If I Could Talk to the Animals

Franklin: "I may be saying 'pretty bird' but I'm thinking
'crazy as a loon'.  You give me a mirror and I'm in love. 

Now just how do I get into that cage?"

"Hello, my name is Jasper. I've been lost several years now.
I'm a friendly guy despite my reputation."

"I'm Spunky, yes, I am! You can't do anything without
my approval. I will find you no matter where you go.
I'm hot on your trail, which would have a lot to with a
lovely odour that I've left on your tires. I'm just sharing
the love. Faithfully, every day."

Minnie: "My life is soooo boring! Yawn......"

"Hey, you there with the camera, no press please!
I don't get no respect!"

Calf: "What she doin' mom?"
Mom: "Just smile and she'll go away."

Mr. Bengal: "I know I'm good-looking but I think
you're overdoing it with the camera. I'm not going
to stand here much longer."

Pleicosty:  "God, I love these wafers.  They seem to just

descend from heaven.  I wonder if they're manna?"

Kissa:  "Well, I'm just keeping them company.  You 

know "bad company", ah ah ah!"

Kissa:  "I bet you didn't know I was in here."

Mr. Bengal:  "Can't a man get a little privacy around 

here?"

Marzipan:  "So, what do I do now?  Are you

guys laughing?"

Angel:  "I want candy." 

Marzipan:  "Thanks for blocking that sun from my 

eyes."  

Hobbes:  "I'm innocent as can be."

Minnie:  "Well, if you're not going to rub my belly, then

just what are you out here for?"

Possum:  "Every night, the same old food.  Nobody knows

the trouble I've seen.  Why I once even got my ear bit 

off! And why is she always tapping on that darn glass?"

Chip:  'Well, we both know I'm cute, but I tell you sister

I can bite the crap out of you."

Hippy:  "Oh, the bother of being so beautiful....they say

I'm bootylicious. Look out Britney!" 

Gory:  "Let's see, 555-5555, yeah, that's sounds about 

right.  Why didn't I write that number down?"

Fauna:  "If I don't look, she can't see me.  That flash

reminds me of headlights.  I just freeze up!"

Cardin:  "Red is my color."

Mona:  "Are you lookin' at me, pal?" 

Tiny:  "Stop that!  Wait, don't go!"

Sam:  "Oot-fray oops-lay.  Follow your nose...wherever

it goes."

Cocky:  "I'm from the land down under."

Leo:  "Don't make me come back there!"

Gerry:  "I could've had a v8."

"Sweet dreams are made of this.  Who am I to disagree?"

Bongo:  "Dont fence me in!"   

Manny:  "I'm a little peaved."

Peater:  "If you've got it, flaunt it"  

Scruffy:  "I got my hair cut a little shorter than I wanted."

Ebert:  "Where's Siskel when you need him?"

Herd:  "We play."

Hobbes:  "Where's that sound coming from?

Oh, it's just you."

December Pay It Forward Book Exchange- 6 books up for grabs!

Overwhelmed with joy is having another Pay It Forward book exchange for December.  She will be giving away on December 15th, so head over and sign up for the drawing.  Books given are:  The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and Kissing Adrien by Siri L. Mitchell.

Something Told the Wild Geese

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered--"Snow."
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something whispered-"Frost."
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,--
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
~Rachel Field~

The hardest part - Coldplay

I love the song but what a video!

Can you guess?

Can you guess what the green and yellow items are? Frigga asked in the Wordless Wednesday post what they were. I am thinking that Tiggerlane the Dino or Lotus could guess it quickly. :D

Wordless Wednesday-Extra-Ordinary Things

Fun Monday

Robinella is our hostess with the mostest this week. What's funny about this saying is my dad would always say "the hostess with the mostest", for some reason he and I thought this was the most hilarious thing to say! Which brings me to this week's challenge, Robinella
wants us to search through our extensive posts and choose "one" that is what we would consider best. I have only been a blogger since September this year so I did not have a lot of searching to do. My most precious post was easy to pick having been the most heartfelt and dramatic thing that has ever happened to me. My dad passed away on July 27, 2007 and I found blogging shortly thereafter. I think it has been a God-send because I needed somewhere to post my thoughts and feelings even if no one but me ever read them. It has been helpful to my grieving process to have a place to post my dad's pictures and talk about his life and mine. So this post on October 27, 2007 says it all:

