Friday, September 30, 2011

Another Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day !


In honor of my friend Marie,
who is a ovarian cancer survivor
and thriver, I had hoped to get
 this together yesterday so
I could remind everyone to
 wear teal today.  If there is
still time, please add a bit of
teal or wear a whole outfit
in memory and awareness
of Ovarian Cancer.
As I wrote earlier in the month,
 September is Ovarian Cancer
Awareness Month.
I have my bracelet that I
am wearing today.
It says "it whispers...so listen".
 I also made these little
ribbons several years
ago and passed them out to
friends and the women
at my bank.
For more information and
to donate, even a small
amount, please visit
 these websites:

~~~~~
~~~~~

Love ya Marie....so glad you
are alive !   :o)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Few are those who
see with their own
eyes and feel with
their own hearts.
--- Albert Einstein

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Second Day of Autumn


Look what I woke up
to this morning .....



We might get a bit of rain
tomorrow, although the sun
is making it's way out right
 now.   I am so glad to see
 the HOT weather go.
Yesterday it was 95 degrees
and just not fun.  Today they
say it will be 84 and tomorrow
 only 70, but the rest of the
week will be in the 80's
with a couple of days back
 to 90, but at least not 95!
   I have lots of outside work to
 do including planting these
(and more) .....
.....with the help from my
dear Pansy.....
Oh, how I wish she could help me !
Speaking of help....I keep
forgetting to mention that
Cheryl and I saw the movie
 "The Help" last week.
I hadn't read the book, but
the movie was FANTASTIC!
All 4 main characters were
wonderful, but for me the
actresses that played Minnie
just too much!  Loved them
both, well not Hilly's character,
 but both of their acting was
superb in my opinion !   The
fashions and sets were perfect
 and the colors and patterns were
such a treat for the eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday I had a nice visit with my old neighbors
from 1999.   I have seen them here and there over
 the years, and we always said we would get together,
 but never quite made it happen.  They are so very kind
and easygoing and said to just call whenever I had
time...so Wednesday I called to say how about Thursday
and we settled on Friday.  I can't believe I forgot my
camera.   Their yard is absolutely enchanting!
Their house is on a mountain and they have tiered
and tiered the property with tons of rocks, stone and
cement and then planted 100's of trees, shrubs,
and flowers....figs, olives, apples, roses, jasmine vines,
wisteria, lilacs, veggies...the list goes on and on.  There is
 a water shortage in that area so they were only watering
the veggies.  Unfortunately the roses may be gone next
year.  They also had a waterfall that went from the top
of the property to the bottom, but had no water in it.
Too much to run right now so I will have to go over
this winter after a good rain to see.  :o)  And the view
 of the lake....oh my goodness!  I had kinda forgotten
 how gorgeous the view really is, but the drive into town
is 25 minutes and just too far away for me to want to live
 up that way again.  After my 3 1/2 hour visit I headed
 over to Cheryl's (she is up that way too).  Since I am
 rarely in that area I had called her earlier to see if
 she wanted to watch the last episode of All My Children
 together.  She has watched it for all 40 years, since
she was a teenager! 
Above photo from ABC Studios
All My Children logo as in the "New Decade" credits
 (December 22, 2010-present)
 I haven't watched AMC since the
early 80's, but with it's end, I decided to watch this
last week.  It was so fun, but almost sad to see all the
 old characters that were still on.  Not sad for them,
but for me...thinking about how young they were back
 then and although they all looked great now, that meant
 me too, growing older and thinking about how young I
 was back then!  Pretty emotional.  The whole week's
worth of episodes were quite nice....all ran along at a nice
 clip (not dragged out) until Friday's episode!  
A disappointment for sure.
They claim they will be bringing back the show on
the internet, but already some of the actors have found
other jobs so it will not be the same.  Of course, they left
 the show with a cliffhanger !  Total bummer!   I was so
hopeful that they would continue along the path of this
past week and end it positively instead of with
a literal bang!   Oh well, I should know better with
the soaps!  I am glad though that I watched the last
 week and wish all the actors the very best in whatever
 they all choose do in the future.   :o)
Thanks for the memories!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun, with all those
planets revolving around
it and dependent on it,
can still ripen a bunch
of grapes as if it had
 nothing else in the
universe to do.
--- Galileo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY THE DAY AFTER
THE FIRST DAY OF FALL !


