Just a Spoonful

Just a spoonful of sugar...

Fun Monday-The Inside View

Latecomer to Fun Monday this week.  Here's my view inside the front door.  Julie at Another Chance Ranch is this week's Hostess.  Please visit her for more fun. 

U2 Live at the Lincoln Memorial

What a very great tribute today! Enjoyed all the speaker and singers.

Honestly, the world could be a better place if people only tried harder.  And at the same time.  

Obama-Cheney

Obama, who has been receiving intelligence briefings for weeks, already knows what a scary world it is out there. It is unlikely he will wildly overcorrect for the Bush administration's abuses. A very senior incoming official, who refused to be quoted discussing internal policy debates, indicated that the new administration will try to find a middle road that will protect civil liberties without leaving the nation defenseless.
Excerpt from: Newsweek

*Edit: Cheney pushed for expanded presidential powers. Now that he's leaving, what will come of his efforts? The new president won't have to wait long to tip his hand.

Welcome to my Lodge!!

Could I get a few suggestions for the interior design?  Looks like I need a few suggestions for the exterior too.  Well, you know Rome wasn't built in a day!  It's just blossoming along.  I'll come back later to view your suggestions.  We're thinking a fireplace and an indoor swimming pool might be nice.  A few spare bedrooms and a kitchen bigger than Dallas? We kind of like the wide open spaces.  Let's the breeze in.  A room with a view!  No need for jealousy now!!  

Wordless Wednesday

July 13, 1975  (33-1/2 years)
For more Wordless Wednesday, go here please.

Kiva.org

A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

100% of every dollar you
have loaned will be used by your entrepreneur to build their business.
Please consider loaning to Kiva.org. It is a wonderful enterprise.  I have 

two $25 loans out and $23 have been repaid so I loaned that out again.

It takes so little to help someone build a business if we all work together.

Wordless Wednesday

The color "green."  For more Wordless Wednesday, go here.

Inappropriate After Yesterday's Post?

Raccoon's Demise

Those of you who have lived in Oklahoma all of your lives will probably understand this post. Those of you who live in rural Oklahoma will not be surprised by this. I have lived in rural Oklahoma all of my life. Right now we live in a small rural town of about 3000 population. We even live out in the country of this town to make it even more rural. So perhaps you can imagine the setting of this story.

When we first got married nearly 34 years ago, we lived in an even smaller town of about 300.  We lived out in the country of this town.  So think very, very rural.  We have always had cats.  We had indoor cats that were able to come and go outside but mostly lived in the house.  We kept their shots up so they wouldn't get rabies.  For eight years they continued to live inside our home.  

When our first child was born, we decided that the cats should not live in the house anymore.  We had three at the time, two girls and one tom.  It was hard seeing them outside wanting to come in but we thought it best.  And if you live in the country you realize there are plenty of dogs and cats who do not live in houses.  We have kept many stray cats through the years.  We provide food and water and a sheltered house for them to live in but this is outside.

Now back to the present situation.  About three or four years ago, we were coming home from church on a Wednesday night.  We were walking towards our front door when we heard the faintest mew coming from across the road.  It was a tiny baby kitten.  I picked her up and brought her in the house and that is where she has lived ever since.  She never goes outside.  She is our indoor kitty.  But I have five cats that do live outside.  Two older females, one stray tom that we took in as a starving kitten, and two six month old kittens that are brother and sister.  

Now if you live in a rural area and have cat food outside, you are going to attract skunks, opossums, and raccoons.  Last year a mama raccoon started coming late at night to finish off the cat's food.  I allowed her to eat because I felt sorry for her because she was obviously nursing her many young.  Later, we started getting visits from her and her six young ones.  They came every night for the past year.  We even saw the dad visiting too.  So at times there were eight raccoons on our back porch.  

Now cats tolerate wild animals because they don't know any better than to run from them.  So the outdoors cats would stay on the porch or in their heated igloo house.  This worked out fine.  We got to watch a few raccoons and it was enjoyable.