My Dad, My Hero


After being in the hospital six weeks my dad passed away early one morning after he started bleeding internally and receiving and losing blood as fast as they could give it to him. He finally stopped bleeding, but his heart rate and blood pressure went down to something like 20/30 and his heart finally stopped. We had made the decision that they were to do everything to save him except if his heart stopped, they were not to resusitate. You should have seen the condition he was in, he had a surgery that wouldn't heal. He was cut open from his sternum down to his belly button. He had to have part of his stomach removed to stop the bleeding that an ulcer was causing. He'd had these ulcers for years. He had been being treated for a malignant melanoma on his arm before he ever went to the emergency room with his bleeding ulcers. He couldn't keep anything down in his stomach. He was losing weight. His wife (my step-mom) had passed away less than a year ago. He had so many machines and tubes hooked up to him. I left the hospital once to go get something to eat and came back and they said, "where were you? We were looking for you. We had to put your dad on a ventilator." At least I wasn't there to make that decision, it was made for me. They started asking several times after this, "How much farther do you want to go?" They had to put my dad into a drug induced coma because he was in such pain. I wondered as he lay there just how bad it was for him to be absolutely out of control. I wondered if he was still in pain, if he was crying out to be released, to be taken home. I wondered if he could hear us as we were talking in his room, joining hands around him and praying for him. I wondered if he wanted us to continue or let him go. I told him it was alright if he went. The last thing he said to me before he went into his coma was, "You know that I love you." And I said, "Yes, Daddy, I know that you love me and I love you." At the end when they took him off his pain medications to see if he could wake up and function again because this was an up and down process where they thought one day he was 10% chance of survival to maybe he's gonna make it, don't give up! We lived 5 hours away from him so I couldn't be there all the time, but I came every week for a few days and nights. But at the last one nurse told me that he was getting a response out of him, he would open his mouth to let him swab it out. I wanted to be there to see this and I got to. The nurse said, "Claude, open your mouth so I can clean it." He opened his mouth. Now the most excellent thing about this is that means that he could hear everything that was being said.

Weekly Winners Sunday Meme

This road in front of our house is hilly. Someone had a wreck in front of our house last week. It was a loud explosion, they were not hurt but the people that hit them went down the road aways and jumped out of their car and fled on foot. The wreck happened right beside this tree.

Up and down.

There is a cemetery near us. We use it for a walking track.


I had lots more pictures this week but I can't get blogger to load them. I really had some good ones too. Next week....
You can join this fun group by visiting
Lotus who created it.

u2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For live Milan

Written 20 years ago and still going strong. Love U2.

It's Finally Over!

It's finally over! NaBloPoMo no more!!! Joy let me use her badge she made for her blog. We're celebrating the finale of the month of posting. It was fun, but exhausting too. Time to get ready for Christmas around here. I hope to put up my Christmas tree tomorrow. I enjoyed all the new blogs I visited and the people I met and hope to still visit. Thanks to all who were my friends and readers.

Had A Bad Day

The camera don't lie....

Coffee Art (The Best Part of Waking Up)

She calls this "Creation of Coffee."


I found this wonderful artist on the news today.  Her name is Karen Eland and she paints with coffee.  You should check out her website.

She does beautiful expressionism (expresso) watercolors.  Very amusing because she likes

to add a cup of coffee somewhere in the painting.  Here is an example:

Her artwork is displayed in coffee houses all over the states. She has a gallery
displaying pieces that she sells for reasonable prices. I believe I shall be buying
this "Girl With a Pearl Earring."

The 12 Questions of Christmas Meme

Hootin'Anni created a Meme that she has invited us to use:
     "For the holiday season, I've started a meme. "The Twelve Questions of Christmas" If you'd like to participate, I'd be honored to have you join in the fun. If you'd like, you are welcomed to use the meme header graphic!"

1. Christmas is _Emmanuel_. [fill in the blank with ONE WORD]

2. In memories, what was the best part of your Christmases past?
Opening presents with my brothers and playing the games that we received.  

Drinking eggnog that Mom made.  Going to cut a tree with Dad and decorating it.
3. Was Santa ever good to you? [describe how and what]
For my fifth Christmas I received a Chatty Cathy doll.  Pretty cool.
4. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both?
When I was little, we opened on Christmas Eve, then my children we continued

this tradition until they got older and opened one present on Christmas Eve

and the rest on Christmas Day.  We were never early risers!
5. Is there something you make each and every year? [craft or recipe]
Pumpkin bread and I always buy a new ornament or two for the tree.
6. What is your favorite five[5] Christmas songs/hymns?
O Holy Night, Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Mary, Did you Know?, and

Breath of Heaven
7. Is there a new tradition for Christmas since your childhood days? 

When my children were little we always read the Christmas story out

of the Bible together.  We started a Christmas tradition of putting a new

bulb on a construction papar Advent Christmas tree that we put on the window.  There was

a biblical meaning to each ornament.  

8. Describe one of your Christmas trips. [whether it's across town or across country]
We always made trips to Grandparents houses, my mom's on Christmas eve

and my husband's mom on Christmas Day.  We all lived close.
9. Do you have a special Christmas outfit to wear for the day?
No.
10. Have YOU or any of your family members sat on Santa's lap?
My kids have.  They were afraid.  I haven't.  
11. What is/or will be on your Christmas tree this year?
A new pickle ornament.
12. Do you/or have you decorated your yard for Christmas?

We have decorated outdoors many times.  It's usually the front

door and bushes and posts.  The roof rarely gets decorated.