Thursday, September 22, 2011

The world surrounds us with perfections.

Look what was in the
garden last week?


I love finding praying mantis!
As I was taking the pictures,
it lifted up it's little front legs
 as if to fight me.   As if I
would hurt it!

Can you see his wings
a buzzin'?  Click on pic
for larger view.
And of course there are lots
of bees!   I love bees too!
These bees were starting
to fill up on pollen...their
little legs were covered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each day, awakening, are we
asked to paint the sky blue?
Need we coax the sun to rise
or flowers to bloom?  Need
 we teach birds to sing, or
children to laugh, or lovers
 to kiss?  No, though we
 think the world imperfect,
 it surrounds us each day
 with its perfections. 
We are asked only to
 appreciate them, and to
 show appreciation by living
 in peaceful harmony amidst
them.  The Creator does not
 ask that we create a perfect
world; He asks that we
celebrate it.
--- Robert Brault

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Hope of Glory


Taken in 1959 when my
 Mom was 22 years old.
Nancy K. Stout
San Francisco, Calif.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today is the 7th anniversary
of my Mother's physical death.
It is amazing to think 7 years
have passed since that day I
saw her take her last breath.
As Mike said in our Christmas
letter that year,  "she believed
she would be healed until the
last moment and that is what
true faith is".   She was 67
years young.  She always
seemed young, that is why
it was a shock when she was
diagnosed with leukemia the
year before.    Sometimes it
seems like just yesterday
and other times forever.
  Her favorite bible verse
 was from Colossians 1:27
"Christ in you,
the hope of glory".
We had a plaque made with
that verse and placed it
on the railing of Capitola
Wharf as she loved the
ocean as much as me.  In
fact, I am sure that is where
 I get my love for the sea.



In October 2006, Mike and I,
 and my cousin Zona and her
 husband Howard, who came
out from Colorado, scattered her
 ashes in Monterey Bay.  I told my
Mom that I would not keep her
 ashes on a mantel or shelf.  I almost
 kept a bit to put in a pendant and
 now I am glad I didn't.  It took me
two years to get it done, and I
couldn't bear to go another
winter without finally doing it.
It was a perfect day and I
remember thinking "Dang, Mom
would have really loved to
be out on this boat". 
Which I guess she was.  :o)


All Is Well
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next
 room I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
 that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which
you always used
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity
or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
at
the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the
 household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect,
 without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It it the same as it ever was,
 there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval,
 somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.
--- Henry Scott Holland
1847-1918
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had a little card that someone
had given me that I think
had a lovely sentiment about
someone's passing, but I could
not find it anywhere!   I moved
it about a year ago and I have
hundred's of little places I
tuck things into, but I guess I
missed one !   So I went online
and found the above and below
poems that I am sure my Mom
would have liked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I AM NOT HERE
Don't stand by my grave and weep,
For I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint of snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning,
 hush.
For I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circle flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die.
--- Hopi Grief Song/Prayer

 This is one of the last photos
 I have of my Mother and I.
  It is a bit grainy as I took a
 picture of the photo.
Actually all of the photos
on this post are taken that way.

Taken when I was about a year old.


When I come to the end of the day
And the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not too long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love we once shared,
Miss me but let me go.
For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It's all a part of the maker's plan,
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart,
Go to the friends we know,
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds -
Miss me, but let me go.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The good, the bad and the JOY!


For the past few days most
Americans (and our international
 friends) have experienced sad
 and for many, painful memories
 on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. 
 I feel there is not much to say
 on that subject that hasn't already
 been said this past week.

