Do you dream of a Rubik's cube too?

If you listen to American radio much, then you might have to work up some patience with 'Electric President.' I think this song is great though...

Doggy dementia

Clovis has always cuddled, but Ernie? Well, Ernie was not so social once upon a time. Now that he's blind and going senile, what a sweet little snuggle-muffin he's turned into. I guess that it's all okay until the bladder control goes...

Focus!

Okay, so it was a good shot of Dad and Maria with the pups. Next time, I just have to make sure not to get the focus on something (say, like the back of my husband) in the foreground...

Spread your excitement

Imagine what this world would be if everyone had at least one person like this to learn from. We all benefit from somebody else believing in us and sharing their enthusiasm. Perhaps we cannot all be this passionate and focused, but I find it an inspiring notion none-the-less.

More with Yancie

Yancie is everyone's buddy - what a sweetie!

Upstate

I ended my tour of the north visiting Aunt Patty's place in NY. Mum met me there and we had some excellent girl time!
There were many wonderful meals and little walks. While cousin Donal was off at the Big E over in Springfield, Aunt and I pooper-scooped the back field. That manure didn't seem as stinky as the stuff which comes in bags at the garden center - hmnnn, guess it's not as condensed, aged, whatever.
Here are the beasties & the tools of the trade...

The red wagon

One night, I spent in Winthrop Ma visiting with our Boston family. Here are the little girls heading off to gymnastics. Ironically, the workout seems to be for whoever gets to wheel them there and back in their red wagon...



I had a lovely time - we even got a dinner in at the Common Ground and a walk down by the ocean. Lucky me!

Dad's green thumb

Wow, Dad sure has a green thumb. He had a whole table of tomatoes ripening. Those were just the end-of-season crop. He's also got ivy which has grown from outside into their mudroom. Maybe his secret is to keep everything so well watered. Certainly, having a gutter running off thru the tulip tree seems to have worked:)

Sexy feet

Here are some pictures of those beautiful socks in action. Thanks Kara!

Hello knitty

So, here's a brief post from the road. This morning I am in Marlborough, MA. Having worked my way thru the wonderful homes of friends and family here, I leave for NY in a couple of hours.

Before I have left this state of place and mind, I wanted to post a couple of websites Steve and Kara mentioned to me.

The first for all you would be knit-wits out there, Knitting help has some great videos to get you started. They show all kinds of styles - Righty, Lefty, Continental, English, etc. - and you can pause the videos which really is a great help.

The other is Ravelry. Kara tells me that you have to request an invitation. I don't know much about it, but seems like it could be a good resource in finding folks to ask for help on more advanced problems and also for finding some great yarn shops.

Kara made me some socks in my favorite color and with a beautiful (and frighteningly intricate-looking) pattern. So, when I get home, I'll take some snappies & post for all to see.

Broken

The great success of the AFA (American Family Association) is a sure indicator to me of what great problems we have to deal with in this country. If families were truly important, then mongering fear and hate would be - at the very least - frowned upon.

Certainly, there are plenty of people who feel that this country has only ever succeeded because of the 'great' strides made by fundamentalists in our history. To me, at least some of these figures represent everything that has ever held us back from real greatness.

If we could stop being afraid all the time, then perhaps we wouldn't have to bow down to big business. Perhaps we could find some creative, new solutions to ever-increasing problems. Maybe then we could vote for people based on what they've done and what they intend rather than along party lines.

At this point I am talking about a fantasy world. The stones of fear and hate are at an avalanche point. Most people are working way too hard to get by and so their ideas are just regurgitated blurbs that they've been told. Our minds have gotten lazy and I don't know how you get away from that. How do you stimulate a lethargic populace other than by allowing them to get themselves into so much trouble that there's no possible way out?

Along the lines of these cheerful thoughts, please check out Adam's blog. I would have a hard time not just putting my spam filter on the AFA. But, whatever your inclinations, perhaps it is good to know what millions of people are reading about on a regular basis.

Pale in comparison

If Sarah Palin is expecting to fill-in where Cheney has left off, she's going to need to tone it down.

First, there's the whole smiling bit - just stop it. If you're evil, be evil. No one likes a faker (that's what the president's for). Really...she should stand behind her policies using her appearance (then small children would run from the room screaming every time they see her giant face on their monster wall screen).

Of course, Cheney has had a lot of years to percolate and fulfill his Dorian Greyesque evolution (if only his ideas had evolved too). Perhaps young Sarah can catch up if she tries a little harder.

It seems like a step backwards to the days when big, ugly daddy (Bush) was assisted by his pretty little lady (Quayle).

But that's just my opinion...they're like, well, ya know...everyone's got one.

Moon kites

So, our wall art came from Blik. We weren't all that sure that the graphite colour I'd picked would show on the pale yellow wall. However, think we could've even gotten away with white.
In any case, it was relatively easy to get on the wall and looks rather fun. Hard to get good pictures as it's a rather dark hallway and only possible to get rather shallow shots. Anyhow, these should give you an idea...

Other people's pups

This weekend I hung out poolside with Marti and Brad's Rotties. Here're a couple of the baby and the old man...