Sadie Update

As you know it has been heavy on our minds about how to proceed with Sadie. Although our little Jack Russell has deformities of her feet due to lupus and polyarthritis and can’t walk except to go to the bathroom we have felt that other than that (and it’s a big that ) she is doing ok. But we were unsure and went to visit our vet in Buffalo to assess her health. And I’m happy to say that the vet agrees with us. He feels she is not in pain (or it is at least being controlled by the prednisone and special chemo drug) and is in good health. He actually did not recommend putting her down at this time but of course didn’t want us to feel guilty if we felt we could not longer care for her. He did blood work and will call us with the results tonight. We are much relieved because our heart has been broken at just the thought of no longer having her with us. We will continue to care for her as long as we can. She deserves it. She has been such a devoted dog and a wonderful companion.

 

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Spring is still a long way off on the calendar and even farther off in Bradford’s weather. Out daffodils won’t be out for a long time but I did see some stalks peeping their heads up out in the flower garden. Up in my mind I’m ready for it to be here.  Im getting out my Easter decorations since Easter is early this year. This little guy I picked up at Walmart the other day along with his carrots. Today I will be busy with two doctor appointments but tomorrow I will put out some chicks and eggs. The sun is shining this morning and even though it is only twenty nine degrees it is warm and springlike in my heart. 

Lovin’ a French flower market

Great weekend with my boys

This weekend we went to Carlisle to see my son and my grandson. This is Chris, my oldest son. He is my “go to” guy whenever I come across a project that is just too complicated for me to handle. In this case it was a small rip in the seat of my van. I purchased a repair kit but had no clue of how exactly to work with it. Chris had no problems (except mixing the correct color to match the seat..he had to seek the help of my grandson Scott who has a lot of artistic talent. ) He repaired it so well you couldn’t hardly tell where the rip had been.


My sister Linda came up from Fredericksburg, Virginia and we all went out on Saturday night to hear Threefold Echo, Scott’s band, play at a local inn. ( I really have to make a confession. I haven’t been to a bar in a long, long time. But we had fun listening to the music. Scott of course loved the gig.

Scott, the drummer

You can see the joy in his face. Scott has always been musical and started learning the guitar but when he discovered drums he found his passion. He lives for music and has the unique ability to really hear what is going on in a song. He is collecting vinyl records now and is really into “older” music.

THE ROSES DIED

The roses died but the lilies live on.

I love making art out of photographs and have so many photo apps on my ipad that I forget about using them. I love to take a picture and manipulate it so easily. Yesterday I took some cures of the lilies and green flowers with some greenery that was left from the Valentine’s bouquet that Don gave me. I used the app Stackables.  Here are the results. 

For these I used a combination of apps.

SUNSHINE

Sunshine came softly through my window today...

When I saw the sunbeam I immediately thought of the lyrics to this old Donovan song.

 

Isn't it funny how things like that rise to the surface. Released in 1966 it is generally considered to be one of the first examples of the musical genre that came to be known as psychedelia. The song features styles of psychedelic folk, psychedelic pop and folk rock.
Looking back that era was part of my growing up. I remember the tie dyed clothing and weird posters of that age. Once when we visited my sister and husband when he was going to college in Philadelphia we went to a night club which had a huge wall of gyrating lights in psychedelic themes. It was all about the go go boots and leisure suits. What a wild time. 

A new Day

This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before.
-Maya Angelou

I love the beginning of the day. Each day is a new start. A fresh day where nothing has happened yet to create sadness. The day lays before unwritten.

This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind... let it be something good.

Mac Anderson

Quiet

It was a quiet weekend. I find that I am busy during the week but on weekends I tend to stay home and relax. Don and I watched some of the Olympics but I missed all my regular Thursday night programs. The weather has been strange, first no snow, then snow on the ground and today it is spotty again with patches of grass. Winter can’t decide what it wants to do. Today is Giggle Girls and how I look forward to the joy.

THINK BEFORE YOU LIKE

I am reading a most interesting book which confirms my belief that we are entering a new world of communication where we have to be careful abaout what we see online and what we believe to be true. Think Before You Like by Guy Harrison covers all aspects of social media and how we can be taken in by what we read and how we can be influenced. It also talks about social media like Facebook and how it is increasing our isolation with real present people. 

One review by Julien Mussolini..

“Guy P. Harrison has become an essential guide to the human mind and a champion of science, reason, and critical thinking. In this new book, he applies his signature wit, insight, and good nature as he tackles the Internet and social media, two omnipresent beasts that he shows us how to tame.  From fake news to priacy and filter bubbles, Harrison leaves no stone unturned and he delivers another brilliant and virtually important book.”