Our best is to remember each
 person and event as being
connected to us all and that by
 honoring ourselves and the world
around us with love, patience
and the commitment to do what
 is right and good we are never
 really separated from each other.
  I know, easy to say, but true.  
 I still struggle with my Mom's
death 7 years ago on the 15th. 
 But I have to believe this way...
the interconnectedness of Life
and the Grace of God, the Creator.
I hope everyone has heard
of Mattie Stepanek .  He wrote this
poem the day of the 9/11 attacks.
   What a special soul to have graced
our earth.  Oprah interviewed him and
 said he is her top favorite guest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  But for 1000's of penguin watchers,
this past weekend also showed
the reality of nature and not being
able to control everything.   Our
little friend, Happy Feet's
tracking device has fallen silent
since last Friday the 9th, 5 days
 after his release.  There are many
speculations as to why this has
happened, but for me and many
others, we choose to believe that the
tracker simply fell off and Sir Happy
Feet is still swimming around and
 enjoying himself back in his home,
the Southern Ocean.   To read
 more click HERE

Photo courtesy of Saphira Brillant Nrew
So my contribution to our world
of emotions was to take 2 glorious
days and do just as I please.  I know,
many who know me say "well you
do that anyway".   Yes, but this
time I gave myself permission to!
After Friday's news of Happy Feet's
tracker being trackless, I figured the
weekend would be the perfect time
to do all the things that are within
my power of doing to make myself
happy and therefore bring up my
positive vibration quota.  We also
had a mini-heatwave here with the
temps. rising to 100 degrees...
hopefully summer's last hurrah
.....so with 9/11 looming,
Happy Feet supposedly "lost"
(but not really, just untrackable)
and the heat, which makes me
more irritable than usual, this
was the perfect time for indulgences. 
  I decided that I would

eat chocolate cake,
 have a cocktail or two,

buy some flowers for outside to spruce
up for fall,

finish watching season 7
of the Gilmore Girls (which I am
still doing)

spend more time with my little kitty
Pansy and give her extra rubs
under her chin.(which she loves) 



Oh yes, my favorite Fresh Roll
 at our new Thai restaurant,
 Chalerm Thai Bistro  in Lakeport. 
 (I bring my own to-go containers)  
 They also have a wonderful peanut 
sauce for dipping. 
And of course a couple of blended
mocha coffee drinks for good measure.  
 What a joy to give yourself
permission to do the things that
bring you joy !   Now I know I do
 most of these things, but usually not
all at once!  The only other thing that
 would have been perfect was a
 massage, but it was too late notice
 to do anything like that.  My 2 days
of indulgence did turn into 3 though
and maybe the whole week! 
 On Monday Marie and I met up again 
 and spent an hour and a half at
 Michaels the craft store!  I found
 these darling penguin stickers
 without really looking and I had
to have them.  :o)  I hope to do
a small scrapbook of Happy Feet
one day. 

 We also had a
quick lunch at the temple again. 
 When we were together
 last Thursday we noticed that there
 was one of those Halloween super
 stores opening in Ukiah for the
season.  They were to open this past
weekend so we thought we would
get together again on Monday to
 check it out, but when we went by
 they still weren't open...:o( 
They hope to be open this
 Saturday so we might have to do it
 all over again next week.   :o)   We 
 also had planned to go by our 
 favorite nursery last week too, but 
didn't make it....so we went by
yesterday and were a bit disappointed.  
They usually have wonderful displays
 and all sorts of blooms, but not much
 this time.   I guess the past heat was
 a bit too much.  Anyway, I hope all of
you will take a couple of days this
year and plan your own days of
indulgence.   Even if you have to set
 aside some money each week and
 save for it....it is so worth it.  So I
think I contributed to the world's
 vibration in a positive way and
helped the economy a bit too in the
 process!  Now if I can just keep this
feeling going indefinitely without so
many indulgences that cost money !   
What are the things you would
do on your own perfect joyful day...
just for yourself?   Remember
you have to take care of yourself
before you can truly help others.
I always think of the instructions
on planes,  "and parents please
put your mask on first and then
help your children on with theirs."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who looks outside,
 dreams;
who looks inside,
 awakes.
--- Carl Jung