Ziggy-Internet

Don't you just love scanners? And Ziggy?

Hot Pink Beauty Berries!

I found this on Robin's blog and I decided to try the "15 words or less" poem.
This photo came from Laura.
Here is my entry for 15 words or less poem:


All hot and pink
What do I think?
You must be all
poisonous and stink.

I have a cactus plant that puts out a sort of beautiful bloom every year 

that I will find a picture of to show.  It is called a "dead meat" flower.

Its name says it all.  The first time I saw it, first I smelled it. I was 

walking by and wondered, "What is that dead smell?"  Then I saw

the flower, all pretty and pink and big.  A closer inspection revealed

the foul smell.  I looked up information on it and a cactus flower like this

smells bad to attract flies from miles around.  I have had several of these

flowers through the years and I sadly must break them off and take them

outside to attract flies there instead of inside my house!

I found a similar picture on the internet but my flower is much prettier

than this.

Don't Try This at Home! or on the Highway!

I went to visit my son yesterday at college.  It is about an hour drive, so I get on the turnpike.  The speed limit is 75 so I speed up to 80 mph to get past a few drivers and get in the clear.  After about 10 miles I hear a noisy car coming so I move over to the right lane to let them go by.  Instead of driving by, they seem to stay right beside me so I use my peripheal vision to glance over, thinking that is what they want me to do is to look at them.  I notice the driver's leg is out of his window and resting on the mirror.  I decide to speed up and keep away from them.  I look back in my rear view mirror and they are still in the passing lane cruising along with their foot on the outside mirror.  I am comtemplating the rest of the drive with them beside me and thinking how I wish they were not there for me to think about.  So......and this is the reason you should not drive with your leg outside of the car!!!  Good advice too.  I notice suddenly the little car is not in the lane anymore.  It is bouncing around on top of the grass in the center median!  The center median is made with a high spot in the middle (probably to discourage driving on it and to divert the oncoming traffic).  There that car is bouncing around in the center and with me viewing it backwards it is a crazy sight!  They managed to stay in the median and not turn over and they finally stopped.  I didn't stop because I was several miles ahead of them now and I could tell they didn't actually wreck.  But as I topped a hill, who did I meet?  (I had already slowed down to speed limit.)  A highway patrol.  Oh my gosh, just when you needed one?  What do you think they told the patrol man?  Oh, I was driving with my leg out the window and I lost control.  Would you give me a ticket?  :D  I think that young man might have learned his lesson for the day.  DO NOT DRIVE WITH YOUR LEG OUT THE WINDOW!!  It may be fun for awhile, but statistics are against you.  I felt so sorry for them though and certainly did not want their car to have a wreck just so they wouldn't be driving next to me all the way....  

Wordless Wednesday-Three Generations

Tagged by Nin

Earlier this month I was tagged by Nin at Peachy Hollow.
The Meme is to reveal eight random things about myself.
Probably not too hard to do, so here goes:

1. I roll little pieces of paper into cigarette type shapes.  It could be gum wrappers or paper straw covers or the paper napkin rings at restaurants, but if it's there, I must roll it.  It feels good to my fingers...that is my explanation and I'm sticking to it.  I will admit that I can control this behavior if I want to....
2. I have a boy's name and I spell it like a girl's name.  Now get this:  my mother has three little boys and can't wait for the fourth child to be a girl, so why did she give me a boy's name?  I really like my name though.  I just really like it to be spelled correctly, the girl way.  
3. I bite the inside of my bottom lip.  I cannot help it and I try my best not to.  Bad habit.
4. Sometimes I count the number of times that I do something or the number of things there are in an assortment.  I am not conpulsive about this, I just notice sometimes.  Like for instance, I like the number six for my childhood family, the number five for my immediate family.
5. I have always twiddled with my hair.  I make little braids in it and take them out over and over.  I just do this occasionally now and then, I used to be quite compulsive about it, but I have found better ways to occupy my time. :D
6. I can not stand to wear turtlenecks or for that matter collars or hoods.  Anything against my neck or the back of my neck bother me.  I need freedom!!  I love how turtlenecks look but I will stretch them out and pull on them constantly if I wear one.  
7. I mentioned this before, but I must wear sunglasses most of the time outdoors.  My eyes are just too sensitive, even if it is cloudy.
8. I almost died during my tubal ligation operation.  The anesthesiologist wasn't watching and I quit breathing through my nose and my tongue dropped down my throat.  They had to intubate me.  I woke up in the elevator after the surgery crying and wondering why my throat hurt so much when I had a surgery way down below it.  My throat hurt much worse than my incision.  The nurses told my husband later, "Oh, we almost lost her."  For a simple tubal?  Then later that night, a nurse who was supposed to be pushing on my uterus to make it contract, pushed very hard on my incision and made it open (which caused me much pain).  She said to me, "Hurts doesn't it?"  It did.  It hurt so much that I was speechless.  I didn't say anything to her.  Man, I wish I had!