First Snow and Christmas Parade

Ellen, Lucie and I braved the first snow

Saturday evening to attend Lynchburg's Christmas parade. Let me tell you IT WAS COLD! Our first snow arrived earlier that day to embellish the ambient nature of the parade itself!

We thought we were prepared, Ellen had a little back pack with some necessary items, tissues, wipes and and also to hold the giveaways. A huge Lays Chips truck is part of the parade and the toss out bags and bags of chips, Doritos, Cheeto's, etc. Many other groups give out candy canes and candy (leftover Hallowe'en?) I brought a chair. Last year Lucie wanted me to hold her, in spite of the fact that Mommy, Papa, Mammie and Papy were all with us. Of course, I was honored, but I thought I was gonna die!

As with most any parade there were high

school bands playing. As the first band

approached and you could feel the big bass drum Ellen turned to me and said, "I can't believe this Mom, I'm crying! Seeing this through my daughter's eyes changes how I look at this!" First, I just HAD to laugh! My children have laughed at me for years for getting emotional over "stupid little things" and now it is happening to them! Then, of course, I started to cry along with her!

Now, I ask you, where else but in a Christmas Parade in the South, south of the Mason Dixon line, are you going to find this?

Enlarge the picture and read it. If you can quote the bible you get a free prize.

That's all for now folks!

Trying to get caught up

Yes, it's been a long time since my last blog. I've been busy, although nothing like everyone else!

I've had two treatments on my cervical spine. Radio Frequency Ablation. It actually denervates (burns) the nerves. Hopefully, before Christmas, I will have 2 more done on my lower back. I am praying this helps. I am trying to co-ordinate meeting with a new doctor, a Physiatrist, ( a Physical Therapist Doctor) to help me get some strength back. I feel terribly deconditioned. All this waiting for hearings, insurance authorization, and appointments has worn me out. Not to mention, pain is exhausting. I keep trying to work through it, but, I have to accept that is not going to happen. That's been the hard part.

Ok, enough of that, Thanksgiving was wonderful! We went to Amazement Square, the "Mazoo" as Noah call's it. He loves it and I know Sophie did, too. It's mostly hands on stuff kids can do. From balancing a ping pong ball with a hair dryer to listening what the guitar, keyboard or drums sound like when you play them.

The park was another big hit (Check out my web album)Sophie is one fearless little spitfire! AND she is the sweetest little thing, too!

Ellen & David did everything they could to make Thanksgiving special. Having Elise, Peter, Noah and Sophia was "icing on the cake" for me. I had my family all together. That IS the best thing ever! I stayed there, at Ellen & David's, as I didn't want to miss a moment with all of them. It was fun! David's cousin Marie Mona joined us. Her english is fantastic! Please encourage all the kids to take up a second language. Ellen & Peter are so lucky to have it spoken in their homes.

Ellen, Kevin & Alex joined us joined for

Thanksgiving. Noah was very happy that

Aunt Ellen brought her famous coffee cake!

(El, I need that recipe! Please.)

Sophie liked the whipped cream, too! (Thanks to Daddy!)

We will all be together for Christmas in Florida, too. I can't wait! Maybe then we could get a picture of all of us with eyes open AND smiling while looking at the camera! I swear I don't know how Mom & Dad did that with all three of us, uh, four, wait-five, six and seven!!

After a week away from home I was greeted by my Christmas Cactus. When I woke up for some reason I went into my livingroom. The sun was shining on it and I couldn't resist this shot. This has got to be the most neglected plant on earth! I've had it for years and water it from time to time. It spends the summers on the porch in the heat and I bring it in when it gets cold at night. Thank you little Christmas Cactus for bringing this small joy into my home. How does it know when to bloom?

A little thing happened yesterday,but it gave me such a thrill. I was outside in the garden trimming dead flower stalks and leaves and such when I heard the woodpecker that has evaded me and my camera since I have lived here. I've tried numerous times to capture it with my camera and yesterday was the day! He landed on the huge tree across the street from my driveway. I watched him for a little while and went in to get my camera. Of course all of me SD cards had pictures from Thanksgiving week (Here's the link to Thanksgiving Pics)(http://picasaweb.google.com/katch52/ThanksgivingWeek2008?authkey=pL_5pYeXBDI#

So I quickly downloaded them onto the computer to have some space on the card. I got back outside and he was still there! I turned on the camera and the ill-timed message of "change the batteries" came on. Oh damn, the frustration! I ran back in changed the batteries and he was STILL there when I returned. He even let me walk around to get different shots. Now, I will share them with you

I think he was checking out the possiblility of a nest in that tree. He didn't peck at all. I almost thought he was just catching the late afternoon sun.

Speaking of late afternoon Ellen, Lucie and I are going to the Christmas Parade downtown tonight. It's cold now and at 5:00 pm I'm sure it will be colder!

I wish my editing would "stick". The pages seem to have a very strong mind of their own! The pictures don't want to stay where I want them to stay. I suppose I'll get the hang of this sooner or later. Or not.

