Tuesday Thinkin'...

The garden is just over-flowing... ugh!!!  so sick of squash.... HOWEVER... the tomatoes are starting to produce :D

Thanks for stopping by... eventually, I need to write again. For now, cartoons, crochet and bingo will have to fill my voids.

Have a great Tuesday :D

just a-thinkin'

I'm still here... just a-thinkin' about what the next endeavor will be.

Plus... it's getting really hot again.

HOOKOPOTOMUS 2

I stopped crocheting for a while after the hat business died down.  During this time, I dug into my creative crafty muse to see if I could come up with something else original. I decided on a case for reading glasses with an elastic band that you could attach to a book. 

My hubby always “remarks”  about my obsession with bags (shoulder bags, overnight bags, shopping bags… you get the idea).  My first response was: at least it’s not shoes. My next response was to make these:

They have pockets on both sides: one for a cell phone, one (with a button) for whatever. My cell phone kept slipping out so I added a very small piece of velcro to the back of my phone.

The next project was a pillow.

As you can see, I still have to add the logo. Then hubby wants one for the San Francisco Giants – orange & black (maybe for Halloween… maybe Christmas). 

I also crochet 6”x 9” rectangles for HAP (Handmade Afghan Project to thank our wounded troops).
And I got involved in Share-A-Square. This involved crocheting 6” squares that made afghans for kids with cancer.

S-A-S has disbanded; and H.A.P. will disband next spring.

I got carried away with the afghan-thing last fall. After I made squares for S-A-S, I  designed and made this one:

And crocheted these two:

And… there is MORE to come in Hookopotomus 3

Thanks for stopping by.... :D

just saying...

One week ago today, Tuesday, July 10th, 2012, at this same time of day, the temp was around 85* and eventually the day's high temp was 103*.

It is 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012. The temperature is 62*.

Garden Update

On Saturday we blanched and froze some zucchini and yellow summer squash. We also shredded and froze more zucchini. We picked cucumbers and our spaghetti squash is growing (my sister turned me onto to this squash the last time I was back East).  Once the tomatoes start to ripen, we will have to start canning; there are soooo many.  Since June 23, our garden has grown!!! 

June 23, 2012

July 15, 2012

Thanks for stopping by...



OUR National Anthem

The following is a partial reprint of an article I read on Yahoo Sports. Bryan Luke sang like a true amateur. And, although he was very apologetic, practice makes improvement. However, this just adds to a long list of MY complaints about the way the National Anthem is sung. I call most of these personalized renditions or our beloved “Star Spangled Banner” warbling. In my opinion, our National Anthem should be sung AS WRITTEN. If you can’t sing it without warbling, do NOT do me the favor of singing it! Can you even begin to imagine “God Save the Queen” or “O Canada” improvised in the manner many singers use on our glorious anthem.

LUKE BRYAN:  SORRY FOR ALL-STAR NATIONAL ANTHEM
By David Brown
Big League Stew – Wed, Jul 11, 2012 4:33 PM EDT

"The Star-Spangled Banner," it has been said, is one of the more difficult songs to perform well under any circumstance. When you add degrees of difficulty such as a big venue, an important event and a vast TV audience watching at home, it only compounds the challenge.

And, boy, country music star Luke Bryan was not up to it Tuesday night at Major League Baseball's All-Star game in Kansas City. Not only was Bryan's singing flat and uninspired, but cameras caught him checking his hand for lyrical reminders, along with his watch for the time, as he plodded along for two excruciating minutes.

Bryan's performance was so bad, he apologized by making a series of statements via Twitter on Wednesday:

• Morning everyone. I really wanna explain the national anthem performance from last night.
• I had a few keys words written down to insure myself that I wouldn't mess up. I just wanted to do my best. I promise it was from the heart.
• If I offended anyone with my approach I sincerely apologize. Anytime I sing the anthem it is an honor and my heart beats out of my chest.
• I did check my watch because I knew the stealth bomber would fly over 2 minutes in and I knew a started a little late.
• Being a part of the all star game was amazing and I look forward to the next time I can perform the anthem. Thanks y'all. Love ya

The next time. The next time? No way. In the name of Enrico Pallazzo, no more singing at baseball games for you, buddy. …
It was a three-person race to find who had the worst outing at Kauffman Stadium: Robinson Cano in the Home Run Derby on Monday, Justin Verlander in the first inning of the game, or Bryan just before the first pitch. Even professionals can have a bad day. At least we can assume Cano and Verlander came prepared. …

It's for the best — safer, more humane — if we just ban good ol' Luke from ever singing the anthem at a sporting event ever again. Even NASCAR. And let's be real, here: Hank Williams and Johnny Cash already are spinning in their graves over how bankrupt country music is. Guys like Luke Bryan can't even hold Merle Haggard's beer. ...