He writes not to believe everything you read with these warnings..

How to keep fake news out of your head..

Be skeptical of everything you read.

Consider the source.

Google is not God.

Slow down. 

If no one else is reporting the story, ask yourself why.

Understand the difference between opinion and news.

Check the URL carefully.

Don’t spread garbage.

Videos lie too. 

This book is well written and helps me understand this world of information I am living in. 

Library

I know you are all readers out there. This time of year when you are in a lot is a great time to settle down with a good book. Are you a buyer? Or a borrower? Or a reader on a device?
I’ve tried reading on my ipad. I can do it but don’t prefer it at all. I still like to hold a book in my hands, put a bookmark in it when I have to lay it down and see how far I’ve come and how much more I have to go. There is something about that I love. I’m so afraid that books will be eliminated in the near future. Burning old books may not just be the thing of Fahrenheit 451.  (I also have a fear that once everything is digital it will be easy for the powers that be to rewrite history a la Big Brother in 1984. )

So I am doing my part to keep the libraries in business. I love my library trips where I can walk up and down the aisles and randomly choose a book that might interest me. Or another book by a favorite author. Or a self help (Organizing, anyone?) I might get on a subject and read all I can about it. Or be in the mood for a thriller. Eclectic reading is the best. How about you? What are your tastes in reading?

Jewelry container

Good grief...I can't count. This jewelry box holds 23 necklaces, not 13. I got it at Michael's and it is meant to hold Washi tape but works perfectly for the necklaces.

He never forgets

My husband wouldn’t be called a hopeless romantic. He is a practical man, very right brained. Skilled in all the testosterone stuff. Romantic gestures are not in his nature. Not to say he isn’t the most devoted and loving husband. But he has made a discovery along the way in our fifty plus years of marriage. He learned that I love and appreciate a bouquet of flowers now and then. So every single special day... birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, even Mother’s Day he brings home gorgeous flowers for me to enjoy. He never, ever forgets. It makes me love him even more. 

happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my good friends out there. IF i were there I would give you a great big hug! thanks for stopping by and saying hello. i love you!

Just layin’ in the sunbeam

The sun is pouring into the living room today even though it’s only 27 degrees outside. Sadie and I are taking advantage of the warmth by sitting on the couch with the southern exposure.

Sadie is snoozing and I am reading the latest Lincoln and Childs book.

Finished another painting today

I am really enjoying the painting class that I am taking online. I love Dreama Perry and the philosophy she has about painting for pleasure, for you and for fun. It is very advanced for my skill level but I feel satisfied with what I produce.

What do you do when you can’t sleep?

I find my sleep patterns are much different now than they used to be. Gone are the nights where I fall asleep quickly and sleep all the way through till morning. I seem to have trouble falling asleep and wake up several times to make trips to the bathroom. (TMI, I know). Sometimes I’ll even wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep for hours. Or I find myself waking up at five for the day. I accept this as just part of changes that go on in our life. 

   When I have trouble sleeping or an hour of being awake in the middle of the night I have a thing that I do. I watch the old tv show West Wing on my ipad. Sometimes I don’t even watch it, I just listen to it in the dark. Over the years I’ve probably seen these episodes seven or eight times. Each time it is as if I am watching it for the first time. (I don’t mean that I don’t recall the plot but just that they are so fresh and timely that they always keep my interest.) The acting is outstanding and the plot complicated enough to continue to challenge my mind. It stands head and shoulders above most of the television shows on today. 

  Do you have a “thing” that you do when you can’t sleep?

A cleaning tip

Cleaning...yes we all do it. We don’t talk about it much. We pretend on the blog that our houses are perfectly clean and picked up at all times. No clutter. At least not in the camera lens. But we all protect our little secret. Our houses get a mess sometimes. Like yesterday when I spent an hour in my bedroom putting things back in order (and getting the dust bunnies from behind the bed and dresser). 

   Some people have a cleaning routine...they do certain rooms on certain days. The closest I come to that is that I do the laundry on Sunday when I’m home all day. Otherwise things get done whenever I see the need. My greatest cleaning recommendation is Esmerelda, my Rhomba. You know, that little round self sweeper you see advertised. It was the best purchase I ever made. For some unknown reason sweeping the house was my least favorite chore. Now I just turn on Esmerelda (yes, I named my sweeper) and she goes from room to room picking up all the dirt. I LOVE her!! She has taken the pain out of sweeping for me. 