Ta, for now.

Election thoughts

I must say that when I have listened to Obama and even read part of his book I did not see color in the man. He speaks in a way that is inspiring; his expectations of the "everyman" is pretty much what I believe. I love that he called himself "a mutt". Who of us ISN'T a mutt?? I pray that this country will come together as we have never before.

Once Obama was declared president, I felt a sense of calm come over me. I didn't realize HOW MUCH the Cheney-Bush Reign has held me in a state of anxiety! That's just crazy. I will celebrate January 20, 2009 as if it were the first day of a new millenium! Anyone want to join me?

I've heard that Colin Powell has been considered for the post of Secretary of Education. I think he, too, is a great man. But I would LOVE to see William H. Cosby as the Secretary of Education! Yeah, that's right, Bill Cosby! I think he would be awesome for the position.


Would you believe I heard someone say on the radio that they believed Barack Obama is the anti-Christ! Oh my God, some people are just extremely out of their minds. Check this out:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/antichrist.asp

I saw my Doctor last Monday. For some unknown reason I needed to vent about a lot of things. He was great. He listened and then said to me, "I have NEVER told this to a patient, but I go to the Unitarian Universalist Church. Have you ever thought of going?" In fact, I have. I just hate going to new places by myself. But now is as good enough time as any to give it a shot.

It has been suggested to me that I change the title of my blog. So I will try "Ramblin'..."

Oh, my picture was printed in the paper on Friday, cheap thrill, I know!

It was a busy weekend. Working, slowly, on my bathroom, running errands, etc. I made dinner for the Teyssier Family Saturday night. I wasn't happy with it, but they said they were.

Sunday I met Ellen T, Ellen B. & Alex at Ruby Tuesday's. We went out for lunch for my birthday. I had a really good time! There was SOOO much to talk about. There we were, 4 democrats, amidst the after church crowd, across the street from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, talking politics! Nobody threw anything at us, so my best guess is they are all closet democrats. Especially after hearing the news today that Virginia isn't such a "swing" state anymore.

Remember the lump I had on my forehead the other evening? Well, I woke up the next morning, having slept on my left side, and I could barely open my left eye. The right one wasn't lookin' too good, either. (oh my, I've begun droppin' my "g's". YIKES! This can't go on!!) Definitely not the most flattering picture! I am really beginning to age...

Today, I worked more on the bathroom. I successfully removed the old light and hung the new light bar over the mirror. Then, I took out the old mirror and put up the new mirror. Sounds like a breeze, right? Took me all day. But, WOW, I DID IT! I can hear Dora the Explorer singing "we did it" , in Lucie's voice, of course! Now I must decide if I want to keep the white light bar or change to a chrome one. I've picked up bathroom "accessories" that are chrome and ceramic. I saw the PERFECT light online but I am not willing to spend $150.00! It is beautiful, chrome and ceramic retro style. Really pretty. Can anyone offer feedback on my tentative choice?

I must be crazy for taking this project on, because it always results in pain. But since I wake up in pain anyway, I'd much rather feel the sense of accomplishment because it's louder that the pain, if only for a little while.

Next, I think, will be to prepare the walls for painting. I have to clean & sand them. I'm really not looking forward to that. There is no grease left in these elbows!

I'm still working on the grout in the floor, small sections at a time. I settled on using a Chlorox pen. It's a little like tic tac toe, but nobody wins! Not so, I'm sure I'll be very happy with the end result.

There, another happy thing, mostly!

Another happy thing!

This morning I was working on my bathroom floor. I was a sloppy plumber and panel-puter-upper and still had to scrape glue, caulk and other gunk off the tile. I wanted to clean the grout so I got out my bucket, brush and, oh darn, all out of bleach. Oh well. I added bleach to my errand list for this afternoon jumped in the shower and made my "famous" curried chicken salad with mango sandwich on toasted double fiber bread. While I was preparing the salad a young black man, James, came to the door. I was expecting him last Thursday (Thursday, Tuesday they're both "T" days of the week) afternoon to dig a trench across my front yard. I changed my afternoon plans and got my gardening clothes on.

When Mom was here in July we picked up two small pink crepe myrtle trees. I've managed to keep them and the rose bush alive since then. Last week I received 5 Peony plants that I ordered months ago and I was already storing irises in the fridge that arrived last month. I had 3.5 bags of garden soil, 2 bags of cow manure, lime, bone meal and compost from my very own compost. He helped me mix it altogether in my yard cart. That's not organic gardening, that's GOURMET organic gardening! I even had cash left over in my wallet from Thursday to pay him, although I did have to add $10 worth of quarters ( he didn't mind as he and his lady go to the laundromat).

He left after spreading some of the soil he'd dug out to the yard in the back of my house. I want to add some grass seed in this one spot that gets downright mucky when it rains.

