...only maybe I'll be ready later this year to continue this hobby. and now..there's a house to be cleaned... I like passive voice. I seem to have been very passive lately.... I get into trouble with active verbs.

oh...yes, yes! ...yes!!!!

Secret Vices....(hee hee!)

I don't mean eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia in the closet...I mean the one thing about myself that's really embarrassing: romance novel addiction!!!!!
Oh no!! ...you can't possibly tell your friends that you spend a couple of hours a day reading about how the cold, heartless duke falls head over heels for an innocent, independent lass and they have a passionate encounter with manhoods rising and breasts heaving and eyes flaming!....huh-uh...nope.
It started innocently enough...Betty came home for spring break one year with one of her friends (Tereasa). T. gave me an anthology of short stories containing one by Jayne Krentz. I loved it and bought my first ...you always remember your first! I had spent years reading good literature: Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Faulkner, et al...I was such a literary snob!...but, alas, I fell from grace!!!!....I know: once in grace, always in grace... but in my case it didn't work out. I moved from Jayne Krentz to Amanda Quick and then....oh no!!... Johanna Lindsey! My bookshelves overflowed ... though I hid them in the basement ...they made their ways upstairs and into (gasp!) the bedroom!
Tex asks: "Can't you get rid of some of these ...(sneer)...books?" "No, " I shout. "I might want to read them again!"...and I do ....read them again and again and again!!!! And I buy more and more and more! Can someone out there help me? or should I just say not to rehab??? luv ya amy!

Quickly now...more later.. when I'm in the mood....

My favorite new (to me) quote: "Too much good taste can be boring." Diana Vreeland

Valentines Day and it's snowing...yet again!
I found my 40+ year old copy of War and Peace..Searching for missing things can become an obsession .....er, is an obsession for me. Now I'm going back upstairs and watch the 70's BBC version of W&P ....I found it on Netflix. This interpretation has Anthony Hopkins as Pierre ....and Hopkins was and is such a fine actor...umh! I don't know how many DVD's are in this series.. 7? 8?....This particular version is very difficult to find. Good Old Netflix!...Where else can you find those final episodes of X-Files that you missed seeing because after Muldar (sp?) left you stopped watching the series, but you really, really wanted to know how it ended and if Scully's baby was Muldar's love child....would the smoking man show up at the end? Now I must clean and watch Pierre and Natalie and Andre....and sigh at the brilliance of Tolstoy.

MEME: FROM BETTY & "BOOK GUY"

Ok...so Betty is trying to draw me into the culture of the BLOG...I'm not sure about this!?! Is an old lady ready for the fast paced world of new era communication? I can't even find home keys on the key board half of the time!!...ah, you too shall understand my trepidation in a few decades and will sigh, and say..."Now I know what heiffer meant!"
One of my favorite series of books is , of course, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. And here are the instructions from the meme (whatever that is???):
1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
I cheated. I went upstairs to retrieve my book. (What sacrifices we make for our vanity!..my knees will never forgive me. Basement. Living floor. Bedroom & book floor. And back again. THERE AND BACK AGAIN. Wasn't that Bilbo's title for his memoir?) I tried to find War and Peace, which is, in my limited opinion, the best book ever written. In my 20's I read W&P at least five time....but I've read L.O.T.R. at least 7 times...yes, all 3 books! Like visiting an old friend that I never tire of greeting.
p. 123....where Frodo & friends have just arrived in the house of Tom Bombadil:
"The floor was flagged, and strewn with fresh green rushes. There were four deep mattresses , each piled with white blankets, laid on the floor along one side. Against the opposite wall was a long bench laden with wide earthenware basins, and beside it stood brown ewers fill with water, some cold, some steaming hot. ..."
I know that the movies left out Tom and Goldberry... and I know all of the adventure could not be included, but I did miss him (Tom, that is).
Meanwhile, back to W&P, I can't find my copy which is over 40 years old and my favorite translation. This is disturbing. I'm not sure who the translator was so I'm not sure I can replace the book. Betty, did I loan it to you? And how do I tag people? Help! I'm just an old cow trying to find her stall in the barn before it gets dark outside.

Meet Jack the Cat

Handsome fellow, isn't he? Now here is the BUT! Captain Jack Sparrow came to live with us about three and a half years ago. He was so tiny ...he fit in one hand. Now, he weighs about 18 pounds and likes to walk on us when we are in bed which is the only 'safe haven' for petting him.... on the bed, that is. (Tex claims Jack has knowledge of human anatomy and deliberately walks on his -Tex's- bladder around 5:30 every morning!) At other times, it is an understatement to say that he is unpredictable. In self defence, we had him declawed, but he still has teeth...and, although he is getting better, he bites. Thus we are very cautious about trying to pet him outside of the bedroom.....visitors are warned, but don't always heed the danger. Like his namesake, Jack is a pirate and quite capable of betraying you even as he smiles, rubs your leg, lovingly looks into your eyes, and chomps down on any convenient appendage! Last Sunday I was lounging in the recliner elbow deep in a romance novel (more about my vice later) when Jack pops up in the arm and nudges my hand to the top of his head. "What do you want, Jack?" "Pets." says Jack. Not one to miss an opportunity to be kind to the scaliwag I scratched and petted him for about 10 minutes...Could our resident villain be mellowing? He still has not won my complete trust, but we are working on a truce. Ah, Jack ....we really want to love you and you make it so difficult!

oops!

I'm just learning (..say does this thing have a spell check?...oh dear, I'm in trouble!)...Courtesy of my calf, Betty, who created this lovely place, today I start my first ...ugh...blog. ( I've always hated jargon. Only those who are "in" understand the terminology are privileged enough to participate in the conversation. )

I'm 61 years old, retired and enjoying life. Well, I've always enjoyed life. I was born in Texas, but never really felt much like a Texan. At 23 (1970)..almost 24..my husband and I moved to Denver and never looked back. We moved all our earthly possessions in the back of Triumph Spitfire....that included an imperious Siamese Cat who had just been neutered. She was not very pleased. Between 1970 and 1981, I learned to ski, started backpacking, had a baby. By 1981, Betty was old enough to graze own her own, so I started back to work. For 24 years I worked as an English as a second language ...uh.."specialist"...I also don't the word teacher..because you really can't teach anyone anything...you can only help them learn.

Marrying and becoming a mother helped me grow-up and see that my own wants and needs weren't always as important to me as those of my family.

Working with English language learners helped me widen my world and learnhow insulated my life had always been.

More later. That's enough for today.

FOR TOMMORROW: A RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE PAN CAKE

Mooovin' and Shakin

Hey, y'all!!

Well howdy there folks. My daughter, Betty, started a newfangled thang called a "blog" for me, so I can let her know that she doesn't call often enough. She's a super-swell daughter and the Bull and I are mighty proud of her! (Of course, Betty is the cowgirl that is writing this post right now, as I can't seem to coordinate my hooves well enough to type.)