   I don’t have a lot of cleaning tips but I want to share with you two homemade products that work for me. 

FURNITURE POLISH:

Mix in a spray bottle-1 T olive oil, 1/2 cup white vinegar and 5-10 drops of essential oil

Fill the little spray bottle with water. Shake well before each use. 

COUNTERTOP SPRAY

 In a small spray bottle mix: 1/2 c alcohol, 1 1/2 c. Water, 1/4 c dish soap, a few drops of essential oil.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Do you remember the Johnny Carson show? At 11:30 every week night Don and I always stayed up long enough to watch the opening monologue and maybe a few guests. We laughed out loud at his antics with the guests. Comedy was just so funny then. No raw blatent sexual jokes just hints at misconduct. He had on all the famous and we got a fresh look at how they interacted with him in such a funny way.
  Here is a blast from the past...Andy Kauffman impersonating Elvis.

Why we talk about the weather.

My son in Tennessee says that I talk about the weather an awfully lot. He doesn’t understand that here we are subject to changes in the weather that affect what we are doing.  Take this morning for instance. We were all set to go to my son’s house in Southern Pennsylvania. We packed the car and started the out.  We were just a little over a half an half ur from home when we changed our minds.  The roads were icy, the snow was coming down and we just didn’t want to take a chance on the roads.  When we were younger that wouldn’t have bothered us as much but we are a lot more cautious now.  When we reached the next small town we turned around.  We will visit another time. Looking out now you’re u wto use never know how bad it was this morning. The weather changes that fast.  

Breakfast

It is very embarrassing to put myself out here on a video. You know, we always think we look and act horrible when we see ourselves. But a while ago I took a class on self-portraits and realized that this is the way the whole world sees me...not as I see myself in the mirror. And this is the true me. And I'm old enough to not really care how people see me. I'm me and this is what you get.  So I made this little video this morning. You don't often get to see the "real" me. 
 

BLOG TO A BOOK

For the past few days I have been busy making my blog in to a book. 

I just completed 2016 and yesterday I did 2008 and sent it off to be published. I love the fact that Bookemon is so easy and you get your book back within days. It is of high quality and the photos come out amazing. After losing almost all my photos for 2017 I am determined to get a hard copy backup of the blog before it disappears again. 

Those little accessories

I’ve been trying to improve my photography with my big camera but I must admit that my iPhone takes some pretty neat photos too. I may have mentioned Emile Pakarklis who is an expert iPhone photographer who willing shares email tutorials and articles about iPhone photography and founded the iPhone photography school.

I have found them so helpful and detailed and make the process simplier. 

Just for fun I ordered from Amazon some accessories for the iPhone...a telescoping lens, a wide angle, a macro, and a fisheye. I played around with them just a little yesterday. 

What a game

I love an underdog (plus the fact that the Patriots are Bills rivals) so I was thrilled with this year’s Super Bowl. Football is the only sport that we really like and watch almost every game we can. Since we are 75 miles south of Buffalo and get all their tv stations naturally we root for the Bills most of the time (except when they play Pittsburgh ‘cause we love them too!). And since Philly is in our home state we were cheering them on the whole game. We were holding our breath by the time the Brady got the football back in the last few minutes. There was celebrating in the Karrasch household when the game was finally over.

Do it now

Oh, my God. What if you wake up some day, and you're 65 or 75, and you never got your novel or memoir written; or you didn't go swimming in warm pools or oceans because your thighs were jiggly or you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It's going to break your heart. Don't let this happen.  ~ Anne Lamott

“One day, you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted.  Do it now”  Paulo Coelho

Some people live where there are so many things to do, such culture and diversity, classes of interest, and ways to grow. Our town is small and contains an elderly population and low income also. We do the best we can and we are lucky to have the University of Pittsburgh which brings in entertainment such as small concerts to our town. I try to take advantage of every interesting thing I can.

It is snowing…again. It seems that every night we get an inch or two. It has been steady today. A good day to stay in and watch the super bowl.

Zonta card party

Yesterday was the annual Zonta card party. It is always a fun time where there are tables full of little sandwiches and sweets and Chinese auction baskets. 

There was a lot of fun and laughter. These girls below are my coffee friends and even though we look serious there was a lot of fun. 

And these girls are my Giggle girlfriends. They played marbles. 

I didn’t win a basket it my friend Lisa did. She shared a jar of STone Mountain blueberry jam with me. Here I am dressed up and all ready to go to the party. 

And here for no reason at all is a picture of my kitchen.