So, I set out to plant! I LOVE getting my hands dirty gardening, although now they feel like the sticky side of velcro. I planted the crepe myrtles at either end of the trench which is about 30 feet long. In the beginning of the summer I bought a deep purple/red rugosa rose at The Old City Cemetery here in Lynchburg. This is the liveliest cemetery I've ever seen. Besides having Civil War soldiers buried there the most beautiful roses are all over, as well as rosemary bushes, irises, lavender, and many other perennial plants. There is a little pond with goldfish under a big beautiful tree and there is even a little building that acts as an education center, about the Civil War, as well as the gardens. Every year they have a Rose sale. There are so many different kinds, as well as herbs and other flowers. The rose bush I bought will be fragrant and is also deer resistant. I centered that in the trench.

The peonies, oh, I adore them! Not only do they have a delicious fragrance I love to bury my nose in, but the flowers, in my opinion, are magnificent! There are 3 on each side of the rose bush.


These pics are just a sampling of what I am hoping to come up.

The 5 irises I planted are supposed to be "re-bloomers" and the colors range from amber to blue, including pink and peach. Before Ellen & David moved I dug up Siberian irises from their yard. They are in the "Mother" garden outside my kitchen door. They have multiplied nicely so I may transplant some of them into the front garden as well. These flower in a brilliant blue and are more "dainty" than the other irises.

Doesn't look like much right now, but come Spring it should. I ran a hose from the rain barrel at the front corner of the house and hooked that up to a soaker hose. It was a nice slow drip. I hope the barrel is empty tomorrow so I can put a few cement blocks under it to raise it higher to increase the flow of water.

Needless to say I got good & dirty! My back is killing me, my arms and hands, too. My right hand is feeling a bit colder than the left caused by decreased blood circulation. But that only happens when I use my right arm. My forehead has a HUGE lump on it, that is still growing and I'm not even how that happened! There were these no-see-ums flying around and seemed to hover under my visor and I guess they bite. I wished I'd had a regular cap on because they really attacked my whole head.

Two pain pills and a hot shower later and I'm doing a little better. I know I will dread getting out of bed in the morning, but I do anyway. I have pain whether I do something or not. So I would much rather experience the pain from doing something I enjoy than not doing anything at all!

Oh, a funny thing happened as I was picking up my gardening tools. The sun was setting, ya know that last glint before it drops, anyway, there were two neighborhood cats, one pure white and the other pure black, in the middle of the street just daring each other to make a move. I ran in to get my camera and when I came out they were still there. All they needed were little holsters and cowboy hats to have a "face off at sundown"!

I'm actually beginning to enjoy this blog thing. I will do my best to find that one happy thing each day and just ramble on...

Autumn Surprise

So, yesterday Ellen and I started to talk about this blog thing. She's had one for a while but stopped using it and has started again. Elise had sent me an invitation to view hers and Ellen B. told me about Jen's & Mary Catherine's. I told El that if I started one it would be too depressing. She said,"find one thing each day that is a happy thing." Sometimes I feel like she got all the wisdom, like it skipped a generation or something.

OK, here goes:

I was so surprised last week to see 3 blossoms on my Passion Flower Vine. In spite of the fact that it was growing I didn't expect to see any flowers from it as it got such a late start this summer growing back up from last year's cut back vine. Frankly, I thought I killed it. I really thought it was more a tropical plant then one one suited to this climate, even though it did get pretty hot this summer.

I took this pic last week and thought, "that's pretty good." So I submitted it online to the local newspaper, the News and Advance. Anyone can post pictures, I swear it's mostly dogs and cats or babies with dogs and cats, online but not all are chosen to be printed. I thought, Hey, what the heck? What a cheap thrill I got yesterday, on my birthday, to receive a phone call from the paper asking permission to use this photo in their feature, called Snap! I'll let you know when it's printed.

We've had a night freeze since I took this photo last week so I honestly don't expect to see any more flowers, but that doesn't mean I won't stop looking for one!


OK, now I am going to bore you with the story of the Passion Flower. There are many stories, symbols and beliefs about flowers, herbs, trees and such.


The Passion Flower symbolism, as originally perceived, and then augmented, includes:


The spiraled tendrils - the lash of Christ's scourging


The central flower column - the pillar of the Scourging


The 72 radial filaments - the Crown of Thorns ( I haven't taken the time to count them nor do I know how many thorns there were in the Crown of Thorns)


The top 3 stigma - the 3 Nails


The lower 5 anthers - the 5 wounds


The Style - the Sponge used to moisten Christ's Lips with Vinegar (give vinegar to a tortured dying man?)


The leaves (some species) - the head of the Centurion's Spear


The red stains - Christ's Blood Drops



The Round Fruit - The World Christ came to save


The Fragrance - The Spices prepared by the Holy Women ( the fragrance is stunning!)



Who thinks of these things? I mean, really? Who takes the time to sit and ponder, to find religious symbolism in a flower? I am no religious fanatic, by any means, but I do believe in Christ, not so much in favor of male-ego driven Catholicism. I "dabble" in it for the sake of tradition, as a means to touch base with the innocence of my childhood; when I believed in everything, I mean everything, I was told.



Trouble is, now I want to believe and I don't quite know who to trust.