Now living in rural Oklahoma you would understand that there are very many hunters and trappers.  All my brothers and my dad hunted, fished, and trapped.  One of my brothers still traps beavers, raccoons, and muskrats for the furs.  

My brother wanted to trap the coons in a live trap but I never did have him do it.  I guess I should have. 

For the past few weeks, we have only been having visits from one raccoon.  The one in the picture above.  Our baby girl kitty who is about six months old always stayed in the igloo which is on the porch next to the sliding glass doors of our dining room.  One night we were sitting in the dining room watching the raccoon eat the cat food.  The raccoon went into the igloo and I knocked on the glass door to get its attention and keep it from bothering my kitty.  The raccoon came out of the igloo and left.  Then a few nights later about 3 in the morning my son heard a fight going on.  He ran to put a stop to it and saw the raccoon wrestling with my girl kitty.  He got the baseball bat and the raccoon ran away.  The kitty was quite shaken up and we still haven't determined her injuries.  I can't find any blood signs, but she is certainly sore and afraid.  We have brought her into the house and will take her to the vet today.

This is the part about the raccoon's demise.  I understand that the photo of the dead raccoon is disturbing.  But once again, if you live in rural Oklahoma, you could possibly understand.  Something had to be done.  We set the food bowl in the yard with a metal bowl on top of it to make noise when the raccoon visited the next night.  My husband waited until he showed up and shot him in the head with a .22 rifle.  It was a clean shot.  It was sad but it had to happen.  

Rose Bowl Parade

Broken Arrow HS Marching Band at the 2009 parade:
(Oklahoma)

New Mexico Road Runner 


City of Roseville's entry

Cal Poly's entry

I have always wanted to go to the Rose Bowl Parade.  I need

to add that to my Bucket List.   Here are some highlights.

Dream On!

A New Year, so let's dream on!  

Every time I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It goes by, like dusk to dawn
Isn't that the way
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay

Yeah, I know nobody knows
where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life
is in books' written pages
Lived and learned from fools and
from sages
You know it's true
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good lord will take you away

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream until your dream comes through
Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream On Dream On
Dream On Dream On

Sing with me, sing for the year
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Sing with me, sing for the year
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away......

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope the New Year brings health and happiness to everyone!

Tylenol PM

I must get my beauty rest.  At least 22 hours.  That is the reason for this beauty.  Yes.  Now go away!

Merry Christmas

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Santa's Workshop

This cartoon is older than I am! Ho ho ho! Didn't you use to love to watch cartoons like this? I'd get up every morning early to watch tv before school.

For God So Loved the World

I Believe In Father Christmas

GRACE

"One night a farmer who was a skeptic about Christ stayed home when his family went to church one Christmas Eve. Then he heard a loud thump, something hitting against the window. And another thump. He looked outside but couldn't see. So he ventured outside to see. In the field near his house he saw, of all the strangest


things, a flock of birds! They were apparently flying to look for a
warmer area down south, but had been caught in the snow storm.

The storm
had become too blinding and violent for the geese to fly or see their
way. They were stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter, unable to


do more than flutter their wings and fly in aimless circles.
He had compassion for them and wanted to help them. He thought to
himself, "The barn would be a great place for them to stay! It's warm
and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm." So


he opened the barn doors for them.

He waited, watching them, hoping they
would notice the open barn and go inside. But they didn't notice the
barn or realize what it could mean for them. He moved closer toward them
to get their attention, but they just moved away from him out of fear.
He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up,
and made a bread trail to the barn. They still didn't catch on.
Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried to shoo them toward
the barn. They panicked and scattered into every direction except toward
the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where there
was warmth, safety and shelter.

Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed, "Why don't they follow me?
Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?
How can I possibly get them into the one place to save them?" He thought
for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human.
He said to himself, "How can I possibly save them? The only way would be
for me to become like those birds. If only I could become like one of
them! Then I could save them! They would follow me and I would lead them
to safety."

At that moment, he stopped and considered what he had said. The words


reverberated in his mind: "If only I could become like one of them- then
I could save them." And then, at last, he understood God's heart towards


mankind, and he fell on his knees in the snow and worshipped Him."

Paul Harvey