If it's Tuesday it's concert time

Last night was the final night of the summer concert series and I enjoyed a great one. Always Abba is a tribute band from Toronto and they put on a fantastic performance. We were clapping and singing and even dancing in our seats as they sang all the Abba hits. What a fun night. 

Sometimes you need a little help

For the past few days I have had some help. My girlfriend's grandson has been doing a chore for me that has been needed since last year. He is cleaning out the gutters and downspouts and power washing the gutters and siding. It is a godsend to have someone else doing this for us. But it is difficult for us to admit that we need the help. Don has always been a strong and capable man and able to do so many things around the house. He was our resident plumber, electrician and mechanic for so many years. But with declining age and COPD he is no longer able to do any of those strenuous chores. And neither am I. We are so grateful to hire this done and will be pleased with the results. 

Carpe Diem

You remember that movie, don't you? Robin Williams in his finest role I think. Dead Poet's Society was about an amazing teacher who taught from the heart at a boy's school. He was unconventional in his thinking and inspirational to the boys he taught. It is one of my favorite movies. 

I always cry at the end.

From the movie the phrase carpe diem became popular...seize the day. It made us all think of living each day to the fullest. It is a reminder that this day is important. I think as I age I realize this more and more. 

Life

It’s up then down, happy then sad, life is a roller coaster. Maturity is being able to recognize that.

7 Ways to Make a Conversation With Anyone | Malavika Varadan | TEDxBITSP...

Do you listen to TED talks? TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages.
   There are talks on a variety of subjects..all spoken by interesting individuals. Just go to YouTube and you'll find many of them. When I have a few minutes I like to find one to listen to. This one was today's.

MOLDIV

I am an app fanatic! Since I've used my ipad for a few years I have become familiar with a lot of editing apps. I think it is the most fun to use these apps to make my photos even more spectacular...and it's so easy. MOLDIV is one of those apps that just requires you to plug in the photos and it does the rest. There are so many ways you can edit...the one above is from their magazine section. You choose a magazine format and put your photos right in. 

This one was also from the magazine format section. I could change the typing to suit me. 

And they have many collages you can use. If you have a device...even an smart phone..you can try this app. 

Celebrate your life

It will be birthday time next month and when I saw this quote from Oprah it hit home that I need to be celebrating my life. I will be 73 which really sounds old when I say it but in my mind doesn't feel it. I am accepting of my age..well, I do regret that my body doesn't keep up sometimes. But I need to celebrate and be happy for I am so fortunate in my life. 

  Sometimes I get busy with the day to day and forget to have those special moments that are fun. I need some more of those. 

All fixed......sort of

I am not happy. Yes, the computer now is fixed but everything I had on it but the photos is gone. All my documents and programs I downloaded are gone. I picked it up tonight and will deal with it tomorrow. I am not happy. Maybe it will look brighter in the morning.  

Ok...maybe I'm being a little dramatic.  I'm sure things will be all right.  Lesson learned...always back up. 

Glendorn

 

This article from the Philly magazine tells about Glendora a resort about four miles away from my house. I've had a tour and it's a beautiful place and I had a picnic there with a red hat group. 

 curious thing happened this summer. Travel + Leisure put out its annual list of the top resort hotels in the country, and Glendorn, a place in Bradford, Pennsylvania — a teensy rural town about ninety minutes south of Buffalo — crowned the list (and was ranked number six in the world). I was skeptical (the top resort hotel — in rural Pennsylvania? Really?) but also excited: My wife, kids and I were headed there a few days later.

Turns out they nailed it. The Relais & Château woodland retreat is located on 1,500 lush acres adjacent to Allegheny National Forest. We checked into one of the resort’s 12 stand-alone cabins, John’s Cabin, a four-bedroom haven named for oil baron John Dorn, who built Glendorn as his family getaway in the early 1900s. (There’s also a four-room lodge on the property.)

My kids, unimpressed by the accolades and amenities, were far more concerned with the simple things. They scurried outside to a small lake just steps away from our porch and set out to catch sunfish. When this proved unsuccessful, we asked Glendorn’s ruggedly handsome (or so my wife says) activity guide, Shane Appleby, for assistance. Glendorn was also recently named the top Orvis fly-fishing lodge in the country, and with Shane’s guidance, my 10-year-old son — a city kid with a pitiful amount of fishing experience — learned to fly-fish and caught a dozen rainbow and brown trout.