The upside: Someone ought to be able to write a pretty good country tune about how sorry Luke Bryan was at (and about) his woeful All-Star anthem.

Off my soap box now… just had to get this off my chest…
Thanks for stopping by…

Sonora... again, at this time of year :D

Most years, when Major League Baseball celebrates the middle of its season with the Homerun Derby and All Star Game, we travel 110 miles southeast to Sonora, California. Our friend, Ed (a.k.a. Mr. Moose), is also a baseball fanatic.  And, during the past few years I have managed to sway the hubby-person, into the fold of those who enjoy a good baseball game. This year was a good one :D  

Ed has been an ardent New York Yankee fan.  Lately he just enjoys seeing a good game and all the new talent making the way through the ranks of the major leagues; although he still wears the tiresome old NYY baseball cap.   

Hubby is a fan of the San Francisco Giants. 

There was a bit of a controversy over two of Giants’ players who were voted to participate (Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera), and over the Giant pitcher who was chosen to start the game (Matt Cain).  No one was denying that both Matt Cain and catcher Buster Posey deserved their places on the team. Many fans and sports personalities felt that R.A. Dickey from the NY Mets should have been chosen to start the game.  Sure the SF Giants fans “stuffed” the ballot boxes… just like the NY Yankees fans did – and the Dodgers, and the Angels and the Mets.  

And, to quickly recap … Pablo Sandoval hit a triple with the bases loaded; Melky Cabrera hit a single and then a home run for two runs and was dubbed MVP. I saw no more controversy.  Their National League won the game 8-0, which means the National League has homefield advantage for the World Series.

And, as a final note, there was the fashion statement. Some of the players made with the shoes they chose to wear. One of those players being Melky Cabrera…

We had a great time in Sonora... good company and too much good food (including Ed's famous lobster tails)... We were going to stay longer but the heat was getting a bit oppressive for three people in a 600 square foot house. Hubby and I decided we should drive home in the middle of the night.

The past few days have been soooo hot that warm water comes out of the cold water tap.  It was 105* yesterday and the a/c has already come on this morning (9:15 a.m.).  I am so thankful for a/c... so, so thankful.

Thanks for stopping by...

and we have ... ZUCCHINI !!

This is the garden that hubby was able to plant this year. I labelled the plants but the labels are difficult to see. Around the outside of the circle, starting from the bottom left corner (not labelled and almost out of the shot) is a cantaloupe plant, yellow crook-neck squash, cucumbers, zucchini, and spaghetti squash. There are also green onions and carrots in there some place. In the center are Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and yellow bell peppers.  And my whirly-gig watering thingy that doesn't work any longer. So it has become a decoration... or something shiny to frighten the birds away (yeah, right).

The garden is smack-dab in the middle of our back yard, because we believe the original owner of this property had an above-ground pool there. Hubby has owned this property since 1985.

I took the above pictures on June 23rd... one week ago today. 

Last night this is what we discovered: 

A six-inch zucchini with many more in the offing. Zucchini is the most devious and deceptive of vegetables. I bet there are more this morning and this one has grown to nine inches by now.  Zucchini for supper (fried in a bit of butter, garlic and onions).

A very tiny yellow crook-neck squash and several more starting to blosssom. Hubby said that he has noticed we have a lot of bees and butterflies in the garden.  Hooray for pollination!!

The Roma and cherry tomatoes are also starting to show signs of becoming ripe. We only have one of each plant; but last time I planted tomatoes, I had so many I had to learn how to can... LOL
**********************************************************************

As I mentioned, on Wednesday I had steriod injections in my lower back, to help calm my inflamed sciatic nerve. The procedure was not as horrible as I imagined it would be. I was home by 11 a.m.  I did end up sleeping most of that day. I am not having any negative affects from the injection and will say that the ol' back is feeling pretty darn good.  Have to watch my blood sugar level as I am told that the steroid will tend to make it elevated.

Thanks for stopping by... have a great weekend

just a thought...

Tomorrow morning I am having steroid injections to help calm my sciatic nerve (it feels more like nerveS, at times... maybe it is?). 
I just talked with the surgical nurse. She says I will have a twilight-type anesthesia. Who is she kidding? I will be out for most of the day. Well, I will wake up and pee for them... and take a drink.
Hubby isn't sure he will be in any shape to go with me. He is not at his best early in the morning.  Chris says he can drop me off on his way to work and then pick me up and take me home after. 

