a Tragedy

Today my thoughts are on Sea World and the horrible tragedy that happened yesterday. An orca grabbed her trainer and pulled her underwater to drown. Since we just had a wonderful experience there on Saturday it’s hard to believe that such an awful thing happened to one of the trainers we saw. Sea World is a remarkable place and we enjoyed our day there. Here are some pictures from the shows we saw. The Shamu show featured orcas who interacted with their trainers. In the third and fourth picture the woman trainer is floating with an orca.

 

The second show we saw was an otter and sea lion show involving a pirate’s treasure. Occasionally the otter would run across the stage with the treasure map.

Getting packed

I’m getting packed, little by little. I have growing excitement about the trip ahead. Tomorrow I actually put everything in the suitcase. THe weather looks promising…74 on the last day we are there.

tIRED OF THE SNOW YET?

A day of love

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you faithful readers who come to my blog and view the pictures and read about my life. So often when people blog they don’t know who reads their blog or how often they come to visit. so I’m asking anyone who is reading this right now to comment below, just to let me know someone is out there. I know Joan, Linda, Charlotte and Diane are readers so you three don’t have to comment unless you want to but I’d like to know if anyone else sees this at all. I love to blog and hope that you enjoy reading about my life.

Making a list, checking it twice

No, it’s not Santa’s list, I am getting ready to go on a vacation to Florida next week and am deciding what to pack. The temperatures will be a lot warmer than here so it’s hard to decide what type of clothes that I want to bring. I’ve been south before when it’s been snow and cold here and all I can say is that it’s hard to come back to it after you have been in the sun.

The Blahs

    
“I guess that’s why they call them the blues”..sometimes the forces of nature combine and a blue day comes along. That would be today. Do you get the blues once in awhile? I haven’t had a day like this for awhile. But there is no sunshine, it’s February (my normal down in the dump time) and I just don’t have any ambition to anything today. I’m going to cover up and read a book and get through the day. Meanwhile I posted these pictures of the addition to realize how far we came when we added on a room to the back of our house. We enjoy being in the sunroom and having a place at the table for all our family and friends. Dreams can come true and this room is a dream realized. That’s enough to make me happy.

More Tennessee pictures

When you’re happy

Do you know the song, “When you’re hot you’re hot”? Well, I have a new version: “When you’re happy, you’re happy.” It must have been that constant sunshine all day today because wherever I went I found happiness. After I left coffee my first stop before doing errands in Olean was to have tea with my friend Kay. She put the teapot on while I stopped by Tim Horton’s for a multigrained bagel and low fat cream cheese. We enjoyed chatting and she told me of a great gift shop that she had visited in Ridgeway which may make a great Red Hat trip this summer.
     Then I drove over the hill to Olean to take care of some business. My first stop was Cutco Knives. One time when I was teaching Explore (the gifted class) I had a student whose father worked there and we took a field trip. Her father generously gave me a set of knives. I have loved them for their ever sharp blades and use them almost every day. Unfortunately I put my large bread knife in the dishwasher where it fell down into the heating element melting the handle. Since I couldn’t do without that knife I wanted to return it to see if they would replace the handle. No, the rep said. We’ll just give you a new knife.  Give me???? Yes. Wow! That never happens. That made me happy!
   I was able to stop for hot tub chemicals and even got a dozen Bavarian cream doughnuts for Don before proceeding to the mall to get my diamond ring sized. Still happy, I went to Aldi’s and even let someone go ahead of me in line and gave my empty cart to someone in the parking lot. (who didn’t even say thank you or offer to give me my quarter back, by the way).  Then I picked up a few things at Walmart. Now you know I’ve gone over the edge because something in the frozen food section made me deliriously happy. Frozen zucchini and yellow squash. Yes..I said squash made me happy. I love the combination and during the summer I often saute some together with herbs for lunch. Not only did they have that, but I found a lot of other frozen fruits and veggies that just made me happy.

It must have been the sunshine.

THINGS I LOVE PART TWO

Isn’t it fun when you discover something that turns out to be one of your highlights of the week? That’s how I felt when I surfed into Susan’s blog “Between Naps on the Porch” one day. Not only is it a delightful blog full of decorating ideas and tips with gorgeous photography but she tapped into a special group of people who are just like me…they love dishes. Every Thursday she hosts a party where bloggers can join her in showing off pretty tablescapes. I can’t wait till I get on my computer on Thursday so I can visit all my blogging friends and see what creative ways they are combining their china and centerpieces. I learn where they go to get a good bargain and see the ways they fold their napkins. So a big “thank you” to Susan for being our host and for giving me a Thursday to love.
    Today my contribution is my Valentine’s day table with white silverware from Cutco, reuse of my  red and white Christmas plates, toile placemats, and my new hurricanes.
    

WATER AEROBICS

Splash, splash, brrr…..today the water in the pool at the YMCA was a little on the cold side. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like to be cold. Even when the pool is very warm, I wear a tee shirt over my bathing suit so that my shoulders which are out of the water stay warm. But today when I stepped in the water wasn’t as warm as it usually is. The instructor insisted that once I got going my body would warm up..nope, she doesn’t know me. I don’t produce heat. Even in the summer, I don’t sweat. So I forged through the exercises feeling a little chilly but knowing that I had to endure that for an hour because exercise is good for my body.  Do I get a gold star for that?

SADIE’S VACATION

Sadie finally met her match. Ryan’s new dog, Sox, made a ambitious playmate for Sadie. They played and played all the time, running and chasing. They begged to go outside in Ryan’s large fenced-in back yard where they zoomed all over from one end to the other with friendly nips. Of course, Sadie told me that she wanted toys in her tub too from now on. Notice in the last picture that Ryan is not only wearing shorts, but he’s in his bare feet too. No wonder he loves the south.




 

THINGS I LOVE

February is the month of love. Have you ever thought about the little things in life that you are in love with? How about a cold crisp winter morning when the sun shining on the snow makes it looks like diamonds all over your yard? I’ll bet the sunworshipers in Florida never saw that before. And how about when you think that spring will never get here you see  that little patch of crocuses popping their heads out of the ground, seeking the sun? After a long winter that is a sight that renews the spirit. You can even forgive the overnight snow when the landscape looks like a Currier and Ives print. And don’t you love an excuse just to stay home and read? And the warmth of a beef stew cooking in the stove? There is a lot to love about this time of year if you shut down your complaints and seek the beauty of the season. Don’t you love the little things? Snuggling under a warm comforter when daylight first comes. A mug of something hot toasting your fingers. Grab your cup, pull an afghan up over your toes, and settle in…there’s a little more winter left…enjoy it.  

THE FIRST OFFICIAL HAIRCUT

 
While I was in Tennessee I went with Jenny to get Sean’s first official haircut. His hair is very fine (like his grandma’s) and had grown just a little long. In the picture below you can see the long rooster tail.

He was excellent in the chair and sat very, very still until the hairdresser started squirting his head with water.