But what do you do with a big cooler of freshly caught fish? If you’re at Glendorn, you send your son to the kitchen in the main lodge — where they serve a $105-a-person prix-fixe dinner — and have him ask the chef to cook them. He obliged; that night, we had trout three ways.

Field Guide: Weekend Getaway in Bradford, PA

Stay: The Lodge at Glendorn, 1000 Glendorn Drive, Bradford; rates start at $375 a night.
Play: The area around Bradford offers some of the best fishing and hunting in the country. For a sight you’ll never see anywhere else, take the 40-minute drive to Kinzua Bridge State Park, where you can stroll on a skywalk next to a partially collapsed railroad bridge above a gorge. If you’re afraid of heights, don’t look down at the glass floor.
Eat: The lodge has the best food for miles—this is very rural Pennsylvania—but a 15-minute drive gets you to Beefeaters, a solid old-school steakhouse in a converted public library. And kids will go crazy for Slice of the 80s (just down the street); think pizza, wings, a Madonna soundtrack and lots of Donkey Kong. Don’t worry: There’s beer.

Uh oh.

Oh yeah...it was a bad mistake.  My computer got hijacked badly. It started with me seeing that I had something on my computer called palikan which is a bad thing to have. So to get rid of it I downloaded Spyhunter. Now that sounds like the right thing to do doesn't it? LIttle did I know that Spyhunter would take over an hour to scan my computer and then ask for money to get rid of bad programs. When I decided not to pay it completely took over my computer so that I couldn't uninstall Spyhunter.  I couldn't use my virus protection program either to get rid of it. And it wouldn't let me download any program to get rid of it. I am stuck! I called for professional help. This is way beyond my capabilities to fix. I can still use the computer but who knows what that program could be doing. Yikes! 

Another week, another concert

I have really been enjoying these summer concerts sponsored by the Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center and some local businesses. Last night we went to see a Journey tribute. Although not a huge Journey fan I thought they did an excellent job and were great musicians. 

Yesterday I also went to a picnic for our former Red Hat group..Circle of Friends. It was held at one of the members homes. It was a great outdoor pavilion and despite a little wind we had a great time. The food and company were excellent and we sat and chatted for a long time. It's fun to get together with friends. 

WAlk along with me

There is nothing like a summer walk..even though our weather felt a little bit like fall last night. I am so lucky to have great places to walk within minutes of my house. So last night I walked on the University of Pittsburgh trail.

This paved trail is easy walking with very slight hills and offers a lot to see. All our local wildflower are represented. Here are just a few that I saw..goldenrod, snap dragons, some wild daisies and purple something...maybe my gardener friends will help me identify them. 

There are even berries along the trail...elderberries and blackberries. 

It was fun to see a mom with her kids picking the blackberries. I talked with the little boys and they told me they had seen two chipmunks and one snake on their travels. The trail is not crowded at all. I only saw one gal running and two other men walking. I am so lucky to have this trail near me. 

What are you reading?

I still love it when a magazine comes in the mail.  There are very few I subscribe to now. I have kept up my subscription to Southern Lady for I love the way it is done and the recipes, decorating ideas, and towns they visit. I also get a few magazines because my grandchildren sell them as fund raisers...Oprah and Country Living. And for a year I subscribed to English Home for its beautiful pictures. I am still getting Bella Grace which I find delightful.

But I have a bone to pick with Oprah. I used to love that magazine for its great articles but now I find that it has turned too commercial for me. Almost every page is an ad for something. If it's not a full page ad it has those not so sublte pages where they promote products by saying "out of this world jewelry" or "best cosmetics". All they are is ads in disguise where they are showing you how much they cost and where to buy them. There is too much of that and not enough substance.  No wonder magazines are finding they are losing readers. 