So I will leave you with this thought to get us all through the next few days... LOL

The Rose Bush

In April 2008, our neighbors went away for a few days. We entertained their dog -- a sheltie -- while they were gone. For doing them the favor, which we really enjoyed, they presented us this rose bush. The pink/yellow and sometimes red flowers are beautiful.  We planted it next to the step down from our lower deck.  Mr. R (my husband, Richard) used Miracle Gro when he planted it.

One year later, it looked like this.

two years later....

three years...

and today...

This fall we will cut it back (a lot) and transplant it to a spot in the yard where it can grow and grow some more.  It will keep our other rose bush and our geranium company along the back fence.

It will fun to watch it grow again. 

Thanks for stopping by.... have a great weekend :D





HOOKOPOTAMUS 1

Yes, that is me.  I have discovered how much I enjoy crocheting.  It used to be that I would only crochet in the cooler months, but now it’s pretty much a year round thing. And it used to be that I would knit and crochet -- the knitting needles are gathering dust.  Dave Barry puts it so very well:  There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness.

This latest craze of mine started when my granddaughter fell “in love” with Panda bears.  I searched for a pattern that I could either knit or crochet a hat for her and finally combined a couple of patterns to create this:

Then I added funfur yarn and it became this:



SPORTS FANS EVEN ASKED FOR HATS:

New England Patriots

Chicago Bears       

Jacksonville Jaguars

Green Bay Packers

Cincinnati Bengals

AND THEN THERE WERE … THE ANIMALS: 

There are many more, but I won't bore you with ALL of them (LOL). I am so proud of these creations.  They were one-of-a-kind… the pattern was basically in my head.  And suddenly, it seemed, everyone had a “specialty” hat.  All kinds were seen around.  So I looked elsewhere, for projects. 

Look for "HOOKOPOTAMUS 2" coming to this blog soon...

Thanks for stopping by *wink*



Fathers' Day 2012

This is my dad.


He worked hard to make something of his life. He graduated from Perdue University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and continued on to get his master’s degree. He got a job at General Electric in Schenectady, NY and then was transferred to the transformer division of G.E. in Pittsfield, MA.

He and a friend designed and built a sailboat from scratch.

He met and married my mom. And when they found that they couldn’t have children, they adopted me and then my sister. My mom did not have to work outside the home. When I was little, Dad rocked me to sleep most nights. We were punished – even spanked. He sent my sister and me to college. He was what people would call a good provider. He saved money. He was mature. He made decisions that were reasonable and well thought out. He required that we respect him as well as other adults. At times, he was difficult to know and even more difficult to love. [I did not think of him as an affectionate person.]

He designed our home. We moved in when I was 4 years old -- and part of me still lives there. They sold the home in 1987 (I was almost 40). By that time, I was married, divorced and had three sons to care for.

He retired from G.E. in 1972. His retirement lasted 30 years. He and Mom became snowbirds.

In the end, this intelligent man succumbed to Alzheimer’s. In a sense, it was wonderful to see the joy in his eyes when he rocked his great grandchildren to sleep. And, it was sad to see the mind vanish.

He was a quiet man. He kept to himself. He wasn’t a social butterfly. He was opinionated and stern.

But he was my dad.

And I can now appreciate and love him even more for who he was.

Well, the LETTER may come to life again.  I have convinced myself that I have been busy. Actually, I have too much time on my hands.  So I now think that, on occasion, I just might stretch my fingers on this ol' keyboard again and tell you what is going on in my life.

HOWEVER, it is baseball season and I do plant myself in front of the TV to watch my favorite teams: SF Giants, Oakland A's, and Boston Red Sox.  Sometimes there is a Yankee game thrown in there for good measure. I have accomplished a lot of crocheting projects while watching these games.  Pictures will posted on an upcoming blog.

[Oh boy, I am thinking of more and more things I can write about - I better find my old notebook :D]

To catch you all up on what is happening... Hubby is still in remission from his cancer. He just celebrated the 4th anniversary of his stem cell transplant.  I see him finding more energy and stamina. This year he actually planted a garden for us. We can't wait to see more growth and vegetables on our table.

My oldest son still lives with us. He works for National Security as an account manager (in 3 years he has gone from being a "plain old" guard to being in charge of security at the Sacramento Convention Center to being an account manager).  The downside is his company phone rings at lot - at all times of the day and night. 

As I mentioned, I have been crocheting. My sciatica has decided to become a permanent pain in the arse, so I will have some cortisone injections on June 27th.  I'm a bit nervous about that.

The dog is still crazy.  She seems to enjoy being a mouser. I have tried explaining that title is usually reserved for cats -- she has NO concept.  If it runs, she chases.

Thanks for stopping by... I'll be back :D