The new book I am reading is A PEARL IN THE STORM by Tori Murden McClure. This is not the usual kind of novel that I would read but it was selected as the One Book Bradford choice this year. Every year our town selects a book for everyone to read and then invites the author to come. They also try to have other activities related to the book. This book I am finding extremely interesting. It is the story of the first women to row across the Atlantic Ocean solo. 

It seems for a while I couldn't find anything interesting to read and all of a sudden I'm flooded with books. I'm reading A Gentleman from Moscow on my ipad and have Ken Follet's The FAll of Giants waiting for me the library. I think this week will be a good time to park myself in a chair and read. 

Sadie update

It's been a while since I updated you on Sadie. Right now she is holding her own with the chemotherapy medicine that I am getting from Arizona. It seems to be keeping the lupus in remission. She is still taking a low dose of prednesilone and her thyroid medication. I don't let her walk too much because she gets sores on her wrists because her feet are deformed. We carry her outside and back in all the time. 

  But this weekend we faced another problem. She started to itch her ear and by today she had quite a bad ear infection. So it was off to the vets for ear wash and medicine. I am hoping that this will help quickly because she is hurting a little. She had lost a little weight which is what we were working on. The less weight she is carrying the easier it will be for her to walk. 

  We dearly love our little dog and are doing all we can for her. 

Pharaoh

We've had this guy in our attic for a long time. We really don't quite know what it is. It is very heavy so we think it is pewter. We think it is a doorstop but have no idea of its value. Anyone out there there have a Guess? 

Early morning in the garden

It is quite cold this morning...enough for a jacket. It has been raining overnight and the flowers got a good soaking. In the spring I read that if you planted three packets of zinnia seeds you would have enough zinnias to cut all summer and bring in the house. So I did, but now in August they are just beginning to bloom and I certainly don't have a plethora. I so want a cutting garden but I find there are not enough blooms to share inside the house. 

I love these peppermint phlox. They are beaten down by the rain today and hanging their heads. 

The climatis did not do well this year. I replaced this one on the side of my arch but it is just now beginning to show signs of life. 

This is Francesca a new little statue that I found at a market in Virginia. She was all white and painted so I tried to ver de Gris her. I think I need to add much more copper and brown. 

The pots seem to be doing well. My flower boxes of pink petunias in the front of the house are amazing this year. We get a frost very soon in September so we lose our flowers quickly. But I will enjoy them while they are here. 

The vines, the vines

It's the time of the summer when things just gets out of hand. We have two vines that needed trimmed so Don and I took turns on the ladder cutting them back.

This one is between the kitchen windows and has a tendency to creep in front of the windows and up over the gutters as it grows during the summer. 

This climbing hydrangea grows way over in behind the grill and also onto the shed behind the garage. 

Although the thermometer only reads 77 today I have discovered that the heat really bothers me. I get overheated fast and almost sick at my stomach. So I came in to the air conditioning in the sunroom to get cooled down. Don also cannot take the heat because of his COPD so we are just not good in the summer to do outdoor chores. I think it's time that we realized that we are going to have to get help.

Class reunion picture

The class of 1962. Bradford high School. Our 55th reunion. We have lost 75 classmates from our class of 274.  I really missed my two best friends at this reunion. 

Summer concert

One of the best things about summer is going to concerts. Our Bradford  Creative and performing arts center is sponsoring six tribute concerts each Tuesday. I missed the Four seasons and Fleetwood Mac but rally enjoyed last night's tribute to John Denver. 

Ted Vigil was not only a sound alike but looked exactly like John Denver with the musical talent to go along with it. He sang Denver's hits like they were his own. He was accompanied by two equally talented musicians..a girl with a voice like an angel who played the keyboards and violin and a fellow who played flute, mandolin, and guitar. It was such an entertaining evening. 

Waiting...

We've all been there.  Sitting in a doctor's office. This time we are in Erie at the Hamot Heart Institute for a checkup test for Don. Several years ago he had a stent put in his abdominal aorta and periodically he has to have it checked. After the test we will have a doctor's appointment right away. Don has been through a lot in the last ten years. He had prostate cancer, a stent in his heart and abdomin, and COPD. at our age it is common to start having health problems. I always am thankful that the things that I get are curable.  

Everything is fine with Don. In fact the aneurism has actually shrunk now. No more check ups for two years.